Fsf-friends April 2003

fsf-friends@gnu.org.in

27 participants
61 discussions

Bioinformatics on GNU/Linux (India)... optimism from Malaysia
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 29 Apr '03

29 Apr '03

------------------------------------------------------------------ TIMES OF INDIA: TCS DEVELOPING INDIA'S FIRST BIOINFORMATICS SOFTWARE ON LINUX "IT major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is developing an end-to-end bioinformatics software package, 'Biosuit' on Linux platform for which 20 leading Indian institutions have provided the domain knowledge..." COMPLETE STORY: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=439… More High Performance stories: http://linuxtoday.com/high_performance ------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------ UTUSAN ONLINE: MIMOS UPBEAT ON OPEN SOURCE CENTRE, SAYS COULD SAVE ASIA BILLIONS "MIMOS Bhd which recently launched the Asian Open Source Centre... is confident that the centre would produce more home-grown pool of software developers and in the process, save billions of dollars for Asia..." COMPLETE STORY: http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/content.asp?y=2003&dt=0425&pub=Utusan_Expre… More Developer stories: http://linuxtoday.com/developer ------------------------------------------------------------------ -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Frederick Noronha (FN) | http://www.fredericknoronha.net Freelance Journalist | http://www.bytesforall.org http://goalinks.pitas.com | http://joingoanet.shorturl.com http://linuxinindia.pitas.com | http://www.livejournal.com/users/goalinks ------------------------------------------------------------------------- T: 0091.832.2409490 or 2409783 M: 0 9822 122436 -------------------------------------------------------------------------

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NEWS: Microsoft deflects shared-source critics
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 29 Apr '03

29 Apr '03

------------------------------------------------------------------ ZDNET UK: MICROSOFT DEFLECTS SHARED-SOURCE CRITICS "Microsoft has responded to criticisms of the new version of its shared source initiative for Windows CE, announced on Wednesday..." COMPLETE STORY: http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-996502.html More Developer stories: http://linuxtoday.com/developer ------------------------------------------------------------------

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NEWS: ToI -- Oppn soft on [GNU]Linux, wants no Windows
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 29 Apr '03

29 Apr '03

------------------------------------------------------------------ TIMES OF INDIA: OPPN SOFT ON LINUX, WANTS NO WINDOWS "The government, they said, should not insist on proprietary software while issuing tenders for computers, since open source software is available at one-tenth or even one-twentieth the cost of proprietary software like Windows..." COMPLETE STORY: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=444… More Infrastructure stories: http://linuxtoday.com/infrastructure ------------------------------------------------------------------ -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Frederick Noronha (FN) | http://www.fredericknoronha.net Freelance Journalist | http://www.bytesforall.org http://goalinks.pitas.com | http://joingoanet.shorturl.com http://linuxinindia.pitas.com | http://www.livejournal.com/users/goalinks ------------------------------------------------------------------------- T: 0091.832.2409490 or 2409783 M: 0 9822 122436 -------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Membership of the Free Software Foundation
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 28 Apr '03

28 Apr '03

THE ADVERT in the May 2003 issue of Linux Journal was interesting. It said: "Become a card carrying member of the Free Software Foundation. Your membership dues help FSF protect your freedom to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute computer software, fight for rights of all users of technology, and defend the GNU GPL...." But the $120 associate membership fee ($60 for students) could put it beyond the reach for many in the Third World. Could the FSF think of a special South Asian rate for potential members in this part of the globe? There's a lot of interest in your ideals here... but try not to price it beyond our reach. Thanks. FN -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Frederick Noronha (FN) | http://www.fredericknoronha.net Freelance Journalist | http://www.bytesforall.org http://goalinks.pitas.com | http://joingoanet.shorturl.com http://linuxinindia.pitas.com | http://www.livejournal.com/users/goalinks -------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Graphics for FSF-India
by Kanti Jadia 27 Apr '03

27 Apr '03

Some artwork has been done for FSF-India. have a look at http://www.gnu.org.in/graphics/ We need comments and suggestions. regards Kanti ----------------------------------------- Enjoy your Freedom,use GNU/Linux. http://www.gnu.org/gnu/why-gnu-linux.html -----------------------------------------

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Torvalds' comments... (on DRM)
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 27 Apr '03

27 Apr '03

--__--__-- Message: 1 From: Sudhir Gandotra <sudhir(a)netshooter.com> To: Linux India General <linux-india-general(a)lists.sourceforge.net>, Linux Users Group Delhi <ilugd(a)wpaa.org> Date: 25 Apr 2003 23:20:46 +0530 Subject: [LIG] Torvalds: "DRM is Perfectly OK with Linux" Reply-To: linux-india-general(a)lists.sourceforge.net Here is an article by Linus. (I am reproducing the full thing, hoping that no one dislikes it) ========================================================================= Torvalds: "DRM is Perfectly OK with Linux" Apr 24, 2003, 13 :00 UTC (36 Talkback[s]) (9738 reads) (Other stories by Linus Torvalds) Date: Wed, 23 Apr 2003 20:59:45 -0700 (PDT) From: Linus Torvalds <torvalds(a)transmeta.com> To: Kernel Mailing List <linux-kernel(a)vger.kernel.org> Subject: Flame Linus to a crisp! ------------------------------- Ok, there's no way to do this gracefully, so I won't even try. I'm going to just hunker down for some really impressive extended flaming, and my asbestos underwear is firmly in place, and extremely uncomfortable. I want to make it clear that DRM is perfectly ok with Linux! There, I've said it. I'm out of the closet. So bring it on... I've had some private discussions with various people about this already, and I do realize that a lot of people want to use the kernel in some way to just make DRM go away, at least as far as Linux is concerned. Either by some policy decision or by extending the GPL to just not allow it. In some ways the discussion was very similar to some of the software patent related GPL-NG discussions from a year or so ago: "we don't like it, and we should change the license to make it not work somehow". And like the software patent issue, I also don't necessarily like DRM myself, but I still ended up feeling the same: I'm an "Oppenheimer", and I refuse to play politics with Linux, and I think you can use Linux for whatever you want to - which very much includes things I don't necessarily personally approve of. The GPL requires you to give out sources to the kernel, but it doesn't limit what you can _do_ with the kernel. On the whole, this is just another example of why rms calls me "just an engineer" and thinks I have no ideals. [ Personally, I see it as a virtue - trying to make the world a slightly better place _without_ trying to impose your moral values on other people. You do whatever the h*ll rings your bell, I'm just an engineer who wants to make the best OS possible. ] In short, it's perfectly ok to sign a kernel image - I do it myself indirectly every day through the kernel.org, as kernel.org will sign the tar-balls I upload to make sure people can at least verify that they came that way. Doing the same thing on the binary is no different: signing a binary is a perfectly fine way to show the world that you're the one behind it, and that _you_ trust it. And since I can imaging signing binaries myself, I don't feel that I can disallow anybody else doing so. Another part of the DRM discussion is the fact that signing is only the first step: _acting_ on the fact whether a binary is signed or not (by refusing to load it, for example, or by refusing to give it a secret key) is required too. But since the signature is pointless unless you _use_ it for something, and since the decision how to use the signature is clearly outside of the scope of the kernel itself (and thus not a "derived work" or anything like that), I have to convince myself that not only is it clearly ok to act on the knowledge of whather the kernel is signed or not, it's also outside of the scope of what the GPL talks about, and thus irrelevant to the license. That's the short and sweet of it. I wanted to bring this out in the open, because I know there are people who think that signed binaries are an act of "subversion" (or "perversion") of the GPL, and I wanted to make sure that people don't live under mis-apprehension that it can't be done. I think there are many quite valid reasons to sign (and verify) your kernel images, and while some of the uses of signing are odious, I don't see any sane way to distinguish between "good" signers and "bad" signers. Comments? I'd love to get some real discussion about this, but in the end I'm personally convinced that we have to allow it. Btw, one thing that is clearly _not_ allowed by the GPL is hiding private keys in the binary. You can sign the binary that is a result of the build process, but you can _not_ make a binary that is aware of certain keys without making those keys public - because those keys will obviously have been part of the kernel build itself. So don't get these two things confused - one is an external key that is applied _to_ the kernel (ok, and outside the license), and the other one is embedding a key _into_ the kernel (still ok, but the GPL requires that such a key has to be made available as "source" to the kernel). Linus ================================================================ Peace, Force & Joy! Sudhir Gandotra. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Transform lives: http://humanistmovement.org/ !!! Treat Others As You Would Have Them Treat You !!! --__--__--

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Linux founder opens door to DRM (fwd)
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 26 Apr '03

26 Apr '03

________________________________________________________________________ Message: 9 Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2003 17:15:39 -0400 From: "Dev Jurai" <dev(a)digisigns.com> Subject: Linux founder opens door to DRM Linus Torvalds, the founder of the Linux operating system, threw a curve ball to the open-source programming community Thursday. In a posting sent to a key Linux-focused e-mail list, Torvalds outlined a controversial proposal: Nothing in the basic rules for the Linux operating system should block developers from using digital rights management (DRM) technology. DRM tools are technological locks or identification measures that range from ensuring a software program is genuine to protecting a movie against unauthorized copying. http://news.com.com/2100-1016-998292.html?part=dht&tag=ntop

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About Linux and DRM
by Amol Hatwar 26 Apr '03

26 Apr '03

Caught this floating on my wires recently: http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=9160. The article is titled, 'DRM is perfectly ok with Linux'. It's about Linus Torvalds' decisions about Linux and DRM. The conculsion is sad. Suspected media slaughter! Regards, ah

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Saturday 26.4 * Don't miss today's meeting
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 26 Apr '03

26 Apr '03

Lined up for the schedule at the ILUG-Goa meeting on Free Software later today: o Milan, a demo of India's first GNOME-based Hindi solution Subhash and Animesh o Infrared via GNU/Linux... talk and demo Amit Shirodkar of GEC o Surprise talk Mario Alvares of AlienWiz o Taking GNU/Linux Forward in Goa Discussion -- open to all Venue: CSI, Panjim (Naguesh Apts, 3rd Floor, Near Navtara Hotel) Lost? Ring me on 98 22 122436 for directions Timing 4 to 6.30 pm * April 26, 2003 For Jazz fans, see you at the Mermaid Park concert later in the evening. FN -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Frederick Noronha (FN) | http://www.fredericknoronha.net Freelance Journalist | http://www.bytesforall.org http://goalinks.pitas.com | http://joingoanet.shorturl.com http://linuxinindia.pitas.com | http://www.livejournal.com/users/goalinks -------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Digital Crossroad
by CK Raju 25 Apr '03

25 Apr '03

An interesting article. http://www.proposicion.org.ar/doc/encrucijada.html CK Raju -- My system date and time have gone awry.

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Fsf-friends April 2003