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)
Dear Friends,
Re: RMS note to Vivaravicharam
==============================
freedom = swatantra (in sanskrit); and sudandiram (in tamil)
swatantra and sudandiram also mean the independence of a free country.
These are very old words. Ancient Tamil Kingdoms that were under
domination had to pay kappam (tamil) or compulsory gold/valuables, to
the superior king for `protection'. Free countries do not pay kappam,
and fair nations neither keep people under domination nor collect
kappam.
Software licence fees could be equated with kappam. Kings who failed
to pay kappam in the past were slaughtered and humbled. Kappam is a
tool for slavery. Freedom is so valuable, that its beauty can be seen
and appreciated only in the background of the cruel and gloomy
darkness of slavery. Choosing non-free software is like voluntarily
choosing slavery.
Free software gives the freedom to use, share, and improve. Free
software is also `alive' and could be regarded as having life. Under
terms of the GPL, they can be freely duplicated, improved and
distributed. All free software vie for acceptance, and the fittest
survive. Free software is like natural life itself.We cannot
duplicate, improve or distribute non-free software, which can
therefore be considered lifeless.
Our future hinges on the ability to use high quality software without
slavery. The GNU Project conceived by RMS has paved way for enjoying
this natural freedom.
So let us call Free software, GNU Swatantra (hindi version) or
GNU Sudandiram (tamil version).
GNU could be pronounced as Naya or New in hindi - meaning our new
found freedom, and also recognize the contribution of GNU at the same
time.
Regards,
K. Ramanraj.
Dear Mr Umashankar C:
Thanks for your note, and here's my response.
Firstly, may I point out that I'm a supporter of the Free Software model;
and wouldn't like to push the Open Source label just primarily because it
appears more business friendly. Freedom (of the software writer and user)
is an important issue, and this should reflect in the labels we use, IMHO.
Secondly, your concern is valid. There's much scope for work in this
field. But, for this task to be accomplished, we need to involve a whole
lot of others, and hence involving a couple of evangelists like Atul and
me alone would be grossly insufficient.
As a first step, I'll circulate your note so that others in the debate
(FSF-India, LIG, PubSoft, GKD, BytesForAll) get to know of these concerns.
Thirdly, instead of reinventing the wheel, we do need to keep track of the
initiatives underway at the international and national levels. In this
sphere, a lot of work can -- and should -- be shared.
We need to check up about the plans from Latin America (I think) to
promote a distro for government officials.
Let's see how we can take this ahead. Thanks for raising the issues. FN
________________________________________________________________________
Message: 4
Date: Sat, 30 Aug 2003 05:06:46 -0700 (PDT)
From: Umashankar C <umashankarc(a)yahoo.com>
Subject: A suggestion on open source SW development for e-gov (To
Frederick Noronha and Atul)
30-8-03
SUGGESTION TO HOST E-GOVERNANCE APPLICATIONS FREE USING SPONSORSHIP ASSISTANCE
Dear Frederik and Atul,
I have a suggestion.
I want the two of you to respond.
The proposal is that a team consisting of people like you and the members of
this group develop and place the e-gov packages on the web for State and
Central Government and their organisations to download and use.
They will be able to modify the code and improve it as well.
I have the full system design for automating a Taluk office, DRDA, Police
Station, Office Management, National Old Age Pension Scheme and Block
Development Office.
These packages can be converted into open source from the present VB and can
be a open source for the entire country.
We can find corporate and other sponsors for various activities such as cost
of coding personnel, hardware, hosting etc. The sponsorship should be for
three years (at least). I am willing to offer the entire service free on a
continuous basis.
People like you can scrutinse the design/code and contribute on regular
basis.
Will it work?
I need your suggestions.
Regards.
Umashankar
C.Umashankar IAS.,
Commissioner, Disciplinary Proceedings, Salem, TN, India.
(with effect from 5th Aug.2001)
Contact Tel in Chennai:
91-44-22521909 Res.
Reliance Mobile:044- 31047424
BSNL Mob: 94432-62009
---------------------------------
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I feel gnu is sufficiently clear statement of what freedom means in the
field of software.
It is the freedom of the community that reproduces freedom.
The indian version should have a name which is native. Hence Bhaarati
using itrans, for correct spelling I suggest we have
gnubhaaratI
Once the medium reaches the people as free software, message too will.
I hope there is no version of gnu that is not free.
Then calling gnu swatantra will be redundant.
-jitendra
fsf-friends-request(a)mm.gnu.org.in wrote:
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>Today's Topics:
>
> 1. Re: [Fsf-friends] Fwd: Response to the e-mail to the Editor.
> Vivaravicharam (Joe Steeve)
> 2. Re: [Fsf-india]Response to the e-mail to the Editor.
> Vivaravicharam (Joe Steeve)
> 3. Re: RMS note to Vivaravicharam: GNU Swatantra (Ramanraj K)
>
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Message: 1
>Date: Sat, 30 Aug 2003 10:07:02 +0200 (MEST)
>From: Joe Steeve <joe_steeve(a)gmx.net>
>Subject: Re: [Fsf-friends] Fwd: Response to the e-mail to the Editor.
> Vivaravicharam
>To: eiidp(a)md3.vsnl.net.in
>Cc: fsf-friends(a)mm.gnu.org.in
>Message-ID: <4221.1062230822(a)www14.gmx.net>
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
>
>Hello Anil.,
>
>
>
>>mentioning about Gandhiji's principle ! a^€œSwadesha^€? is
>>
>>
>a word
>
>
>> of Sanskrit
>>origin and its literal meaning is a^€œMy own nationa^€?. It
>>
>>
>is a
>
>
>>propaganda term of
>>the fascist group named a^€œRSSa^€? to spread their fanatic
>>
>>
>agend
>
>
>>a of Hindu
>>nationalism.
>>
>>
>
>Well.. the word 'swadesh' by itself dosent have any significance in history.
>The term originally was not coined by the RSS. the RSS derived it from what
>Gandhiji started calling the 'Swadeshi movement'. That movement is to boycott
>all foriegn goods, which were brought into the Indian market at that time.
>This he did inorder to protect the livelihood of the 'Villages'. So the
>movement's call was to boycott foriegn goods and to use only Indian goods. It is
>not a propaganda term as you've mentioned. The RSS and other Hindu fanatics
>have derived their current terminology from the original one.
>
>
>
>>Usually a movement or philosophy is called after its originator. However a
>>
>>
>
>only cults are named after their originator.
>
>
>
>>product is referred by its shortest name for convenience. It is true that
>>major portion of the Linux OS is developed by GNU. So it can be named as
>>"GNU/Linux". Since there is no Linux OS other than GNU/Linux, the usage of
>>"Linux" is justified by ease of use.
>>
>>
>
>Linux is the kernel. And GNU is the rest of the stuff on it. Referring them
>together as *Linux* sounds immature and lame. Why not call *Chicken Biriyani*
>as simply *chicken* or simply *biriyani*. *Chicken* means something else and
>*Biriyani* is just too general., so there is a compulsion for the sake of
>understanding to refer to *Chicken Biriyani* as *Chicken Biriyani* and not
>seperately though the product would sound better with a smaller name.. I pray
>you get the point.
>
>Cheers,
>Joe
>
>
>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ONE MORNING AT FARMAGUDI (GOA)....
------------------------------------------------------------------------
THREE YOUNG people were waiting outside the Mechanical Engineering
department, when we reached before 9 am. It was hard to say whether they
were students or teachers. George Easaw's Kochi-registered Maruti pulled up
within seconds. In some time, the lecturers trickled in. There were a large
number of women too. Who says GNU/Linux is male-centric?
The day: a drizzly August 30, a Saturday just before Goa
went into a long weekend (that carries on with bursting
crackers for the next one-and-half, five, seven, or even
21 days... during the state's widely-celebrated Ganesh
festival).
The venue: Goa Engineering College, Farmagudi, about 20
kms east of state-capital Panaji, en route to the
sylvan temple belt of Ponda which meanders on a small
crowded road, into the wildlife sanctuaries further east.
Mechanical engineering prof George Easaw <geasaw(a)vsnl.com>, the man
enthusiastically and steadfastedly promoting GNU/Linux, began by pointing
out that educating educators on Free Software was an imortant task. "It's a
long-felt need, we have the infrastructure, the government is funding us,
and so it's our duty (to do something relevant to society)," he argued. He
said their CAD Lab had been renamed as the Mechanical Engineering Software
Lab, marking a shift to experiment with a whole lot of software there.
Principal DP Roy, a professor of the IIT-Bombay now overseeing
the fortunes of the recently upgraded Goa Engineering College
stressed the need to "get more" out of the college -- by
spreading skills to others who matter.
Engico's mechanical department HoD (head of department) recalled the visit
of Richard M Stallman (RMS) to the college a year back, and the way this had
fuelled the enthusiasm of the staff and students.
Soon afterwards, a hands-on session started. In a morning that
saw everyone glued to their computers, the speakers took their
student-lecturers around a range of challenges.
A brief brush with the command-line (pwd, mkdir, cd, chmod...). Quickly over
to browsing on GNU/Linux (Mozilla, very nice and easy). Abiword. Then over
to Magicpoint. Getting into and out of Emacs ("Free software never dies. It
keeps growing. Emacs is in its 21st version.") The Gimp. Gnumeric came next.
By this time, George was asking: "His is the feeling now? How do you
feel... working on GNU/Linux? You can just play around with it.
Take a look at the colour selector. The possibilities are infinite."
These lecturers include engineers. Once they get started, and if their
interest does not flag, there's no saying where they would stop. Some of the
Mathematically-inclined were surprised to learn of the statistical
applications available with GNU/Linux distros. ("There's no need to use a
pirated copy of SPSS.")
K V Madhav <kvmadhav at gec.ac.in>, an Economics lecturer at
the Engico, came out with an interesting talk on using
GNU/Linux for audio-video. "All work and no play makes Jack
a dull boy. So, multimedia is the only place in computing
where I find my creativity gets enhanced," as he put it.
Madhav is himself new to Free Software, but has learnt speedily
within months.
It was time to ask participants, which package they had found most
interesting and most useful. "Photoshop," said someone. They meant that
powerful GNU graphics and image manipulation program called the GIMP! Others
agreed that Gnumeric was the "most useful".
It was time to end up. There was a demo of a Red Hat 'Linux'
install. Some glitches later (doesn't this always happen when
demoing?) it was thru. Some participants bought the copies
of the entire operating system with associated tools, on
three CDs, for a princely sum of Rs 50. Later, some of us
headed off for the nearby town of Ponda, 3 kms away, and had
a meal (with hot, boiling water... can't risk jaundice in
this season) at a local 'khanavol' (an eatery serving
inexpensive home-style meals). By evening, the sun shone
brightly, and it turned into another day of a magnificient
Goan sunsets. FN
--
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> What Gandhiji promoted was ?Gram Swaraj?
>
> Maybe that term is better. I am not an expert on this.
> I will ask the FSF India people what they think.
"Gram Swaraj" means autonomy of a village. Gandhi had a good explanation for
that., but that explanation would be ir-relevant at this point.
The english language suffers the problem of difference in meaning depending
on context. There may be liguistic terms to describe this., I'm not
literature student., so I dont know. But Indian languages have different words for
different context.
"Free as in Freedom" can be stated as "swatantra" in Hindi/sanskrit. I dont
know what is the equivalent term for "Free of cost". (My mother tongue is not
Hindi/sanskrit)
Hence., the phrase "Software Swatantra" means "Freedom of Software". Might
be more appropriate. IMHO
Cheers,
Joe
--
-Able was I eRe I saw elbA-
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---------- Forwarded Message ----------
Subject: Response to the e-mail to the Editor. Vivaravicharam
Date: Friday 29 Aug 2003 4:33 pm
From: Anil Kumar K V <eiidp(a)md3.vsnl.net.in>
To: rms(a)gnu.org
Cc: fsf-wg(a)cc4.tifr.res.in, fsf-india(a)gnu.org.in, fsug-calicut(a)freelists.org,
fsug-kochi-discuss(a)symonds.net, linux-india-general(a)lists.sourceforge.net
Dear Richard,
I happened read your e-mail to the editor of 'Vivaravicharam'. Here I express
my thoughts on your opinion.
I really wondered why you have used the term “Swadesh” that too while
mentioning about Gandhiji's principle ! “Swadesh” is a word of Sanskrit
origin and its literal meaning is “My own nation”. It is a propaganda term of
the fascist group named “RSS” to spread their fanatic agenda of Hindu
nationalism. This same RSS was behind the assassination of Gandhiji in 1948,
who has actively campaigned for Hindu-Muslim unity and secular culture among
the people which had blocked Hindu fanatics from moving their agenda. Now
after around half a century they came to power in India through false
propaganda and carrying on Gujarat like homicides. “Swadesh” is effectively
used by them for these purposes. What Gandhiji promoted was “Gram Swaraj”
which literally means “Self sustainable villages”. I am not sure whether you
actually mean to use “Gram Swaraj” or “Taddesh”. It would have been better if
you have used the term “Taddesh” which literally means “Their own native”.
So let me re-read your sentence
“Free software is software swadesh--not just for India, but for the whole
world.”
as
“Free software is taddesh software for the whole world”.
Suggestion for using “application of copyrights” instead of “protection of
intellectual property rights" in the case of publishing industry is
acceptable as it conveys better.
I fully agree with the philosophy of freedom, which is propagated by FSF
team. However imposition of the terms such as "GNU" and "Free Software" is
not justifiable as these word contains only manufactured messages to convey.
It is not advisable to urge others to use a term whose message is a
manufactured one. Advocates of these terms may have some emotional
satisfication in using these terms and need not be the case with all who
campaigns for the freedom.
Usually a movement or philosophy is called after its originator. However a
product is referred by its shortest name for convenience. It is true that
major portion of the Linux OS is developed by GNU. So it can be named as
"GNU/Linux". Since there is no Linux OS other than GNU/Linux, the usage of
"Linux" is justified by ease of use.
There are spatial variations in the meaning of certain words. The word "Free"
for us is actually more linked with 'free of cost' than to "freedom". However
it is understood that there is concerted effort by FSF team to use "Free" for
freedom whenever it is linked with software. In other sectors, it is
advocates of imperialist globalisation is usually using the term "Free" for
freedom where freedom is a psuedo-freedom. And I consider "Free" as
propaganda term by advocates of imperialist globalisation in other fields. It
is found that nowadays even members of FSF teams are using the acronym
"FLOSS" to avoid these confusion created by the term "Free".
I have some other doubts which I think you might have some answer.
It is said that "free software" movement is a campaign for freedom. It is
understood that its activity is confined to “ethics of the social
arrangements of using software”. Whether campaign for freedom can be
restricted to “ethics of the social arrangements of using software” alone?
What should be its counterpart in other walks of the society life ?
How can a full time activist of a "free software" movement earn their
livings. Or whether only part-time activist are expected to work for this
movement, and find their earnings from a proprietary environment? Is it a
good idea to promote local co-operative movements to overcome this crisis ?
This has much relevance for software workers in a third world scenario
where software development is considered as a source of employment.
Regards,
Anil
Appropriate Technology Promotion Society.
Keralam.
<-- On 28 Aug 2003 Richard Stallman wrote -------------------->
Traditional proprietary software
development (which created most of the programs we use daily) adheres
to the principle of strict protection of intellectual property rights
found in the publishing industry.</P>
"Intellectual property rights" is a propaganda term, and it spreads
confusion my lumping together copyrights, patents, trademarks, and
other laws, all of which are completely different.
In any given situation, when you think of saying "intellectual
property rights", you really mean just one of those. For instance,
here you mean specifically "copyright". The article would be clearer
if you said just "copyright", instead of "intellectual property
rights" It would also avoid a form of prejudice.
The term "protection" is also a propaganda term. Replacing it with
"application" would avoid the propaganda, and make the article more
precisely correct as well.
See http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html for more
explanation.
Free /open</SPAN>
software is not a technology, but rather a different way of thinking
about and organizing the software development process.
It may be true that open source is a different way of thinking about
and organizing the software development process. However,
that's not what free software is. Free software is a different
way of thinking about the ethics of the social arrangements of
using software.
See http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-software-for-freedom.html for
more explanation of the difference between the free software
philosophy and the open source philosophy. They are not synonymous.
<P LANG="en-GB" CLASS="western" ALIGN=JUSTIFY>Free / open software is
growing its market share
For open source, it makes sense to speak of "market share".
The open source advocates try to appeal above all to business,
saying theirs is a practically superior alternative.
However, the free software movement is a social movement, a campaign
for freedom. It is more like Gandhi than like Eddison. It would have
been misleading to describe the success of the Indian National
Congress in terms of "market share" because that would imply it was
merely a matter of business competition. Gandhi did not seek to
compete with British rule for the support of a larger fraction of
India; he sought to replace British rule entirely. Likewise, in the
free software movement we do not seek to compete with non-free
software. Our goal is to replace it entirely. Free software is
software swadesh--not just for India, but for the whole world.
The resemblance between non-free software and British rule in India
extends much further. Non-free software is a form of electronic
colonization.
Because no one is excluded from the development process, potentially
hundreds of people can contribute to a project, providing a diverse
group of talents and techniques.
This is the collaborative development model which the open source
movement champions.
However. free software does not imply any particular development
model. The collaborative model is fine, but what we really care about
is not how the software is developed, but whether we have the
appropriate freedom in using it.
<-- ------------------------------- -------------------->
-------------------------------------------------------
Hi Geeta, Thanks for your note. On the last point, may I point out that
there are a lot of Free/Libre and Open Source Software activities *alredy*
underway in Kerala.
In fact, that state is the headquarters of the Free Software
Foundation-India, and has an active TeX User Group. There are also user
groups in Tvm, Kochi and elsewhere.
Will try and copy this message to some in my addressbook. It would really
be nice, and helpful to you too, if you roped in the enthusiasm of these
nice people to make IT-for-development a reality for all in your part of
India. FN
On Mon, 25 Aug 2003, Geeta Pious wrote:
> Dear Fred,
> Akshaya is going smooth. I am attaching recent press reports on
> Akshaya.We hope that Malappuram Dt will become the First Dt in India
> with 100% e-literate persons( at least one person from one family)
>
> I would like to invite as well as your friends to Malappuram to see the
> enthusiasm of the people.
>
> I also require your help to start FLOSS in Kerala
>
> Keep in touch
>
> thanks
>
> Geeta Pious
> Kerala State IT Mission
>
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