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Re: [Fsf-friends] Sharing code, thoughts ...
by Ramanraj K 03 Jan '05

03 Jan '05

Krishna Pagadala wrote: >Interesting one Ramanraj... The idea of recombinant >DNA is not new, rudiments of the idea dates atleast to >Antoine Bechamp (1816-1908), more than a hundred years >ago. > >For more read "The Medical Racket" >http://ahealedplanet.net/medicine.htm > Thanks for pointing to the "Medical Racket" link. I could read it from http://home1.gte.net/res0k62m/medicine.htm It also links to the article "Lies I was told" at http://home1.gte.net/res0k62m/lies.htm The information at http://home1.gte.net/res0k62m/lies.htm#bengal is also particularly useful for the present times. Looks like we have not learned much from history. (Someone aptly observed: "Men make mistakes, fools repeat them" ;) The same old story seems to be repeating now, with different characters and themes, but essentially the same plot. The author says: "Today’s global capitalist system <http://home1.gte.net/res0k62m/other.htm#capitalism> is little more than colonialism with new rhetoric, techniques and technology. ". We should take these seriously: http://home1.gte.net/res0k62m/energy.htm http://home1.gte.net/res0k62m/energy1.htm To very briefly sum up: >>> Use Free Software; Use Free Energy <<< Regards, Ramanraj.

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[Fsf-friends] IITians Develop [GNU]Linux-Based Cell Phone Tracking Software
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 02 Jan '05

02 Jan '05

http://www.cxotoday.com/cxo/jsp/article.jsp?article_id=2538&cat_id=911#comm… IITians Develop Linux-Based Cell Phone Tracking Software By Julia Fernandes <mailto:juliafernandes at cxotoday.com> Mumbai, Dec 31, 2004 Did you ever wish that you could track the location of a mobile user? Well, this could very well be a reality largely thanks to the efforts of three young Mumbai-based IITians, who have developed a Linux-based software application that tracks the location of mobile phones. Speaking to CXOtoday Nitin Seth, director of Mobiance Technologies, said, "This software is an enhanced version of cell display info. A customer can track a user by sending an SMS. The service provider will then ask the tracked user permission via SMS. If the tracked user consents, the customer is then flashed with the location details of the tracked user. The accuracy can be within 10 to 100 metres" "The software works on other network parameters such as orientation of the sector antenna, broadcast signals of various stations. We are in the process of procuring a GIS-based database," added Seth. The tracked mobile user has three options and may give permission for one-time usage or unlimited access. Though the third option allows the tracked mobile user to deny access it will not be a permanent one. The same service can also be accessed through the Internet. Apart from parents who want to track the movements of their children, the software also helps corporates to track their on-field employees. Sharing the technical details, Nikhilesh Ghushe, CTO of Mobiance Technologies said, "Developed on Fedora Core 2 approximately 10K lines of codes were written. The entire development took around five months. The SMS interface as well as the Web interface has been developed." Revealing the inspiration behind the development, Ghushe recalled, "Around a year back while working on a project campus, we wanted to develop a GPS-based solution. But the cost factor proved a deterrent. It was then that we decided to develop a cost-effective solution." "Why is a mobile called a cell phone?" asked Ghushe. "Its because each antenna has a cell. Cellid is a technology, which identifies which antenna is seeing your mobile. We have named our technology enhanced Cellid, because this technology has been optimized," asserted Ghushe. Service provider Airtel provided a platform for the IIT trio to test their software, which was demonstrated at the recently concluded Mood Indigo festival on a sample crowd of 300 cell phone subscribers. According to an Airtel spokesperson, "Depending on regulatory conditions of the country we are ready to offer this service." Mobiance Technologies that develops location-based services (LBS) products for corporate and mobile network operators was launched three months back by Seth, Ghushe and Mandeep Singh - CEO of Mobiance. All three had passed out of IIT Bombay last year. Home <http://www.cxotoday.com/cxo/jsp/home.jsp> | Software <http://www.cxotoday.com/cxo/jsp/home.jsp?cat=911>

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Efforts on Standardizing Unicode Tamil Sort Order
by gok gok 31 Dec '04

31 Dec '04

Dear Friend, Please go thru the following web page that contains the issues and problems with the original unicode tamil sort order. Also this page deals with the standardization of a sort order for tamil with respect to unicode positions. Dont hurry in examining this. Take as much time to conclude your suggestions. Since the future of tamil depends upon such valuable decisions made now. http://www.angelfire.com/empire/thamizh/2/ please let me know your suggestions and corrections.. Regards R.Padmakumar __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Take Yahoo! Mail with you! Get it on your mobile phone. http://mobile.yahoo.com/maildemo

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Re: [Fsf-friends] Patents amendment bill
by Vijay Kumar Bagavath Singh 30 Dec '04

30 Dec '04

> Even if there is no patent for software in the ordinance way the govt is > handling the patent amendment is really bad. They seems to be more > accountable to WTO rather than people of India. > > We need to watch the situation closely. We will have to work closely > with other groups fighting patent amendments. It would be nice if people > in Delhi can work on getting more informations and networking with other > groups fighting the new patent amendment. How about creating a petition in http://www.PetitionOnline.com ? We can use http://www.petitiononline.com/pasp01/petition.html as a template. Vijay -- ______________________________________________ Check out the latest SMS services @ http://www.linuxmail.org This allows you to send and receive SMS through your mailbox. Powered by Outblaze

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FLOSS networks in Sri Lanka
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 29 Dec '04

29 Dec '04

Thanks to Anuradha Ratnaweera <gnu.slash.linux at gmail.com> for filling us in with details about FLOSS in Sri Lanka, as follows: Lanka Linux User Group (http://www.linux.lk , http://www.lug.lk ) have been advocating GNU/Linux and Free / Open Source Software since 1998. Recently, we have started working closely with the tux group of Narada Center (http://foss.metta.lk ). Check http://mail.linux.lk/lurker/ to see what we have been doing. Lanka Software Foundation (http://www.opensource.lk ) is another organization who is also promoting FOSS development in Sri Lanka. Anuradha -- http://www.linux.lk/~anuradha/ http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html ENDQUOTE Thank you very much Anuradha! FN

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Free software in Goa... Dec 27, 2004
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 29 Dec '04

29 Dec '04

Present for the meeting: * Bijon "Multi Distro" Shaha * Mario "PHP" Alvares * Sylvester "Hardware" GeekBox * DP (Hiding Behind The Alphabets) * FN reporting on some points that came up * We handed over copies of GeekBox and Ubuntu to Mr Joshi of Goa Sc Centre * Bijon Shaha gave us an update of LB-2004, the Bangalore FOSS event * The talk veered around to pendrives, Ubuntu * Can we do something to re-start meetings in South Goa, at the useful D-Link venue? Another offer is to hold meetings at a cybercafe in Vasco... * Debian Weekly News is a great model for an e-letter sharing information about what's happening in the FLOSS world. * Mario mentioned his experiences on a Mac, with OSX * Woes of Fedora Core 3 users and the security hassles outlined. * Is Fedora Core 3 just "too secure"? * Sylvester offered information about SLAX, the Slackware distro. Slackware is more customisable. Syl@Comtech has a copy. * Mario is keen to create a live distro with Postgres on it. * This was followed with a demo of Ubuntu, the live version For free copies of this distro, just log on to http://shipit.ubuntulinux.org and ask for it. They even offer you free postage, and encourage you to ask for multiple copies (postage is costlier anyway than the medium!) * Later, a pen drive -- UMAX Apus 208 -- was easily got working on Mandrake 9.1. Did the same on EgovOS (based on Red Hat). Had some difficulty in getting with going with Debian Woody. Any clues? * Some useful tips for newbies or challenged-learners (like myself) Use this command to download an entire site wbet -m http://www.sitename.com To compress a folder tar cjf newfile /home/user/directory and to uncompress a folder tar xjf To unzip a filme unzip filename MC, or Midnight Commander is a good tool for this. * DP mentioned that Open Office 2.0 preview is out, which offers OOBase, a tool similar to DBase or Access in utility. * Later, the session continued with informal networking. We shifted to Cafe Prakash, the usual haunt, and shared some moments with friends there. Please point out any errors or mistakes above. Next meeting: January 22, 2005 (fourth Saturday). Miramar Science Centre. Our websites and URLs: http://ilug-goa.swiki.net (website on Swiki.net) http://www.ilug-margao.org (Margao site: Andrew, Arvind, Clinton...) http://ilug-goa.notlong.com (website on IOSN.net * free space for LUGs) http://iluggoa.iosn.net (Wiki on IOSN.net * free space for all LUGs) http://iluggoalist.notlong.com (short link to this list) http://ilug-goa-announce.notlong.com (low volume announce) http://tyl.notlong.com (for newbies) http://groups.yahoo.com/group/linuxgoahelp (specifically help list) PS: OFFTOPIC -- Derek Cordeiro pointed out to me this useful tool for bookmarking and sharing sites. Please visit http://stumbleupon.com and also my tiny attempt below... works great! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Frederick Noronha (FN) Nr Convent Saligao 403511 GoaIndia Freelance Journalist P: 832-2409490 M: 9822122436 http://www.livejournal.com/users/goalinks http://fn.swiki.net http://fredericknoronha.stumbleupon.com http://fn-floss.notlong.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Avoid Word/PowerPoint: http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html

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Can someone reach Ramanraj
by Anand Babu 28 Dec '04

28 Dec '04

I just realized Ramanraj's house is near the beach. I tried calling him a couple of times and got no response. Can someone reach him and confirm us if he safe and needed any help? -- Anand Babu Free as in Freedom <www.gnu.org>

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Re: [FSF India Board] New Patent changes
by Anand Babu 28 Dec '04

28 Dec '04

It is not yet clear if the new amendments to patent act includes computer software. Media news is not precise and most if it is speculation. Software patents are terrible. I think it will become too difficult and too late to fight software patents after the Govt approves such amendments. Let us take a take pro-active action early at this stage. Publishing articles on dangers of software patents can be a good start. Nagarjuna, Arun and Frederick Noronha has enough contacts in the press and can effectively propagate the message. Amendments related to drugs, food and chemicals poses even more direct threat to the community, than software. (Like increase in drug prices, inadequate or non-availability of patented drugs). Reverse engineering drugs to produce cheaper or better alternatives will become impossible. Patents give absolute monopoly to the owner. With this exclusive right, even if some one else comes up with the same idea independently, he still cannot use it. This means Indian drug research will have serious consequences and we are the ones to suffer at the end. It may make sense to club with the medical community and jointly oppose the new patent amendment. -------------------------------------------------------------------- The only reference to computer software in "The Patents (Amendment) Ordinance 2004 promulgated on 26/12/2004" (url http://lawmin.nic.in/Patents%20Amendment%20Ordinance%202004.pdf) is amendment to Section 3 referring as >>>Quoted----------------------------------------------------------- (b) for clause (k), the following clauses shall be substituted, namely: "(k) a computer programme per se other than its technical application to industry or a combination with hardware; (ka) a mathematical method or a business method or algorithms;". <<<Quoted----------------------------------------------------------- My understanding is, Section 3 is all about non-patentable inventions. I am referring to the Patent Act document (url http://ipindia.nic.in/ipr/patent/mop2.pdf). I could not find any clause (k) under Section 3 in this document. Can some one point me to the correct document to which these amendments can be applied cleanly? -- Anand Babu Free as in Freedom <www.gnu.org>

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Patents amendment bill
by Vijay Kumar Bagavath Singh 28 Dec '04

28 Dec '04

The following news articles suggest that the patents amendment bill, could possibly introduce software patents in India. If this is so, why aren't we(FSF-India) fighting it? Quoting from http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?hpFlag=Y&chklogin=N&a… The Cabinet is expected to clear the promulgation of an Ordinance for the introduction of a product patents regime, which will also cover embedded software and hardware, next Wednesday. Quoting from http://athens-olympics-2004.newkerala.com/?action=fullnews&id=44168 "Fair use provisions in the copyright law that permits reverse engineering is not permitted under the patent law," said G. Devarajan, general secretary of the All India Forward Bloc. ... "This highly retrograde step would kill the fledgling open source movement in our country, particularly in our universities and institutions like Indian Institutes of Technology," a Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader said. Vijay -- ______________________________________________ Check out the latest SMS services @ http://www.linuxmail.org This allows you to send and receive SMS through your mailbox. Powered by Outblaze

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Re: Re: [Fsf-friends] Patents amendment bill
by Kanti Jadia 28 Dec '04

28 Dec '04

This is what caught my attention on slashdot http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/12/27/1323237&from=rss " It was the same in Europe... (Score:1) by Rauchbier (745414) on Monday December 27, @11:55AM (#11192112) The patent lobby tried to introduce software patents in Europe silently as well. Thanks to the FFII [ffii.org] there was enough noise to wake up politicians. Now we have additional support from sites like No Software Patents [nosoftwarepatents.com], but it took a lot of time to get this support. Hopefully there is a chance to postpone the decision so the indian people and politicians can catch up on software patents. [ Reply to This ] " On Tue, 28 Dec 2004 Arun M wrote : >Also please note the worser situation with Medicine patent. >(read it together with recent natural disaster) > > >From personal level i will request free software activists not to >restrict ourself to software patent. Software freedom is just one >freedom an individual need. > > >_______________________________________________ >Fsf-friends mailing list >Fsf-friends(a)mm.gnu.org.in >http://mm.gnu.org.in/mailman/listinfo/fsf-friends ----------------------------------------- Enjoy your Freedom,use GNU/Linux. http://www.gnu.org/gnu/why-gnu-linux.html -----------------------------------------

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