Fsf-friends July 2003

fsf-friends@gnu.org.in

12 participants
23 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

Using GNU/Linux code... and yet charging for it?

by Frederick Noronha (FN)

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

20 years, 2 months

[Fsf-friends] NEWS-DELHI: MP brings computer-enabled education to rural schools...

by Frederick Noronha (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

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 -- ______________________________________________ http://www.linuxmail.org/ Now with e-mail forwarding for only US$5.95/yr Powered by Outblaze

20 years, 2 months

NOT A JOKE

by syed ahmed shah

When I asked a friend What I should do to my propreitory UNIX package when I install GNU/LINUX. he replied "SCO WINDOW SE BAHAAR PHEK DO" ___________________________________________________ Download the hottest & happening ringtones here! OR SMS: Top tone to 7333 Click here now: http://sms.rediff.com/cgi-bin/ringtone/ringhome.pl

20 years, 2 months

GNULinuxInIndia * July 22, 2003

by Frederick Noronha (FN)

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 * 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.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 -------------------------------------------------------------------------

20 years, 2 months

IT@School - food for thought

by Mahesh T. Pai

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).

20 years, 2 months

GNU/Linux for hospitals....

by Frederick Noronha (FN)

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 -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 -------------------------------------------------------------------------

20 years, 2 months

[FSFE PR][EN] Free Software prominently represented at the UN- Conference (fwd)

by Frederick Noronha (FN)

---------- 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.org http://www.itu.int/wsis _______________________________________________ Press-release mailing list Press-release(a)fsfeurope.org https://mail.fsfeurope.org/mailman/listinfo/press-release

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Fsf-friends July 2003