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
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)
On Wed, 30 Jul 2003, Mandar wrote:
> Hi!
> Sry for distracting you people by asking you an 'off the mark'topic
> as you guys/girls(?) must be busy preparing for Ecap.I heard about
> Lindows,providing the stability of Linux as well as able to run
> windows program,if so is it the next big thing to hit the market??
> I visited their site,I couldn't understand was if it were using linux
> code then how can they charge for it.
> I hope you people will provide me the facts about Lindows.
> Mandar
Hi Mandar,
Thanks for your query.
Even among some who have been in the group for long, there has been some
confusion over what Free Software stands for.
What does the term 'free' really mean in this context? Free-of-cost or
freedom? Gratis or libre?
Just for debate's sake:
If you wrote a program using GPL'd code, would it be alright to:
(i) sell it for a price?
(ii) block anyone else from copying it?
(iii) charge per-user licence fees?
(iv) sell or share it without the source code?
(v) improve it, sell it commercially, but hide the source
code you've written?
Also, to take the debate further -- what's the difference between Free
Software and Open Source? Is there some difference in the licence(s)? Is
there some difference in the approach and motivations guiding either of
these movements, or is it just a different name for the same thing?
Finally, do you think the GPL is a good licence for (i) individuals (ii)
small firms (iii) corporations (iv) all of these (v) none of these? What
are the advantages and/or disadvantages of the GPL as compared to the Open
Source licences or other model licences? What could be the possible
reasons for the popularity of the GPL among developers till date, if you
perceive one?
Hope you don't mind me 'answering' your questions with further questions!
But I thought this could throw up some interesting debate, and also
clarify issues. Others are welcome to participate... FN
---------- Forwarded message ----------
------------------------------------------------------------------
HINDUSTAN TIMES: MP BRINGS COMPUTER-ENABLED EDUCATION TO
RURAL SCHOOLS
"'In the second phase we have used open source technology
in which the main programme coding is available to all for
modification, customisation and improvement. We are optimistic
about its success too...'"
COMPLETE STORY:
http://hindustantimes.com/news/181_316881,000600030011.htm
More Infrastructure stories: http://linuxtoday.com/infrastructure
------------------------------------------------------------------
CNET NEWS: ASIAN LINUX: SOME KEEN, OTHERS COOL
"Asia could leapfrog Western countries in the development of
Linux-based applications, but some governments are not latching
on to this opportunity, says a senior IBM executive..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://news.com.com/2100-1016_3-5053537.html
More Infrastructure stories: http://linuxtoday.com/infrastructure
------------------------------------------------------------------
20 years, 2 months
1
0
by SEPSIT KANNUR
The source code of on-line banking
solution for Co-operative banks developed by Open Software Solutions
name 'Sanghamithra' which is distributed under General Public License
(GPL) is available through the url
http://www.atpskerala.org/Sanghamithra/
Regards,
Social Entrepreneurship Promotion Society on Information Technology (SEPSIT),
Reg No 463/2002,
Dinesh Software Park,
Kannur,
Keralam,
India - 670002,
Telephone : 0497-712965
--
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he replied "SCO WINDOW SE BAHAAR PHEK DO"
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Formerly LinuxInIndia * Compiled by: Frederick Noronha * July 22,2003
--------------------------------------------------------------------
GETTING THE NEWS OUT... A new initiative with a South Asian focus. We invite
all user-group coordinators, and also individuals interested in FLOSS
evangelism to join a new network, called FLOSSToday. The idea is make sure
that news about what happens in different parts of India percolates from one
region to another. The list was initiated with the aim of making
cross-pollination of ideas and events, announcements etc across India and
elsewhere in South Asia. This list aims at being an *event-centric*
announcement-list. Reports of meetings and events to be held or already
held, and announcements of FLOSS special events, gatherings, tech sessions
are welcome. Opinions, discussions, feature articles would be offtopic here.
For further details contact Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay <sankarshanmukhopadhyay
at vsnl.net> who has launched this initiative with support from the compiler
of this newsletter (FN). Says Sankarshan: "Let's hope this can bind the
fragmented nature of the FLOSS world in India."
Flosstoday mailing list * Flosstoday(a)mail.sarai.net
http://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/flosstoday
INTEREST FROM BRAZIL: Christiano Anderson <anderson(a)debian-rs.org>
writes in from Brazil to say: "I have read the President in India
talking about free software, this is a very positive action, and we
would like to keep in touch with someone from government in India to
discuss about free software initiatives and experience with people
from the Brazilian government. We would like to invite someone from
India government to talk about the free software experience in our
next Free Software conference. Do you think it's possible? Who could
talk to us about the experience in your country? Marcelo Branco is
the coordinator of Free Software Project in Rio Grande do Sul, he is
also discussing free software initiatives for the Brazilian
government."
THIS IS AN INTERESTING page featuring Microsoft in India -- including the
Shiksha Microsoft e-learning initiative, and reports of Gates committing $21
million to IT projects. Also links to FLOSS in India, and "Microsoft against
Open Source". http://www.gnacademy.org/twiki/bin/view/SOS/MicrosoftInIndia
KUNAL <kunalbharati at yahoo.com> OF THE NORTH Mumbai GLUG has
arranged a seminar on FLOSS in his college. Says he: "It would
really help if you give me some ideas what I (could) do. I will be
distributing KNOPPIX 3.2 CDs. I would appreciate if someone from you
comes up with other good ideas..." Students do need more options,
any help would be welcome.
DESI (India-linked) names continue to make news in the FLOSS movement
worldwide. Guess who was making news when a new Debian Project Leader was
elected by a narrow margin recently? Manoj Srivastava, the General Secretary
of the Debian Project, who was credited with putting in the "work (that) had
made the election possible". See the discussion on the debian-devel-announce
list (lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2003/debian-devel-announce-
200303/msg00025.html)
FROM GOA ANIMESH N Nerurkar <banduji(a)gmx.net> has announced
plans for stepping up activities of the TUG-Goa network.
On Saturday July 26, Prof (Ms) Kshama Fernandes will
demonstrate the power of PDFLaTeX or LaTeX itself. Plans
are also underway for activities in the academic circles
of this small state on the west coast of India, otherwise
better known as a touristic destination. All are welcome.
SURAJ KUMAR <suraj(a)symonds.net> has on offer a copy of speeches on Free
Software and Software Patents, downloaded from gnu.org. Says he: "I have cut
a CD out of it. Unfortunately this collection does not contain RMS's speech
at Chennai (Madras Institute of Technology) made on March 13th, 2002.
However its worth noting that most of the speeches carry the same message
(the only differences being the humour that he adds to various speeches)."
See http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/audio/audio.html
The CD also bundles two of GnuPress published books: * Free Software, Free
Society - http://www.gnu.org/doc/book13.html * Free as in Freedom -
http://www.oreilly.com/openbook/freedom/
Also included are the web pages from http://gnu.org/philosophy/ and
http://gnu.org/licenses/
LATEX WORKSHOP AT PUNE: Thanks to H S Rai <hsraidce(a)iitr.ernet.in>
for this pointer. Read the detailed report of the Latex workshop
held at Pune, western India during 9-14 July, which was jointly
organised by Bhaskaracharya Pratishthana and Dept. of Maths,
University of Pune.
http://www.tug.org.in/download/pune-workshop-report.pdf or visit
news item of the index page of www.tug.org.in
FLOSS IN THE THIRD WORLD: Open Source practitioners from Asia, Africa,
Europe and Latin America recently got together to produce a manifesto on the
role of Open Source Software (OSS) in the development cooperation context.
Asking all stakeholders to pay more attention to (FL)OSS, they argue that it
has a special importance when viewed, used and produced in the context of
development cooperation and should be employed wherever possible.
http://sarai.waag.org/display.php?id=28
E-BOOK: Prashanth CM <prashpro(a)yahoo.com> has announced his e-book
on the Vieditor. Says he: "I have compiled an e-book on using
vi-editor. Please go through this book and please send me comments.
I know there are lots of corrections (required)..." Contact him for
details.
GIMP AND CMYK: Subash Jeyan <nsjeyan(a)vsnl.net> notes that one of the major
cribs about the gimp has long been that it doesn't support cmyk colour
space. Now, says he, there is a plug that addresses this partially. If
you're interested, have a look at:
http://www.blackfiveservices.co.uk/projects/separate-0.1.tar.gz
HONG "FRED" FENG, one of the active Free Software proponents in
China whom some of us here in India are in touch with, says: "My
work in Koretide will be ended on Jul 20, 2003, so pls redirect the
emails to me from the list to hongfeng at gnu.org"
AN iLINUX DISTRO: Jyotirmoy Saikia <jyotirmoy_saikia(a)yahoo.com> of PicoPeta
Simputers (Bangalore) informs that IIT Kanpur has released an iLinux
distribution. Please check the site: http:///www.cse.iitk.ac.in/users/isciig
and go to the link "download Indian Linux"
MALAYALAM DESKTOP PLAN: Dileep M Kumar <dileep(a)kumarayil.net> says
they are working on project to create a Malayalam desktop for
GNU/Linux. Says he: "We believe MGL may help to popularize 'Freedom'
into Kerala in a minimal way. We are looking for volunteers to help
us to translate more applications. As a first step we are
concentrating on GNOME now. Take a look at http://smc.sarovar.org"
RESTLESS SOUL TREVOR WARREN FROM MUMBAI <trevorwarren at softhome.net> has
come up with a new initiative -- building libraries of freely sharable Free
Software. He's looking out for anyone to sponsor/sell at a reasonable rate,
the following distros:
* Debian * SuSE * Gentoo * Knoppix(en) * Yellow Dog * Slackware
* Red Hat + SGI XFS * Lycoris * Mandrake (older releases)
* trustix * turbolinux * LDP(www.tldp.org) * FreeBSD 5.0 * OpenBSD
* Collection of FSF-OS ebooks-docs. * NetBSD * etc related to FSF-OS.
Can help? Write to Trevor with a cc to "trevorwarren at softhome.net". Says
he: Donations are welcome or if that isn't possible just lemme know the cost
of the cd's and i will pay for the same. This is a bit urgent.
FLOSS IN AFGHANISTAN: BBC recently reported that the United Nations
is training civil servants in the intricacies of FLOSS software to
help them get government computer systems up and running. The first
civil servants to complete their training in Linux went back to work
earlier this month. The UN hopes that training government workers to
use [GNU] Linux will help the country close the technology gap that
separates it from many other countries. Broadly free, Linux is
becoming a favourite among many organisations who want greater
control over what they can do with software. In contrast to
Microsoft operating systems, Linux gives programmers much greater
flexibility to scrutinise the core of the program and to adapt it to
their own ends.
FROM KERALA, Mahesh Pai <paivakil at vsnl.net> informs of a report in the
local newspaper *Mathrubhumi* (page 11, Kochi edition, 17 July 2003) that
sees the Opposition leader VS Achutanandan raise questions about the role of
Microsoft in the IT@School project.
The translation reads: "One of allegations raised by Achutanandan relate to
the 'project siksha' of Microsoft which is part of the IT@SCHOOL. The
project is worth Rs 10 crore (100 million rupees). It was made clear in the
agenda note given to the general body that an IT academy will be set up in
3000 Square feet space and and teachers will be trained (here) to use
Microsoft products. However, the leader of opposition pointed out that it
is made clear in the agenda note that the 3000 sq. ft. space in Technopark,
Thiruvananthapuram, which would fetch rent of Rupees 6,84,000 is to be
handed over to Microsoft for mere one rupee. He also stated that due to the
training, the teachers will be able to use only Microsoft's products."
It adds: "At the same time, authorities of IT@SCHOOL informed that there
is no block to use of 'swatantra' (Free) software in the project. But the
problem is that there would be no training support available. They also
point out that the government has directed that there shall not be any new
appointments for the training."
SCRIBUS 1.0 IS OUT: Programmer Franz Schmid has released Scribus 1.0
- the Linux Desktop Publishing. Two years in development and
available in 17 languages, Scribus represents the first open source
DTP application capable of generating professional "press-ready"
results. Unicode support including support for right to left
scripts. Can export CMYK separations and "press-ready" PDF including
PDF 1.4 features such as transparency. Scribus Home Page:
http://web2.altmuehlnet.de/fschmid/ and mirrored at:
http://scribus.planetmirror.com
LIC OF INDIA SHIFTS TO FLOSS: The Life Insurance Corporation has shifted to
a Linux operating system on the heels of pinpricks experienced with a Unix
system, according to LIC officials. At a media gathering to introduce LIC's
new pension policy, Mr R.R. Nair, Additional Zonal Manager, said "we are
shifting over to Linux; almost 75 per cent of the branches have shifted".
http://thehindubusinessline.com/stories/2003071501310700.htm
PUNJAB LINUX USERS GROUP: Jaspreet Willy <plug(a)linuxmail.org> has
started a user group for the Punjab region. Check out the Punjab
Linux Users Group website: http://www.plug.willywings.com
IN THE HOSPITAL: Dr G Parthasarathy <gpartha72 at vsnl.net> from a Kochi
hospital in South India writes: "I am a pathologist, also the IT Officer and
Sysadmin of the hospital networkj of a 316 bed hospital in Kochi. We are
currently running NT 4.0 with a proprietary hospital management software on
the hospital's 65 node network. I am not quite happy with the state of
affairs and want to port it all to Linux which is more robust and much
cheaper a solution. I wish to learn more about other hospitals like Breach
Candy who have used GNU/Linux with Open Source Hospital Information Systems
on their hospital networks."
DR BUD P BRUEGGAR (bud at sistema.it) of Sistema (www.sistema.it) in
Italy writes in to suggest: "Probably the most complete site on open
source in health-care can be found at http://www.euspirit.org/.
Among other resources, there is a software index at
http://www.euspirit.org/list.php.
FROM THE IIT-BOMBAY, Prof Siva <siva at iitb.ac.in> says: "Thanks much for
the mail about FLOSS in Asia.... Regarding interesting work at IITB, let me
start with two students (who can later put you in touch with others). Nandan
Dixit (nandan at cse.iitb.ac.in) see xmmsmplayer.sourceforge.net for his
work and Nilesh Bansal (nilesh at cse.iitb.ac.in) along with others is
working on KDE localization." See http://www.cse.iitb.ac.in/~siva
WHAT'S HAPPENING ON THE SIMPUTER FRONT? Perhaps the FLOSS lobby has
been guilty of ignoring it. Edward Cherlin <edward.cherlin at
etssg.com> explains all the way from the US that Africa Digital
Bridges is the Simputer distributor for the Middle East and Africa
http://www.simputerland.com/appmaster/m.partners.view.asp?pcode=AA0024
Cherlin is also setting up to recruit development partners for
Simputer applications in the US. Says he: "I have Simputers here in
Silicon Valley, and can demonstrate them for you. You can find
Encore's European partners at
http://www.simputerland.com/appmaster/m.partnerlist.asp" There is
also "a lot" happening in development and field trials. Says he: "I
am working with a developer of literacy software in the US to
produce a Free Linux version. The current program is for US English
only. It can easily be adapted to other forms of English, and we
will work on software for other languages as well."
FREE SOFTWARE, AND THE WORLD SOCIAL FORUM-4 IN MUMBAI: Diego Saravia <dsa at
unsa.edu.ar> writes in from distant Argentina to say: "I am searching for
people in india related to the World Social Forum and Free Software, I see
your bytesforall.org web site and I wonder if you could help me."
Incidentally the WSF4 is being held in Mumbai(Bombay)-India in early 2004.
Free Software advocates hope to deploy their solutions and raise issues at
this global meet of activists there.
See www.hipatia.info - info(a)hipatia.info - www.fsm.hipatia.info
Fsm2004 mailing list Fsm2004(a)hipatia.info
http://listas.hipatia.info/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/fsm2004
JOIN OUR Latin American (and other) friends in an initiative to harness the
power of Free Software for free speech and knowledge! Writes Martin Olivera
<martin_olivera(a)yahoo.com.ar> from Argentina: "At first (this mailing list)
was intended to organize the Hipatia (www.hipatia.info) participation in the
WSF4 (World Social Forum 4). The main objective of Hipatia is the freedom of
knowledge, leveraging free software as the key tool to do this. In this way,
this list would like coordinate efforts to fulfill WSF4 software necessities
(web, mail, communications, news, virtual spaces, anything...) using only
free software, cooperating worldwide."
WSF4 is to be held in the Indian city of Mumbai (Bombay) in January 2004. Do
join this mailing list. It is open to everyone who could participate anyway
for this: coordination, local (India-based) support, resources, free
software selection/development/adaptation, content manmagement..."
What possibilities we think of is restricted only by your imagination! FN
List-Subscribe: http://listas.hipatia.info/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/fsm2004
OR mailto: <fsm2004-request(a)hipatia.info?subject=subscribe>
AT SCHOOLS, IN GOA: Daryl Martyris <dmartyris(a)hotmail.com> of the
Goa Schools Computers Project says that 20 schools use the LTSP
(Linux Terminal Server Project) solution in Goa. "About 40 more use
standalone Linux, and about 40 use Windows This link might give you
an idea of cost comparison's - http://www.gscp.org/linux.htm "
INDIAN LANGUAGE TOOLS: Prof Nagarjuna G <nagarjun(a)hbcse.tifr.res.in> reports
that a team of students are to be working on Indianisation of Mozilla. Says
Sayamindu Dasgupta <unmadindu(a)Softhome.net> : "I have no idea about the
coding procedures followed by the mozilla developers. However, I guess, it
might help if the students take a look at the sources of already working
tools (for Indian language computing), like Yudit, QT 3.2, Pango, etc."
MAKING FLOSS SPEAK IN INDIAN LANGUAGES: Want to get GNU/Linux to
speak your language? Visit the web page below that will tell you
what are the words you need to translate
http://www.indlinux.org/downloads/gnomegloss/GnomeGlossary.csv
IN HINDI: Dinesh Shah <dinesh at shahmicro.com> writes: "We have GNU/Linux -
Hindi Edition - Milan ver 0.5 CDs with us. This is a bootable CD based on
Morphix. You can use it as demo CD or if you want you can install it on the
harddisk. Those who are interested can buy it from me or Mr. Venkatesh
Hariharan @ Rs. 30 each. We can mail it any where in India @ Rs. 50
inclusive of delivery charges. To learn more about Milan 0.5 CD, pls visit
http://www.indlinux.org" Phone Shah +91-98213-11906 +91-22-56919423
PROGRESS OVER HINDI FONTS: Young font and web designers Avneesh Chhabra
a.k.a. The Virus Shivaas Gulati a.k.a MaRiAnZ RuLe say "At last, after weeks
of hard work filled with successes and failures, we have finally done it. We
have come up with a new font that is totally handwritten. Feel free to use
it anyway you want. Released under the LGPL license. Hope to get some good
feedbacks. You can download the font from the ilug-d website's download
section or from www.msmschool.com/hindi freehand.ttf They can be contacted
via email fontdudes(a)rediffmail.com
FREE FONTS: Want to create fonts on GNU/Linux? Check
http://pfaedit.sourceforge.net/
S2S2 INITIATIVES IN KERALA: Sujeevan Pullanhiotan <sujeevan_p at
rediffmail.com> reports that in June 2003, the Swathantra Software Solutions
& Support( S2S2) conducted GNU/Linux awareness program at various colleges
and schools in Kannur district of Kerala. Talks on "Free Software in
Education" and demonstration on GNU/Linux system using Knoppix 3.2 bootable
CD was arranged at all places. "It was well attended and appreciated by
all," says he. A one-day orientation was held for 115 school teachers from
government schools in Kannur and remote Wynad participating. A seminar on
Free Software, Its Philosphy was held at Mahatma College, Iritty, Kannur,
besides others. Feedback: "Programes were successful, in the sense that
people at large got an idea of what free software is all about and what its
impact will be on society. Both students and teachers were overwhelmed by
the number of applications and packages available in GNU/Linux. For almost
all of them, the use of computer is limited to only word processing,
spreadsheet, presentation, music and movie playing. Students were found to
be better in learning and trying out Linux. Teachers have a different
complaint -- they would like to try out GNU/Linux in schools, but the school
IT syllabus specifies properitary packages..." http://s2s2net.netfirms.com
PUBLIC SECTOR FREE SOFTWARE INITIATIVES: Mitch Kapor and others have
just announced a web site for public sector free software
initiatives called http://www.opensector.org
LINUX, TO THE FIELDS: J S Sandha <jsandha at vsnl.net> has been trying to
weave two fields -- ICTs-for-development and R&D on agricultural tractors.
Sandha would like to take a project www.jagriti.com over to using
GNU/Linux-based networks, with no licensing issues and workable on lower PC
configurations. www.jagriti.com
CRITICAL FEEDBACK: Suman <mansu at gmx.net> has some critical feedback for
the sarovar.org and the Project Resource Centre
(http://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/prc) initatives. Writes Suman: "It's
good to see such sites coming up but i hava a few suggestions regarding
this. As usual from the mail I see that nothing is different from
sourceforge. These days the software that is being developed and hosted is
pretty bloated, or they do not have any use or miss important features.
Above all most of the work is being duplicated. Hence most of the free time
of developers is wasted on projects which meet the needs of very few people
and which in many cases is inadequate to do the job. Linux is maturing now
so should the applications. Sarovar.org should be different. Why not host a
module where people pour in their ideas so that interseted others can take
them and work. PRC achieves this to a very small extent but it is no more
helpful because it doesn't help answering the larger question.... The site
can also host TODO lists of various projects seperately. In addition to the
ideas that flow here another thing that could be done is the person who
gives a suggestion should also give an idea of how to do it which helps the
developer take an instant decision. Also, if some KDE/GNOME gurus put their
ideas in they can ask people to write components which can be used by other
programmers like bonobo for gnome. If the ideas are easy to formulate many
engg. students will take it up for their projects. jus my two pence worth."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
YOUR INPUTS and criticism to this newsletter are welcome. Contact us at
fred at bytesforall dot org COPYLEFT 2003. May be freely circulated provided
entire text and credits is left intact. FN
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
COMPILED AND CIRCULATED BY:
--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Frederick Noronha (FN) | http://www.fredericknoronha.net
Freelance Journalist | http://www.bytesforall.orghttp://goalinks.pitas.com | http://joingoanet.shorturl.comhttp://linuxinindia.pitas.com | http://www.livejournal.com/users/goalinks
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Missed out this one till late in the day.
Refer to today's (17 July, 2003) Mathrubhumi, (pg 11 in Cochin
edition).
Here is a summarized rough translation for non-malayalees:-
IT project: Antony respects suggestion by VS, Soopy opposes.
By B. Rameshkumar
Education minister expressed dissatisfaction over action taken by the
chief minister in postponing meeting on the ground that the objections
raised by the leader of opposition are very serious. The minister had
to meet the leader of opposition at his official residence to comply
with the chief minister's directions
These incidents relate to the IT@SCHOOL project. The law department
also has raised certain objections.
The general council of the project was scheduled to meet on 11th.
Apart from the Chief Minister, secretaries and ministers of education,
industry, IT, finance, and local administration arrived for the
meet. The leader of opposition gave a detailed note to the Chief
Minister 2 hours before the meet pointing out that there are serious
traps in the memoranda of understanding proposed to be signed.
The CM arrived at the meet with this note. The CM directed that there
points raised in the note are serious, and the education minister
should discuss the issue with him (leader of the opposition). He did
not take up the agenda.
Minister Soopy stated that it is not proper to postpone it in this
manner. However, the CM stood his ground that the minister discuss the
issue with leader of opposition. In the meanwhile, the IT secretary
pointed out that the concerned file has not reached (her). Certain
quarters advised the education minister that he need not go and meet
the leader of opposition. But, Soopy agreed to honour the promise made
to the general council by the CM. He talked with Achutanandan for one
hour on Tuesday night.
He (VS Achutanandan) stood firm on the doubts and concerns raised by
him. One of allegations raised by Achutanandan relate to the 'project
siksha' of Microsoft which is part of the IT@SCHOOL. The project is
worth 10 crore rupees. It was made clear in the agenda note given to
the general body that an IT academy will be set up in 3000 Square feet
space and and teachers will be trained (here) to use Microsoft
products. However, the leader of opposition pointed out that it is
made clear in the agenda note that the 3000 sq. ft. space in
Technopark, Thiruvananthapuram, which would fetch rent of Rupees
6,84,000 is to be handed over to Microsoft for mere one rupee. He also
stated that due to the training, the teachers will be able to use only
Microsoft's products.
He also questioned the direction issued to the DPI (Director of public
Instruction) to issue orders to the schools informing them (to?)
purchase (of?) necessary software. Achutanandan also demanded in his
note to the CM to drop the move to hand over execution of the
IT@SCHOOL project to a private concern for next 30 years.
At the same time, authorities of IT@SCHOOL informed that there is no
block to use of 'swatantra' software in the project. But the problem
is that there would be no training support available. They also point
out that the government has directed that there shall not be any new
appointments for the training.
(Note:- The words in brackets are added by me, to make the context clear).
Please share this among doctor-friends who might be interested. FN
>From LINUX USER & DEVELOPER (www.linuxuser.co.uk):
M e d i c a l S o f t w a r e
Free Software has been making inroads into many
markets recently, particularly those where security
and data integrity are of importance. This is
certainly so in medicine, where another problem
is the mess of different proprietorial software
used across different departments -- each tied to its
own OS and its own data format.
Care2002 provides a modular replacement for all
these apps, using a single database and single data
format (currently SQL). Everything runs on the
server, clients access the modules through their
web browser. Care2002 has many built-in
automation, data validation, signalling, and
updating features, which substantially reduces the
occurence of erroneous data and removes the
burden of counterchecking data manually.
FreeMED is another web-based app, for physicians
and healthcare providers in any setting, from small
practices to large hospitals. It provdes a
comprehensive electronic medical record and billing
system that gives the physician control and immediate
accessibility to data.
Meditux is a Medical Information System. Its primary
task is to provide timely medical information to
both medical and non-medical staff that operated in
an ICU (Intensive Care Unit) environment. This
release makes available most of the functionality
of the current operating system that Dr Richard
Piper conducts within his ICU. Some functionality
has been withdrawn due to legal constraints
(e.g. copyright and licensing requirements). However,
Meditux still makes available 90% of its original
functionality to you. Meditux-1.0 is released under
the GNU/GPL. Meditux is a collection of Java
Servlets, running under Apache Jakarta-Tomcat,
Java SDK 1.3 and MySQL.
Open Infrastructure for Outcomes (OIO) system
facilitates the creation of flexible and portable
patient/research records. The major component
of the OIO system are the web-accessible OIOI
Server and OIO library. OIO Server is a highly
flexible web-based data management system that
manages users, patients, and information about
patients. (Of course, the same system can
just as easily manage information about customers,
invoices, shipments, and accounts.)
K e y l i n k s
Care2002
http://care2x.com/
FreeMED
http://www.freemedsoftware.org
LinuxMedNews
http://www.linuxmednews.com
Meditux
http://meditux.sourceforge.net/
Open Infrastructure for Outcomes
http://www.txoutcome.org
--
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Frederick Noronha (FN) | http://www.fredericknoronha.net
Freelance Journalist | http://www.bytesforall.orghttp://goalinks.pitas.com | http://joingoanet.shorturl.comhttp://linuxinindia.pitas.com | http://www.livejournal.com/users/goalinks
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T: 0091.832.2409490 or 2409783 M: 0 9822 122436
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---------- Forwarded message ----------
[for immediate release]
Free Software as part of the German governmental delegation at the
UN- Preparation - Conference to the World Summit on the Information
Society (WSIS) in Paris
Karlsruhe, 12.07.2003
>From July 15th to 18th, a preparative conference towards the World
Summit on the Information Society will be held in Paris, at which the
future and destination of the information- and science- society shall
be discussed as requested by the UN- General Assembly.
As a nominee from the coordinating circle of the German Civil Society
for the WSIS, Georg Greve, president of the FSF Europe will take part
in the meeting as a member of the German governmental delegation.
"To take part in such an important meeting as a member for the
coordinating circle of the German Civil Society for the WSIS means a
huge honor and a challenge to fulfill the great expectations", said
Georg Greve at the LinuxTag in Karlsruhe. "In this function I would
like to thank the German Government that they opened the door for the
participation of the civil society. We hope to build upon this during
the two years of the summit's process and to serve as a role model for
other countries."
Georg Greve continues: "The sustainability of the information society
will be my focus. Besides questions like equality of knowledge and
access as well as informational independence, which are part of my
regular work for Free Software, also gender- equality and greater
possibilities of access by means of new media will play a seminal
role."
"Especially for developing countries, Free Software offers various
possibilities to gain access to the information- and knowledge-
society. Therefore, we warmly welcome Georg Greve as a member of the
German governmental delegation", said Markus Beckedahl, Chair of the
Network of New Media (Netzwerk Neue Medien e.V.).
"Free Software provides transparent and open digital
infrastructures. Thanks to the civil commitment of numerous
programmers worldwide, those are open to everybody. The network new
media e.V. is convinced, that Free Software is fundamental in helping
close the global digital divide", continued Markus Beckedahl.
-------------
About the FSF Europe:
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSF Europe) is a charitable
non-governmental organization dedicated to all aspects of Free
Software in Europe. Access to software determines who may participate
in a digital society. Therefore the freedoms to use, copy, modify and
redistribute software - as described in the Free Software definition
- allow equal participation in the information age. Creating
awareness for these issues, securing Free Software politically and
legally, and giving people freedom by supporting development of Free
Software are central issues of the FSF Europe, which was founded in
2001 as the European sister organization of the Free Software
Foundation in the United States.
http://fsfeurope.org
Contact
FSF Europe:
Georg C. F. Greve <greve(a)fsfeurope.org>
phone: +49-40-23809080
fax: +49-40-23809081
The network new media e.V.:
Since one year, the network new media works on the networking of the
civil society for the first World Summit on the Information Society
(WSIS) of the UN, that will take place in Geneva from 9th ~12th
December 2003. Out of this work now the ~coordinating circle of the
German Civil Society for the WSIS~ has emerged.
--
More information about the wsis is available under:
http://www.worldsummit2003.orghttp://www.itu.int/wsis
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