- Fsf-friends - lists.fsci.in

Re: Re: [Fsf-friends] Re:Request to RedHat
by Kanti Jadia 04 Mar '03

04 Mar '03

On Tue, 04 Mar 2003 Arko Provo Mukherjee wrote : >On Tue, 2003-03-04 at 11:40, Kanti Jadia wrote: > > Hi all, > > > > The primary source of the name [GNU/]Linux is the projects >which > > use them.And that includes us. > > > > So,in order to get the importance of GNU to the users i >propose > > the following actions. > > > > 1.Urge the developers to use GNU/Linux (in > > websites/documentation/Code etc.). > > > > 2.Get involved and do a few corrections yourself. > > > > 3.If you work for a company,which uses [GNU/]Linux,get the >word to > > your marketing department. > > > > Further suggestions awaited. > > > > Can we come up with a comprehensive list. > > > > regards > > > > Kanti > >Hello, >I think that the first point is very important. We must urge >developers >to develop on the GNU/Linux platform. > Use GNU/Linux and not Linux >One more point: >Spread the FREE Software Philosophy to the people and tell people >that >GNU/Linux is not only an $ saving solution to software problems >but also >an OS that respects your freedom. >Many people don't understand that. A lot of people do understand and just ignore. These are the people who gain the benefits of free software and refuse to recognize its importance. And for those who really are unaware(growing day by day),we must come up with a concrete action. That is why i proposed a comprehensive list of actions. regards Kanti > >Regards >Arko > > > > > > Have been doing the some of the things above from quite some > > time. > > > > >Do you think any request to Red Hat to change the name of >their > > >distro > > >to Red Hat GNU/Linux will work? > > >We can try that as it is the most popular distro and the name >can > > >reach > > >many people. > > > > >Arko > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Fsf-friends mailing list > > Fsf-friends(a)mm.gnu.org.in > > http://mm.gnu.org.in/mailman/listinfo/fsf-friends > >

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Fwd: Re: [Fsf-friends] Re:Request to RedHat
by Kanti Jadia 04 Mar '03

04 Mar '03

Note: Forwarded message attached -- Orignal Message -- From: Arko Provo Mukherjee <arkoprovo(a)peacefulaction.org> To: Kanti Jadia <j_kanti(a)rediffmail.com> Subject: Re: [Fsf-friends] Re:Request to RedHat

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Re:Request to RedHat
by Kanti Jadia 04 Mar '03

04 Mar '03

Hi all, The primary source of the name [GNU/]Linux is the projects which use them.And that includes us. So,in order to get the importance of GNU to the users i propose the following actions. 1.Urge the developers to use GNU/Linux (in websites/documentation/Code etc.). 2.Get involved and do a few corrections yourself. 3.If you work for a company,which uses [GNU/]Linux,get the word to your marketing department. Further suggestions awaited. Can we come up with a comprehensive list. regards Kanti Have been doing the some of the things above from quite some time. >Do you think any request to Red Hat to change the name of their >distro >to Red Hat GNU/Linux will work? >We can try that as it is the most popular distro and the name can >reach >many people. >Arko

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Request to RedHat
by Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay 04 Mar '03

04 Mar '03

Do you think any request to Red Hat to change the name of their distro to Red Hat GNU/Linux will work? We can try that as it is the most popular distro and the name can reach many people. Arko hi, some very critical issues being poked at in the mail above. one stating that RH is the most popular distribution, based on controversial empirical research data, i presume that it cannot be written as such. and two,the issue of branding. loathsome as it might seem to GNU/Linux community, branding and brand differentiation plays an important role in creating a market. Every company invests substantially in brand building and ensuring the brand recall. RH being a major commercial player in the game is no exception. The logo of the blazing redhat is one of the unique signatures in the market. That being the case, companies are usually not quite keen on changing and/or modifying the nature and statement of their product. This is not to say that people and companies do not change names. They do. Witness Accenture's new avataar and a host of others. But these are cash rich entities, question remains when it is imperative to keep the FLOSS momentum going, is it really necessary to nitpick ? Or in other words, on a scale of one to ten, how important do you think this advocacy is ? And how much of a 'brand dilution' will RH be keen on swallowing ? FLOSS is philosophy as much as economics. And market economics dictate that such renaming when the brand awareness curve is on the upswing is not really called for. while i agree with your viewpoint the perhaps FLOSS interests would be better served if your suggestion was incorporated, and this is also logically connected with your earlier posts - i am a bit surprised as to why you seem keen to take a stand on the list ! did you write to RH on a personal level, stating your reasons and they neither replied nor responded ? awaiting further knowledge regards sankarshan --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.459 / Virus Database: 258 - Release Date: 2/25/03

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Patents in India
by Kanti Jadia 03 Mar '03

03 Mar '03

Hi all, The various patents(including Software Patents) can be found http://patinfo.nic.in/ A FAQ on patents is at http://patinfo.nic.in/faq.html regards Kanti

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Eben Moglen on Free Software and MS
by KG Kumar 03 Mar '03

03 Mar '03

Eben Moglen, professor of law at Columbia University Law School, on the end of the Microsoft Era: http://www.linuxuser.co.uk/articles/issue27/lud27-free_software_matters.html

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Freedom Fonts
by Kanti Jadia 03 Mar '03

03 Mar '03

The free UCS scalable font collection is being maintained by Primoz Peterlin <primoz.peterlin AT biofiz.mf.uni-lj.si>. Have a look.It has the akruti fonts as well http://www.nongnu.org/freefont/ regards Kanti

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Feedback from Rourkee IIT...
by FN 01 Mar '03

01 Mar '03

To subscribe from this group, send an email to: rklug-subscribe(a)yahoogroups.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 1 Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 16:31:47 +0530 (IST) From: H S Rai <hsraidce(a)iitr.ernet.in> Subject: Debian GNU/Linux installation Debian is the only truly 'free' Linux distribution, with strict software policy guidelines and a human maintainer behind every package it distributes. It is funded and run by 900 volunteers all over the world, and is well-known for its ease of maintenance and security consciousness. The Setup, however, can be overwhelming for a non-technical user, even though it is of immense help to the expert, since he can customise his system to the fullest. I myself took some time before I could install Woody successfully. The install-documentation is somewhat terse and formal. This is a step-by-step guide to have a smooth installation of Debian GNU/Linux Woody r3.0 from its original CD set. ------------------------ The aboves were found at: http://www.symonds.net/~deep/stuff/linux/woody3inst.php may be visted for detail. -- H.S.Rai http://www.grex.org/~hsrai Registered Linux User # 223684 http://counter.li.org/cgi-bin/runscript/display-person.cgi?user=223684 : ####[ Linux One Stanza Tip (LOST) ]########################### Sub : Re-initialise /etc/inittab LOST #043 To re-initialise changes made to /etc/inittab without the need to reboot, do: '#init q' Init is the last step of the kernel boot sequence. "q" option re-examines and re-initialises /etc/inittab. ####<bish(a)nde.vsnl.net.in>################################### :

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Call for volunteers
by Kanti Jadia 01 Mar '03

01 Mar '03

The FSF-India website uses CVS now(at savannah.gnu.org). Volunteers are welcome to contribute. To start with we need help in redesigning the website. regards Kanti

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The Best Battleground for Linux?
by Soundara Rajan N.S. 28 Feb '03

28 Feb '03

The Best Battleground for Linux? Contributed by James Maguire, www.osOpinion.com, Part of the NewsFactor Network When dealing with applications like back-end accounting, it helps to be able to mold programs to an individual enterprise. Linux, with its open source approach, lends itself to this. Restaurant chain Papa John's (Nasdaq: PZZA) is an unlikely place for the great operating system war between Windows and Linux to play out. Papa John's motto, after all, is "Better Ingredients. Better Pizza." Pretty low-tech. But with 2,900 stores across the country, Papa John's has significant IT needs. In a recent major overhaul, the company replaced its vintage electronic cash registers with terminals that use Linux to link to back-end accounting. And Papa John's is not alone. Consider Regal Cinemas, which claims to be the world's largest motion picture exhibitor, with 5,663 screens in 36 states. The last time you bought an extra large popcorn with extra butter at a Regal theatre, that sale was transmitted to the chain's accounting department through a network running the Linux OS. Both businesses recently began using Linux for the same reasons as many other companies: The open source OS is markedly cheaper than Microsoft Windows; it requires less computing power to run; and its customizability means businesses can tweak it to fit their individual needs. A Third Battleground In fact, the market for customized business applications can be thought of as the third battleground between dominant Windows and upstart Linux. The first battleground is the server market. Estimates vary as to how much of the server market is run by Linux, but 20 percent is a commonly used figure. Linux has gained success in the server market because the individuals who run it, unlike average office workers, are comfortable dealing with the obscurities of programming code. If the kernel needs to be recompiled, that's no problem for the unusual breed of human known as the IT professional. The Second Battleground (The Tough One) The second battleground on which Linux and Windows are battling for market share in the desktop market. But unlike the customized business applications market or the server market, the desktop market is a tough sell for Linux. The problem? All of those Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) applications like Word and Excel that we know and love won't operate in the Linux environment without a lot of help, if at all. Even more than the Windows OS itself, those popular programs are the source of Microsoft's dominance on the desktop. An Open Third Market But the market for customized business applications, the Papa John's of the world, doesn't lean toward Microsoft as much the desktop market does. Without anchors like the Office suite, buyers are free to choose the best option without concern for previous proprietary standards. Microsoft, of course, will not quietly concede this lucrative market. But even if the software giant can lower its prices to fight back, it faces a critical disadvantage in the customized application market: the tweak factor. When dealing with applications like back-end accounting, it really helps to be able to mold the program to the individual enterprise. Linux, with its open source approach, lends itself to this. Since Microsoft does not release its code, its product cannot be custom tweaked for individual use. In the server and desktop market, this was a strength. The company guards the secret code, giving it a competitive advantage. This doesn't work in the customized business application market. What was once a strength is now a weakness. And Linux may step in to fill the gap. _______________________________________________________________________________ Posted by N.S. Soundara Rajan, Freelance IT journalist, Columnist "Deccan Herald", Spoken English Teacher & Knowledge networker ...connecting people to people, and people to knowledge

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Re: [ilug_sm] Workshop on GNU/Linux in Kolhapur ... inviting speakers
by FN 28 Feb '03

28 Feb '03

If you have any suggestions, please contact The GNU/Linuxer <thegnuer(a)yahoo.de> FN On Thu, 27 Feb 2003, The GNU/Linuxer wrote: > Hello LUGgers, > As a few of you know, I am a Second Year Student of Computer Science & > Engg. at D.Y.Patil College of Engg & Tech., Kolhapur. Today I talked to > my HOD about holding a two-day [preferably] workshop in my college on > GNU/Linux. He has given me the green signal. It is a great oppotunity > for us to promote the use of FLOSS in the South Maharashtra region. I > want you to conduct the workshop. Please let me know who are available > for the workshop which will be conducted preferably on weekend. I have > thought about the topics which are likely to be covered in the workshop > which is as follows. Do tell me about necessary additions if any. > 1. Brief Intro to GNU/Linux - The GPL, FSF, etc. > 2. Basic Installation of a GNU/Linux system > 3. About the CLI - Basic commands > 4. System Admin. > 5. Networking in GNU/Linux > 6. Network Security & Net Admin. > 7. Programming Environment in GNU/Linux etc. > Please please come forward to this event. Believe me, it's going to > change the [mis]conceptions about GNU/Linux by a great deal. > I am eagerly looking forward to your response ... > Bhaskar Ghose -- Frederick Noronha : http://www.bytesforall.org : When we speak of free Freelance Journalist : Goa India 403511 : software we refer to Ph 0091.832.409490 : Cell 0 9822 122436 : freedom, not price.

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GNOME translation...
by FN 28 Feb '03

28 Feb '03

Hi Christian, I came across a month-old page of stats from GNOME... of all places, via a LUG from Bangladesh. In India, a number of diverse efforts seem to be underway to localize GNU/Linux in the wide variety of regional and non-English languages we have here. It would be great if you could build closer links with groups working in this arena (particularly accessible through networks like the Indic-Computing forum on Sourceforge). I will share your stats with groups that could get further interested. Regards, FN ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: 24 Jan 2003 01:55:22 +0100 From: Christian Rose <menthos(a)menthos.com> To: gnome-i18n(a)gnome.org Cc: release-team(a)gnome.org, desktop-devel-list(a)gnome.org Subject: GNOME 2.2 Translation Statistics and Rankings Here we go again. Last week I summarized the translation statistics and sent it out to gnome-i18n(a)gnome.org, and as a week has passed it's probably a good idea to do so again. The numbers (percentage of translated messages) are taken from our 2.1 core translation status page (http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gtp/status/gnome-2.1-core/) and then I have sorted the languages by level of completedness, and ranked them. There is also the level of support (using the http://www.gnome.org/i18n/ definitions of "supported") the languages would recieve if GNOME 2.2 was released now. Enjoy! Last week's Difference Ranking Lang. Percent Level of support ranking in ranking ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 lv 100.00 Supported 1 1 nl 100.00 Supported 8 +7 1 sv 100.00 Supported 1 4 cs 99.98 Supported 4 4 da 99.98 Supported 5 +1 4 de 99.98 Supported 5 +1 4 es 99.98 Supported 1 -3 8 sk 99.78 Supported 15 +7 9 el 99.53 Supported 7 -2 10 sl 99.05 Supported 21 +11 11 pt_BR 98.61 Supported 13 +2 12 no 98.56 Supported 9 -3 13 vi 97.11 Supported 17 +4 14 ca 95.84 Supported 20 +6 15 mn 95.35 Supported -- +43 16 fi 94.83 Supported 11 -5 17 fr 94.75 Supported 10 -7 18 ms 91.63 Supported 12 -6 19 pl 91.62 Supported 16 -3 20 zh_TW 91.43 Supported 19 -1 21 ko 90.21 Supported 14 -7 22 ru 89.61 Supported 23 +1 23 bg 89.02 Supported 18 -5 24 zh_CN 87.11 Supported 24 25 ro 85.47 Supported 30 +5 26 hu 84.72 Supported 22 -4 27 uk 84.00 Supported 29 +2 28 pt 77.83 Partially supported 25 -3 29 be 75.09 Partially supported 26 -3 30 ja 75.00 Partially supported 27 -3 31 he 71.87 Partially supported 28 -3 32 tr 70.18 Partially supported 31 -1 33 it 64.28 Partially supported 32 -1 34 et 55.26 Partially supported 34 35 gl 46.98 Unsupported 33 -2 36 az 40.85 Unsupported 35 -1 37 am 39.08 Unsupported 36 -1 38 hi 37.98 Unsupported 37 -1 39 mk 36.82 Unsupported 38 -1 40 ar 36.02 Unsupported 39 -1 41 wa 33.00 Unsupported 40 -1 42 lt 32.33 Unsupported 41 -1 43 eu 30.20 Unsupported 42 -1 44 nn 27.50 Unsupported 43 -1 45 ta 25.12 Unsupported 44 -1 46 sq 24.00 Unsupported 45 -1 47 fa 4.32 Unsupported 46 -1 48 ga 3.64 Unsupported 47 -1 49 sp 2.38 Unsupported 48 -1 50 sr 2.38 Unsupported 49 -1 51 bs 2.31 Unsupported 50 -1 52 en_GB 1.48 Unsupported 51 -1 53 th 1.01 Unsupported 52 -1 54 bn 0.61 Unsupported -- +4 55 hr 0.47 Unsupported 53 -2 56 ia 0.32 Unsupported 54 -2 57 en@ipa 0.29 Unsupported 55 -2 58 cy 0.20 Unsupported 56 -2 59 es_ES 0.01 Unsupported 57 -2 So let's summarize. We have two new languages this week, Mongolian (mn) and Bengali (bn). Bengali enters the list at 54th place (Unsupported), but Mongolian makes the impossible possible and enters the list at a whopping 15th place (Supported). Sanlig Badral, Ochirbat Batzaya, Tegshbayar, Bayarsaihan and the other guys in the Mongolian team have certainly made an impressive start by jumping right in in the top crowd with over 95% translated messages! The Mongolian team started their work on GNOME translations less than a month ago, and in that short period of time they've managed to translate no less than 11455 messages. Incredible! We now have 27 supported languages (>80%), whereas we had only 23 last week. Out of those, 3 are at exactly 100% (also 3 last week). We have 7 partially supported languages (50%<x<80%), whereas we had 9 last week. The reduction here is most likely due to the increase of supported languages. Keep 'em coming... :-) Christian PS. If anyone wonders about language codes, you'll find them all explained on http://lcweb.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/englangn.html. DS. -- _____ _ _ _ | ___| __ ___ __| | ___ _ __(_) ___| | __ Freelance Journo, Goa India | |_ | '__/ _ \/ _` |/ _ \ '__| |/ __| |/ / http://linuxinindia.pitas.com | _|| | | __/ (_| | __/ | | | (__| < http://www.bytesforall.org |_| |_| \___|\__,_|\___|_| |_|\___|_|\_\ http://opennews.indianissues.org -- Frederick Noronha * Freelance Journalist * Goa * India 832.409490 / 409783 Writing with a difference... on what makes *the* difference

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BusinessWeek on Linux
by Raj Mathur 26 Feb '03

26 Feb '03

[Cross-posted] The BusinessWeek Online of March 3, 2003 has a large section devoted to Linux: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/toc/03_09/B382203linux.htm Contents: The Linux Uprising How a ragtag band of software geeks is threatening Sun and Microsoft--and turning the computer world upside down Pecked by Penguins So far, Microsoft's attempts to counter the Linux threat have come up short Commentary: Tech Outfits Should Take Notes Online Extra: The Big Guys Latch Onto Linux As the startups struggle or burn out, heavyweights such as IBM, Dell, Oracle, and HP are moving quickly to dominate this new market Online Extra: Red Flags for Red Hat Though the Linux sales-and-support outfit has seen strong recent growth, some analysts think the stock is overvalued Online Extra: Next from Open Source: Killer Apps? Now, programmers are going beyond operating systems to build business software products based on open code Online Extra: Before Linux Is on Every Desktop... ...It's more likely to keep making greater strides in single-use areas, such as cash registers, than in consumers' PCs Online Extra: Sun: It's Not "Linux or Nothing" CEO Scott McNealy answers those who say the free OS threatens his Unix-based products: "A vote for Linux is a vote for Unix" Online Extra: "Programmers Are Like Artists" Linux expert Bruce Perens on the motives of people who work on open-source software -- and the communities it creates -- Raj Mathur raju(a)kandalaya.org http://kandalaya.org/ It is the mind that moves

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GNULinuxInIndia o Feb 26, 2003
by FN 26 Feb '03

26 Feb '03

e88~~\ 888b | 888 | / 888 888 ,e, d888 |Y88b | 888 | L 888 888-~88e e88~\888 " /~~~8e 8888 __ | Y88b | 888 | I 888 888 888 d888 888 888 88b 8888 | | Y88b | 888 | N 888 888 888 8888 888 888 e88~-888 Y888 | | Y88b| Y88 | U 888 888 888 Y888 888 888 C888 888 "88__/ | Y888 "8__/ X 888 888 888 "88_/888 888 "88_-888 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Formerly LinuxInIndia * Compiled by: Frederick Noronha * Feb 26,2003 -------------------------------------------------------------------- .-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. GNU/LINUX... IN EDUCATION: Vinayak <vinayak_hegde(a)softhome.net> an APGDST student at the NCST in Juhu from the Mumbai LUG <linuxers(a)mm.ilug-bom.org.in> lists reasons why GNU/Linux makes sense in education: o GNU/Linux is the best operating system when it comes to education. students can tinker with the internal of the system and get to learn a lot in the process. o Easy to fix. Commercial support price is not exorbitant. You are not tied down to a particular vendor.... o Most Reputed Institutes and R&D organisations (IIT, IISc some RECs, TIFR, C-DAC, NASA etc) use GNU/Linux. o Open Standards compliant. o Almost Virus-free. o Most technologies and standards are first implemted in GNU/Linux and then elseware. (examples being first OS to be ported to Intel Itanium architecture) o Unimaginably scalable (Runs from anything from wristwatches and PDAs to cluster supercomputers and mainframes). o Now backed by major corporations such as IBM and Oracle. o Very customisable as source code is available. o Last but not the least free (as in "free beer" :D ). So extremely cost-effective. .-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. GNUunify ALL INDIA FREE SOFTWARE FESTIVAL: The Symbiosis Institute of Computer Studies and Research(SICSR), under its annual Unify festival, organized the first ever Free Software Festival in India on Feb 15-16, 2003. For a report of the event contact Kanti Jadia (j_kanti(a)rediffmail.com) URL's for reference o http://www.gnunify.org o http://www.symbiosiscomputer.com o http://www.iitb.ac.in o http://www.vjti.ac.in o http://www.plug.org.in o http://www.ilug-bom.org.in/ o http://www.simputer.org o http://www.mit.gov.in Perhaps one could also add: gnu.org.in -- the home page of the Free Software Foundation (India) -- and http://www.linux-india.org (LinuxIndia). .-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. FINALLY, SOMETHING IN INDIAN LANGUAGES: IndLinux Hindi v0.37 (milan) released: Guntupalli Karunakar <karunakar(a)freedomink.org> that indefitagable campaigner for Indic solutions in GNU/Linux, came up with this announcement on Feb 20. IndLinux Hindi v0.37 (milan) is released Download it from http://www.indlinux.org/downloads/index.php or directly from http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/indlinux/IndLinux-Hindi-0.37.tar.gz?down… Read release, installation and usage notes at http://www.indlinux.org/doc/IndLinux-Hindi-0.37-README.txt More about the IndLinux team at http://www.indlinux.org .-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. NEWS FROM EASTERN INDIA: Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay <sankarshanm(a)softhome.net> sent in some interesting udpates. o Nirmalya Lahiri and Sankarshan himself have managed to get up and running the LTSP at a local privately run college [Sarsuna College] with 50 PCs. This college for all practical administrative purposes has shifted to the OSS platform, with major IT related administrative functions being carried out with least increase in cost and major value addition. Staff orientation was also without major hitches and the system is up and running for the past 6 months. o Both have also developed and put in place a DSS/MIS for a government aided college at BudgeBudge that takes care of related executive decision making ability. o A consortium model library model capable of being scaled up to handle central libraries is in the pipeline for implementation at universities. o Rohan Sen <rohansen(a)myrealbox.com> has developed a prototype fully functional, scalable and robust payroll program that is currently smoothly running at Surendranath College, another Govt aided college at Kolkata. o Currently a self learning Knowledge Base is being developed using the latest release of Oracle and Content Management Systems. Thank you for your kind words for this modest newsletter Sankarshan! FN .-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. GNU/LINUX... AND PCQ: Below is a listing of GNU/Linux software featuring in recent issues of Indian mainstream PC mag, PCQuest. (We do wish PCQuest would focus more on GNU/Linux... and stop mixing up terms like Free Software and 'freeware'). July 2001 * The latest Linux distribution from Red Hat Feb 2002 * Shusha and Shivaji fonts for Linux. March 2002 * A file-splitting utility for GNU/Linux (Indianware) May 2002 * Simple tool to split large files into smaller files. June 2002 * Sniffer and protocol analyzer... by Rohit Sharma July 2002 * GNU/Linux section of indiwiz.com in PDF format July 2002 * Bulk mailer written in Perl for GNU/Linux Aug 2002 * Cyberoam, providing Internet via cable Oct 2002 * Indix: project to develop Indian lang support for GNU/Linux. With modified X-windows, development toolkits and a terminal emulator program Nov 2002 * Indix. oprint converts Indic text to PostScript .-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. LAP -- TAKING GNU/LINUX TO EDUCATION: Raju Mathur <raju(a)linux-delhi.org> credits the "unflagging efforts" of Prateek Khanna and Dhruv Gami for helping to get up and running the Linux Access Project (LAP) home page. See http://lap.linux-delhi.org/ They are using a Wiki (TWiki) as the collaborative tool, so feel free to create an account for yourself and add content and comments. LAP, the GNU/Linux Access Project is an initiative for popularising Linux in education. .-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. NEWS FROM THE TAMIL FRONT: vvenkataramanan <venkat(a)tamillinux.org> informs us about having written a new font download tool (BASH shell script). This downloads all frequently used Tamil fonts (TSCII, TAB, TAM, Vikatan, Kumudam, Kalki, Murasu-Anjal compatible WebTamil fonts, etc.). With this he plans to address the following problems for Tamil linux users; o Downloading fonts to read various pages one by one. o Installing truetype fonts and making it available to X Says VV: "It uses GNU wget to ftp download all fonts at one go from my employer's ftp server (real fast), use ttmkfdir to create font scales and update fontpath with chkfontpath utility. (I have tested this in few machines running RH and Mandrake, I will be glad if someone tests it in SuSE and Debian and more). I plan to add few more ftp servers where I will maintain fontpools (any volunteers for space?)" Some more quotes: "The idea came out of Ximian Red Carpet for GNOME (http://www.ximian.com). I wanted to write some unified downloader/installer for everything tamil (fonts, keymans, akaram editor, Unicode editor, Vasee's TamilTeX package, Sivaraj's console tools, atleast one Tamil Linux Howto. This will make the life of anyone willing to migrate to tamil desktop simple. First step though is to make it work with fonts fully. It draws heavy inspiration from similar utility by Sebastino Vigna for Microsoft's free webfonts and some similar tools for Debian." It is available for download from ftp://ftp.tamillinux.org/apps/TamilFontsGet.sh and the documentation is at http://www.tamillinux.org/fonts.html .-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. CHANGES AT TAMILLINUX.ORG SITE: Venkat also announces some "long pending" changes to the tamillinux.org site - listing some latest developments in Mandrake 9.0rc1, GTK2 VP modules of Dinesh, Vasee's kimaps, the Tamil Linux Howto, etc. .-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. MAGAZINE COMPLETELY IN FREE SOFTWARE: V. Sasi Kumar <vsasi(a)vsnl.com> shares that the Laboratory in Informatics for the Liberal Arts (LILA) of the Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya has brought out a magazine named LILA devoted to futuristic computing. Says he: "They say that, to their knowledge, this is the first magazine in India to be manufactured completely in Free Software, and also the first to be brought out under the Free Documentation Licence. They propose to have Free Software as its major theme, with other aspects of contemporary trends in computing also included. No price is mentioned on the magazine. Hope it is 'free' as in 'free beer'! ;-)" Check out: hindivishwa.org Email: hindiuniv(a)nda.vsnl.net.in .-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. USING GNU/LINUX? Let your loyalty show... register at http://counter.li.org/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------- YOUR INPUTS and criticism to this newsletter are welcome. Contact at fred at bytesforall dot org --COPYLEFT 2003, GPL. May be freely circulated provided entire text is retained. FN --------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Re: Contacts in Chennai, and other issues
by FN 26 Feb '03

26 Feb '03

Jaya, my friends at the Free Software Forum-India are committed to working towards Indian language solutions. I'll send across your query to them. FN On Tue, 25 Feb 2003, C.P. Jayalakshmi wrote: > Hi Fred, > > I was wondering if you know of people whom I can meet and network on Linux > and other Open Source networking partners, especially for use in the > NGO/development sector. > > Are you aware that Bellanet has been one of the key technical partners in > the development and management of D-Groups, a collaboration platform > written in open source softwares ( XML and Post Nuke). There are over a 100 > lists that are now operating under the d-groups platform. > > We were keen to make such capability available in local languages, say > Hindi or Tamil or Chinese, and we would be keen to partner with agencies > that are involved in it. > > May be you can make a request posting in your list , and give us your > references and contacts. > > Thanks for taking out the time. > > Regards, > > Jaya > > PS. I certainly wanted to meet with Prof. Ashok Jhunjunwala, do you have > his contact email, phone, etc? > > > > > C.P. Jayalakshmi > Senior Program Specialist > Bellanet International Secretariat > 250 Albert St. 5th Floor > Ottawa, Ontario K1P 6M1 Canada > (PO Box 8500, Ottawa ON K1G 3H9 Canada) > Tel: (613) 236-6163 X 2526 Fax: (613)-238-7230 > Email: jchittoor(a)bellanet.org Web: www.bellanet.org > -- _____ _ _ _ | ___| __ ___ __| | ___ _ __(_) ___| | __ Freelance Journo, Goa India | |_ | '__/ _ \/ _` |/ _ \ '__| |/ __| |/ / http://linuxinindia.pitas.com | _|| | | __/ (_| | __/ | | | (__| < http://www.bytesforall.org |_| |_| \___|\__,_|\___|_| |_|\___|_|\_\ http://opennews.indianissues.org -- Frederick Noronha * Freelance Journalist * Goa * India 832.409490 / 409783 Writing with a difference... on what makes *the* difference

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Natl conf on 'Open Source software
by Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay 25 Feb '03

25 Feb '03

From: Sayamindu Dasgupta <unmadindu(a)Softhome.net> To: "Nagarjuna G." <nagarjun(a)hbcse.tifr.res.in> Cc: FN <fred(a)bytesforall.org>, fsf-friends(a)gnu.org.in, fsf-wg(a)gnu.org.in Date: 22 Feb 2003 11:46:06 +0530 On Fri, 2003-02-21 at 13:17, Nagarjuna G. wrote: > > This event doesn't recognize the free software movement at all. They > didn't invite any free software speaker, nor did they use the term > anywhere. If the hackers of Bangalore are alert possibly a note could > be distributed to the participants about the free software position. > This kind of events are likely to grow more in number. This I feel is > a parasitic activity, feeding on free software movement without any > acknolwedgement. We should write release a press note on this. > > Nagarjuna > > I agree here. We are finding less and less reference to Free Software each day. This is a very dangerous situation, as people tend to forget the underlying passion that has sustained the movement - the passion for Freedom. Unless something is done fast, I see India going the Mexico way. -sdg- -- Sayamindu Dasgupta [ http://www.peacefulaction.org/sayamindu/ ] hi, the main cause of lesser references to the FSF probably lies in market economics, check out any IT market survey and the hot ticket there is Linux. what is happening is that the cult brand effect is diluting the philosphy behind the entire GNU/Linux initiative. And a focal of the FSF should be to relocate this philosophical inertia. Come to think of it, people are interested in getting their work done, fast and efficiently. But what is the harm if efficiency and effectiveness is married with a little bit of altruism. the issue that 'information and knowledge is required to be free' needs to be addressed. Not fanatic evangalism, but reasoned approach to the issue can help bring the idea and the philosophy to the forefront. The passion for freedom is one of the basic urges of man, each man tends to be free. and when he finds that his freedom is in shackles, his aims thwarted, he braves all odds to overcome the crisis. the passionate espousal of the freedom keeps FSF vibrant and it is time that some tweaking is done to it. regards sankarshan --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.456 / Virus Database: 256 - Release Date: 2/18/03

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Bill Gates home town had to choose GNU/Linux
by KG Kumar 25 Feb '03

25 Feb '03

The 40,000 pages of paperwork generated by the construction of Bill Gates super-mansion brought a storage crisis to the town of Modena. GNU/Linux, not Windows, came to the rescue. See: http://www.aaxnet.com/news/L981010.html -- KG Kumar Indian TeX Users Group kg at tug dot org dot in ------------------------

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SITEWATCH: ASIAOSC.ORG -- Open Source and Free Software in Asia...
by FN 25 Feb '03

25 Feb '03

URL : http://www.asiaosc.org [English........] [15]Malaysian end-user workshop on open source software Posted by: nsh on Monday, February 24, 2003 - 10:13 AM [16]Centre News The [17]Malaysian National Computer Confederation recently held a end-user appreciation workshop that showcased open source software solutions for the typical office environment. [18]Read more... [19]Read Full Story (19 Reads) comments? [20]Printer friendly page [21]Send this story to a friend [22]Richard Stallman visits India Posted by: ImranWilliamSmith on Sunday, February 23, 2003 - 02:51 AM [23]Centre News [24]Richard Stallman is currently visiting [25]India. He is talking at several locations, and there is some very positive feedback from those who heard him speak. [26]Read more... [27]Read Full Story (35 Reads) 1 Comment [28]Printer friendly page [29]Send this story to a friend [30]Peru Congressman's anti-Microsoft letter now translated into Chinese Posted by: admin on Thursday, February 20, 2003 - 12:27 PM [31]Localization User [32]eulerkhc has kindly made a [33]Chinese translation of Congressman Villanueva's [34]letter to Microsoft. The letter explains why the Peru Government is against proprietary software such as Microsoft products. [35]Read more... [36]Read Full Story (45 Reads) 2 Comments [37]Printer friendly page [38]Send this story to a friend [39]Knowledgebase reaches 400 pages Posted by: ImranWilliamSmith on Thursday, February 13, 2003 - 06:08 PM [40]Centre News We are pleased to see that the [41]knowledgebase is growing fast, and now contains over 400 pages related to open source, localization and Asia. [42]Read more... [43]Read Full Story (127 Reads) comments? [44]Printer friendly page [45]Send this story to a friend [46]Introduction to Open Source Licensing Posted by: sujita on Friday, January 31, 2003 - 03:35 PM [47]Open source legal Today we see a steadily increasing use of open source software throughout the world. This increase has directly led to an increase in the number of open source licenses. Because of this, the whole topic of licensing open source software has become very complex. This article attempts to describe the basics of open source licensing for people new to open source. [48]Read more... [49]Read Full Story (178 Reads) 5 Comments [50]Printer friendly page [51]Send this story to a friend [52]Non-Technical Comparison of 10 Major Linux Distributions Posted by: ImranWilliamSmith on Monday, January 13, 2003 - 10:32 AM [53]Linux A new user to Linux may be overwhelmed by the number of possible distributions. Here is a non-technical comparison of 10 of the most popular distributions. [54]Read more... [55]Read Full Story (325 Reads) 6 Comments [56]Printer friendly page [57]Send this story to a friend [58]Wiki for producing local content Posted by: admin on Wednesday, December 11, 2002 - 11:40 AM [59]Localization A recent trend in software may help non-technical people to rapidly collaborate and produce local content. [60]Read more... [61]Read Full Story (135 Reads) comments? [62]Printer friendly page [63]Send this story to a friend Recent Articles � [64]Malaysian end-user workshop on open source software (Feb 24, 2003) � [65]Richard Stallman visits India (Feb 23, 2003) � [66]Peru Congressman's anti-Microsoft letter now translated into Chinese (Feb 20, 2003) � [67]Knowledgebase reaches 400 pages (Feb 13, 2003) � [68]Contact Information (Feb 13, 2003) � [69]About AsiaOSC (Feb 13, 2003) � [70]Introduction to Open Source Licensing (Jan 31, 2003) � [71]Non-Technical Comparison of 10 Major Linux Distributions (Jan 13, 2003) � [72]AsiaOSC website to be soft-launched on 15th Jan 2003 (Dec 19, 2002) � [73]Wiki for producing local content (Dec 11, 2002) Poll FSF-India was launched in September 2002. Are you interested in an FSF branch in your own country? (_) Yes (_) No (_) Not sure Vote [ [74]Results | [75]Polls ] Votes: 10 Comments: 2 User's Login Username ______________ Password ______________

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[bytesforall_readers] RE: Re: [Indic-computing-users] NEWS: International Open Source Network(localisation too) (fwd)
by FN 22 Feb '03

22 Feb '03

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List of *all* GNU/LUGs in India
by FN 22 Feb '03

22 Feb '03

Can anyone help to build a list of all GLUGs, LUGs and FSUG (Free Software User Groups) in India? My earlier list is rather incomplete and dated. Perhaps we are missing out on a whole lot of newcomers. Also, what plans does FSF-India have to promote the growth of new GLUGs, by sharing ideas with them or even mentoring a group when it is in a nascent stage? Thanks, FN -- _____ _ _ _ | ___| __ ___ __| | ___ _ __(_) ___| | __ Freelance Journo, Goa India | |_ | '__/ _ \/ _` |/ _ \ '__| |/ __| |/ / http://linuxinindia.pitas.com | _|| | | __/ (_| | __/ | | | (__| < http://www.bytesforall.org |_| |_| \___|\__,_|\___|_| |_|\___|_|\_\ http://opennews.indianissues.org -- Frederick Noronha * Freelance Journalist * Goa * India 832.409490 / 409783 Writing with a difference... on what makes *the* difference

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Natl conf on 'Open Source software: a new direction for India?'
by FN 22 Feb '03

22 Feb '03

What do you make of this? FN ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Should you require any additional information, please do contact me. No.730, CMH Road, 1st Stage, Indiranagar, Bangalore ? 560 038 Telefax: 080-5215556, 5219016, 5202313 Email: maitsr(a)vsnl.com Website: www.mait.com PRESS RELEASE MAIT ORGANIZES NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON "OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE: A NEW DIRECTION FOR INDIA?" Sponsored by IBM India Ltd. at Bangalore � The Event is to explore and pave a new direction for the Country in its stride towards e-enablement and e-Governance. � Exhibition by leading Vendors coinciding the Conference Bangalore, February 20, 2003: MAIT, with the support of IBM India Ltd. and Department of IT & BT, Government of Karnataka is organising a one-day National Conference on "Open Source Software: A New Direction for India?" on the 26th of February, 2003 at Hotel Leela Palace, Bangalore. The Conference will be inaugurated by Mr. R V Deshpande, Hon'ble Minister for Large & Medium Industries, Government of Karnataka and the Keynote address and Valedictory address will be delivered by Mr. Abraham Thomas, Managing Director, IBM India and Mr. Ashok Soota, President, CII respectively. The event would witness a Panel Discussion on "Proprietary Vs Open Source Software" where the IT Secretaries of leading States and other Govt. officials who drive the IT in their respective States will be the Panelists. To name some of them would be, Mr. Rajeev Chawla, Secretary, e-Governance, Govt. of Karnataka; Mr. Vivek Harinarain, Secretary ? IT, Govt. of Tamil Nadu, Mr. Sanjay Singh, Secretary to CM & Secretary ? IT, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh and Dr. Harbakhsh Singh, Secretary ? IT, Govt of Haryana. Mr. Vinay Deshpande, Managing Trustee, Simputer Trust will be the Moderator of this discussion. The eminent speakers at this Conference also include Dr. Nadadur Janardhan, e-Governance Advisor & Program Integrator, DCA21; Prof. S Sadagopan, Director, IIIT Bangalore; Mr. Sandeep Menon, Linux Business Manager, IBM ASEAN/SA; Prof. D B Phatak, Head-KRSIT, IIT Mumbai; Mr. Sachin Dabir, Head Enterprise Sales, Red Hat India; Mr. Ashok Pandey, President & GM, Turbolinux Inc., Beijing, China; Mr. Frank Luksic, Country Manager, Software Group, IBM and Mr. Srikant Sundararajan, Vice President, Professional Services & CTO, HCL Infosystems Ltd. The implementation Case Studies from prominent foreign countries and also by NIC and C-DAC will be featured at this Conference. Coinciding the event, leading vendors like IBM, HCL, Red Hat, Netcore Solutions, Turbolinux, Altosys, etc. will be exhibiting their products. Describing the objectives of this Conference, Mr. Venkat Kedlaya, Chairman, Southern Region, MAIT, told ? "the event is to emphasise the importance and usage of Open Source Software as a viable alternative for rapid deployment of e-Governance in Government departments and other Government owned organisations. One of the key issues in deploying Information Technology solutions to improve Governance is the need for using non-proprietary software platforms. The Government agencies in Japan, France, Germany, China and the United States are adopting Open Source Software (OSS) in a big way. Developments and advances in OSS have helped user agencies to move to Open Source. Even big companies like IBM, Sun, and HP are supporting the OSS platform. He also said that the added benefit to Government is the ability to reduce Total Cost of Ownership when OSS is chosen. Government can now specify OSS as an alternative to proprietary software. Mr. Abraham Thomas, Managing Director, IBM India said, "As the importance of open source grows in the marketplace, governments around the world are increasing focus on Linux. Linux brings together all the essential features for an operating system like security, flexibility, independence, reduced cost, good performance, reliability and ease of migration. The use of open computing in the Government IT infrastructure would result in improved service to the citizen. We at IBM India have undertaken various initiatives to build awareness and encourage government policy makers to understand the value open computing brings to the national IT strategy" The conference would debate on issues and concerns like support, local language interface, stability, inter operability with legacy applications and the viability to use OSS in desk top environment. More than 200 delegates from Central and State Government Departments/ Agencies, Public Sector Undertakings, Corporate Sector and other Users of OSS and representatives from both IT and Developer communities will be taking part in this Conference. About MAIT: Set up in 1982 for purposes of scientific, educational and IT industry promotion, MAIT has emerged as an effective, influential and dynamic organisation. Representing hardware, training R&D and associated services sectors of the Indian IT Industry, MAIT's charter is to develop a global competitive Indian IT Industry, promote the usage of IT in India, strengthen the role of IT in national economic development and promote business through international alliances. For more information on MAIT please visit www.mait.com Thanks and regards, Vandana _________________________________________________________________ Vandana Rao Corporate Communications, IBM India Limited, 1st floor, Express Building, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi 110 002 (INDIA) ph # 91-11-23702020 Extn: 573 fx # 91-11-23702021 E-mail: vandanar(a)in.ibm.com

3 2

Hello
by Arko Provo Mukherjee 22 Feb '03

22 Feb '03

Hello Friends, I am new to this group. I decided to join this group after I heard RMS' lecture in JADAVPUR UNIVERSITY in KOLKATA. I am a school student in class XII with my Board Exams infront. My fields of interest are GNU/LINUX, C PROGRAMMING and MUSIC Arko

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NEWS: Microsoft woos academic world
by FN 22 Feb '03

22 Feb '03

---------- Forwarded message ---------- URL: http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/1588091 February 20, 2003 Microsoft Woos Academic World By [72]Thor Olavsrud Continuing efforts to woo academia, [73]Microsoft ([74]Quote, [75]Company Info) Thursday said it will release Visual Studio .NET 2003 Academic Edition to U.S. schools in conjunction with professional versions of the development environment. Additionally, the source code for a number of environment's components will be made available under Microsoft's [76]Shared Source Initiative through an Academic Tools Source License. The company also announced the [77]25 recipients of its 2003 Microsoft Research (MSR) University Relations Innovation Excellence research grants. Microsoft selected the 25 recipients from 152 submissions, and will award $3.5 million to the chosen projects. The open source community has made tremendous strides in the halls of academia, where a platform like Linux has great appeal for students because it is free and it can be taken apart and examined. This has the potential to become a big problem for a company like Microsoft, which is generally regarded with antipathy by the open source community for its perceived ruthless business practices and the jealous guarding of its secrets -- a practice that is at loggerheads with a culture that has grown up with the mantra "information needs to be free." A future in which generations of young programmers are brought into the Linux fold and not trained to utilize Microsoft platforms could be a disaster for the company. To combat this problem, Microsoft created the Shared Source Initiative, a program which gives access to the Windows source code to certain customers, partners, developers and academics. "Today's announcements are about working with academia to foster innovation and help students and professors be successful," said Eric Rudder, senior vice president for the Developer and Platform Evangelism Division at Microsoft. "Academic developers are defining the future at educational institutions around the world. Our mission is to make our software and programs so easily accessible that students and educators are limited only by their own imaginations." With the new Academic Edition, and the [78]Shared Source Common Language Infrastructure (CLI), also known as 'Rotor' -- which offers up the core source code of the .NET Framework -- Microsoft aims to give students and educators a look under the hood of its environment and allows them to use multiple programming languages, including Eiffel, Scheme, C# and Java to learn their craft. "The Shared Source Initiative, and particularly 'Rotor,' is vital in helping us achieve the learning objectives of our .NET MSc Distributed Systems Development graduate program," said David Grey, professor of computer science at University of Hull in England. "We strongly believe that providing our students with the inner workings of the .NET Framework and the Shared Source CLI as part of this degree program will give them a significant edge in research and in expertise needed to excel in the areas of Web services and mobile and distributed computing." Visual Studio .NET 2003 Academic Edition will be available through subscription to the MSDN Academic Alliance program, which computer science departments can join for $799. The Visual Studio .NET Academic Tools Source Licensing Program will become available through the Shared Source Initiative in summer 2003, providing access to the source code for Assignment Manager Server, Assignment Manager Faculty Client and Assignment Manager Student Client. The program will allow professors, students, academic researchers and independent developers to use, modify and redistribute the licensed source code of the Assignment Manager for both commercial and non-commercial purposes, including the creation and distribution of derivatives for non-Windows-based applications. (#)

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Software Patents hurt even M$.
by Arun M 21 Feb '03

21 Feb '03

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/53/29419.html SQL Server developers face huge royalty bills. How many, how much? A Washington court ruling could see SQL Server developers liable for millions of dollars in licensing fees. The judgment concerns a contract dispute between Timeline Inc. and Microsoft, over three patents relating to datamarts. In Microsoft's interpretration of its licence with Timeline, published in a press release in July 1999, "all users of Microsoft SQL Server 7, Office 2000 and other Microsoft products that utilize this type of technology are unencumbered by Timeline's patents."

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Re: [Indic-computing-devel] Testing OpenType support
by Arun M 20 Feb '03

20 Feb '03

> >> I am doing some testing for Telugu, using Pothana2000 font, on Gnome > > > > > > Is it a Free Font ? Can i get it ? > > > Free as in 'free beer' , available from > http://www.kavya-nandanam.com/Pothana2k-95.exe Any idea about Free as in 'freedom' Telugu OpenType font ? It would be nice if some one start working on converting Akruti Telugu font to OpenType. We should try to make one indian language OTF font. (Tamil, Malayalam and Bengla seems to be ready)

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RMS in Kolkata...
by FN 19 Feb '03

19 Feb '03

URL : http://www.ilug-cal.org/node.php?id=78 RMS Speaks [icon.gif] Submitted by [14]sankarshan on Wednesday, February 19, 2003 - 09:44 Richard M Stallman, more famous by his acronym RMS, spoke for the greater part of 120 mins at K P Basu Memorial Hall of the Jadavpur University, at the meet organized by JU. The iLUG-Calcutta members were part of the audience and this is a account of the proceedings. RMS was scheduled to speak on GNU/Linux OS & the Free Software Movement. While generally not deviating from his previous speeches and presentations, the occasion was made memorable by the packed audience. For a hall with a comfortable seating capacity of ~200, there were those who stood & sat on the aisle and passage(s) throughout the 2 hours. The session began with a prelude by Dr A N Basu the VC of JU, introducing RMS to the audience, though his frank admission was noted - RMS needs introduction to only a very few. His short introduction contained a viewpoint on the importance of societal knowledge and the need to perform acts for the greater good of the society. The Pro-VC of JU, Dr Ashok R Thakur, in his short speech integrated the need to program software with the concept of freedom [freedom as espoused by the FSF]. The freedom to run the program, the freedom to study how the program works and adapt it to one's needs, the freedom to redistribute the program to help users and the freedom to improve the program and release the improvements to the public. In this he used a Russian parable of Gorky to illustrate the untiring courage of path breakers and evangelists who had the courage and the vision to forsee the need to make people aware of freedom or the lack of it in their daily life. He so correctly pointed out that the issue transcends the economic sphere into a socio-political domain. The business model of proprietary and monopolistic software and the associated development model needs to be put under the scanner according to him. RMS expressed the need to speak about the socio-political issue associated with software development. In his opinion, every software project has a self-serving nature in that its richness is built when the community participates in its evolution. A community based development model implements good and moral rules of the society and thus helps in building up the community itself. The software slowly evolves like a city. By means of the now legendary Xerox laser printer model at MIT, he drew a picture of how the proprietary model involving Non Disclosure Agreement(s) stifle productivity and lead to a closed community of programmers working in secrecy. And although paradoxical, Free Software support actually follows the laws of market economics so as to ensure that the developmental model is not hindered or hampered in any way. While non-free software represents in his belief, a choice of "masters", the goal of Free Software is the one that should be more publicised. At this point he talked about the motivation for people who write/create free software. He thinks, and is aware of, the need for people to break the shackles. Some do it for the fun of it, some as a consequence of their political idealogical leanings while some do it for money and appreciation. But whatever maybe the reason for creation of such software, the GNU/Linux movement is a strong one. He expressed a desire to make people more aware of the role of the FSF in the proliferation of the strong and vibrant free software scene. The end part of his talk was dominated by the DMCA, Software patents as well as the trusted computing initiative from Intel & Windows. And hypothesizing about a time when such shackles on intellectual property would make it impossible to work in a computing environment. RMS's alter ego St IGNUcius of the Church of Emacs also dropped in with his holy blessings on the proceedings. Some of the memorable quotes of the day : On being asked if using vi [in the Church of Emacs was a sin] he admitted [as St IGNUcius ] that using vi was not a sin but a penance. On the restrictive and evil influence of monopolistic and proprietary business model, RMS described the incident with the laser printer and the need for a source code as "We became prisoners of our own software" At the end of the 2 hours, after the distribution of 'some GNU/Linux' stickers was over, the members of the ilUG-Calcutta had a short but interesting interaction with RMS. While personal doubts about the licensing regime and the FSF movement were answered, the individual feelings are best left to be discussed in a meeting. RMS's writings, speeches and quotes as well as reports on recent activities are available at his personal home page [16]www.stallman.org

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SITEWATCH: http://www.ilug-margao.org
by FN 19 Feb '03

19 Feb '03

In case any of you didn't yet reach here... FN ------------------------ URL : http://www.ilug-margao.org [1]Welcome to India GNU/Linux Users Group--GOA-Margao [2]signup | login ______________ search [3]Home [4]Photo Gallery [5]Contributions [6]Register! [7]Web Links [8]Feedback � [9]Home � [10]Contributions � [11]Meetings � [12]Members List � [13]Private_Messages � [14]Projects � [15]Surveys � [16]Tutorials � [17]Web Links � [18]Your Account Chat room for the GNU/Linux enthusiasts Nick Name: ____________________ Enter Chat Who's Online Members options: [login.gif] [19]Login [logout.gif] [20]Logout [magniglass.gif] [21]Lost password? _________________________________________________________________ Registered members [overall.gif] Overall 48 _________________________________________________________________ Become a member? You are Anonymous user. You can register for free by clicking [22]here LinuxWeeklyNews.... �[23]GUADEC 2003 to Attract Global Audience of GNOME Developers and Enthusiasts �[24]Debian Weekly News - February 18th, 2003 �[25]SuSE security updates to imp and mod_php4 �[26]Asian Open Source Centre launched (Bioinformatics.org) �[27]OpenPKG security update to lynx �[28]WiFi Caravan to Prove Extreme Mobile Connectivity �[29]Sun Microsystems Laboratories Contributes XACML Security Standard �[30]OpenPKG security update to php, apache �[31]OpenPKG security update to w3m �[32]Gentoo Weekly Newsletter -- Volume 2, Issue 7 [33]read more... About Us Welcome! The Margao GNU/Linux User Group [MGLUG] is a non-profit organization. Margao GLUG's primary aim is to bring together GNU/Linux Users, enthusiasts and professionals so as to discuss and share various issues/ideas pertaining to GNU/Linux. We are a focused group of enthusiasts who want to promote the idea of GNU/Linux and encourage the use of [34]Free Software. Most of the MGLUG members are actively involved in the [35]Goa Schools Computer Project [GSCP]. Newbies who are planning to migrate to GNU/Linux need not worry as we will gladly provide you with a framework and try our best to answer all your queries. For more info, go through the meetings section. Enjoy your stay! Please read the [36]disclaimer before continuing. CD Library! [37]announcements The much awaited CD library is now in place. [38]Click here for a listing of the current GNU/Linux software available for sharing. For those of you ordering personal copies, we will try and process the order within 48hrs.... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ....Tutorials have just been uploaded [49]announcements Tutorials which will help Newbies shift to Linux.....Dual Boot with Windows, Some Myths about linux..... Bash scripting and much much more...Just click on Tutorials ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Website maintained and updated by: Arvind Clemente & Andrew Suares

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Sun getting suburn
by vsasi＠vsnl.com 19 Feb '03

19 Feb '03

Here is a report from ZDNet India that should gladden our hearts (except that they say Linux, no Gnu) V. Sasi Kumar ------------------------------ Linux is giving Sun a burn Charles Cooper, Special to ZDNet India, February 17, 2003 When Sun Microsystems got started in 1982, companies such as Wang and Data General dominated the hardware business. In less than a decade, this upstart Unix outfit was a billion-dollar-plus phenom while the once-mighty minicomputer makers had been consigned to irrelevance. Such is the impact of what Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen calls a disruptive technology. Sun, which won IT converts by offering minicomputer customers less expensive and less proprietary systems, had come up with a technology-price recipe that the incumbents could not match. How times have changed nearly two decades later, with Sun now the one scrambling to remain relevant. As the Unix server market continues to shrink, sales of Intel-based servers running the Linux operating system nearly doubled in the fourth quarter of 2002 from a year earlier. For the record, Sun's brass is quick to dismiss this as a minor concern. Sun is not standing still. The company has ambitious plans to build more speed and functionality into Solaris while committing to using 32-bit Intel processors. In the meantime, the company also is filling out its product portfolio for managing data centers with a single, unified system under its recently announced NI initiative. "Am I worried about Linux?" says Jonathan Schwartz, the savvy executive who runs Sun's software group. "No. Am I worried about Intel? A little." Maybe he should take another look Rivals are selling gobs of Intel-based hardware running the Linux operating system. The pitch is that Linux on Intel is a less expensive and more open alternative to anything in the Sun technology arsenal. Even though Linux does not yet feature any special technological advantage over Sun's Solaris operating system, it is the fruit of open-source collaboration and thus does not belong to any single company. Sun argues all this is misleading advertising because of the hidden costs of ownership associated with building sophisticated data centers. When pricing Linux systems, customers can't ignore the cost of additional software they must buy to run on top of Linux. Sun also points out that it throws much of that into the package that comes with its Solaris operating system. Another Sun argument: What's written to Red Hat's Linux won't run on Linux distributions from SuSe, Monte Vista, and the rest of the pack. Fair enough. Though I contend that it's still easier to port from one Intel Linux to another than it is to port from one Solaris to another. Given the sharp year-to-year growth of Linux sales in the December quarter, more than a few data center administrators apparently agree. Consider the following, for the December quarter: * IBM raked in $159.9 million in Linux-related sales, up from $75.6 million a year ago. * Hewlett-Packard's share rose to $80.2 million, up 81 percent, from $44.3 million a year ago. * Dell Computer's Linux server revenue soared nearly 66 percent, compared with a year ago, to $77.1 million. * Sun, which started selling Linux servers in 2002, finished with just $1.3 million in Linux revenue. When measured against total IT expenditures on corporate data centers, those numbers are still relative drops in the bucket. But the Linux-on-Intel combination also allows Sun's rivals to beat it over the head on price. For IBM, a commodity operating system like Linux is a godsend because it can afford to subsidize its commodity strategy with revenue from its software and services businesses. Similarly, HP can count on its profitable printer business to offset the loss of margin elsewhere. (It also has a hardware line in the works that will run Linux top to bottom, unlike Sun. Linux is on Sparc if you want to do it yourself, but it's not popular.) And there's no company around that has been able to figure how to beat Dell at selling lower-end systems. Struggling to revive its moribund stock price (still just above $3 a share), the last thing Sun needs or wants right now is an even worse price war. With prices on Linux-Intel systems falling, the pressure is on a "higher value" company like Sun to justify the higher prices it charges for systems comprising proprietary Unix operating systems on RISC processors. Corporate data managers are especially anxious about reducing hardware costs. What's more, they know the migration to Linux from an existing proprietary Unix platform reuses a lot of the existing code and skills. Sun's retort is that data centers don't throw away existing architectures. That answer is eerily reminiscent of what the minicomputer crowd said back in the early 1980s--just before Sun turned them into also-rans.

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Richard M Stallman in India...[2003]
by FN 18 Feb '03

18 Feb '03

URL : http://www.gnu.org.in/events.html FSF India Coming Events of the Indian affiliate of the [2]Free Software Foundation Thursday,February 13,2003, 21:30 [3]Richard Stallman will speak on "Free Software Movement: A Perspective" at a public meeting organized under [4]JNU Science Forum. This speech will be hosted at Ganga Hostel of the Jawaharlal Nehru University. India. Friday,February 14,2003, 18:00 [5]Richard Stallman will deliver a speech entitled "The Free Software Movement and the GNU/Linux Operating System" at Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute([6]VJTI) College Quadrangle,Mumbai. The speech will be hosted at H.R.Mahajani Marg, Matunga, Mumbai, Maharashtra. Sunday,February 16,2003, 16:00 Symbiosis Vishwabhavan Auditorium, Symbiosis Institute of Computer Studies and Research, Senapati Bapat Road, Pune. [7]Richard Stallman will deliver a speech entitled "The Free Software Movement and the GNU/Linux Operating System". Registration is required; simply send e-mail to gnunify(a)symbiosiscomputers.com. Tuesday,February 18,2003, 15:00 Jadavpur University, K.P. Basu Memorial Hall, Kolkata. [8]Richard Stallman will deliver a speech entitled "The Danger of Software Patents". Sunday,February 23,2003, 16:00 Ghosh Auditorium,ONGC Ltd., Kaulagarh Road, Dehra Dun. [9]Richard Stallman will deliver a speech entitled "The Free Software Movement and the GNU/Linux Operating System". Monday ,February 24, 16:30 IIT,Roorkee, Roorkee. [10]Richard Stallman will deliver a speech entitled "The Free Software Movement and the GNU/Linux Operating System". Tuesday ,February 25, 12:00 Press Club,Dehra Dun. [11]Richard Stallman will address a press conference at Press Club,Dehra Dun. _________________________________________________________________ Copyright (C) 2002,2003 Free Software Foundation of India. Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium, provided this notice is preserved. _________________________________________________________________ Updated: Mon Feb 12112:20:12 IST 2003 by knj References 1. http://www.gnu.org/graphics/agnuhead.html 2. http://www.fsf.org/ 3. http://www.gnu.org/people/speakers.html#Stallman 4. http://www.jnu.ac.in/ 5. http://www.gnu.org/people/speakers.html#Stallman 6. http://www.vjti.ac.in/poster.jpg 7. http://www.gnu.org/people/speakers.html#Stallman 8. http://www.gnu.org/people/speakers.html#Stallman 9. http://www.gnu.org/people/speakers.html#Stallman 10. http://www.gnu.org/people/speakers.html#Stallman 11. http://www.gnu.org/people/speakers.html#Stallman

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QUERY: What could Goa have done with a crore of rupees...
by FN 17 Feb '03

17 Feb '03

... if this money was not paid to Microsoft for software licences for Std XI science students, on the excuse that GNU/Linux is too-difficult for them to cope with.... o Set up a Free Software Research Lab that would have build assets of a permanent nature -- of the human kind o Invest in additional 500 computers, at approx Rs 20,000 per computer o Refurbish the CSI's computer lab and thus create a permanent training asset which could be optimally utilised o Built up about a hundred community centres, each with about five computers, o Invest in about 10,000 external 33.3 kpbs external modems (purchased in bulk at approx Rs 500 each) plus hundred hours of Internet access, to phenomenally expand Net access among students already owning computers in Goa o Buy about 20,000 books (each priced approx at Rs 500) that would give students a complete how-to understanding of GNU/Linux, inclusive of one or two CDs each containing an entire distro. o ... any other ideas you have, please add to this list. FN -- _____ _ _ _ | ___| __ ___ __| | ___ _ __(_) ___| | __ Freelance Journo, Goa India | |_ | '__/ _ \/ _` |/ _ \ '__| |/ __| |/ / http://linuxinindia.pitas.com | _|| | | __/ (_| | __/ | | | (__| < http://www.bytesforall.org |_| |_| \___|\__,_|\___|_| |_|\___|_|\_\ http://opennews.indianissues.org -- Frederick Noronha * Freelance Journalist * Goa * India 832.409490 / 409783 Writing with a difference... on what makes *the* difference

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Software Swatantrata... a CD from Kochi
by FN 17 Feb '03

17 Feb '03

An interesting idea... from India itself! Software Swatantrata by advocate Mahesh T Pai of Kochi ------------------------------------------------------ This Compact Disc contains swatantra software for the various versions of Microsoft� Windows Operating System. Swatantra, in several Indian languages means the same thing - freedom - freedom from dependence; from slavery. It stands for being able to do what you want to do with / on your computer. Swatantrata - the state of being free - means being able to chose the software you want to use. Your are not enjoying Swatantrata if you have to buy a particular software because it is used at your workplace or school, or by your business associates. Swatantrata is about not having to upgrade (and pay for) your software every time your employer or friends up grade theirs. Swatantrata is about not having to depend on a monopolist for fixing every little bug in the software which you paid for. Swatantrata is not only your freedom; it means the community's freedom and liberties. It is about being able to help your friends and neighbours. Swatantrata is not "free" as in "free of cost". Swatantrata means that you have the swatantrata to give away copies of this CD free of cost. it also means that you have the swatantrata to charge somebody a lot of money (or a little of it) for giving him (or her) a copy of this same CD. Swatantrata is also about being guaranteed that your personal information remains yours. It is about being assured that information about you, your computer and data on your computer is not accessed by somebody either over the internet, or otherwise, without your knowledge. Swatantrata comes at a price -- but not always at a cost. You have to comply with standards. You are bound to follow the licensing terms. When you share this software with others, you have to ensure that the swatantrata given to you by authors, compilers and distributors of this software is also available to others. There are several packages on this CD-ROM, most of it is covered under the GNU General Public License. There is a Malayalam version of the GPL here. To learn more about what the concept of freedom means, start here, or read this article by Richard M. Stallman (available on the CD). Some of the software here is covered by the GNU Library General Public License. A little other software on this CD is released under other related licenses, which preserve most of the above mentioned freedoms. The concerned license is there with each package. What is here? Plenty. Just browse through each directory. Click here to view the directory listing - that is the best way of doing it. Most are self installing executables for Microsoft� Windows 32 bit Operating system - they ought to work for Windows95 and above. Click for more some of the more important contents, and very shallow install instructions.. The best way however is to to browse the contents manually. About this compilation This is a compilation made by Mahesh T. Pai, Advocate, "NANDINI", S. R. M. Road, Cochin - 682018, Kerala, India. The compiler can be contacted at the above address, or by email at paivakil(a)yahoo.co.in. All programs or other files on this CD are protected by copyright, and unrestricted, royalty and permission free copying and modification is permitted as per terms of license applicable to each package, program, or file. Please see the concerned file or documentation accompanying each file for details of the licenses and its terms. Binaries on this CD are downloaded from the websites or other locations as accessible to the compiler from India over the internet/World Wide Web, and are are distributed as received by the compiler. Sources for the binaries are accessible from the web sites of authors / creators of each respective package. The compiler or other distributors of this CD do not accept any responsibility for providing recipients of this CD or programs on this the sources, unless the source code itself is on this CD. Contents of SwatantraWin Cygwin Cygwin simulates the linux environment in Windows. Save the setup file and run it from the local hdd -(note - set up might hang if run from the CD) and chose 'install from local directory' to install. If you have an internet connection, you can choose 'install from internet' to download more software. DataBase Contains MySql, MySql GUI, and MySql ODBC for Win9* and Win NT For Developers Gtk The Gimp Tool Kit is a tool kit to develop GUI Widgets for programs. There are also runtime environments in this directory. Run the file called gtk+-1.3.0-20020313-setup-2.zip before installing GIMP (below). RPMBrowser enables you to read Red Hat Package Manager files in a WIN 32 environment Developer CPP is a GUI for Gnu C++. Minimalist GNU for Windows, or MingW. If you have PERL version 5.8 or better installed, use Prima to develop GUIs using a VB like tool. Python is a programming language !!!! There is the documentation for Python in PostScript, Portable Document Format, and LaTeX source format. The actual python program is here. Install it first These are allied files for Windows. Documents: This directory contains several tutorials, guides and HOWTOs, and information why you should use swatantra software. Watch out for articles by the Richard M. Stallman himself, in particular, one on the concept of copyleft, another on why software should be swatantra about the GNU Project, etc. and do do not forget to read the two books (yes, two full books, on this CD) "The Cathedral and the Bazaar", and "A Brief History of Hackerdom". Editors Simple text editors Includes - Yudit -- a Unicode editor for many languages, including Indian Language - written by somebody from Japan !!! Sources for Yudit are in this file. JEDIT is a text editor which user Java - java itself is not free. Best feature about JEDIT is that several plugins are available for it - connect to the internist and use the plugins tap from the tool bar. EMACS - how can any compilation of Free S/w be complete without GNU EMACS??? ASPELL is a spell checker - compile it using Cygwin. Only sources are in this CD. Ghost view, and Ghost Script are complimentary, and are used to view PDF - portable document format files and PostScript files - (and you thought that only Adobe's� Acrobat can do that?) Malayalam TeX is also here. Perl Choose from three flavours - latest is version 5.8. This comes bundled with Apache web server, version 2.0. Now, you can have the same software that runs on Yahoo! and other major sites. Graphics What use an operating system if it does not have Graphic editors? On GNU, you have GIMP. There is also a tutorial - Grokking-the-GIMP. You will first have to install the GTK runtimes, edit your path environment (eg:, by editing the autoexec.bat file, to add a line something like this:- c:\progra~1\Common~1\GTK\1.3\lib; to it, reboot unzip the GIMP.*.*.tar.gz file in the folder to the location you want to install, and then run GIMP.exe in the /gimp/bin directory. It will register itself. Your screen resolution should be 1024 X 726 pixels or better, otherwise you will have difficulty running the splash screen coming up the first time GIMP is run. Internet Httrack is a program which will download entire web sites on to your computer. Careful - your hard disk is bound to fill up fast!!! Mozilla, in two flavours - version 1.1, and 1.2 are available. Remember to visit http://www.mozdev.org/projects.html to get a huge bundle of add on software for Mozilla. FileZilla is an FTP client. FTP clients are, for the common man, used to upload web sites to the host server. LanguageSupport This directory contains several programs required to support non-English languages, including a few free fonts. Tex MiKTeX-2.2 is an implementation of LaTex. This program is used for typesetting. Look out for the tutorials in the documentation directory. Run the set up program to install. This directory contains the 'Large' implementation of MikTex. You can choose to install only the basic version. This will a lot of disk space. You also can connect to the web and install the 'full' version of MikTeX, to which will take up approximately 500 MB disk space. Multimedia Audacity and winLAME are music codecs. Celestia is an astronomy software which will imitate the actual planetary position as per your system time on the screen. Office ABIWORD - a simple word processor can read some (not all) Microsoft Word documents. Saves files in Rich Text File format. Look out for the Abiword dictionaries and plugins in the Abiword directory. Openoffice - what use a computer without a full-blown office suite? Here is OpenOffice.org (notice the .org?) version 1.0.1 suite. It has a presentations component, an HTML editor, a spread sheet application, an editor for mathematical notations, a picture editor, and of course, a word processor. The standard dictionary is the US English dictionary. Dictionary for British English is on the CD. First install OpenOffice.org, and then unzip the en_GB.zip file into the /user/share dictionary where you installed OpenOffice.org. Then you have to manually change the Tools > Options menu, go to the Languages > Writing Aids section, click 'edit', select English (UK) from the Languages dropdown Menu, and enable the options. There are several documents on OpenOffice.org (the software, not the website) in the documents directory. Tutorials After reading all this, you will feel like installing a GNU operating system - and start by reading these HOWTOs. Now, GO AHEAD, ENJOY all the FREEDOM you want!!!!!!!!!! Circulate via: -- Frederick Noronha * Freelance Journalist * Goa * India 832.409490 / 409783 Writing with a difference... on what makes *the* difference

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[Fwd: GNU/Linux in Schools]
by Arun M 17 Feb '03

17 Feb '03

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Can we write a Free Textbook?
by FN 15 Feb '03

15 Feb '03

I would like to work towards compiling a Free Textbook elaborating on how to use GNU software in schools. It could be modelled on the Free Encyclopedia Project outlined elaborately by RMS (see the book 'No Sir, No Monopoly: Free Software -- A Perspective', Prajasakti, Hyderabad 2002). This book would primarily be in the English language, copylefted (free to reprint) and would accept chapters written in an easy-to-understand style. Ideally, the book would cover the introduction-to-computers course, that students need to know to get started in Free Software. I am not an expert in this field, but am willing to take the initiative to coordinate contributions, unless someone else (or a team) is willing to take up this duty. What we perhaps need to get started is: o agree on topics to be covered (keeping this loose-ended, so that suitable topics could be added on at any stage) o decide the format in which text and illustrations/ screenshots are to be presented o be clear about the best method of keeping this knowledge copylefted o take a look at existing efforts (from whichever part of the globe) that could be suitably incorporated in our plans, without difficulties Your comments, suggestions and criticism is welcome. FN -- _____ _ _ _ | ___| __ ___ __| | ___ _ __(_) ___| | __ Freelance Journo, Goa India | |_ | '__/ _ \/ _` |/ _ \ '__| |/ __| |/ / http://linuxinindia.pitas.com | _|| | | __/ (_| | __/ | | | (__| < http://www.bytesforall.org |_| |_| \___|\__,_|\___|_| |_|\___|_|\_\ http://opennews.indianissues.org -- Frederick Noronha * Freelance Journalist * Goa * India 832.409490 / 409783 Writing with a difference... on what makes *the* difference

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Some feedback: LINUXForYou
by FN 15 Feb '03

15 Feb '03

--------------------------------------------------------------------------- SOME FEEDBACK to the recent first issue of India's first mag devoted wholly to Free/Libre and Open Source Software, * LINUXForYou*: --------------------------------------------------------------------------- o Get-up excellent, value-for-money real good. This was only to be expected from a ElectronicsForYou-stable publication. o Depth of information, fair to good. o Coverage of India-related issues: poor. Much of the focus was on the corporate world and its products. This may be a good policy to draw adverts. What about those idealistic youngsters slogging away unnoticed across the length and breadth of India. Except for Avneesh and Shivaas (Page 9) these go largely unnoticed. o Clarity of vision: poor. Lot of focus on "Open Source". Free Software and the ideals that launched it (from the 'seventies and before, not just since 1998) seems to have got, in this magazine, intentionally or otherwise, overlooked. Again, this may be good for luring the business world; but certainly not helpful in building up an ethical basis for sharing software (and ultimately, knowledge) among those who need it. o Open Source and Free Software have common origins but now different emphasis. It would be best if *both* are covered, rather than excluding one or the other. The term FLOSS (Free/Libre and Open Source Software), popularised by an Indian in Holland, Rishab Aiyer Ghosh, covers both adequately. As it has been argued, 'Free Software' and 'Open Source' describe the same category of software "more or less" but say different things about the software and about values. The GNU Project continues to use the term "Free Software" to express the idea that freedom, not just (good) technology, is important. o Illustrations: could be improved. Understandable for a new mag o Participation by the GNU/Linux community (both Free Software and Open Source): marginal. Linux-India gets a low-down mention in a listing of websites. o Focus on different distros: poor to fair. Seems to continue the trend of focussing mainly on the main (commercial) distros, e.g RedHat and Mandrake, as other Indian computer mags have done. The inclusion of Knoppix is a great decision though. Otherwise, distros like Debian get ignored or mentioned just in passing. As an Indian mag, products like Elx (the distro from Hyderabad) could merit a closer look. o The editorial was particularly well written. o Once again: do we need a CD with every issue? Won't this push up costs? My favoured model is SPIDER, Pakistan's Internet magazine (Rs 35 rupees per issue, i.e. Pakistani rupees, which might be around Rs 30 or less INR. Printed on inexpensive newsprint, full colour, over 100 pages, packed with info, focus in large measure on local issues!) o Can LFY put it's money where it's mouth is? Suresh Ramasubramanian <mallet(a)efn.org> has already point out to Bharathi's posting on ilug-chennai that the LFY website uses ASP script, and has a website which is "designed primarily for (Microsoft's) Internet Explorer". If GNU/Linux is really so good technology, why not accept it before selling it to the rest of the globe? o Some writers seem to be accepting Microsoft's logic and arguments quite willingly. o What's lacking in the mag: -Links to all LUGs around India (even LinuxMagazine from Europe has a listing of some Indian LUGs) with URLs, mailing list details -Schedules of different LUG/GLUG meets planned in India -Profile of various GLUG/LUG websites and mailing lists -Greater focus on innovative GNU/Linux work from students and individuals within India -More reporting on the GNU/Linux scene in Asia, particularly South Asia -Possible reproduction of columns such as BraveGNUWorld -More interaction with GLUGs, FSUGs and LUGs across India. o In conclusion: This mag is going to help spread awareness about GNU/Linux. But whether it also helps build the ethical base of Free Software (which started everything off, in a sense) is a big question. As of now, it's not showing any signs of doing so. o To quote RMS: "The interest in the software is growing faster than awareness of the philosophy it is based on, and this leads to trouble. Our ability to meet the challenges and threats ... depends on the will to stand firm for freedom. To make sure our community has this will, we need to spread the idea to the new users as they come into the community. But we are failing to do so; the effort to attract new users into our community are far outstripping the efforts to teach them the civics of our community. We need to do both, and we need to keep the two efforts in balance." LINUXForYou is going to be doing a great job on one aspect; on the other, there are not much signs that it plans to do anything significant yet... (FN) -- _____ _ _ _ | ___| __ ___ __| | ___ _ __(_) ___| | __ Freelance Journo, Goa India | |_ | '__/ _ \/ _` |/ _ \ '__| |/ __| |/ / http://linuxinindia.pitas.com | _|| | | __/ (_| | __/ | | | (__| < http://www.bytesforall.org |_| |_| \___|\__,_|\___|_| |_|\___|_|\_\ http://opennews.indianissues.org -- Frederick Noronha * Freelance Journalist * Goa * India 832.409490 / 409783 Writing with a difference... on what makes *the* difference

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The Code... a movie about Free Software/ Open Source and related issues
by FN 15 Feb '03

15 Feb '03

======================================================================== Synopsis of " The Code" http://www.linuxthemovie.com/ ======================================================================== In 1991, a 20-year old Linus Torvalds, a thin, bespectacled, Swedish- speaking Finnish computer science student sends a posting to an Internet newsgroup asking for advice on how to make a better operating system. His project is a hobby, he says, and would never become `big and professional'. But in ten years he and his loose alliance of hackers all over the world creates an operating system - Linux - that challenges Windows 2000 for the server market and is now poised to dominate the next generation of handheld and desktop computers. What makes Linux different, and deeply troubling for traditional software companies, is that no one owns it. Every user is free to adapt it in any way they wish, as long as they pass it on to others on the same terms. The Code presents the first decade of Linux from 1991 to 2001. Besides Torvalds, it includes many of his closest allies in development process, that is nowadays seen as the greatest success story of the Internet culture. Eventually, Linux becomes a viable business solution within the computer industry. Media loves the story of `a single hacker against the forces of darkness'. `Linux' becomes a catch phrase. Torvalds turns into an international media star. No more a shy nerd, but a relaxed, witty media performer par excellence. Linus is a Jesus for a politician, respected and adored by both Linux enthusiasts, the counter-culture - and the big businessmen. A rare combination, this time or any other. But even after all this attention Linus Torvalds remains, as a person, an enigma. When interviewed in the media, he is always asked the same questions and usually giving the same answers too. We think we know him, but do we really? Why did he put his code into the Net for free, initially? Many can still not understand it. Maybe because `given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow', giving a way to a better product? Or is there something more to it? The hero of the film is the archetype of our times: the programmer. In The Code programming is seen partially as an art form. Like artists, programmers will do it even if they do not get any money. Through Torvalds and his cohort, following the code development process, we get into the mind-set of a programmer - and the communication between programmers. Operating from his study in San Jose, California, Linus is the benevolent dictator among hundreds of Linux developers around the world. This room is the centre of their universe. Everything goes through Linus, or his right hand man Alan Cox, a Welshman. Developers compete in order to get their solutions and improvements accepted by Linus. He openly admits that he developed only 2 % or 3 % of the code in the beginning, and that he built upon the work by earlier programmers, like Richard Stallman. Developers are like monks in their virtual monastery. Their change of e-mails through the years opens the Linux saga in the film like a letter novel. Leadership in Linux universe is about getting people to trust enough that they take advice, making them to do things because of their own reasons, not due to any external pressure. Linus is strict, loyal, dictatorial, humble and positive, all at the same time. And this is the key to the fulfilment of the collective dream. Resembling cybernetics and communism, it would have never been built without teamwork, collective responsibility - and centralized planning. Along the way, Microsoft recognizes competition, and throws some mccarthyian dirt towards Linux, calling it un-American. Regardless of this, Wall Street applauds, and for a brief time Linux is the cream of the crop at the stock exchange market. What is more important and revolutionary, the Linux phenomenon makes a lot of ground in Asia and Africa, where an open source code and a free operating system are something concrete, not just fancy, elitist idealism. The process started in Europe and the United States, but it is bound to be completed somewhere else. The Code is about the human urge to share and exchange, to achieve something through collaboration, the profit motive not being the dominating factor. Linux and the free software movement have showed new ways to make profit in computer industry, while raising heated debates on the ethics of business and the old issue of freedom of speech. In the end, The Code tells a key story of the digital age, a symbolic saga about capitalism during the last fin de si�cle of the second millennium and the early steps of the third one. Hannu Puttonen ________________________________________________________________________

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Re: Indian translations
by FN 15 Feb '03

15 Feb '03

Very interesting. Could any one on these lists take it forward? FN On Fri, 14 Feb 2003, Bill Kendrick wrote: > > Hi there! I saw your comment on GNUWinII about translations to Indian > languages. > > I'm interested in having my Open Source application (which happens to be > part of GNUWinII, as well), "Tux Paint" translated to Indian languages, > if possible. > > http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/tuxpaint/ > > > Do you know anyone who could help? > > So far, it's been translated into almost 25 other languages, > including Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Greek. (They've used UTF-8 encoding > so far. I think Unicode shouldn't be impossible.) > > > Thanks in advance! > > -- _____ _ _ _ | ___| __ ___ __| | ___ _ __(_) ___| | __ Freelance Journo, Goa India | |_ | '__/ _ \/ _` |/ _ \ '__| |/ __| |/ / http://linuxinindia.pitas.com | _|| | | __/ (_| | __/ | | | (__| < http://www.bytesforall.org |_| |_| \___|\__,_|\___|_| |_|\___|_|\_\ http://opennews.indianissues.org -- Frederick Noronha * Freelance Journalist * Goa * India 832.409490 / 409783 Writing with a difference... on what makes *the* difference

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[bytesforall_readers] Digital Vision Fellowship Announcement (fwd)
by FN 15 Feb '03

15 Feb '03

Someone from the Free Software world could also possibly try for this. FN ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Announcement The Digital Vision Fellowship Program at Stanford University is accepting applications for the 2003-04 academic year (September- June). The deadline is March 14, 2003. Twelve Fellowships will be awarded on May 15, 2003. The Program Digital Vision Fellows design and build ICT-based solutions for the developing world. DV Fellows draw on the resources of Stanford University and Silicon Valley to create a sustainable technology project that serves a humanitarian purpose in the developing world. During their time on the Stanford campus DV Fellows research the needs and requirements of their project, identify the best technology implementation choices, create proof-of-concept prototypes, and develop sustainable business models. DV Fellows have "Visiting Scholar" privileges at Stanford, including the ability to audit academic courses. Fellows also participate in a structured Digital Vision Program with weekly seminars and workshops. DV Fellows collaborate with Stanford faculty, students, and with each other. Additionally, the program facilitates connections between DV Fellows and Silicon Valley leaders from corporations, venture finance and philanthropy. Who Should Apply? Digital Vision Fellows are social entrepreneurs. Successful candidates are be outstanding technologists who wish to apply their skills to a humanitarian project, or program managers who are engaged in ICT projects in the developing world. For additional information please click on the "Become a Fellow" link on our Website at http://reuters.stanford.edu/, or write reuters- applicationquestions2003(a)csli.stanford.edu. Thank you for considering this program for yourself, or for recommending it to someone who may be interested in applying. Sincerely, Stuart Gannes Executive Director Digital Vision Fellowship Stanford University ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Get 128 Bit SSL Encryption! http://us.click.yahoo.com/FpY02D/vN2EAA/xGHJAA/C7EolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: bytesforall_readers-unsubscribe(a)yahoogroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

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Re: What can young Indian techies work on?
by FN 13 Feb '03

13 Feb '03

This is RMS's suggestion on the area which the Free Software movement needs help on. If anyone could help, it would be great. FN On Tue, 11 Feb 2003, Richard Stallman wrote: > Okay, what would you'll need? FN > > We need free Java replacement libraries. > We need graphical apps for many jobs--see the GNU task list > for a long list. We need speach recognition, and better speech > generation. >

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Cheers
by CK Raju 12 Feb '03

12 Feb '03

Cheers Raju Mathur for your appearance in CNBC. CK Raju

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Goa to spend ten million on Microsoft software...
by FN 12 Feb '03

12 Feb '03

Need one say any more? They authorities were unwilling to provide a Rs 100 book with each computer, but they could give Microsoft Rs 3000 for each computer! -- FN ---------- Forwarded message ---------- This is from DIGITAL GOA, an IT newspaper published from here... FN I am posting the following update on cyberage scheme which appeared in the latest (February) issue of Digital Goa (published today). Niraj CYBERAGE SCHEME UPDATE Cyberage students will get Internet, educational CDs Rs one crore spent on the software alone Hardly 100 computers are distributed so far under the Cyberage student scheme, launched on December 19. However, as per a senior official in the Education Department, the department will try and finish atleast 80 per cent of the computers by February 20. The delay was due to the late finalization of a deal with the Microsoft for installing Windows operating system on the computers, the official added. "The work of installing operating system is going on in full swing at the factory itself." It may be noted that the government had floated cyberage student scheme under which every XIth Science student in Goa will get a free computer. This year 3,000 students will be benefited from the scheme. (For more details of the scheme read the last issue of Digital Goa) Formal functions will be organized in each taluka to hand over computers to the students in the coming weeks. The government negotiated with Microsoft for the licenced copy of WindowsXP, MS Office and McAfee virus scan for Rs 3,090/- through an agent -- Apex Computer and Engineering Services. The Microsoft had earlier quoted Rs. 6,970 per system for the package having combined retail market value of Rs 26,000. Pertinently, the government will shell out whopping (appx) Rs one crore on the software itself. The total budget allocated for this scheme for this year is Rs 10 crores. While justifying the decision of loading windows O/S as against Linux O/S, which is absolutely free, the officer said that there were complaints from the parents and students whose systems were loaded with Linux operating system. "They are more familiar with Windows. I am getting so many calls everyday complaining that Linux was difficult to use", he said. When asked whether XI Science students would be in a position to make best use of these computers, he disclosed the government's plans to provide educational CDs and internet connection to the beneficiaries of this scheme at the subsidized rates. "We will tie-up with BSNL to give internet connection to these students at nominal rates. We are also in the process of establishing CD libraries in every higher secondary schools on all subjects." CYBERAGE STUDENT SCHEME SURVEY We posed the following question to the host of IT professionals and businessmen and others to know their view on the Cyberage scheme. They were given 14 options to choose from. Sadly, we received only four responses. However, these four opinions can be considered as the representative voices of the IT community, given the responders� stature and involvement in the Goa�s IT sector. Obviously, it is a mixed response. However, it is fairly clear from all the four responses that there is no objection to the cyberage scheme per se. but the questions are raised as regard to the methodology, timing and the level at which it is implemented. Only two options got more than one vote -- If the 3000 computers were shared among 300 schools, we would have got better results and XI Science is the wrong time at which to give a student a PC. Interestingly, options No. 1,2,9,11 and 13 did not have any takers. What do you think of the Cyberage scheme for students in Goa (under which Std XI Science students get an almost-free computer) and its implementation? 1. Great idea, great implementation : poor idea, yet to know about implementation 2. Great idea, implementation could be better: 3. Great idea, poor implementation 4. Engineering students given these computers could be better off 5. Why not give computers to teachers too/instead of students? 6.If the 3000 computers were shared among 300 schools, we would have got better results 7. Tender terms kept out smaller players 8. XI Science is the wrong time at which to give a student a PC 9. Transparency in computer deals a still an elusive goal for Goa 10. Software, OS, optimal issues still remain pending 11. Why criticize a good initiative? 12. This is a good start 13. More views from professionals could have been incorporated 14. We still quite don't know what's happening... 15. It will adversely affect the IT business community with a drop in computer sales. Dr V. V. Kamat Faculty, Department of Computer Science & Tech., Goa University ANSWER: 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 14 Albert D. Gouveia Scientist NIO Dona Paula ANSWER 12 Comtech Systems Option 6 Ashley Delaney Software/Hardware Consultant Saligao Answers 7,8 and 10 ------------------------ END ---------------------

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LinuxForYou... what's in issue # 1
by FN 12 Feb '03

12 Feb '03

India's first GNU/Linux magazine made it to the newsstands recently. The first, inaugural February 2003 issue contains: ON THE CD------------------------------------------------- * Knoppix with bundled software (Open Office, KOffice, Mozilla Navigator, Mozilla Mail, Konqueror, GIMP, Ksnapshot (screen capture), XFig (geomatrical figure editor), QCAD (CAD software), XMMS (autio tool), games, KGeo and KStars (educational), KDevelop (the "Linux cousin of VC++) NEWS REPORTS---------------------------------------------- * Axis (Mass., US) launches Linux system-on-a-chip * Hyper-threading can speed up Linux by 51 per cent HT makes a single processor behave like two logical ones. * Hong Kong trio unveils Chinese GNU/Linux OS for mobile devices * Red Hat presepares GNU/Linux for technical workstations * Ark -- another distribution for the desktop "for the masses" * Linux ver 2.6 (kernel) by first half of 2003 * Sony, Matsushita plan GNU/Linux audio-video software * Red Hat shifts to carrier-grade * New IP videophone features embedded GNU/Linux OS * Cellphone makers may go the GNU/Linux way too INDIA NEWS------------------------------------------------ * Font contest winners spurn Microsoft, go LGPL * GNU/Linux-based handhelds -- Simputer and Kaii from B'lore * Let's make an 'apnalinux' -- creating one's own distro using Anaconda, and tweaking a RedHat distribution (how-to guide) * VIA C3 800 MHz, 20GB HDD, 64MB Hynix RAM, Asus motherboard, Aztec modem, FDD and headphones e-pc for Rs 11,990 and above without monitor. * Cygsoft Inc's ManageIP -- network management solution Free trial online at www.cygsoft.com * Intrusion detection software from nSecure www.nsecure.net * LG's GNU/Linux-based MY PC Rs 33,900 for basic model and Rs 36,500 for the multimedia model (P4, 128MBRam, 40GB, LG 15" monitor, LG 52XCDRom, optical mouse, keyboard, speakers) * LX50 server from Sun Microsystem * Mithi Software, Pune offers Connect Server for GNU/Linux. * Kalculate -- an Indian accounting package for GNU/Linux * TechnoInfosys brings GNU/Linux-based net management system Check www.technoinfosys.com This comes from Navi Mumbai. * Storage strategy software for GNU/Linux from Veritas, Delhi * Website (Kerala) offers Dodobase, instant web catalog publishing product. www.websight-tech.com * Star Office 6.0, Sun Microsystem's affordable software... * Bicnet offers eBiz integrated solution (pre-sales management, sales catalogue, shopping cart, auction floor, general ledger and financial accounting, inventory, e-recruitment, customer relationship mgt) www.bicserve.com * Rolta's security and messaging products for Indian corporate networks www.rolta.com * Octopus (Mumbai) offers complete enterprise mgt solution * E-mail manager from Data Impex (Delhi) * RTLinux gains support in India * Indian govt's move to "let in [GNU]Linux" FEATURES-------------------------------------------------- * GNU/Linux@Home -- it can coexist with Windows * KDE's KOffice -- an office suite that delivers * GNU/Linux certification -- The right choice? * Introducing RedHat 8.0 * SCO Linux 4.0 * Websites that offer more info on GNU/Linux (www.tldp.org The Linux Documentation Project, www.linuxlinks.com, www.linux.org, www.redhat.com, www.linux-india.org) * What's Knoppix? * Knoppix -- software bounty * Guide to running Knoppix * Shape and trim your Linux kernel * Red Hat's installation blues * Ten tips to make your life easier * What is a diskless PC? * Developer's basics: A world of shells... * Penguin programmer (developers basics) * Overview of GNU/Linux for the embedded appln developer * "Govt must declare [GNU]Linux the official OF of India," Sudhir Gandotra, CEO Indserve InfoTech * Is [GNU]Linux good for government? * Linux TCO -- a bitter harvest? * Penguin soup is the soul of IS managers * GNUCorner: Open Source -- a brief journey through its times (Err... could someone explain what GNU has to do with Open Source? Wasn't one trying to get away from the other?FN) MISCELLANEOUS--------------------------------------------- * CERTIFICATION: Linux-based products, tested and tried by LFY Lab, will earn the 'Linux Friendly' certification. Other common IT products that work without any hassles to get a 'Tested OK' mark. * EDITORIAL: Initial discussions about LINUX For You raised a few eyebrows, accompanied by soul-searching questions... Key question -- why a magazine on [GNU]Linux? (Many times accompanied by -- are you going anti-Microsoft?) Pay Rs 50 (that's the cost, including the CD) and see if you like it. Don't forget to send in your suggestions to efylinux1(a)electronicsforu.com -- Frederick Noronha * Freelance Journalist * Goa * India 832.409490 / 409783 Writing with a difference... on what makes *the* difference

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NEWS: Canadian campaigner for open knowledge access in India
by FN 11 Feb '03

11 Feb '03

---------- Forwarded message ---------- Canadian campaigner for open knowledge access in India By Papri Sri Raman, Indo-Asian News Service Chennai, Feb 10 (IANS) John Willinsky teaches Shakespeare in Canada but he's here promoting a world "where knowledge is free". Willinsky, pacific professor of literature and technology at the University of British Columbia and a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, is now on a tour of India, campaigning for open access to knowledge. As the science of information technology advances, "people's access to knowledge is actually decreasing instead of increasing", he says. For example, he recalls that the library of the Agriculture University in Bangalore subscribed to 1,000 journals in 1956. Today it can afford just 600 such academic publications. "The reason more and more libraries are finding it difficult to provide printed or online copies of journals is because big publishers have increased their costs manifold. There are online journals that cost at least $3 to just access once, and are made available for just a few hours at a time. "Only a limited number of academic papers are available online free of cost for an interested reader to access." Researchers in developing countries are devoid of a large volume of literature available on a subject. High costs and copyright rules prevent access. "Although new technology has made access possible, fewer academic journals are available to the reader," Willinsky says. He has been lobbying this week at the Indian Institute of Science and the National Centre for Scientific Information in Bangalore and at the Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai for online publication of academic journals under a public-funded Canadian project called the Public Knowledge Project. In Bangalore and Chennai he has also been demonstrating the software he and his graduate and undergraduate students developed last year for anyone who wants to put an academic journal online. For both the reader and the host, the access is free and response is automated, he told his audience at a lecture organised by the Computer Society of India and the Madras Library Association this weekend. Explaining how he got interested in the issue of "open access and an open source system", Willinsky said copyright laws of big publishing houses like Reed Elsevier, which publishes more than 60 percent of the academic journals in America and Europe, bothered him. In a year, they can hold the copyright to academic articles published in 2,000 academic journals, the professor said. All universities in the West require faculty members to publish their research papers, thesis and other academic work in journals. "Their promotions, recognition and continuation of jobs depend on the number of publications in a time frame of five to seven years," the professor explains. This forces scholars to give away their intellectual property rights, Willinsky told his Indian audience. Big publishing houses like Elsevier earned annual revenues up to $5.5 billon a decade ago. The work was obtained free from the scholars. According to the present rules of the intellectual property rights act, anything developed by a worker hired for a company belongs to the company because it conceives the project and provides facilities. However, the copyright belongs to the creator of the project or thesis and to the public if it is supported by public funds, especially in universities. The study for public benefit is sold to the publisher unless it is 70 or 100 years after the death of the academic. This got Willinsky thinking of how much it costs to publish an academic journal online. His first search took him to a publisher who said it could be done free. At the end of his search list was the Cornell University that said it costs as much as $2.7 million to publish an academic journal online. With such varied result, the professor got nine computer students to develop a software that enabled people to put academic journals online free in a secure and formatted manner. The process cost about $65,000 but once the software was developed, it was made available free of cost. The Public Knowledge Project is funded by a global security and sustainability grant for knowledge exchange and technology research capabilities of developing nations from the MacArthur Foundation. It explores how technology can be used to improve the professional and public value of scholarly research. "By bringing together researchers and librarians, it is investigating the social, economic, and technical issues entailed in the use of online infrastructure and public accessibility," said Willinsky. The project also seeks to integrate emerging standards for digital library access and document preservation, such as Open Archives and InterPARES, as well as for topic maps and doctoral dissertations, and helps develop knowledge management website prototypes. --Indo-Asian News Service

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[bytesforall_readers] News: Free Software rated high (fwd)
by FN 11 Feb '03

11 Feb '03

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Re: Invitation to join FSF
by CK Raju 10 Feb '03

10 Feb '03

Dear Shri Kamal Kumar Pal, Thanks for the reciprocation. You should have received intimation from FSF by now. Waiting to hear from you on FSF forum. Rgds, CK Raju On Friday 07 February 2003 04:15 am, Kamal Kumar Pal wrote: > Dear Mr. Raju, > Thank you very much for your mail. > I would love to do that. > Best regards, > Kamal Kumar Pal > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "CK Raju" <ckraju(a)zyberway.com> > To: <kamalpal(a)vsnl.com> > Cc: <fsf-friends(a)gnu.org.in> > Sent: Sunday, February 09, 2003 7:30 AM > Subject: Invitation to join FSF > > > Dear Kamal Pal, > I request you to join the Free Software Foundation - India, for sharing > your views and experiences. > > Would you be gracious enough to throw light on your achievements, and your > interactions with corporates, so that we could be enlightened. > > Regards, > CK Raju, > KILA, Thrissur

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Invitation to join FSF
by CK Raju 09 Feb '03

09 Feb '03

Dear Kamal Pal, I request you to join the Free Software Foundation - India, for sharing your views and experiences. Would you be gracious enough to throw light on your achievements, and your interactions with corporates, so that we could be enlightened. Regards, CK Raju, KILA, Thrissur

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Bribing to be a Business Partner
by CK Raju 09 Feb '03

09 Feb '03

Going by the statements from Kamal Pal ( kamalpal(a)vsnl.com) of West Bengal, who has designed a GIS application on his own, the just revealed trend of corporates to sneak into the Government machinery with offers of a 'business partner' if Mr Kamal Pal withheld the development of the application, and its release to the Govt of India, appears to be quite disturbing. Requesting our journalists to get in touch with Shri Kamal Pal to dig out further details. If corroborated by Kamal Pal in public, this news can turn out to have huge ramifications elsewhere. CK Raju Thrissur

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PUNE: Symbiosis plans a GNU/Linux fest in mid-Feb
by FN 08 Feb '03

08 Feb '03

GNUnify! The All India Free Software Festival 16-February-2003 Venue: Symbiosis Vishwa Bhawan, Senapati Bapat Road, Ganesh Khind, Pune - 4. Time Themes Symbiosis Vishwa Bhawan 09:30-10:30 Welcome and Opening Ceremony Dr. S.B. Mujumdar (Chancellor SIEC Deemed University) 10:30-11:00 Morning Tea Break 11:00-11:40 IT Industry and GNU/Linux Mr. Atul Chitnis (CTO - Exocore Consulting) "Linux/OpenSource on Corporate Desktop" 11:40-12:20 Free Software in Education Dr. G. Sivakumar (Head of Computer Center - IIT Mumbai) "IIT Bombay's Network and Systems setup and the crtical role of GNU/Linux in it". 12:20-1:00 Prof. Jitendra Shah (Senior Lecturer - VJTI, Mumbai) "Free Software with Localisation in Education" 01:00-02:00 Lunch Break 02:00-02:40 Future Tech Mr. M Sasikumar (Senior Research Scientist - NCST) "A.I. Demystified" 02:40-03:20 * * * Made In India o Mr. Venky Hariharan (MediaLabs) and Mr. Guntupalli Karunakar (IndLinux) "GNU/Linux localisation and its usage, esp its relevance to our country." p Mr. Naba Kumar (Software Engineer - Belzabar Software Development India Pvt Ltd.) "Anjuta IDE for C,C++ on GNU/Linux" 03:20-04:00 Mr. Samyeer Metrani (Group Manager Embedded Systems - Encore Software Limited) "Simputer" 04:00-04:30 Tea Break 04:30-05:10 Government and GNU/Linux Dr. S.Ramakrishnan (Senior Director - Department of Information Technology - Government of India) 05:10-05:30 Introduction and Felicitation of Guru Dr. Nagarjuna (TIFR) Introduction to RMS Dr. T.M. Kanvinde (Director - SICSR) Felicitation 05:30-07:00 The Guru Speaks Mr. Richard Stallman (President and Founder of FSF) "The Free Software Movement and the GNU/Linux Operating System" 7:10-07:30 Free Software Song and Vote Of Thanks Students SICSR -- _____ _ _ _ | ___| __ ___ __| | ___ _ __(_) ___| | __ Freelance Journo, Goa India | |_ | '__/ _ \/ _` |/ _ \ '__| |/ __| |/ / http://linuxinindia.pitas.com | _|| | | __/ (_| | __/ | | | (__| < http://www.bytesforall.org |_| |_| \___|\__,_|\___|_| |_|\___|_|\_\ http://opennews.indianissues.org -- Frederick Noronha * Freelance Journalist * Goa * India 832.409490 / 409783 Writing with a difference... on what makes *the* difference

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LINK: Chennai meet on open access to information
by FN 06 Feb '03

06 Feb '03

---------- Forwarded message ----------

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Re: Re: [Fsf-friends] [Off Topic] NEWS: [GNU]Linux-based desktops fail to excite the market
by The GNU/Linuxer 04 Feb '03

04 Feb '03

Dear Kanti, Well, may be we are not against any company or entity, you but can't really call MS *any company*. It's *the* company which is trying hardest to bog the Free Software Movement down. It has been for years intimidating small companies to include use & spread proprietary software. So in a way, we can say that MS has been leading the whole movement of proprietary software. Even though I am personally not against any company, but when it comes to MS, I think the signature was well justified especially since most Indians don't know to look outside the ``Windows'' & think about any software that's not endorsed by MS. In any case, if it hurts you or the philosophy of the FSF in any way, I am removing the signature. Regards, B.Ghose =========================================== GNU/Linux is like living in a Teepee. No Gates, no Windows, only the Apache inside. =========================================== --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now

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World Information Summit... or Sellout Summit?
by FN 04 Feb '03

04 Feb '03

This looks like an absolute sellout. In the name of ensuring information to those dying from the lack of it, the dominant powers of our times seem keen to sell more products, push their priorities on the rest of the globe, rake up non-issues and place them center-stage, and push ahead their pet peeves of the moment (e.g. fighting 'terrorism' without thinking about justice). Can someone convince me otherwise? FN PS: "Vital role for intellectual property in innovation"? What about the vital role for sharing -- whether it is of software or knowledge -- in solving this world's problems? http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/01/15/030115hnwsisos_1.html WSIS delegates fail to agree on open-source 'support' Draft was changed after objections by U.S. By [19]Martyn Williams January 15, 2003 TOKYO -- A three-day meeting that brought together Asian governments, organizations, companies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) ended Wednesday morning with the approval of a declaration that, among other things, calls for encouraging the development of open-source software. A draft of the declaration had called for open source to be "supported" but was changed after objections from the U.S. government delegation late Tuesday night. The U.S. opposition was largely perceived to be support for its domestic software companies and in particular Microsoft, said officials from other governments on the sidelines of the conference on Wednesday. After a short debate with a number of countries, including Pakistan, that wanted the original language to remain, all sides finally reached agreement and the declaration was changed to read: "Development and deployment of open-source software should be encouraged, as appropriate, as should open standards for ICT (information and communications technology) networking." The change was one of a number made during a late-night session at the end of the second day of the Asian Regional Conference. The event is one of a number of conferences being held around the world to solicit regional input for the World Summit on the Information Society, a government-leader level U.N. summit that will take place in December this year in Geneva, Switzerland, and in Tunis in 2005. At the meeting, representatives of 48 countries, 21 international organizations, 53 private sector entities and 116 NGOs discussed a number of issues related to the information society and debated over the content of the final output of the meeting, a document called the Tokyo Declaration. The declaration will go forward to a meeting in Geneva next month and bring together participants from around the world as part of the large planning process that must precede the December summit. The declaration touched on a wide range of issues related to the information society and included a call for greater information security, a balance between content owners and users in the area of intellectual property rights, and more work on the digital divide. The lack of awareness of the need for information security was recognized as a weakness for the Asia-Pacific region. The declaration touched upon the need for greater awareness of cybercrime and cyberterrorism while recognizing that equal and fair access to information technology is also important. "Special attention should be paid to the fact that ICTs can potentially be used for purposes that are inconsistent with the objectives of maintaining international stability and security, and may adversely affect the integrity of the infrastructure within states, to the detriment of their security in both civil and military fields," it said. In the area of copyright, the declaration recognized the "vital role" that intellectual property rights play in innovation in software, e-commerce and related areas, but also noted the need to strike a fair balance between such rights and the interests of users. The same two areas were identified by a Japanese government official as possible areas of which participants to WSIS in December will agree require the creation of a legal and policy framework that spans international borders. Agreement on the need to create a global legal and policy framework for the information society is one of several goals already identified for the summit. "I think the big issues that need to be tackled are intellectual property rights and information security," said Yoshio Tsukio, vice minister for policy coordination and Japan's Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications (MPHPT). The conference heard more pledges to bridge the digital divide and several points in the declaration focused on extending the benefits of the information society to the poor and otherwise disadvantaged. "The digital divide unfortunately is widening," said Kim Hak Su, the executive secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for the Asia-Pacific and the U.N.'s highest ranking official in Asia. "It is not only between the countries but within the countries and between generations and the able-bodied and disabled. The international community is trying to help to assist those countries who do not have a national strategy and a national political commitment is also essential. Also, the Government of Japan is offering a substantial ODA (overseas development aid) package to developing member countries," he told IDG News Service. "This digital divide will be with us for some years to come and we have to work very hard. There is no magic formula but we should work hard," he said. Kim admitted that promises to help have been made before and the problem often comes down to paying for things. "We need the private sector to do many things. Governments cannot do everything anymore." "We need more money and more discussion but Tokyo has set the direction," he said. "The direction is right and WSIS could be important because political commitment is also important." Speaking after the event, a number of NGOs that had taken part in the summit said they were broadly satisfied with the outcome but had hoped for greater commitment in a number of areas such as a social justice. They were satisfied with the inclusion of a reference to human rights in the declaration, despite some attempts to change it, they said. The groups also repeated protests over the deregistration of NGOs from Taiwan on Tuesday as the result of repeated protests by the Chinese government delegation. "There is discrimination against the principles of WSIS for a comprehensive inclusion of all stakeholders in the information society including civil society, which includes Taiwanese NGOs as well," said Chuang Chiting, the international affairs director of the Taiwan Association for Human Rights. "As Taiwan is a very powerful ICT country and it provides major input to the information society, we do hope our voices can be heard and be constructive towards a better future in the international community," she said. The representatives were allowed to stay at the meeting under the affiliation of a Japanese NGO. [23]Martyn Williams is a Tokyo correspondent for the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate. -- Frederick Noronha : http://www.bytesforall.org : When we speak of free Freelance Journalist : Goa India 403511 : software we refer to Ph 0091.832.409490 : Cell 0 9822 122436 : freedom, not price.

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