Hi
I met the director of a software company and I got them to think about
licensing their software with GPL. They currently deliver their software
product as a service to their customers.
As usual the ethical issue always comes up and people consider thinking about
it... so he agreed and felt the need to license his software with the GNU GPL.
However, one of his concerns was his service (software) would be compromised
by others (competitors) who have access to the source code.
Since I'm not a programmer, I was unable to explain why making his source code
to the public, would actually enhance the security. Can anyone help me with
examples to deliver to this guy/
Regards
Rishi
Dear Friends,
M$ is targetting Education and Culture of Communities communities with
the help of UNESCO.
http://www.microsoft.com/emea/presscentre/PressRelease.aspx?file=MSUNESCOPR…
[quote]
M$ and the UNESCO will focus on increasing the use of ICT through the
following projects:
Education and Learning
-- Syllabus for integrating ICT curriculum into teaching. UNESCO and
Microsoft believe that ICT can play a significant role in improving
teaching and learning, provided that teachers have the training they
need to effectively integrate ICT into instructional design, planning
and other critical components of education. With assistance from
Microsoft, UNESCO will create resource materials supporting the
development of curricula and training courses on the use of ICT for
teachers and classrooms. The materials will provide content guidance
to curriculum authors and course providers, as well as tools to help
teachers, education policy-makers and others evaluate the
effectiveness of available courseware. This multistakeholder project
will draw on Microsoft's expertise in designing ICT products and
services for education; in conjunction with its Partners in Learning
and Unlimited Potential initiatives, Microsoft recently announced the
global availability of two ICT curriculum series for use in schools
and community learning settings.
-- UNESCO Knowledge Communities. Utilising the Microsoft(R) Solutions
Sharing Network platform, UNESCO will develop multiple online
communities that allow international and national experts and agencies
to exchange content and best practices, share tools, mobilise
interested parties, and suggest solutions and strategies to address
critical issues in education. Initial community themes will include
Technology Solutions in Education, Multilingualism in Cyberspace and
Information for All.
-- Teacher support and knowledge sharing. UNESCO and Microsoft will
explore how Microsoft's Innovative Teachers programme and its online
community, the Innovative Teachers Network, can further UNESCO's aims
in education. The Innovative Teachers Network connects a global
community of educators and provides forums in which teachers can share
ideas, content and best practices with other teachers who share a
common interest in using technology to enhance teaching and learning.
-- ICT access and skills training for teachers and students. UNESCO and
Microsoft will also explore how Microsoft's Partners in Learning
initiative can help advance efforts to improve education in developing
countries. Partners in Learning seeks to deliver teacher and student
skills development, tailored curricula, technical support and
research, and increased access to technology by working with
governments, local schools and teachers. UNESCO and Microsoft will
explore opportunities to collaborate under Partners in Learning in
Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East and Africa,
Eastern Europe, and Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Community Access and Development
-- Youth technology and learning centres in the North African Arab
states. Microsoft and UNESCO will establish a subregional technology
centre that will provide North African youth with improved access to
ICT and ICT skills development. The facility will share resources and
expertise with other centres throughout the region, with the ultimate
aim of helping develop North Africa's future work force. The project
will draw on resources and best practices from UNESCO's international
information and data exchange network INFOYOUTH, and Microsoft's
Unlimited Potential initiative. INFOYOUTH organises national, regional
and international consultations among a wide variety of stakeholders
to facilitate exchanges of data, experiences and analysis on which
national and international youth policies are based. Unlimited
Potential focuses on improving lifelong learning for underserved young
people and adults by providing technology skills through community
technology centres. Under the alliance, UNESCO and Microsoft will also
explore the potential to collaborate on additional Unlimited Potential
projects.
-- Computer refurbishment. UNESCO, in collaboration with Microsoft, will
foster international cooperation and the sharing of best practices to
support refurbishment efforts that can help developing countries
increase access to cost-effective computer technology.
Cultural and Linguistic Diversity Preservation
-- Local language development. UNESCO and Microsoft will explore ways to
provide access to technology that preserves language and culture. As
part of this exploration, UNESCO will provide consultation to
Microsoft and support the company's efforts with local governments to
prioritise and expand the number of languages served by its Local
Language Program. Launched in early 2004, the Local Language Program
is a global initiative that provides desktop software and tools in
local languages by collaborating with local experts including
governments, universities, language authorities and other interested
parties.
[/quote]
UNESCO is not the only one doing back room deals with Microsoft
(and others) while paying lip-service to FLOSS. UNDP also has its
double standards. Or if it is not that, they should at least come out
and declare what the rationale behind it,. and where it is all leading.
This is a open letter to UNESCO i got earlier from MISTICA virtual
Community, after getting some informaion abt this deal between UNESCO
and M$.
http://www.funredes.org/mistica/carta_unesco.htm?lan=en
--
.-"""-. Anivar Aravind <anivar(a)riseup.net>
/* * * *\
:_.-:`:-._; Use Free Software visit http://www.gnu.org
(_) >@)_// >@)_// >@)_// >@)_//
_\|/(_) (__) (__) (__) (__)
\|/________________________________________________
Interesting debate that could have *some* implications for FLOSS. FN
---------- Forwarded message ----------
NEWS: IT software is taxable, rules SC
Deccan Herald, Bangalore. Nov 6, 2004
NEW DELHI: DHNS The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday ruled that computer software
is liable to Sales Tax, a decision that may boost the dwindling revenue of
states. This ruling would be applicable only to "off-the-shelf" software and
not to "customised" ones.
Ninety per cent of the software sales account for the customized category.
A five-judge bench comprising Justice N Santosh Hegde, Justice S N Variava,
Justice B P Singh, Justice H K Sema and Justice S B Sinha, gave this judgement
on a petition by the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).
The TCS had challenged the Andhra Pradesh High Court order allowing the state
government to levy sales tax on the computer software, as it classified it as
"goods" under the provisions of the Sales Tax Act.
Upholding the High Court order, the apex court said that when a person goes to
buy a CD, he or she is not paying for the mere CD but also for the software
contained in it.
While the TCS argued that software was nothing but knowledge and hence could
not be categorised as goods, Andhra Pradesh said that the off-the-shelf
software cannot be treated as "knowledge" making it liable for sales tax.
ST WILL SPUR PIRACY
Meanwhile, the National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom)
has said the Supreme Court judgement making computer software liable to sales
tax, will encourage pirated software and affect the speed of PC penetration in
the country, reports UNI from New Delhi.
"Immediately, however it may impact the price paid by the user and this could
affect the speed of penetration of PCs in the country and also give an impetus
to pirated software," Nasscom president Kiran Karnik said in a statement here.
Hi Friends
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---------- Forwarded message ----------
First Monday on FLOSS
Begin forwarded message:
The November 2004 issue of First Monday (volume 9, number 11) is now
available at http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_11/
-------
Table of Contents
Volume 9, Number 11 - November 1st 2004
FLOSS at Large: Selected papers from the 4SEASST 2004 joint
conference, Paris, 25-28 August 2004
Introduction: FLOSS at Large
by Yuwei Lin
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_11/linintro/
-------
Opening the sources of accountability
by Shay David
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_11/david/
Abstract:
This paper scrutinizes the concept of accountability in light of free
and open source software. On the view that increasing accountability
grants value to society by motivating those most likely and able to
prevent risk and harm to do so, I argue that while developing
software collaboratively, licensing it openly, and distributing its
source code freely are promising first steps in the long journey to
rehabilitate accountability in our highly computerized society, our
very understanding of what accountability is changes too. This paper
analyzes the concept of accountability in an open environment and
explores the implications in two mission-critical application fields
in which software plays a significant role - electronic voting, and
electronic medical records. It further considers the potential
remedies to accountability's erosion that free and open source
software offer, and the ways in which accountability can be
generalized to collective action if we understand it less as
punishability and more as a culture that encourages the prevention of
risk and harm. With such reconceptualized accountability in mind, I
find that code visibility, a self-imposed standard of care and
sensible licensing arrangements, are a potent, practical, and
effective alternative to the strict liability standards offered as a
solution to the accountability problem by earlier scholars.
-------
FLOSS developers as a social formation
by Frauke Lehmann
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_11/lehmann/
Abstract:
Developers of Free/Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS) are often
referred to as a community or as a scene. But so far this seems
mostly just a rough expression. This paper takes a closer look at
FLOSS developers and their projects to find out how they work, what
holds them together and how they interact. Community and social
movement seem not to apply as descriptors. Looking at norms, values,
structures, and conflict resolution, a hacker subculture appears
which is compartmentalised into differently organised projects. By
testing empirical findings against various theoretical approaches,
ideas for further research are identified.
-------
Contextualising knowledge-making in Linux user groups
by Yuwei Lin
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_11/lin/
Abstract:
A common critique on free/libre open source software (FLOSS) is that
FLOSS-oriented products, often mutated from or based on parallel
works, are not really innovative. FLOSS' development process and
subsequent products (e.g. software packages, maintaining services, or
the formation of user groups, etc.) definitely denote a kind of
innovation driving our world towards a knowledge-based society. This
perspective challenges the conventional notion of innovation in
technological and economic arenas from a glocalised perspective. I
argue that software development is not solely a matter of technical
engineering or economic progress. Rather, it also involves cultural,
social and political factors.
-------
A case for Indian insourcing: Open Source interest in IT job
expansion
by Casey O'Donnell http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_11/odonnell/
Abstract:
The controversy surrounding the "off-shoring" of IT jobs from the
United States to other countries, in particular to India, has become
a focal point in American political discourse and has been widely
represented in the media. Disturbingly, little attention has been
paid to this occurrence beyond its implications for American
employment opportunities. Representing Indian and American IT workers
as unified groups whose interests are mutually exclusive and opposed
to one another is problematic given the material realities that
propel "outsourcing." Among the potential benefits of growing demand
for, and supply of, skilled IT workers is increased participation in
the Open Source Software (OSS) movement. Expanding global involvement
offers a significant opportunity for developing countries to
influence the direction, importance, and future of OSS.
-------
Free software: Some Brazilian translations
by Alexandre Silva Pinheiro and Henrique Luiz Cukierman
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_11/pinheiro/
Abstract:
We examine two histories in this paper. First, we briefly look at a
North American history, in which we look at the relationship of free
software with the founding principles of democracy. Second, we
examine recent Brazilian history, especially the most policy decision
to adopt free software, affirming technological autonomy. Democratic
ideals, defended by the free software movement, are transformed in
Brazilian politics, leading both to further free software development
and a stronger democracy.
-------
The realities of Free/Libre/Open Source Software developers in Japan
and Asia by Hiroyuki Shimizu, Jun Iio, and Kazuo Hiyane
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_11/shimizu/
Abstract:
A variety of individuals around the world are furthering development
of Free/Libre/Open Source Software (FLOSS) through the Internet. Why
do they participate in developers' communities and continue to
develop FLOSS? Is their treatment enough to sustain their activities?
Surveys, using online questionnaires, were conducted to answer these
questions to analyze the FLOSS movement sociologically. However these
surveys tend to focus on developers in the West. We decided to see if
there are regional differences in FLOSS development. To that end, we
conducted two surveys, the FLOSS-JP survey in Japanese and the FLOSS-
ASIA survey in other Asian languages. In this paper, we describe
regional differences, especially among Asian and Japanese FLOSS
developers and compare the results to those from Western FLOSS
surveys.
-------
Reducing transaction costs in information infrastructures using FLOSS
by Marcus Vinicius Brandao Soares
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_11/soares/
Abstract:
Firms, or more generally, organizations, develop and become larger
along time, using more and more computers to work. This growth in the
number of computers leads to a growth of software use (operating
systems and their applications, for example) and, as a result, to the
growth in the number of software use/access licenses to be purchased
and managed. For the owners of software intellectual property rights,
this process leads to a greater supervision of users to regulate
lawful access to software.
The situation occurs when all of the software used by an organization
is proprietary. This results in some costs - transaction costs - that
are not usually taken into account by administrators and managers.
What happens if FLOSS is used? We will show that this choice leads to
a reduction in transaction costs in terms of computation costs and in
terms of the number of managed contracts, which can be numerically
reduced by half.
------- End of forwarded message -------
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Hello Friends,
I am facing a problem and need your suggessions. There is some material in english which I want to translate into our local language
(Telugu). I also want the font to be in Telugu. While there are some free fonts that I know of for Telugu (IIT Madras has got one for their
multi-lingual editor, and it looks decent enough to me), I am not able to find a nice editor.
I have considered the editor from IITM (at acharya.iitm.net.in....), but its very difficult, given my knowledge of telugu on these
keyboards. If I have a Telugu Keyboard it would have solved some problem but I searched the market but found none. Now, there are two things
that I can imagine:
1. Go to a type institute and copy the keys layout, then come back and experiment on my keyboard until i get them right. (it sure is going
to take a _LOT_ of time, given my current pressures in office).
2. Get hold of a nice editor. Earlier when I was using wind**s, I used a s/w called TeluguLipi Editor, it had this wonderful feature that if
I type a word in english, it would automatically convert every syllabi of it to Telugu. So, its practically a breeze to type in Telugu using
that editor with out any knowledge of the telugu keyboard layout. Is there any such editor (Mr. google returned unsatisfactory results) for
Linux?
I'd be indebted if anyone can help me out.
Also, one more thing:
A couple of days ago, some of my friends, also in the s/w field (and running a very small charitable trust), donated a computer to a school
in a very remote village. (I am not a member as such, now, so I dont have a big say). When my friend told me that, I appreciated him but his
very next sentence disappointed me, he said they had installed M$ Win into it. When I asked them why they were wasting money when they can
get what ever they wanted to using Free Software, they said its because of the following reasons:
1. No one in the village knew anything about computers, so had to be taught from scratch.
2. None of their group are comfortable with *nix. (A pity)
3. The software that they are planning to provide now is the ones by Azim Premji Foundation
http://www.azimpremjifoundation.org/html/educationalsoftware.htm which runs on Windows only.
So, they had no choice but to shell out some money and buy Windows in the gray market and load it. When I raised my voice, they expressed
helplessness saying that their first aim is not to teach computers to kids but to grab their attention towards studies and use educational
s/w for this purpose. Since I did not know any Edu S/w for linux, I had to shut my mouth. So, im immediately writing to you friends, does
anyone know anything about this?
Waiting for your replies:
Sriharsha.