On Wed, Feb 26, 2003 at 09:54:25AM +0530, Amish Munshi wrote:
Dr. D. B. Phatak wants to create an offline internet. It will be a collection of sites which are of importance. This is for the schools and colleges that do not have internet access.
This seems like a serious misinterpretation of what DBP actually has in mind. I was lucky to be present when he explained his idea in general to RMS while he was staying at the IIT guest house. Nag and Jitendra Shah were also present ... Amish, if what you were told is something different, please elaborate.
Although the real picture is much bigger, called the "Affordable Solutions Lab" here at KReSIT, the basic idea is to create an offline _network_ of educational institutes. Even in the absence of connectivity (not Internet), a CD full of educational content will be useful, I think. The whole project aims to get students as well as teachers all over the country, irrespective of _Internet_ connectivity, to generate educational content at all levels of schooling. The content will be free (as in freedom) with due credit to the contributors.
Putting useful Internet sites on the CD seems infeasible, what with copyright and such issues. I remember RMS cautioning not to use the term "IPR" in place of "credit".
I myself can't say much about what's in the pipes, but there should be an official announcement sometime in the next couple of months.
Sameer.