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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 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Compiled by: Frederick Noronha * Sept 20, 2004 --------------------------------------------------------------------

Free Software is the way to go if we desire to have a society where children are taught to be independent, resourceful, productive, co-operative, rational, intelligent and socially responsible. The Free Software Movement has contributed several thousand useful applications. With little effort from more volunteers, we could make the free software wealth reach everyone.-- Ramanraj K ramanraj@md4.vsnl.net.in

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HACKERS WANTED, FSF CALLING: From the FSF-India mailing list http://mm.gnu.org.in/mailman/listinfo/fsf-prog there's a word of advice from Anand Babu ab@gnu.org.in: "Yes I am need of developers for Free Software Projects. If you are new to FSF projects, (you can get started) like this

* Setup a Debian GNU/Linux system (best distro for developers) * Create an account for yourself at http://savannah.gnu.org. * Take a look at current GNU Task List at https://savannah.gnu.org/people/?group=tasklist

Choose one and start hacking. This process will help you prepare yourself with the GNU's way of hacking software. Then, when you feel you are ready for the main stream, you can jump into GNU Hurd kernel hacking (the most important pending task).

Anand Babu ab@gnu.org.in said at another time: "Kernel hacking is too difficult for newbies. I need developers with sold experience in C and system programming with a Hacker's attitude. I would recommend newbies to start hacking at the applications level, submitting patches, getting familiar with GNU coding standards and Free Software development model."

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[GNU]LINUX DEMO DAY IN DELHI: Raj Mathur raju@linux-delhi.org announced plans to hold a Linux Demo Day, organized by India Linux Users Group, Delhi (ILUGD, www.linux-delhi.org).

Says Mathur: "We will be conducting Linux-related talks and presentations in the Hamdard Archives Auditorium, on Saturday, Sept 25, 2004, by some of our resident experts, and hopefully they will interest people who've already taken the plunge as well as those who are just about to. There'll be lots of demonstrations/talks throughout the day and plenty of opportunities to gain hands-on experience of different Linux distributions and applications for yourself. There is space outside the auditorium, which will be used for giving the demos. The demos and the talks will go on concurrently. We'll also be distributing Linux goodies at low or no cost.

Venue: Jamia Hamdard Archives Auditorium Hamdard University, New Delhi 110062. Landmark: Adjacent to Batra Hospital. Entry from Gate 6 Date: September 25, 2004 Time: 10 am-6 pm (Registration at 9:30 am) Contact: ldd2k4@linux-delhi.org Entry: Free -- all are invited.

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LINUX GURUS... IN BHOPAL: kvprashant@yahoo.com has set up the Linux_Gurus mailing list. He describes it as: "A new linux user group for people of Bhopal needs your help and guidence." Do support! To join, send a blank email to linux_gurus-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

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SEPTEMBER 2004's issue of Developer IQ contains:

* GCC 3.4.1, Tcl/Tk 8.5, Mono 1.0, Python 2.3.4, Visual Tcl 1.6.0, Mlton-Perl, PHP (among other programming tools). Apache HTTP server, XEmacs 21.4.5, GTK+ 2.4, PHP source code.

* CD2 is dedicated to the Morphix Gamer. Games run from your CD ROM drive, regardless of the OS you run.

A summary of the FLOSS-related content has been posted earlier to various GNU/Linux lists in India.

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INDIA PRESIDENT'S VIEW ON FLOSS: http://news.com.com/Indian+president+calls+for+open+source+in+defense/2100-7...

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HINDI ET AL IN GNOME 2.0: Gnome 2.8 is released, with Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Punjabi and Tamil as supported languages. See http://www.gnome.org/start/2.8/ Source: Guntupalli Karunakar karunakar@freedomink.org Indianisation work: http://www.indlinux.org

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INDIC SOLUTIONS? Interested in this field, check out https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/indlinux-group

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JOIN THE 'FRIENDLY LUG' ILUG-GOA'S mailing list at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ilug-goa MAIN LIST http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ilug-goa-announce LOW VOLUME, ANNOUNCE http://groups.yahoo.com/group/teach-yourself-linux FOR NEWBIES http://groups.yahoo.com/group/linuxgoahelp TECH HELP LIST OR VISIT http://ilug-goa.notlong.com http://www.ilug-margao.org

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FLOSS IDEAS SPREADING? Please take a look at http://www.feetus.org. V. Sasi Kumar vsasi@hotpop.com describes it thus: " Open access here in India. An initiative worthy of promotion."

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PROMOTING A PROPRIETARY FORMAT, FORCING A PROPRIETARY APPLICATION: V. Sasi Kumar vsasi@hotpop.com of the Centre for Earth Science Studies in Tvn writes: "Indian Institute of Science asks alumni to fill up their details in a document in MS Word format. This is a mail I sent them more than two weeks back. No response as yet.

"Sir, I find that the proforma for membership records is given in a proprietary format (MS Word) which forces me to use a proprietary application. Indirectly you are promoting a particular company's software that uses a closed format for its files, which is not a very good practice for an internationally reputed institute like IISc.

"Instead, I suggest that the proforma be made available in open formats like Postscript, PDF, XML, etc. This would enable anyone using any word processor or any free application (like xpdf, Open Office, etc.) to read the file without loss of formatting. May I also point out that even our President, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, has prompted scientists and technologists to move from proprietary software to free software for several reasons, including national security and economics."

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UPDATES FROM BANGALORE: Atul Chitnis achitnis@exocore.com recently announced the launch of the Linux Bangalore/2004 website at http://linux-bangalore.org/2004

Adds he: "On behalf of the managers of Linux Bangalore/2004 I invite all of you visit the site, read all it has to offer, then get onto the discussion list http://linux-bangalore.org/2004/discuss/ "

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INTERNATIONAL OPEN SOURCE NETWORK: The International Open Source Network (IOSN - http://www.iosn.net) is a Centre of Excellence for Free / Open Source Software in the Asia-Pacific Region. IOSN is an initiative of the Asia-Pacific Information Development Programme (APDIP - http://www.apdip.net), which has been supporting the strategic and effective use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) for poverty alleviation and sustainable human development in the Asia-Pacific region since 1997. Via a small secretariat, the IOSN is tasked specifically to facilitate and network Free / Open Source Software advocates and human resources in the region. Activities undertaken by IOSN is listed below:

A. Free / Open Source Information Resource Facility

1. Collaborative Website: On-going Mapping of Free / Open Source activities in Asia-Pacific; Collaborative database of countries; languages, fonts,and organisations in Asia-Pacific; On-line Information/Clearing-house and Mailing Lists 2. Software Repository: A collection of FOSS software and GNU/Linux distributions specific to the Asia Pacific is being created. 3. Documentation of Best Practise 4. Open Source Primers: General FOSS by Kenneth Wong/Phet Sayo; Malaysia; Licensing by Shunling Chen-Taiwan; Policy by Kenneth Wong; Localisation by Anousak Souphavanh / Theppitak Karoonboonyanan - Thailand; Network/Security/Infrastructure by Gaurab Raj Upadhaya - Nepal; and Education by Wooi Tong Tan - Malaysia.

B. Creation of a Database of Free / Open Source Experts and Human Resources in the Region

1. Networking of Experts 2. Technical Support

C. Training and Workshops

1. FOSSAP 2004: More than 50 senior policy makers and open source practitioners from 20 countries attended this event. http://www.iosn.net/fossap/ 2. Training of Trainers: We are currently planning the first training in Vietnam in partnership with Linux Professional Institute

D. Research and Development

1. Localisation Toolkit in collaboration with Centre for Advanced Computing [CDAC], India 2. End-user training material in Text and Multimedia format. Script by Dr. Nah Soo Hoe, Malaysia and production by GetIT multimedia, Singapore. 3. GNU/Linux Live CD Project by Colin Charles, Australia of the Fedora Project. 4. Q&A on FOSS R&D/Case Studies of implementations 5. Micro-grant Programme in collaboration with University of South Pacific

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AN INDIAN IN MALAYSIA: Nice to note that Sunil Abraham sunil@apdip.net has taken on the responsibility of being the Manager of the International Open Source Network. He's located at UNDP Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme Wisma UN, Block C Kompleks Pejabat Damansara. Jalan Dungun, Damansara Heights. 50490 Kuala Lumpur. P. O. Box 12544, 50782, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Telephones: (60) 3-2091-5167, Fax: (60) 3-2095-2087

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LINDEC: Check plans for the Linux Desktop Conference -- http://www.gnomebangalore.org/lindec/ -- that happens on September 26 (Sunday), 2004.

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DISCUSSION ON THE chillu character in Mayalayam Unicode. One well-informed discussant was Mahesh T. Pai * http://paivakil.port5.com

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MORE ON INDIC ISSUES: Javier SOLA javier@khmeros.info says that discussion on some Indic issues in Unicode is available at http://www.unicode.org/~ecartis/indic/ Contact Javier for the required user-id and password needed to access.

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GNU/LINUX EQUIVALENTS: Sreekiran dwija@phreaker.net drew attention to a file of GNU/Linux equivalents in software terms: http://linuxshop.ru/linuxbegin/win-lin-soft-en/table.shtml

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INDIC LOCALIZERS MEET AT MUMBAI: G Karunakar karunakar@freedomink.org announced the Indic Localizers Meet that was held on Sept 18-19 in Mumbai. For more details see http://www.indlinux.org/wiki/index.php/IndicMeet

Languagewise participants expected were:

* Bengali - Ankur group - Sayamindu Dasgupta, Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay/Runa Bhattacharjee, Indranil Das Gupta * Gujarati - Utkarsh - Nirav Mehta, Ankur Patel * Hindi - IndLinux - G Karunakar, Ravishankar Shrivastava * Kannada - Pramod Raghavendra, Hari Prasad Nadig * Marathi - Indictrans - Jitendra Shah, Swapnil Hajare * Malayalam - SMC group - Mahesh T Pai , Arun M * Punjabi - Punlinux, Amampreet Singh Alam * Oriya - oriya.sarovar.org - Gora Mohanty * Telugu - ? * Tamil - Tamillinux team - R Hariram Aatreya, N Jayaradha * Urdu - Ravikant Sharma

Others

* Nagarjuna G - FSF India, TIFR * Prakash Advani - Onward Novell India * Venky Hariharan - Red Hat India * Abhijit Dutta - IBM India * Dr Om Vikas - TDIL, MIT, GOI * Hema Murthy - ?TeNet, IIT Chennai * Alka Irani - CDAC * M Sasikumar - CDAC * Michael Sauntak - Burmese Localization

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FROM PAKISTAN: The Open Source Resource Center (OSRC) [http://www.osrc.org.pk] had scheduled a seminar on Free and Open Source Software in Karachi on 14 September 2004. For registration and details, visit http://www.osrc.org.pk/seminar/

The Open Source Resource Center (OSRC) is a first such forum in Pakistan created by Pakistan Software Export Board (G) Ltd. [http://www.pseb.org.pk/] at Islamabad. The Resource Center aims to bring together wide range of expertise related to [Free/Libre and] Open Source Technologies and Resources at one place. The IT companies can access, share, and contribute the knowledge particular to the development and transformation of IT products on FLOSS. The Resource Center works to bring together established technology vendors, startups, open source community members and enterprise IT users/customers to jointly explore new opportunities for OSS deployment and how to capitalize on them.

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FLOSS AND EDUCATION: Thanks to the IOSN-General mailing list for this, and Nandalal Gunaratne of the Lanka Linux User Group.

http://www.schoolforge.net http://www.schoolforge.org.uk http://www.schooltool.org http://www.scholarpack.org http://www.theopencd.sunsite.dk http://www.lfsp.net (linux for schools project) http://http://www.affs.org.uk/education/index.html Free Software assn. http;//edu.kde.org kde edutainment http://www.tux4kids.com/tyx4kids http://www.debian,org/devel/debian-jr http://www.bluelinux.org http:/k12os.org http://www.osef.org/ http://richtex.ca/seul http://www.freeeduc.org

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PRIMER ON FLOSS, VIA MALAYSIA: IOSN has produced a primer on Free/Open Source Software Licensing and an early pre-copyedited draft of the primer is now available for public review and feedback. This primer is an introductory summary of licensing issues involved with using the different FOSS licenses, primarily the GNU GPL license. It offers several scenarios, and proposes a framework for licensing of government sponsored software. The primer also addresses common questions and misconceptions regarding copyright and licensing issues. Further details from khairil@apdip.net http://www.iosn.net/licensing/foss-licensing-primer/

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IOSN mailing list. Join the International Open Source Network (Malaysia-based) mailing list iosn-general@iosn.net http://lists.apdip.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/iosn-general

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SOME ASIAN G/LINKS AND GNU/LUGS: A query brought in some interesting links to LUGs in and around Asia. Here's a listing of some:

Lanka Linux User Group (LK-LUG) has been operating since 1998.They also have a localization project: http://sinhala.linux.lk Check out more details at http://www.linux.lk or http://www.lug.lk

Cambodia's English-language Majordomo-based mailing-list is at linux@forum.org.kh Once there, one can also have a look at their KhmerOS Initiative, to create UNICODE based Khmer language software -- in both the Windows and the Linux environments. Check out http://www.KhmerOS.info

The Iranian LUG is pretty active: http://www.farsilinux.org Saudi's mailing list is at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/saudi_linux/

Outside this continent, but probably having shared interests is the http://fossfa.net This is the body working to promote Free and Open Source Software in Africa. It has some 53 member states.

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THE STEPS AHEAD: Anand Babu wrote to friends from South Africa that the FSF-India working group is discussing initiatives on e-governance, localization and live CD distributions, super-computing grid and other core GNU tasks through Free Software Development Lab. Says he: "So far Government has hardly done anything for the Free Software Movement in India. Here is a three step approach they need to take: (1) Standardize on Free Software for all Governmental use. (2) Actively support and promote (educate) Free Software as #1 choice for the community (3) Fund Free Software initiatives.

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OPEN OFFICE IN KANNADA: Pramod R pramodleo@yahoo.co.uk recently announced that OpenOffice.org in Kannada is nearing 100% translations. Said he: "We hope to have a review of the same during October 2nd & 3rd. For details: http://www.kannudi.org/wiki/index.php?title=Openoffice.org_First_Review_Meet

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NEWSLETTER ON LOCALIZATION: Localization Newsletter Issue 6, Vol 1 ( 1st September 2004) is out, and available at http://www.indlinux.org/nl/issue6.html

Highlights include * KDE Hindi translation review workshop at Sarai * New Pango releases * Mozilla supports Pango upstream * Indic printing to work from Gnome 2.8 (release mid-Sept) * Utkal - New Oriya Opentype font available - http://oriya.sarovar.org/download/utkalm.ttf.gz * Indic Unicode issues and updates on Indic list at Unicode. * Tamil PC team featured in Team watch

For older issues of L10n Newsletter check http://www.indlinux.org/nl/

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USEFUL SCRIPT FOR STUDENTS: Robin Turner of Bilkent Universitesi in Ankara-Turkey robin@bilkent.edu.tr recently announced on the FSF-India list that he has just updated his script for enabling students to upload their work via a web page. Improvements: 1. Students choose which essay they are submitting and the program automatically renames the file to something appropriate ("this is because I am fed up with recieving files named 'My Essay.doc'"); 2. The program now runs in taint mode and untaints submitted variables ("I don't know if this really makes it any more secure, but it makes me feel righteous"). If anyone wants to use it, it's at <www.bilkent.edu.tr/~robin/scripts/101upload.cgi>.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------- THIS NEWSLETTER IS EDITED and compiled by Frederick Noronha fred at bytesforall dot org. Your inputs, feedback and brickbats are welcome. Contact us at fred at bytesforall dot org COPYLEFT 2003. May be freely circulated provided entire text and credits are left intact.

You can subscribe to receive this FREE newsletter (free beer, free speech!) by subscribing directly at http://www.freelists.org/cgi-bin/list?list_id=linuxinindia -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Frederick Noronha (FN) Near Convent, SALIGAO 403511 GOA India Freelance Journalist Tel: +91-832-2409490 MOBILE: 9822122436 fred at bytesforall.org fredericknoronha at vsnl.net http://fn.swiki.net (FN's swiki) http://www.ilug-goa.tk (GNULinux Users Group Goa)