FSUG-Bangalore August 2008

fsug-bangalore@mm.gnu.org.in

21 participants
27 discussions

Fwd: Here are those stickers
by Anivar Aravind 20 Aug '08

20 Aug '08

Laptop Stickers for Say No to Software Patent Campaign ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: H <hiran.v(a)gmail.com> Date: 2008/8/20 Subject: Here are those stickers To: Anivar Aravind <anivar.aravind(a)gmail.com> http://hiran.v.googlepages.com/track.png -- H WARNING :The opinions expressed above are yours. They are not necessarily those of my employer or myself. hiraneffects.blogspot.com | 91.9846951870 | IRC Nick/ Freenode :HFactor [ c u @ #smc-project | #sugar | #python]

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Fwd: [PRC] Sarai FLOSS fellowships for 2008: Call for proposals
by Anivar Aravind 20 Aug '08

20 Aug '08

With the usual apologies for Cross posting ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Gora Mohanty <gora(a)sarai.net> Date: Wed, Aug 20, 2008 at 12:55 PM Subject: [PRC] Sarai FLOSS fellowships for 2008: Call for proposals To: ILUGD main list <ilugd(a)lists.linux-delhi.org> Cc: General Freed list <freed(a)lists.linux-delhi.org>, Free/Libre and Open Source Software Project List <prc(a)sarai.net> Hello all, We invite proposals for the next round of the Sarai FLOSS fellowships. Please see the announcement below, and note in particular that the deadline for submissions is midnight IST on Sun., Sep. 14th, 2008. We also stand ready to discuss possible projects. Please email me directly, or send email to floss AT sarai DOT net with any queries. The announcement is also online at < http://www.sarai.net/fellowships/floss/2008-floss-fellowships-call-for-prop…> and a PDF copy of the announcement is available at http://www.sarai.net/fellowships/floss/sarai-floss.pdf Please feel free to circulate these far and wide. Regards, Gora ------------------------------------------------------- Call for proposals: Sarai, CSDS, short-term FLOSS fellowships August 20, 2008 1. Introduction The Sarai programme of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi (http://www.sarai.net) is pleased to announce fellowships for projects related to Free/Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS) activities. We invite proposals for projects of practical value, especially those relevant to educational, social, and community needs. This year, the fellowships are funded by the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI), http: //www.nixi.in, which seeks to promote Indian language computing, and network technology needs for India in the FLOSS domain. The Indian Linux Users' Group, Delhi (ILUG-D) has also agreed to be technical partners on this year's fellowship projects, and will be involved in the selection of proposals, and the monitoring of projects. We wish to increase contacts between FLOSS communities in India and abroad, and would encourage tie-ups with major international FLOSS projects. We are particularly interested in the areas below, but any proposal meeting the conditions listed at the end is eligible: o Localisation of user interfaces into Indian languages, and the translation of documentation for FLOSS applications. o Indian language computing, including work on fonts, rendering, locales, input methods, spell-checking, etc., as well as in advanced technologies like optical character recognition (OCR), handwriting recognition, and speech-to-text. o Research on networking technologies relevant to the spread of the Internet in India, to the use of Indian-language domain names, and enabling a migration to IPv6. o In the interest of sustained development, we would like to see the enhancement of, and extensions for projects funded as part of past Sarai FLOSS fellowships. In particular, we draw attention to Hindi automated speech recognition (http://sourceforge. net/projects/hindiasr/), NewsRack (http://newsrack.in), and Hindawi (http://www.indicybers.com). o Documentation for users of FLOSS tools, particularly in the area of Indian language computing. o Projects involving cutting-edge technology, especially in the domains of mobile computing, embedded devices, robotics, GPS, GIS, and location-based services. We will be asking for a collaborative approach from the fellows; among one another, with people in ILUG-D and Sarai, or with the broader FLOSS community. Details of these will be worked out with the selected fellows, but will include things like discussions over IRC, email, and postings on the Sarai Project Resource Centre (PRC) mailing list. Blogging about progress on the projects is especially encouraged. Fellows will also be asked to prepare a timeline for the projects, with intermediate milestones, and will be expected to adhere to them. 2. Applying for the fellowships We invite students, developers, researchers, and practitioners interested in the FLOSS arena to apply for the fellowships. While there is no prescribed format for the applications, we expect them to be in sufficient detail for a reviewer to sensibly evaluate them. Attention to details, such as a plan of work that addresses what is possible to accomplish within the limited project period, a projection of how the work might be continued after that, and a discussion of the possible impact of the project, is strongly recommended. Please mail your application, along with a resume, to floss(a)sarai.net, with the subject line of "Sarai FLOSS fellowships". As this information is intended to be public, also subscribe to the PRC mailing list at https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/prc, and post a copy there, failing which your final proposal will be forwarded there by one of us. Enquiries are invited at floss(a)sarai.net , and on the PRC list, including questions on how to frame proposals. The last date of submission is midnight IST on Sun., Sep. 14th, 2008. The projects will run for a total of about six months, with a final workshop to be held at Sarai, CSDS, Delhi, where the fellows will be expected to present a summary of their work. The total amount of the fellowship will be Rs. 70, 000. 3. Conditions Applicants should have a valid bank account in any bank operating in India. These are support grants, and the fellows are free to pursue their primary occupations in parallel, as long as they keep working on proposed projects as per schedule. The fellows must be willing to make a release of their final work under any open-source licence approved by the Open Source Initiative (OSI). Please see under http://www.opensource.org/licenses for a complete list. Proposals from teams, partnerships, collectives, and faculty on the behalf of a group of students are welcome, so long as the grant amount is administered by a single individual, and the funds are deposited in a single bank account in the name of an individual. ------------------------------------------------------- Knowlege is power... share it equitably! _______________________________________________ prc mailing list prc(a)sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/prc

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Bangalore Swpat meeting
by Anivar Aravind 19 Aug '08

19 Aug '08

an update from venky The Delhi meeting discussed all the issues (pharma patents, software, procedural issues etc). The Bangalore meeting (Aug 27th) will focus only on software patents.

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Intellectual Property Regime Stifles Science and Innovation, Nobel Laureates Say
by Anivar Aravind 19 Aug '08

19 Aug '08

http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/index.php?p=1129 The basic framework of the intellectual property (IP) regime aims to "close down access to knowledge" rather than allowing its dissemination, Professor Joseph Stiglitz said at a 5 July lecture on "Who Owns Science?" Stiglitz, a 2001 Nobel Laureate in Economics, and Professor John Sulston, a 2002 Nobel Laureate in Physiology/Medicine, launched Manchester University's new Institute for Science, Ethics and Innovation. Both were highly critical of today's patent system, saying it stifles science and innovation. IP is often compared to physical property rights but knowledge is fundamentally different, Stiglitz said. It is a public good with two attributes - "non-rivalrous competition" and non-excludability - meaning it is difficult to prevent others from enjoying its benefits. That runs counter to IP regimes, which are worse than exclusion because they create monopoly power over knowledge that is often abused, he said. Patent monopolies are believed to drive innovation but they actually impede the pace of science and innovation, Stiglitz said. The current "patent thicket," in which anyone who writes a successful software programme is sued for alleged patent infringement, highlights the current IP system's failure to encourage innovation, he said. [...]

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Say no to software patents
by sujith h 18 Aug '08

18 Aug '08

Hi all, FSUG-Bangalore is going to conduct a candle light vigil to say no to software patents on August 23rd 2008. The location will be town hall. For further information please have a look at FCI Wiki <http://fci.wikia.com/wiki/Say_No_To_Software_Patents>. -- സുജിത് ഹരിദാസന് Bangalore http://fci.wikia.com/wiki/Anti-DRM-Campaign

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Urgent:
by James Mathew 16 Aug '08

16 Aug '08

Friends, There is an urgent requirement for a GNU/Linux installation in Doordarshan Kendra, Bangalore. What i understand is that they are quite fed up with the viruses. We should not miss this opportunity, even though it will be for just 1/2 machines. It'd be really nice if you could do it today/tomorrow itself (Saturday/Sunday). Can you please coordinate it? The person to contact @ DDK is Mr. Jofy. 9980439347 Thank you James -- HASTA LA VICTORIA SIEMPRE!

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Coming to Bangalore from Pune
by shirish 16 Aug '08

16 Aug '08

Hi all, I'm shirish. I'm coming from Pune to Bangalore for some official work and would be there in Bangalore between 25th and 31st of August 2008. I am a Ubuntu user and would love to chat and discuss ideas and ways in which free software could be used. Please lemme know how and when can we meet? -- Regards, Shirish Agarwal This email is licensed under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ 065C 6D79 A68C E7EA 52B3 8D70 950D 53FB 729A 8B17

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Fwd: [foss.in] Software Patents Meeting in Bangalore
by Aanjhan R 14 Aug '08

14 Aug '08

Not sure how many of you are in the FOSS.IN mailing list. Hence forwarding for the interested as I see some discussions on the meeting happening here. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Venkatesh Hariharan <venkyh(a)gmail.com> Date: Wed, Aug 13, 2008 at 4:04 PM Subject: [foss.in] Software Patents Meeting in Bangalore To: foss-in(a)yahoogroups.com The Indian Patent Office is organizing a Stakeholders Meeting on Draft Patent Manual in Bangalore. The exact date has not been specified. However, 27th August 2008 has been mentioned as the most likely date. The FOSS community believes that copyrights are good enough to protect software and that software patents prevent independent innovation. For a short article on this, read, PATENTS ARE NOT NECESSARY FOR INNOVATION <http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Patents-are-not-necessary-for-innovati…><http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Patents-are-not-necessary-for-innovati…> When we were battling the Patent Amendment Act 2005, I had requested Lawrence Liang of the Alternative Law Forum<http://www.osindia.blogspot.com/www.altlawforum.org>to put together a note on why software patents are harmful<http://www.sarai.net/research/knowledge-culture/critical-public-legal-resou…>. Virtually overnight, Liang and his team at Alternative Law Forum put together a position paper on software patents and their impact on the Indian industry. This is a highly recommended read for those interested in this issue. http://www.sarai.net/research/knowledge-culture/critical-public-legal-resou… Those interested in reading the Full text of Section 3(k) relating to software patents can check: http://osindia.blogspot.com/2008/08/full-text-of-section-3k-relating-to.html The full Draft Patent Manual is at: http://ipindia.nic.in/ipr/patent/DraftPatent_Manual_2008.pdf Red Hat's comments on the Manual is at: http://ipindia.nic.in/ipr/patent/Patent_Manual_Feedback/REDHAT_INDIA_PVT._L… Let us work together and defeat this menace. Venky [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] __._,_.___ Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic Messages -- The List Rules : http://foss.in/list-rules The Event Site : http://foss.in The Event Planet : http://planet.foss.in The Event Channel : #foss.in on irc.freenode.net The Event List : http://foss.in/list Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required) Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe Visit Your Group Healthy Living Learn to live life to the fullest on Yahoo! Groups. Y! Groups blog The place to go to stay informed on Groups news! Yahoo! Groups w/ John McEnroe Join the All-Bran Day 10 Club. . __,_._,___ -- Aanjhan ------------ http://www.tuxmaniac.com

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Why Microsoft and Intel tried to kill the XO $100 laptop
by Frederick Noronha [फ़र ेदरिक नोर ोनया] 10 Aug '08

10 Aug '08

Why Microsoft and Intel tried to kill the XO $100 laptop >From The Sunday Times August 10, 2008 http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article4472654.ec… -- FN * Independent Journalist http://fn.goa-india.org Software for Kids Blog: http://softwareforkids.wordpress.com

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About Website (oddmuse/mediawiki) & style - Arky, help
by Shashi 09 Aug '08

09 Aug '08

quoting http://bangalore.gnu.org.in/?Things_To_Do i'd tell you to go for oddmuse for it is lightweight and more or completely flexible I've tried to understand the MediaWiki source code which is next to impossible the only people on the planet who may know how to hack it to do anything i bet are those who founded MediaWiki.... Oddmuse is easier to understand less bulky and too flexible if you were worrying about the aesthetic feel the site has lost due to Oddmuse I've made a css that will make you reluctant to use MediaWiki! Here are some screenshots I took after running the css http://www.orkut.co.in/AlbumZoom.aspx?uid=17149210454281460330&pid=12181860… Oddmuse also uses flat file storage while mediawiki uses MySQL it is difficul to migrate and to hack even the skin it uses... OddMuse is straight forward and no nonsense wiki engine... # Easy to use for users, easy to hack for programmers. # Capable of multilingual sites. # Unicode (UTF-8) per default. # Valid HTML; CSS friendly. these are lines on the oddmuse site i go with... http://www.oddmuse.org/cgi-bin/oddmuse/Project_Organization I need some more help.. in this page's code http://bangalore.gnu.org.in/?search=arky&dosearch=Go! the results are not put in a common html <div class="wraporsomethin"></div> this makes it not go with the CSS layout i made i need help of whoever has access to the wiki.pl code to hack this to print the wrapping div... About the content licensing I'd suggest GNU FDL.. and recommend you to read it frst. It's been a day after i joined the mailing list and orkut comm. I'm not feeling comfortable about asking you access to the source code of the site... pls reply -- Shashi http://connect2shashi.blogspot.com

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FSUG-Bangalore August 2008