Fsf-friends August 2003

fsf-friends@gnu.org.in

22 participants
40 discussions

Whereabouts of Dr Ignatius K
by CK Raju 24 Aug '03

24 Aug '03

Anyone who has contact details of Prof Ignatius (CUSAT, ex-Kannur Univ) should please provide details. Calicut University engg syllabus revision is underway. CK Raju

1 0

Goa updates....
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 24 Aug '03

24 Aug '03

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- FREESOFTWARENOTES * FREESOFTWARENOTES * FREESOFTWARENOTES * FREESOFTWARENOTES * FREESOFTWARENOTES * FREESOFTWARENOTES * FREESOFTWARENOTES * FREESOFTWARENOT NOT* FREESOFTWARENOTES * FREESOFTWARENOTES * FREESOFTWARENOTES * FREESOFTWARE ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- SIMPUTER SURFACES AT GOA'S MINES [ GNULinux CORPORATE VIEW ] The Reuter's report of the use of Simputers at Dempo's mines in Goa (see http://in.tech.yahoo.com/030731/137/26i2o.html ) was good news for GNU/Linux fans in Goa. After all, the core of the Simputer is Free Software. Only goes to underline the point: technology can become relevant to the commonman if only knowledge is not hidden or blocked. Journalist Anshuman Daga, writing from Bangalore, reported that "like many companies worldwide, Indian mining group Dempo uses handheld computers to help it manage data about its business". Says the report: "(T)he device Dempo uses to update its inventories is a home-grown product called the Simputer." It quotes Demop stragetic planning official M.R.Aravindan saying: "Earlier, it used to take us more than a week to compile and analyse details of the iron ore picked up by our trucks." Two years after a launch marred by marketing and funding concerns, the Simputer is spreading quietly into small towns and schools, as well as to business users such as Dempo. There are plans to put it on retailers' shelves across the country this year. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- FROM MAPUSA... TO SHIRODA? [ CAMPUS TALK ] Students at St Xavier's College in Mapusa came across a range of new ideas and options in recent weeks, during a workshop over GNU/Linux that spanned much of the day. Before the event -- executed well by the college and ILUG-Goa volunteers -- students played around with many Free Software 'distros'. Needless to say, there were no artificial or legal blocks on anyone copying this software, experimenting with it, or learning more. Ashley Delaney <delaneyashley(a)softhome.net> wrote in to say prior to the event: "I went to Xavier's this morning, and was plesantly surprised to see a few guys installing Red Hat 9 on a few PCs albit with a few hardware problems. (They've got access to) a whole lot of distros and were trying to install all of them!" This workshop went off well. Many students sat glued to their seats, long after the time for demos was over. Bright young students went home with fresh ideas and inspiration. Next to take the step was RIT, the Rayeshwar Institute of Technology, which incidentally is Goa's third and youngest engineering colleges. They're keen to learn more about Free Software ("free as in freedom, not price") and probably set up a local group to take their understanding further. User-groups are an excellent way of promoting self-study. The Net also allows for the sharing of knowledge of an unprecedented pace. In Goa itself, there are two mailing lists, ILUG-Goa (search for it at yahoogroups.com) and teach-yourself-linux (located on the same site). Anyway, the Shiroda engineering college would be following in the footsteps of the older engineering colleges in Goa. GEC at Farmaguddi has a core-team that well understands the power of Free Software. Last year, Free Software Foundation head Richard "RMS" Stallman visited and lectured here. PCC too has been quick to realise this potential. Earlier this year, they hosted a team speaking about TeX -- that simple but amazing piece of software that can make publishing a breeze! REPORT FROM GEC: The first LaTeX report from the Farmagudi-based Goa Engineering College got ready recently. It was a final year Mech project report. This report with graphs, tables, figures, biblio, contents etc. (complete in all respects) is with Prof George Easaw <geasaw(a)vsnl.com> in pdf format. He generously offered to upload it to a public site "for curious members who would like to see how the report looks like". This pdf doc was only about 650 KB. Says Prof Easaw: "LaTeX (has arrived) in the GEC with a bang ... and the four students -- Sameer, Anil, Swapnil and Dharmaraj -- promised that they will henceforth try to use Free Software whereever possible and spread the good word around. i have personally seen that they are quite well versed in preparing the LaTeX reports independently." MORE ON TeX: Ms. Kshama Fernandes <kshksh(a)sancharnet.in> is a young prof at the Goa Institute of Management, Ribandar, who won the wows of GNU/Linux geeks when she recently demoed her skills at using TeX to compose academic papers, and even a book. TeX is, incidentally, pronounced at Tek. Says Fernandes: "I started using Tex two years ago and it has been a great experience. It helped me do a lot of things, including publish a book.... As an academic, I should be spending my time on putting across ideas (not wasting it on doing typesetting)." She demoed the 'goodies' that work with Tex. BibteX, that brings up the bibliography. Tools to create hyper references in the document. GNUplot for graphs. Programmes in Pearl, awk and shell scripts. Jgraph to do graphs, xfig and a nice (commercial) statistical tool calledl Stata. She explained how a bibliography, once put together, could be easily reused to write any academic paper, and probably even shared among a group of researchers working on similar topics. She showed us the "jugglery" that went into make mathematical equations. Kshama went on to compile the document (for a dvi output or pdf). She felt that there was a bug in the hyperreferences -- when you click on one, it doesn't seem to take you back where you started from. She assured it was possible to place pics into the text, and said she had done this for her 250-page book. By the time she left, ubergeeks were left to comment on the ease with which she handled Debian and the command-line interface. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- GNUachievers IT WAS bound to happen. Word has gone out that the young men (and a few women) who are into Free/Libre and Open Source Software (or FLOSS) do their work with a passion, and can really deliver results. For one, their in the field because they love it. Second, something about FLOSS encourages those who delve into it, to go real deep. Thirdly, when others share knowlege so freely and readily, how could you not learn fast? Gaurav Priyolkar got a job with a prominent Indian software export house, and is now based in Pensylvania, US. Bilnston, better known as B2 to friends, was quickly picked up to become part of an outstation team. So was his hacker collegue Ajay Cuncolienkar. Ex-polytec Yunus Shaikh shuttles between Ponda and Scandinavia for work on thin clients. Arvind Clemente and youngsters like Andrew Suarez are viewed as people with a serious interest in security. Animesh Nerurkar was selected by the CMIE and posted back in Goa. Who says our youngsters can't find opportunity, and get good jobs? Just give them a chance to learn without barriers, and in areas that interest them deeply. Sit back and see where they reach! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Planning for ECAP Want to volunteer at the GNU/Linux initiatives during the Exhibition of Computers and Allied Products (Sept 13-14, Panjim; Sept 20-21, Margao)? Check out the discussion and updates underway on the ILUG-Goa list at yahoogroups.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------- SNIPPETS * Amol Hatwar and Raj from Synapse, recently gave an interesting intro on Amol's plan for Freedom Matters "a bimonthly that is not a software journal, but looks at the *why* of Free Software". All volunteers welcome. * Arvind Yadav has been recently experimenting with Spamassassim, which he finds a good tool to block spam. * Who in Goa is into VLSI, USB 2.0, PCI and shell-scripting? Who's interest revolve around LaTeX, xfig, gnuplot and octave? Know someone working in embedded Linux? Who specialises in web development, and who's into DNS, sendmail and squid? If you're getting puzzled, check out the latest list of who's interested in what field of interest from among the India Linux Users' Group (Goa). For a copy of this listing, write to fred(a)bytesforall.org. If you are interested in some Free Software subject, submit your name too! * The good thing about Free Software is that it spreads without borders. Some of our committed supporters in Goa come from distant places. Members Laxman Saval <laxman_saval(a)hotmail.com> and Leya D'Souza are both based in the Gulf. A whole lot keep in touch from other places. Kaushal Bandarkar has been keeping in touch from distant Kurkushetra, though he's a student of Goan origin who has family in Ponda. * Facing problems in accessing Sancharnet's server? ILUG-Goa has compiled more than one FAQ for GNU/Linux users wanting to log-on to the Internet. Contact them for a copy. * Shailesh B wrote in recently: "I a computer enginner from Pune University. My native place is Goa ,but now i reside in Pune. Sir i would like to contribute to this (Goa Computers in Schools) project with the technical knowledge I have. Please dont let me down." Of course, there's always space for helping hands. If you'd like to support the initiatives to take computers further to schools in Goa, and use them productively there, contact Ashley Delaney Yahooid: ashleywiz Ph: 2409580/44 , 9422448700 -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 -------------------------------------------------------------------------

2 1

No2SCO
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 24 Aug '03

24 Aug '03

------------------------------ From: Shaun Marolf <shaun_marolf(a)hotmail.com (NOSPAM)> Subject: New Yahoo Group to discuss SCO situation Date: 23 Aug 2003 16:45:01 GMT http://groups.yahoo.com/group/no2sco/ All who are interested in discussion of the SCO situation are welcome to join. --Shaun ########################################################################## # Send submissions for comp.os.linux.announce to: cola(a)stump.algebra.com # # PLEASE remember a short description of the software and the LOCATION. # # This group is archived at http://stump.algebra.com/~cola/ # ########################################################################## ------------------------------

1 0

Dr Geo in Indian languages...
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 23 Aug '03

23 Aug '03

---------- Forwarded message ---------- >From fred(a)bytesforall.org Sat Aug 23 11:49:29 2003 --__--__-- Message: 3 Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2003 15:05:26 +0200 From: Hilaire Fernandes <hilaire(a)ext.cri74.org> To: jnshah <jnshah(a)bom7.vsnl.net.in> Cc: ofset-drgenius-dev(a)lists.sourceforge.net, indic-computing-users(a)lists.sourceforge.net, amba(a)iiit.net, indlinux-marathi-request(a)lists.sourceforge.net, tdk12(a)rediffmail.com Organization: OFSET Subject: [Indic-computing-users] DrGeo in indian languages! WAKE UP ! Time to translate properly DrGeo in Indian languages. Mr Jitendra Shah already sent me .po files of Indian languages but these files need to be largely updated (I think the Marathi is already in good shape). Whoever is reponsible to update the language files, contact me directly so I can send you directly your updated file to translate, it is important I send you an updated file otherwise your translation may be only partial. To this date there are abot 426 messages, if updated in regular basis it is little job, only the first shot is painfull. Regards, Hilaire On Sat, 22 Mar 2003 22:49:12 +0530 jnshah <jnshah(a)bom7.vsnl.net.in> wrote: Dear Hilaire and all, We are Final year BE Computer students from VJTI mumbai working under Prof. Jitendra Shah on project named L10N & I18N. We are trying to localize drgenius in marathi,one of the prominent Indian langugae. We are attempting to port drgenius to gnome2 as per suggestion of Hilaire . However to make the existing version localised, we did the following. Please help and suggest ways out. We followed following steps: 1. We took drgenius.pot and translated the messages in the same in Marathi (an Indian language with mr_IN as international name), file in 8-bit ISCII format. Then we unzipped drgenius-0.8.3.tar.gz to a location. 3. Then we added "mr" to ALL_LINGUA in ./configure script 4. We followed normal installation procedure (./configure, make, make install) 5. After installation we got drgenius.gmo in /usr/local/share/locale/mr/LC_MESSAGES/ We hoped this would work. It didnot. But we didn't know how to switch from default "english" language to "mr" We noted that "hi" was built in. We changed locale to mr. Still it didnot work. So we copied that file to /usr/share/locale/hi/LC_MESSAGES/ i.e. to system locale directory Next we changed locale from en_US to hi when we executed drgenius blanks were seen instead of translated messages. Thuis it appeared that our translated file was being accessed and ascii characters therin were being read but only non-ascii characters were not displayed. We tried to copy fonts at various places. Fonts are isciidev.ttf from IIIT Hyderabad courtesy Amba Kulkarni. We tried to place the same in /usr/share/fonts/indic/TrueType /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/TTF ~/.fonts But that too didn't work. Where should we place the font so that it's visible to drgenius ? We are able to use isciidev.ttf in gedit kate kwrite kword That means it is being installed Then why drgenius is not able to find it? we are waiting for your reply. Please send mail to: darkhorse_vjti(a)yahoogroups.com and jitendras(a)vsnl.com _______________________________________________ Ofset-drgenius-dev mailing list Ofset-drgenius-dev(a)lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ofset-drgenius-dev -- Let's support Kids, Education and Free Software Aidons les Enfants, l'=C9ducation et les Logiciels Libres http://rate.affero.net/hilaire --__--__-- _______________________________________________ Indic-computing-users mailing list http://indic-computing.sourceforge.net/ Indic-computing-users(a)lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/indic-computing-users [Other Indic-Computing mailing lists: -devel, -standards, -announce] End of Indic-computing-users Digest

1 0

GNU/Linux reports... from India (Express Computer)
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 22 Aug '03

22 Aug '03

Express Computer - Linux Special (Issue dated 25 Aug 2003) ======================= Linux in the Enterprise http://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20030825/linuxspecial.shtml ======================= ---------------- Tier-one Vendors ---------------- * NOISE or substance? Tier-one vendors like Oracle, IBM, Sun, HP and others have announced their support for Linux. Venkatesh Hariharan finds out if this is driven by the 'anything but Microsoft' sentiment, or whether there are deeper, substantive reasons. http://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20030825/linuxspecial01.shtml -------------- NSE Case Study -------------- * Linux stars in Mission: Critical Linux is growing out of Unix's shadow and handling mission-critical tasks on its own. The National Stock Exchange recently replaced a Unix-based system for risk management with a Linux-based one and saved a packet in the process. Stanley Glancy reports. http://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20030825/linuxspecial02.shtml ------- Opinion ------- * "We are seeing more than 100 percent growth" From college geeks to huge enterprises--whether organisations like LIC or e-governance projects--many are moving to Linux. And according to Red Hat India, the largest reseller of software and support for the open-source code, the fraternity is growing. Red Hat India CEO Javed Tapia spoke to Venkatesh Hariharan about the company's plans for India. http://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20030825/linuxspecial03.shtml * "Our competitor is not proprietary software, it is non-consumption" Rajesh Jain is a visionary who set up India's first portal, Indiaworld, at a time when the Internet was unknown and commercial ISPs were a distant mirage. After the spectacular sale of Indiaworld to Satyam that set off the Internet mania in India, Jain shunned the limelight to focus on Netcore, a company that builds �thin-client, thick server� computing solutions targeted at SMEs, education and community information centres in rural areas. Venkatesh Hariharan interviews Jain to find out why he argues so passionately for the adoption of Linux in India. http://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20030825/linuxspecial03z.shtml -------- Security -------- * Open-source software--panacea or peril? Does the open nature of Open Source make it more vulnerable to attack? Or, does the ability to review code and submit bug fixes make Open Source superior to proprietary software? Felix Mohan presents the pros and cons. http://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20030825/linuxspecial04.shtml ---------------------------------- The Great Windows versus Linux war ---------------------------------- For CIOs, the operating system is the foundation of the enterprise computing infrastructure. The choice of an operating system is therefore a complex one and issues like cost, security, availability of support, etc, have to be carefully weighed before arriving at a decision. We asked two of the leading operating systems vendors, Microsoft and Red Hat to present their views on the subject. * Windows is a better choice than Linux Microsoft India says that all things considered, Windows is a better choice over Linux. http://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20030825/linuxspecial05.shtml * Open source is a disruptive technology Javed Tapia says that Linux has moved up in the value-chain and has crossed the chasm. http://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20030825/linuxspecial05z.shtml ----------------------- Total Cost of Ownership ----------------------- * Everybody loves TCO TCO (total cost of ownership) may be an overused concept, but with Linux on the desktop Prakash Advani says that the benefits are immediately visible. http://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20030825/linuxspecial06.shtml -------------------------- High Performance Computing -------------------------- * Linux clusters go upwardly mobile The fastest supercomputer in India runs Linux and the open source operating system has a near monopoly on high performance computing in R&D and chip design. However, it still plays second fiddle to Unix in the commercial world, says Prashant L Rao. http://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20030825/linuxspecial07.shtml ------------------ Software Companies ------------------ * Linux-based software development grows in popularity As customers choose Linux as their IT platform, Indian software companies are seeing a corresponding growth in the demand for Linux-based software services. http://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20030825/linuxspecial08.shtml ------------------- Application Reviews ------------------- * Applications on Linux If the lack of office productivity software or unfamiliarity with Linux held you back, here are some software packages that could help change your mind. http://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20030825/linuxspecial09.shtml * No purchase order required! One of the best features of Free Libre, Open Source Software (FLOSS) is that no purchase orders are required to test or deploy the software. You may, however, need a big fat pipe to the Internet to download some of the stuff. A quick list of some software that companies may find useful. http://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20030825/linuxspecial10.shtml ============================ *end*

1 0

Brazil, Free Software, Microsoft, Open Source...
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 22 Aug '03

22 Aug '03

------------------------------------------------------------------ BRAZZIL.COM: BRAZIL: MICROSOFT, GO HOME "Brazil believes that free software is an excellent tool for the democratization of knowledge, foreign currency savings, and the optimization of institutional investments and costs..." COMPLETE STORY: http://www.brazzil.com/2003/html/news/articles/aug03/p139aug03.htm More stories: http://linuxtoday.com/news ------------------------------------------------------------------ WASHINGTON POST: THE QUIET WAR OVER OPEN-SOURCE "The world's largest software maker is lobbying furiously in state, national and international capitals against laws that would promote the consideration or use of open-source software..." COMPLETE STORY: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23422-2003Aug20.html More IT Management stories: http://linuxtoday.com/it_management ------------------------------------------------------------------ COMPUTERWORLD AUSTRALIA: OPEN SOURCE IS ABOUT MORE THAN LINUX: SUN "Open source is not about licences, Linux or free things but a common mode of production, according to Sun Microsystems' chief technology evangelist Simon Phipps..." COMPLETE STORY: http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php?id=1565756396&fp=16&fpid=0 More IT Management stories: http://linuxtoday.com/it_management ------------------------------------------------------------------

1 0

GNU dodges bullet after security breach
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 22 Aug '03

22 Aug '03

------------------------------------------------------------------ SEARCHENTERPRISELINUX: GNU DODGES BULLET AFTER SECURITY BREACH "The GNU Project has apparently dodged a major bullet since the FTP server housing its source code was root-compromised by a cracker in March..." COMPLETE STORY: http://www.searchEnterpriseLinux.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid39_gci9203… More Security stories: http://linuxtoday.com/security ------------------------------------------------------------------

1 0

GNULinuxinEducation
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 21 Aug '03

21 Aug '03

Some useful links (please check if still active, as these have been keyed in, there could be some typos) get http://groups.yahoo.com/group/linux-ed/ o GNU/Linux in education get http://www.thestuph.com/litc/ o GNU/Linux in the classroom get http://www.linuxforkids.com o Just as its name says, LinuxForKids get http://matterial.sourceforge.net/ o Free/open source collection of s/w tools for artists get http://material.sourceforge.net/ o Not sure if this URL or above is right get http://www.ibiblio.org/obp o Open book project get http://www.riverdale.k12.or.us/linux/ o K12 GNU/Linux in schools project ===================================================================== get http://dmoz.org/Computers/Software/Operating_Systems/Linux/Projects/Educati… Very interesting set of links! (URL might need joining) ===================================================================== get http://opensourceschools.org o Just what it's name says get http://www.bluelinux.org/ o Easy to use and administer distro for schools get http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-jr/ o Debian junior (work in progress) get http://www.freecourse.sourceforge.net o Free computing curriculum project get http://www.ganeshas-project.or o GNU/Linux training for schools in Nepal get http://www.goasudharop.org/gscp o Supporting schools in Goa, India get http://www.gnuskole.dk o Promoting the OS in Danish primary school system, by publishing documentation, finding and translating educational software, and holding a discussion forum for teachers and system admins at school get http://termserv.berlios.de/ o Making network administration easier on older PCs get http://www.itp.innoved.org/projects/freesoftware.html o Free software for Latin America [If you sent the above to www4mail(a)ftp.uni-stuttgart.de, you would be able to retrive the pages above -- not entire sites -- via email to your address. Try it out. Specially useful in low-bandwidth areas. -FN]

1 0

Re: [Fsf-friends] Help needed: Anyone from kotayam,kerala?
by Raj Shekhar 20 Aug '03

20 Aug '03

> Is any body willing to help > Dr. Ikbal (Vice chancellor, University of kerala) > in installing Gnu/Linux. He is interested in the concepts > of free software and now wishes to try it. The organization where I work had made an eye opener about Open source software. They send it out to people telling them about its advantages. Can you send me his complete postal address or his email address where I can contact him? The website of our organization is plusthought.org -- Regards, Raj Shekhar http://geocities.com/lunatech3007/

4 7

Re: [Fsf-friends] Help needed: Anyone from kotayam,kerala?
by Vijay Kumar B. 20 Aug '03

20 Aug '03

Dear Arun, > Why not ? That is atleast far better than using totally propreitary > systems which does not come with any source at all right ? according to the Open Source Definition and the definition of free software given by the Free Software movement, both are one and the same. But its all about what the people in each of these two movements say about the software. For a person in the Open Source movement, the reason for the using the software would be - "It's of high quality. It's cheap." For a person in the Free Software movement, the reason for using the software is - "It gives me the freedom to share the software with my friends. It gives me the freedom to modify the program to my needs. It gives me the freedom to distribute modified versions of the program." And the fact that "many" free softwares are of high quality is actually a consequence of these freedoms. This has mislead many people in the open source movement to use a combination of free software and proprietary software, just because they are of high quality. If my memory is correct, Bruce Perens left the OSI saying "We need to talk more about freedom." If we concentrate on the "consequence" we will slowly loose all our freedoms, and come back to square one! - Vijay Non-free* software sucks. - RMS * 'free' as in freedom. --------------------------------------------- This message was sent from RECTMAIL. http://www.rect.edu/ or http://rangoli.rect.ernet.in/

3 2

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

Fsf-friends August 2003