luggers......
pliss refer to the letter as attached.......
***************************8
Hiyee Luggers,
There should be no doubt that the most important
places where free software should be advocated and
propagated are schools and colleges. Instead of
trying
to wean away people at a later stage when
they are used to or worse, addicted to proprietary
software, we must educate people about free software
when their exposure to proprietary software is
minimal
and when they are most amenable to absorbing
progressive ideas and beliefs.
The long term goal of FSF-I/LUG's should of course
be
to ensure that the school and college syllabi are
free
of all proprietary software and
that students are introduced at an early stage to
the
simple philosophy of free software. This would
require
petitioning the various bodies responsible for
framing
these syllabi and that involves
going through a labyrinth of bureaucratic red tape.
This obviously is not an easy goal to achieve
although
we must make a start on this
front sooner rather than later.
In the mean time, we can involve ourselves in a more
grass roots approach of contacting individual
schools
and colleges and requesting them to arrange talks on
free software to be given by local volunteers of
FSF-I/LUG's. This approach has no major bureaucratic
hurdles, except
perhaps for the convincing of individual principals
or
head masters, and promises the immediate benefit of
more and more young and
impressionable minds getting exposed to the simple
philosophy of free software.
Here's a draft plan:
Volunteers in each town/city/suburb should compile a
list of schools where they could go and give a talk
on
free software and submit this
list to FSF-I/LUG's. FSF-I/LUG's should then in turn
send request letters to these
schools, including the contact details of the
particular volunteers whom the school should contact
for scheduling the talk.
A preliminary draft of the request letter follows:
To,
The Principal
name and address of school
Dear sir or madam,
Sub: A request for arranging a talk on Free
Software and conducting a workshop on GNU/Linux in
your institution.
The Free Software Foundation of India FSF-I and
the LUG ( Linux Users Group ), is a non-profit
organisation formed for the purpose of advocating
and
propagating the use and development of Free Software
in India. Please see the enclosed literature for
an
explanation of and a brief introduction to Free
Software. Please also visit our website at
www.fsf.org.in and http://www.ilug-bom.org.in, for
further information on our activities and goals.
As part of our efforts to spread awareness
and educate people about Free Software and
Gnu/Linux,
we have started a program of holding talks in
schools and colleges and technical institutions,
with
the aim of exposing youngsters to the simple
philosophy behind Free Software and educating them
aboutthe moral, ethical, and practical advantages of
using and developing Free Software along with a
2-3
workshop on basics of GNU/Linux from the perspective
of enhancing the students technical vocabulary.
We believe that this exposure is important for
all
students who have any interest or connection with
computers and computer software, as it will enable
them to make a more informed choice, based on
virtues
other than mere technical and marketing facts, when
the time comes for them to choose which software to
study, use, buy or develop.
Sir / madam, we hereby request you to arrange
for
such a talk to be given in your institution by one
or
more local volunteers of our organisation. The names
and contact details of the volunteers with whom you
can discuss the schedule of the talk are as follows:
1. volunteer name and contact details
2. volunteer name and contact details
We propose addressing this talk to students of
classes SE,TE and BE. However, we leave the actual
composition of the target audience entirely up to
your
discretion and judgment depending on the current
level of exposure of your students to computers and
computer software.
You may please distribute the enclosed
literature
on Free Software/Linux among the intended audience
as
a preparatory step in advance of the talk.
Thank you very much for your cooperation and
time.
Yours sincerely,
Sd.
for
Free Software Foundation of India
&
Linux User Group of Bombay
*************************************
This letter has been framed by "Khuzaima A.
Lakdawala", and i owe him due
for every word and idea in here. Just that i have
modified parts to include
the LUG and Linux as part of our overall agenda.
**********************
Trevor Warren
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