Fsf-friends December 2002

fsf-friends@gnu.org.in

37 participants
77 discussions

by Manjush G.Menon

Original Message ----- From: "IT@School" <itschool(a)asianetindia.com> To: <manjushmenon(a)hotmail.com> Sent: Saturday, October 05, 2002 5:08 PM Subject: Reply > Mr.Manjush G. Menon > We are not giving to depend totally on Ms. Products. Rather MS > Office is taught along with open office and Windows along with Linux > from this year. Arranging the resource persons for training an open > software, making available the software, the maintenance of a help desk > etc. are logistical issues which could not be immediately undertaken. > We plan switch out to open software within three years. > Executive Director > ---- Original Message ----- From: Manjush G. Menon To: itschool(a)asianetindia.com Sent: Friday, October 04, 2002 5:46 PM Subject: Respected sir, From Manjush G. Menon, Sr.Programmer, Sofker Solutions Pvt Ltd, Kochi-18. To The Executive Director, 'IT @ SCHOOL' Project, SCERT Buildings, Poojapura, Thiruvananthapuram-12. Respected sir, SUB: In protest against the inclusion of products from multinational companies in the syllabus of 'IT @ SCHOOL' It's a very dissappointing fact that when the whole world is moving towards Free software, we at kerala are going behind a major MNC - Microsoft. I hereby register my protest in such an act from 'IT @ SCHOOL' Project team. Breaking of prototypes will definetly help us in finding economical and high quality products for our future generation. For students and programmers, the GNU Linux contains 'GNU Compiler Collections' which includes C, C++, FORTRAN, PERL, TCL etc. Also, for DTP and other publishing purposes, it includes GNU Office utilities like Abi-Word, gedit, and other worksheet utilities, all these with a nominal cost of Rs 700-800/-. The software as it is, is free and the cost is accounted towards the media (CD + Documentation) included. By this letter, I urge you to take this matter seriously and suggest necessary modifications in the action plan of 'IT @ SCHOOL' project. Wishing you all the best and wishing all 'Students @ SCHOOL' a bright future, Thanking you, Yours faithfully Manjush G. Menon. ______________________________________________________ Check out all the latest outrageous email attachments on the Outrageous Email Chart! - http://viral.lycos.co.uk

18 years

PERUVIAN EFFORT COULD BAN MICROSOFT ON GOV. COMPUTERS (fwd)

by Frederick Noronha

Thanks to George Lessard for posting this across. FN ---------- Forwarded message ---------- PERUVIAN EFFORT COULD BAN MICROSOFT ON GOV. COMPUTERS Peruvian Congressman Edgar Villanueva is pushing legislation to obligate all public institutions to convert exclusively to open-source software. Open-source programs, embodied by the Linux operating system, have underlying code available to anyone who wants to modify or customize it. Such software, in unadorned form, can be downloaded from the Internet for free. Villanueva hopes his measure triggers activity in Peru's software industry by freeing programmers from the constraints of working with coding controlled by a few large companies. Open-source could take the expense out of software upgrades; which is important for a country like Peru that owes about $30 million in overdue software license fees. [SOURCE: San Jose Mercury, AUTHOR: Associated Press] (http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/3531007.htm)

19 years

Linux, GNU/Linux... etc

by Frederick Noronha

After getting to understand the issues involved, it seemed to me that using the term GNU/Linux is a nice way of giving credit where credit is due -- to both the Free Software ideal and the kernel developers' work. But I got a bit peeved by what almost comes across as attempts to act as if the Free Software campaign didn't exist, and that Linux (I mean the kernel) evolved in a vacuum. Maybe as a knee-jerk response, I just changed the name of the irregular ezine put out below. Well, I guess what you see depends on where you stand. Some interesting feedback came in. Let me share it with you on this list. Perhaps persons who prefer to drop the term 'GNU' from GNU/Linux, might end up responding angrily if the term 'Linux' is used in a smaller typesize. Ideally it would be nice if we could all work together, and give each other credit where credit is due. Your comments -- brickbats too -- are welcome. FN ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 2 Date: Fri, 27 Dec 2002 18:37:51 +0530 (IST) From: Frederick Noronha <fred(a)bytesforall.org> Subject: NEWSLETTER: GNU/LinuxIndia Dec 27, 2002 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 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Formerly LinuxInIndia * Compiled by: Frederick Noronha * Dec 27,2002 -------------------------------------------------------------------- ... ... ... ... SOME FEEDBACK TO GNU/LinuxINDIA NEWSLETTER: From: Arun Sharma <arun(a)sharma-home.net> I understand that you can't fit an ASCII art logo mentioning "GNU/Linux India" in 80 columns, and hence had to abbreviate "Linux" part a little bit. But given all the controversy about the term "GNU/Linux", I find the above logo in bad taste -- it almost seems like you're posting about "GNU India", when in fact, the message is about what I'd normally call "Linux". I'm sure you could design a logo that displays "Linux" more prominently.-Arun From amish_munshi(a)sify.com Fri Dec 27 17:07:26 2002 Can you change this artwork, it is not readable. I am very bad at art work, so I can not provide any artwork, sorry. Overall, it is the best newsletter I have ever got, very well made. Keep it up. How regularly will I be getting such rich content? From paivakil(a)vsnl.net Fri Dec 27 17:08:37 2002 Wow!!!! What a beautiful logo!!! -- Mahesh T. Pai. ... ... ... ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 3 Date: Fri, 27 Dec 2002 22:24:46 +0530 From: Nikhil Shanker <nikhil(a)ilug-hyd.org.in> Subject: Re: NEWSLETTER: GNU/LinuxIndia Dec 27, 2002 On Fri, Dec 27, 2002 at 06:37:51PM +0530, Frederick Noronha wrote: > > 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 > -------------------------------------------------------------------- > Formerly LinuxInIndia * Compiled by: Frederick Noronha * Dec 27,2002 > -------------------------------------------------------------------- I share the same opinions as Arun Sharma on LIG. The logo reduces "Linux" to a single column. GNU/Linux is acceptable since it caters to some individuals' sentiments, but this looks like an overkill. I think RMS must be show the logo with "LINUX" replaced with "HURD" with the same one column layout. I bet, he'd be satisfied with: e88~~\ 888b | 888 | 888 888 888 | 88888b 888 / d888 |Y88b | 888 | 888 888 888 | 888 88 e88~\888 I 8888 __ | Y88b | 888 | 88888888 888 | 888ee88 d888 888 N 8888 | | Y88b | 888 | 88888888 888 | 88888b 8888 888 D Y888 | | Y88b| Y88 | 888 888 Y88 | 888 88b Y888 888 I "88__/ | Y888 "8__/ 888 888 "8__/ 888 88b "88_/888 A bah! > > SPEECH SYNTHESIS: Rohit Kumar of the Speech Processing Lab, LTRC at > IIIT Hyderabad points to a speech synthesis demo at > http://196.12.44.11/~speech/index.htm Says he: "I look forward to > your responses both about the speech quality and the ease of use and > understandability of the web interface. PS: For all [GNU/]/Linux > enthusiasts the speech synthesizer is currently built on Red Hat > Linux 7.2 and we have tested it with RHL 8.0." This is insane too. You're quoting a post here, and you GNU-hijack it within the quotes. This very prominent and noticable GNU-hijacking makes the newsletter more unreadable. Although the content is commendable, the we-will-serve-you-oh-RMS-my-l0rd attitude hides the real juice. Maybe even this comment will only be listed in the "Comments" section of the next version of the newsletter just like Arun's was. But I've been looking at this newletter everytime and seeing more GNU than actual information is really disheartening. The best part is it gets posted to LI and LUGs. Please note that these its not GLI and GLUGs. I imply no disrespect to the poster. Its just an opinion. Nikhil. -- Nikhil Shankar (nikhil.shanker at acm.org) Slackware Linux http://www.slackware.com/ I guess that's why people care: Simplicity is Divine. ________________________________________________________________________

20 years, 9 months

Fwd: [sajith@symonds.net: JFS translator for the Hurd]

by Raghavendra Bhat

----- Forwarded message from Sajith T S <sajith(a)symonds.net> ----- >>Date: Tue, 24 Dec 2002 11:36:10 +0530 >>From: Sajith T S <sajith(a)symonds.net> >>Subject: [fsug-kochi-discuss] JFS translator for the Hurd >>To: Free Software User Group - Kochi <fsug-kochi-discuss(a)symonds.net> >> >>Hello, >> >>Any Hurd users around? Christmas gift for you! >> >>Here's a JFS translator for the Hurd - the "first industrial-strength >>journaling filesystem for the Hurd" :^) >> >> http://www.symonds.net/~sajith/hurd/ >> >>It's a readonly translator, so no journaling for now :-) I don't have >>access to a recent Hurd release, so I'm not sure if it'd work or even >>compile on them. Mine is installed from old, pre-libio Debian G1 CDs. >> >>More on JFS here: >> >> http://oss.software.ibm.com/jfs/ >> >>Bug reports aren't welcome. There ain't a bug :-/ >> >>Regards, Sajith. ----- End forwarded message ----- -- ragOO, Freedom of the Air Waves, GNU Radio The GNU Project :: http://www.gnu.org/ Free Software is not `free masala dosa' Free Software is about computing freedom.

20 years, 9 months

Asian Social Forum...

by Frederick Noronha

Asian Social Forum meet in Hyderabad (1) BANGALORE, DEC. 26. The Asian Social Forum (ASF) will meet between January 2 and 7 at the Nizam College, Basheerbagh, Hyderabad. The forum will host eight conferences in addition to scores of seminars, workshops, testimonies, cultural events, panel discussions, and a youth camp. Around 10,000 delegates from over 300 organisations are ex^Fpected to attend the pro^Fgramme. These delegates will be from social movements, NGOs, research institutions, trade unions, Dalit organisations and women's organisations. (Hindu 27.12.02) XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

20 years, 9 months

Re: : Re: [Fsf-friends] NEWSLETTER: GNU/LinuxIndia Dec 22, 2002

by Frederick Noronha

This is a response from the team that's working to bring out the 'LinuxForYou' newsletter in India. FN On Thu, 26 Dec 2002, efylinux1 wrote: > I am a strong supproter of GNU and what it stands for.Although i would > have idealy liked the name that you have proposed but there are few > things which you must also know. > GNU itself is a shortform and hence could not be registered. > secondly we would like to communicate with the common masses and since > Linux is the name which he identifies .also linux is a representative of > the open source community in a way . > > regards > Abhishek Kumar > Sr Correspondent > efylinux1(a)electronicsforu.com > > Strength is life,weakness is death.

20 years, 9 months

Re: LINKS: In the ICT4D network...

by Frederick Noronha

Hi Sreekumar, I'm having a bit of health-related problems at home, so might find it difficult to make it. Friends from the FSF-India (Free Software Foundation-India) may possibly be there. FN PS: Dr Sreekumar is an Indian researcher studying IT and related issues. He's based in Hong Kong. On Thu, 26 Dec 2002, T T Sreekumar wrote: > Dear Fred, > > Thanks. It is more or less confirmed that I would attend ASF, Hbd on 6th > Jan. I'll be arriving on 5th to make it. What is your schedule like? Would > you be around during the final days? > Belated X'mas wishes and best wishes for a meaningful new year!! > Sreekumar

20 years, 9 months

Other 'freedom' issues... from the GII mailing list

by Frederick Noronha

Other 'freedom' issues coming up in the world beyond software? Thanks to Raju Mathur of Delhi for forwarding this. FN From: Meredith Tupper <meredith(a)pintsize.com> To: isp-webhosting(a)isp-webhosting.com Subject: [isp-webhosting] thing.net shut down by Verio Date: Tue, 24 Dec 2002 17:58:48 -0400 December 23, 2002 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thing.net assistance page: https://secure.thing.net/backbone/ Contact: mailto:thing-group@rtmark.com ACTIVIST NETWORK IN NY EVICTED FROM INTERNET BY DOW, VERIO Bowing to pressure from the Dow Chemical Corporation, the internet company Verio has booted the activist-oriented Thing.net from the Web. Internet service provider Thing.net has been the primary service provider for activist and artist organizations in the New York area for 10 years. On December 3, activists used a server housed by Thing.net to post a parody Dow press release on the eighteenth anniversary of the disaster in which 20,000 people died as a result of an accident at a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India. (Union Carbide is now owned by Dow.) The deadpan statement, which many people took as real, explained that Dow could not accept responsibility for the disaster due to its primary allegiance to its shareholders and to its bottom line. Dow was not amused, and sent a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) complaint to Verio, which immediately cut Thing.net off the internet for fifteen hours. A few days later, Verio announced that Thing.net had 60 days to move to another provider before being shut down permanently, unilaterally terminating Thing.net's 7-year-old contract. Affected organizations include PS1/MOMA, Artforum, Nettime, Tenant.net (which assists renters facing eviction), and hundreds more. "Verio's actions are nothing short of outrageous," said Wolfgang Staehle, Thing.net Executive Director. "They could have resolved the matter with the Dow parodists directly; instead they chose to shut down our entire network. This self-appointed enforcement of the DMCA could have a serious chilling effect on free speech, and has already damaged our business." RTMark, which publicizes corporate abuses of democracy, is housed on Thing.net. Please visit https://secure.thing.net/backbone/ to help Thing.net survive Dow's and Verio's actions, and to develop a plan to avoid such problems in the future. # 30 # ------------------------------ End of this Digest ****************** -- Raju Mathur raju(a)kandalaya.org http://kandalaya.org/ It is the mind that moves --__--__-- Message: 2 Date: Tue, 24 Dec 2002 03:59:17 -0800 (PST) From: sabrina syed <sabrina_syed2002(a)yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [india-gii] [OT] (fwd) thing.net shut down by Verio To: india-gii(a)lists.cpsr.org Hi, In its defense, Dow is saying, "...Thing.net have been evicted from the web, we firmly believe that those who violate the right to Corporate Free Speech have no place on a commercial network like the internet. " http://www.dowethics.com/r/environment/freedom.html ...."commercial network like the internet"???Does it mean purely commercial? what abt non-commercial interests? Can any one throw light on last line of Dow's claims tht, internet is purely commercial? If this claim goes unquestionable, then who owns internet? Internet has potential to advance commercial interests. That doesn't mean non-commercial interests,should give way to freedom of speech of those who propagate their commercial interests. Does this precedent mean organisations running, .orgs and governments running, .govs and .infos and .nets have less freedom of speech than those who invest money in suing others on the claims of image erosion or defamation? What happens if thing.net counter sues Dow /Verio for defamation and intervention into it's own freedom of speech? Can't thing.net get an "asylum" on some other non-us based server? What are the stakes involved if it does tht? Regards, Sabrina. ___________________________ Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR) is the oldest non-profit, mass membership organization working on social impacts of computer technology. To learn more, go to http://www.cpsr.org To join, visit: http://cpsr.org/join.html _______________________________________________________ india-gii mailing list india-gii(a)lists.cpsr.org https://ssl.cpsr.org/mailman/listinfo/india-gii

20 years, 9 months

Re: Microsoft to share ...

by CK Raju

Satish, > the issue is not just about property rights. the issue is about .. > itself. i am not responding to just one feature of the debate. it... > all. if a hypothesis cannot stand the weakest test, how strong wou.. You appear to be putting forth crucial issues. FS movement is definite to prove a point here, when it finally brings down one such 'goliath' within the 'core'. While 'progress' that you mentioned is working in favour of this 'core' or 'centre' through manipulative moves, this movement now stands a good chance of claiming victory by organising the 'periphery' towards a common goal. The movement, by then would have acquired a huge proposition with a lot of workforce behind it, from where the next important 'reproduction of inequality' can be addressed. Perhaps, it would be for this reason, that 'technology' would be remembered for generations, in achieving, what has so far eluded most philosophers, towards, suggesting a safe way out. Since most of them in their own areas, have already created necessary 'backups', recreating glory and prosperity may not be all that difficult. Moreover these issues are not just confined to inner circles of philosophers,of late, they have been projected even by the CIA, for instance, the growing 'inequality and power divide' has been identified as the most 'possible' cause behind the unrest, that the developed nations are currently worried about. This should not idle us from going ahead, as the 'core' needs to be scared, for it to get 'adjusted' to being 'less violent', in order for our 'governments' to acquire some amount of confidence, to be real 'alternatives' and not just 'alternations'. CK Raju -------------------------------------------------------

20 years, 9 months

"Intellectual Property"

by vsasi＠vsnl.com

agreed about the right to believe. agreed also about the fact that the majority is not always right. but you seem to have overlooked a lot of things i had written before that. please do give that also a thought. regards v. sasi kumar sjha(a)vsnl.com wrote all members of parliament can get more votes than sunil. therefore going by your logic should i entrust them with the task of writing the basic tenets of philosophy of science? just because someone is an infectious speaker does not make them right. no, what he is saying is his belief system and he has a right to have that and you have as much right to believe in something that i consider wrong or questionable. thanks much ________________________________ satish jha cmd, james martin & co www.jmcin.com president, digital partners india n-103, panchsheel park, new delhi - 110 017 v: 649 9384/5; 649 4384/5 f: 649 4380 ----- Original Message ----- From: "V. Sasi Kumar" <vsasi(a)vsnl.com> To: "satish jha" <sjha(a)vsnl.com> Sent: Tuesday, December 17, 2002 10:28 AM Subject: Re: [Fsf-friends] Re: [bytesforall_readers] Microsoft to shareWindows code withIndia > On Tue, 2002-12-17 at 01:03, satish jha wrote: > > sunil: > > > > thanks much. went to the recommended site. i don't think you need ti oversimplify it. it is oversimplified in itself though it could do with a bit of editing. > > > > having seen it, read it i am persuaded that its propounders live in a world of their own and have a right to do so. > > Thanks. > > i believe that without intellectual property rights there may have been some ideas. innovation, technolgy development and progres would have taken another path altogether and it can be shown that at least in terms of economics as we know it, it would be a sub-optimal model compared to what we have known. > > You forget that a large part of development took place without what you > call "intellectual property rights". Those who claim rights for > "intellectual property" forget that they have made ample use of similar > "intellectual property" that others could have laid claim to. Would they > be willing to share their "property rights" with everyone who has > contributed towards its generation, right from the people who invented > the wheel? Remember, even Isaac Newton, one of the greatest scientists > ever, said that "If I have seen further, it is because I have stood on > the shoulders of giants". > > In India we have a model of knowledge that has been of tremendous value > to humanity, which grew, and continues to grow, without the benefit of > "intellectual property rights" - I refer to Ayurveda. But I tend to > agree with you when you say that there may have been a different path > of progress if "intellectual property rights" - that path would have led > to a more equitable society, something that is much more valuable to > people like us in this list than what goes by the word "progress" today. > > i do not wish to debate it on this forum for a variety of reasons and would think while the debate has a place on this forum, it may not be the right place for allocating majority of its time to free software etc. > > I think if you had no desire to debate this on this forum, then you > should not have raised the question here. > > > you are an infectious speaker and will always sway people your way. that will not persuade me to go along with the substance of it though. > > What you are essentially saying is that you admit that what Sunil said > is true, but you are not willing to admit it. That is really good. > > > > > thanks much > > ________________________________ > > satish jha > > cmd, james martin & co > > www.jmcin.com > > president, digital partners india > > n-103, panchsheel park, > > new delhi - 110 017 > > v: 649 9384/5; 649 4384/5 > > f: 649 4380 > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: sunil > > To: bytesforall_readers(a)yahoogroups.com > > Cc: linux-india-general(a)lists.sourceforge.net ; fsf-friends(a)gnu.org.in > > Sent: Monday, December 16, 2002 5:21 PM > > Subject: Re: [bytesforall_readers] Microsoft to share Windows code withIndia > > > > > > Dear Satish, > > > > Free Software is not Open Source Software. Access to code is not the main > > issue. Free License implies Ownership and Control. It is not the recipe of > > coke but the ownership of coke. > > > > Copyrighting is the root cause of the digital divide... here is an > > oversimplification so that you can understand.. > > ------------------------------------------------------ > > Before the concept of Private Property: > > No Economic Divide > > After the concept of Private Property: > > Land Owners > > Landless > > Economic Divide > > ------------------------------------------------------ > > Before the concept of Intellectual Property:- > > No Digital Divide > > After the concept of Intellectual Property: > > Those with Knowledge > > Those without Knowledge > > Digital Divide > > ------------------------------------------------------ > > > > You will notice this trend in all forms of privatization:- water, phrases, > > gestures, ideas, products etc. > > > > General Public License transfers ownership of digital assets to the poor. > > To use a Marxist phrase - the means of production in the knowledge economy > > will be transfered to the poor. This is a 'critical' component of any > > digital divide intervention.Without this type of systemic intervention all > > other ICT is merely technology band-aid. > > > > Please see my IIM-B presentation for more details: > > http://www.mahiti.org/events/Event.2002-12-16.3025/view > > > > Thanks, > > > > Sunil > > Thanks, > > > > Sunil > > > > ===== > > Sunil Abraham [MAHITI] > > 314/1, 7th Cross, Domlur > > Bangalore - 560 071 Karnataka, INDIA > > Ph/Fax: +91 80 5352003. Pager: 9624 279519 > > sunil(a)mahiti.org http://www.mahiti.org > > > > > > > > To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: > > bytesforall_readers-unsubscribe(a)yahoogroups.com > > > > > > > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. > > > > >

20 years, 9 months

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Fsf-friends December 2002