On Sun, Aug 31, 2003 at 10:23:06PM -0400, Richard Stallman wrote:
That sounds plausible to me. If "kappam" is Tamil, is there an equivalent Sanskrit term?
The word Kappam is in Malayalam too. There is another word "Chungam". This also means Kappam (A sort of tax/fees given to a King for protecting the land/people. King/Lords (Nattu Raja) of smaller states gave this to Chakravarti (King of Kingdoms).
Before the FSF India was started, we thought of calling it the Swatantra Software Sabha. But someone argued that the term had been appropriated by right-wing parties. Others disagreed. There was no consensus on using it, so we didn't.
Swatantra Software Sabha - Sounds fine. We have to find an appropriate term for Software also. I read in one magazine a term for Computer - "Ganana Yanthram"
Gananam = Computing Yanthram = Machine
I suggest Ganana Soothram for Software.
Sootram = Technique
Regards