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Free Software,Free Society
by Rakesh 'arky' Ambati 29 May '05

29 May '05

hello friends, Greetings from FSFS conference here in God's Own Country Kerala.The events of this morning are blogged here. Currently three parallel tracks on different topics are going on and shall write more on it later today. http://arky.in/node/29 Cheers --arky -- .-. {\('v')/} (\_/) ____________________`( )'_____ ( =(^Y^)= (_rakesh_ambati@yahoo^^" "^^ ____\_(m___m)_________).com FSUG-Bangalore (http://bangalore.gnu.org.in) FreeSchools Project (http://freeschools.bluesprint.com)

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Cabinet Approves New Map Policy
by Shekhar Krishnan 29 May '05

29 May '05

Dear All: Strangely, I've not seen this discussed on any of the usual mailing lists so far (or maybe I missed it). Apologies for cross-posting. See also our Mumbai Free Map project on http://www.crit.org.in/projects/gis Best Shekhar ______ Cabinet approves new map policy Defence and open series to be released Though as a rule the use of maps is governed by a system of registration, there will now be no such requirement for maps up to a scale of 1:1 million. Special Correspondent The Hindu, Chennai 20 May 2005 http://www.hindu.com/2005/05/20/stories/2005052003771200.htm NEW DELHI: : The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved a new policy, which provides for the release of two series of maps — defence and open. This is to ensure free flow of spatial information for developmental activities and address security concerns. The defence series maps (DSMs) are for the exclusive use of the defence forces and authorised government departments. The open series maps (OSMs) will be available to the public, private and public agencies and non-governmental organisations involved in planning and development of irrigation projects, roads, bridges and hospitals. The Defence Ministry will determine the policy on the use of DSMs, while the Survey of India (SOI), under the Science and Technology Ministry, will be responsible for the policy on OSMs. The S&T Ministry will have to take one-time permission from the Defence Ministry before releasing a map in the open series. The user-agency will be free to add value and share it, provided the changes are communicated to the SOI. The OSMs can be produced to any scale. Though, as a rule, the use of maps is governed by a system of registration, there will be no such requirement for maps up to a scale of 1:1 million. Registered private agencies, carrying SOI accreditation, will be permitted to do surveys for preparing maps in all parts using the public domain datum. Redundant features Announcing the decision,Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said technological changes around the world rendered many features of the existing map policy redundant and anachronistic. An official release said its continuance tended to impede free flow of spatial information and engendered high opportunity costs for a developing economy. At the same time, all spatial data available in the public domain had potential security hazards. The new policy would address all these concerns. Later, addressing a press conference, S&T Minister, Kapil Sibal, said the SOI would begin releasing the new OSMs in a few months, after the Defence Ministry decided on the extent of the geographical areas that could be opened up for generation of maps without compromising security concerns. At present, 60 per cent of the geographical area was under restriction. It was expected that the new policy would drastically reduce this. The SOI would soon begin updating the maps. The OSMs would have all essential parameters such as the latitude, longitude, gradients and contours. _____ Shekhar Krishnan CRIT (Collective Research Initiatives Trust) B-43, Shravasti Goregaon-Malad Link Road Malad (West), Mumbai 400064 India http://www.crit.org.in/members/shekhar

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Keep publicly-funded content free and open...
by Frederick Noronha 28 May '05

28 May '05

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, May 28: Publicly-funded content must be openly available, and sharing knowledge only enhances its richness, Italian senator Fiorello Cortiana told a four-nation international conference held in the Kerala capital this morning. Eminent economist and former Venezuela minister for planning and development Dr Filipe Perez-Marti agreed, and stressed that participation, solidarity and wisdom would be the key three words that characterise a new global situation. Amidst praise for Kerala for organising this first ever south-to-south contact in the world of free software and free knowledge, speakers from Latin America (Venezuela, and Brazil), Italy and India explored ways of understanding their respective situations and possibilities for collaboration across the oceans. The Latin Americans were keen to hear about Kerala's attempts to look at take Free Software solutions to schools, through their IT@School project which aims to train about 200 master trainers, who will then train at least one teacher from each school in the state in the use of free software. Free Software Foundation of India director Prof G Nagarjuna stressed how India was able to fight-back attempts to make software a patentable item. He said help for this endeavour had come from enlightened politicians, the peoples' science movement, media and others. Latin American delegates spoke of how their firms including the Venezualan oil giant had opted for free software, both for more control over their work and avoid possibilities of sabotage in a crucial sector of the economy. Government of Brazil special advisor in the ministry of communications Antonio Bezerra de Albquerque Neto said Brazil was keen to build links with countries like India and China, and stressed that Free Software is a key means of in building a fairer society. SPACE executive secretary Satish Babucalled this a fairly unique event and said Kerala had a good chance of building itself as a global destination of Free Software. SPACE chairperson Prof K R Srivathsan termed Free Software a natural way for the scientific community to play around with. Former musician turned Free Software activist Juan Carlos Gentile said he hoped this first-ever meet of its kind would lead to many things to come. Kerala IT secretary PH Kurian said ideas of sharing knowledge were not alien to India, and cited the case of Gautam Buddha who used the people's language to spread his message. Kerala began this four-nation meet on Saturday morning, and it aims to take the ideas of free software to different realms of society, which can gain from the power of sharing knowledge and culture. SPACE, the Thiruvananthapuram-based Society for the Promotion of Alternative Computing and Environment, is co-organiser of this event with the global NGO Hipatia (www.hipatia.net) and the Free Software Foundation-India (www.fsf.org.in). Organisers say that the international free software movement has shown a new way of knowledge creation and social ownership. They're keen to explore how the free software model can be applied to fields as diverse as governance, digital inclusion, development and culture. (ENDS) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Frederick Noronha 784 Near Convent, Sonarbhat SALIGAO GOA India Freelance Journalist TEL: +91-832-2409490 MOBILE: 9822122436 http://fn.swiki.net http://www.livejournal.com/users/goalinks fred at bytesforall.org http://www.bytesforall.org

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Free Software,Free Society
by Rakesh 'arky' Ambati 28 May '05

28 May '05

Hi List, Am blogging the 'Free Software,Free Society' Conference from the Technopark in Trivandrum in kerala.Hope this will help those who couldn't make it. http://arky.in/ Cheers --arky -- .-. {\('v')/} (\_/) ____________________`( )'_____ ( =(^Y^)= (_rakesh_ambati@yahoo^^" "^^ ____\_(m___m)_________).com FSUG-Bangalore (http://bangalore.gnu.org.in) FreeSchools Project (http://freeschools.bluesprint.com)

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Report from Kerala...
by Frederick Noronha 27 May '05

27 May '05

http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/8319 India's Upcoming Free Software, Free Society Conference Free software advocates and IT delegates from around the world will be in Kerala, India, this week in the hopes of building free software collaborations for the future. Free software offers its users various freedoms. In India, free software enthusiasts are working on a new one--the freedom to build bridges to potential partners half-way across the globe who are facing similar developmental concerns or challenges. To help facilitate this bridge-building process, the Free Software Foundation of India is organising a four-country conference to be held May 28-29, 2005. The Free Software, Free Society conference brings together hackers from an unlikely set of nations, people who don't speak the same language but who do see much in the idea that knowledge is most powerful when it is shared freely. Arun M, arun(a)gnu.org.in, one of the key organisers of this event, said, "The Free Software movement has shown a new way of knowledge creation based on collaboration and social ownership. This conference explores the possibilities of applying the Free Software model in addressing broader questions such as governance, digital inclusion, development and culture." Free Software, Free Society is being organised by the Free Software Foundation of India, along with Italy's Hipatia project, the Society for Promotion of Alternative Computing and Employment (SPACE) in Kerala and the Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management-Kerala (IITM-K). The conference will be held at Technopark, a technology and software promotion centre in the state-capital of India's southernmost state of Kerala.... ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Frederick Noronha 784 Near Convent, Sonarbhat SALIGAO GOA India Freelance Journalist TEL: +91-832-2409490 MOBILE: 9822122436 http://fn.swiki.net http://www.livejournal.com/users/goalinks fred at bytesforall.org http://www.bytesforall.org

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(no subject)
by pravi.a＠gmail.com 25 May '05

25 May '05

Teenager Develops User Friendly GNU Linux OS [3903_matter.jpg] Obstacles such as financial constraints, very minimum PC resources, did not in any way deter the grit of Kerala-based, 15-year old Sarath Lakshman from developing SLYNUX- a highly user-friendly GNU/Linux operating system designed for beginners. A completely self-taught person, who has never stepped into a computer-learning institute in his lifetime, his tale is one of guts and more guts. Speaking to CXOtoday, Lakshman recollected, "I had first heard about GNU/Linux when I was a computer (Windows user) from standard eight. However, I was advised by tech-savvy people that only experts could use it. This inspired me to collect a Linux distro. I collected Redhat 9.0- the only Linux distro known and available in my locality and installed it in my system (128MB Ram and Celeron 1Ghz processor). "That was my first brush with Linux; its basic features impressed me though the OS was not user friendly as I could not understand the program names, commands since I was a fresher to Linux. This paved the seed of a user friendly Linux in my mind," added Lakshman. The main feature of this operating system is that, any person who is familiar with Microsoft Windows OS can handle this operating system very easily. The desktop of this operating system is arranged so as to make it friendly to the user. It comes with a wide range of application programs, which are pre-installed. It can be run completely from CD without installation with options of installing a hard disk. Speaking further he said, "I have written many shell scripts, though I have not counted the same. I have done little C++ compilations and codings too with some kernel modifications too. (The base of every GNU/Linux is shell scripts)." SLYNUX is a live Linux distribution, which includes content of about 2GB made available by using transparent compression. This is a debian based GNU/Linux developed from Knoppix (credit of most features of this Distro goes to knoppix). 256 MB Ram is recommended to run SLYNUX Live CD for good performance. Describing the challenges he faced, Lakshman stated, "The first problem I faced was lack of Internet facility. I currently use a BSNL dial up connection with about 44 Kbps speed since I cannot afford a broadband connection. Because of this, I could use the Web only for browsing purposes. All resources related to GNU/Linux are available for download, especially source codes, which were of huge sizes (around 20MB, 50MB, 600MB etc)." The second problem was lack of help. "At the place, which I reside there are no Linux users until now. But in places like Ernakulum and Trivandrum, in Kerala, Linux is gaining momentum. I later met an IT consultant at the Kerala legislative assembly who helped me a lot by giving me some GNU/Linux distros, (especially knoppix 3.6.)," said Lakshman. Describing his struggle further he said, "Thirdly, the PC (Intel Celeron 1Gnz, 810E motherboard), I currently use is unfit for development activities and many Linux distros cannot support my configuration for graphics. This resulted in long hours for cloop compression (a process in SLYNUX development, which used to take about 2 hours for compression every time. A good configuration system would have take me only about 8 to 10 minutes." Lakshman rues the fact that he does not even posses a Web space for hosting his site. He has currently hosted it in a free domain. He insists that [1]SLYNUX is especially for newbies of Linux. "Using SLYNUX every Windows user can migrate to the GNU/Linux. Meanwhile, SLYNUX 1.1, 2.0 can also be used by enterprise users as I plan to shortly release SLYNUX 3.0 with kernel 2.6.8.1 and other Apache server tools, MySQL etc. (MySQL is already there with SLYNUX.)," stated Lakshman. A science and technology enthusiast from the age of 10, Lakshman has just appeared for the SSLC (Kerala state syllabus) public examination and waiting for the results. His other achievements include developing an e-periodic table with basic knowledge of Visual Basic programming when he was studying in the ninth grade. The Executive Director, IT@School, Thiruvananthapuram demanded the copy right of the software to include it in the X standard resource CD to supply to all High schools in Kerala. Speaking about the road ahead, he has no clue about how to go about marketing his product, though he hopes to be approached by genuine companies who would be interested in marketing his product, although in the same breath he states he does not have a profit motive, (he follows the philosophy of free software). While it is indisputable, that India does possess the talent, brains, and the determination, efforts such as these often go unnoticed due to lack of a strategic marketing plan and direction. Meanwhile, any takers for SLYNUX? References 1. http://www.slynux.co.nr/

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Sign the petition to force VTU to use FOSS
by Thejesh GN 25 May '05

25 May '05

Here is your last chance to sign the petition since we are thinking of winding it up on June 5th. Please read and sign the petition at http://bangalore.gnu.org.in/?VTU-FLOSS_Campaign below is the signature by RMS ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 80. From Richard Stallman <rms at gnu.org <http://gnu.org>>: Schools of all levels should insist on Free Software, because proprietary software prohibits learning and builds dependency. See http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/schools.html -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Website maintainer
by Sandip Bhattacharya 25 May '05

25 May '05

Hi! Who is managing the current fsf-in website? I had mailed the address given on the site quite a while back about a link to be updated. Havent got any response till now. - Sandip -- Sandip Bhattacharya * Puroga Technologies * sandip(a)puroga.com Work: http://www.puroga.com * Home/Blog: http://www.sandipb.net/blog PGP/GPG Signature: 51A4 6C57 4BC6 8C82 6A65 AE78 B1A1 2280 A129 0FF3

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FLOSS... in Pakistan
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 23 May '05

23 May '05

From: "Shahzad Ahmad" <shahzad(a)isb.sdnpk.org> Add Address Date: 2005/05/23 Mon PM 01:18:25 IST To: <bytesforall_readers(a)yahoogroups.com>, Subject: Pakistan: The Open Option Folks, Here is a kind of basic status report on Open Source regime in Pakistan by the writer who works for the Open Source Resource Center (OSRC) project of the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB). An ex-SDNPier, she reports some very interesting developments on this front in Pakistan. Just for your kind information. Any suggestions or queries can be directed to Mr. Osman Haq, Project Manager, OSRC in Islamabad at <hosman(a)pseb.org.pk>. Best wishes and regards. Shahzad Ahmad ---------------- The Open Option By Seema Javed Amin, May 21, 2005 http://www.dawn.com/weekly/science/science6.htm A cash-strapped computer student or a professional cannot afford to purchase different software packages of Microsoft's MS Windows XP Home Edition, which costs about Rs. 5,000 or more per package. But illegal and pirated computer versions are available in the local market at a fraction of the original cost. The software are being used in our homes and in our offices. We cannot deny that we are violating international intellectual property right laws. Since its entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), Pakistan has repeatedly been criticized by the international community because of this. But now there is an alternative. Countries such as Australia, Brazil, China, India, the European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Japan, Malaysia, Peru, South Africa, South Korea, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, the United Kingdom; California, Oregon and Texas in the United States and Zambia have saved a lot of money because their government projects and businesses have switched from proprietary to open source software (http://www.iosn.net/downloads/foss_primer_current.pdf). This fact might not be very well-known in general, but its proponents have been working quietly behind the scenes, revolutionizing computer technologies since the sixties and seventies, providing computer users, who cannot afford expensive proprietary software with an alternative set of options. Microsoft's (MS) software, although user-friendly, is vulnerable to malicious viruses and requires regular security upgrades. This is something that only MS's software developers can take care of, because the way in which computer language is used to "write" a program like MS Word is a secret known only to them. This is known as "closed source code." On the other hand, open source software developers the world over modify and share their written version of an already existing "open source code." This results in open source software, which individual computer users can download from the internet for free. Programs include OpenOffice.org (http://www.openoffice.org/), an alternative to MS Office. Browsing the internet with Mozilla Firefox is similar to MS Internet Explorer and Thunderbird (http://www.mozilla.org/) can be used instead of MS Outlook or MS Outlook Express. A multi-protocol messenger is also available in the form of Gaim (http://sourceforge.net/). At the local level, open source software's proponents include Linux Pakisan (http://www.linuxpakistan.net/) and the Free and Open Source Software Special Interest Group of the Computer Society of Pakistan (http://www.csp.org.pk/). At the national level, Pakistan is open to investment from the private sector, provided it can respect intellectual property rights. The government, however, can also explore open source software as a relatively cheap and security-intensive alternative. The Electronic Government Directorate's (http://pakistan.gov.pk/e-government-directorate/index.jsp) e-projects and all mission-critical security, business and financial systems and industrial sectors of the economy can flourish cost-effectively by using open source software. The Ministry of Information Technology (http://www.pakistan.gov.pk/moitt/index.jsp) is currently implementing two open source software-related projects under the Pakistan Software Export Board (http://www.pseb.org.pk/). The "Automation of Domestic Industry on Open Source Systems" project aims to develop Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software for four to five industrial sectors and to introduce the automation culture in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with a developmental budget of Rs38 million. This project will create jobs by initiating open source software development in Pakistan, and help local software companies acquire knowledge and experience of open source technologies. It is expected that this will help in eliminating the software piracy issue in Pakistan, and also bridge the gap between the local industry and software companies. In the first phase, the following industrial sectors have been selected for the development of business process automation software: - All Pakistan Textile Processing Mills Association (APTPMA). - Pakistan Association of Automotive Parts and Accessories Manufacturers (PAAPAM). - Pakistan Ready-made Garments and Exporters Association (PRGMEA) and Pakistan Hosiery Mills Association (PHMA). - Surgical Instruments Manufacturers Association of Pakistan (SIMAP). Another project worth Rs29 million, the Open Source Resource Center (http://www.osrc.org.pk/) facilitates stakeholders and investors in the software industry, should they decide to shift their businesses from vendor-dependent proprietary software to open source software technology. It aims to create a culture of open source software use in Pakistan through media awareness and training workshops, and act as a virtual community for experts in this field. A project worth Rs24 million has begun under the auspices of the Pakistan Computer Bureau (http://www.pcb.gov.pk/). Its target is to create a talent pool of 4,000 end-users and 200 systems administrators in open source software technologies. It has already trained a number of people in this regard. Another objective of this exercise is to prepare related training material in a simplistic format. The writer works for the Open Source Resource Center (OSRC) project of the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB). Selecting the right software Quite a few of us want to opt for open source software, but we don't know where to begin. Sci-tech World presents a few basic tips for selecting the right software, thus making the switch a tad easier. Here is what you should look out for: 1. Reputation - find out more about the software, that is, whether it is able to perform well. Visit your CD vendor several times if you have to, but do not buy a software because you're running out of patience. Discuss your plans with an experienced person before purchasing it. 2. Ongoing effort - quite a few open source software have been launched, but not much has been done to improve upon them. So, before you decide to purchase a relatively unknown software, do find out if efforts are being made to develop it. You don't want to pay a lot of money, only to find out that the software you selected is probably going to fall flat on its face. 3. Standards - choosing the software, which implements open standards is very important, for it could turn out to be very costly, if you buy software that may eventually force you to learn new languages or complex data formats. 4. Support community - make sure that the software you choose does have an interactive support community that is ready to answer your questions about deployment. If not, then you might have a hard time trying to figure out things on your own. 5. Versions - try to buy software that has the latest version available in the market. Doing so will not only make sure that you have all the relevant updates, but will also keep your system relatively stable. END OF FORWARDED MSG .......................................................................... Frederick (FN) Noronha | Freelance Journalist | Mobile +91 9822 122436 Tel +91.832.2409490 | http://fn.swiki.net | http://www.bytesforall.net ..........................................................................

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FLOSS, how the term came into being...
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 22 May '05

22 May '05

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FLOSS Free/Libre Open Source Software >From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Redirected from FLOSS The term Free/Libre/Open Source Software (FLOSS as different from FOSS) is a hybrid term for both free software and open source software, which are different terms for the same substance. "FLOSS" was created as a project acronym by Rishab Ghosh[1] (http://flossproject.org/people.htm), and popularised after the European Commission in June 2001 funded a study on the subject [2] (http://flossproject.org). In July 2002 a survey and study [3] (http://flossproject.org/report/) and a report of the workshop [4] (http://flossproject.org/workshop/) portion was produced and gave wider publicity for the term. The aim was to create a term which didn't alienate the advocates of either the free software philosophy, or the open source philosophy. It was hoped that such a term would ease friction between the two movements and thus improve cooperation. Indeed, Richard Stallman, founder of the Free Software movement, has publicly recommended[5] (http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/audio/rms-interview-edinburgh-040527.txt) the use of this term for those, especially in the research community, who wish to appear neutral. The L in FLOSS is meant to emphasise the "has freedom" meaning of the word "free" rather than "no charge" (gratis), while FOSS, for Free/Open Source Software, can give the impression that "Free" refers to "no charge". Some non-English speakers prefer this acronym as it can be translated to languages other than English: the F can stand for Frei in German while the L was explicitly drawn from Libre in French and Spanish, Livre in Portuguese, and Libero in Italian, and so on. At the end of 2004, FLOSS has been used as an English-language term of choice in official documents in a number of countries including South Africa[6] (http://www.naci.org.za/floss/index.html), Spain[7] (http://europa.eu.int/idabc/en/document/1637/470) and Brazil[8] (http://www.softwarelivre.org/news/1727). In Spanish and Portuguese, libre/livre software remains the term for free software, avoiding the English-language confusion that led to the creation of the term Open Source. Another term similar in aim to FLOSS is non-proprietary software. Legally speaking, however, only public domain software is non-proprietary. See also * Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) External links * Please read original The Lifecycle of Software Technology (http://www.moonviewscientific.com/essays/software_lifecycle.htm)) to find more. * Free/Libre and Open Source Software: Survey and Study FLOSS Workshop report (http://www.infonomics.nl/FLOSS/workshop/proceedings.htm), links to full study. * Free as in Education. Significance of the Free/Libre and Open Source Software for Developing Countries. (http://www.maailma.kaapeli.fi/FLOSSReport1.0.html) * Information for development www.i4donline.net (http://www.i4donline.net/floss/introduction.asp) * FOSS primers at International Open Source Network (IOSN) by UNDP (http://www.iosn.net/foss-primers) * FLOSS conference at National Institute of Technology Calicut, INDIA (http://glugc.nitc.ac.in/conference) * FOSS examples and adoption in countries

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