Fsf-friends October 2006

fsf-friends@gnu.org.in

34 participants
35 discussions

Re: Virtual Classrooms build using open-source/free software
by Roshan 12 Oct '06

12 Oct '06

> Folks, > > Have any of you experimented (or know of any > academic institute that did) with virtual classroom > implementation using open-source and/or free > softwares? I hadn't done a virtual classroom implementation, but a demonstration of using Ubuntu Linux LIVE CD, though it failed with a DLP projector, and had to do it on a LCD projector. YCMOU school of technology, has introduced streaming-video based lectures as one of its teaching techniques. Perhaps, they could use Free software for the same. -- http://360.yahoo.com/sriram4420 __________________________________________________________ Yahoo! India Answers: Share what you know. Learn something new http://in.answers.yahoo.com/

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Virtual Classrooms build using open-source/free software
by sandeep Kumar 11 Oct '06

11 Oct '06

Folks, Have any of you experimented (or know of any academic institute that did) with virtual classroom implementation using open-source and/or free softwares? How far tools like gnome-meeting, vnc, skype kind of solutions can be integrated to provide intra (department and university) and inter university virtual classrooms - intra-department on 100Mbps LAN, intra-university on optical fibre network and inter-university on dedicated lines (2Mbps leased/ 512Kbps or 256 Kbps broadband). Other than at university/department end, internet connectivity may not be that good. Professor at home or visiting lecturer (visiting remotely ;) ) might just have 128-256 Kbps broadband internet connectivity. Sandeep ---------------------------------------------------- Want to know more about me? Check out http://www.geocities.com/shimple0 -- ______________________________________________ IndiaInfo Mail - the free e-mail service with a difference! www.indiainfo.com Check out our value-added Premium features, such as an extra 20MB for mail storage, POP3, e-mail forwarding, and ads-free mailboxes!

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Comrades open windows to [GNU]linux
by Frederick Noronha 10 Oct '06

10 Oct '06

http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=142832 Comrades open windows to linux As Kerala logs Microsoft out of its schools, Linux world is buzzing with excitement over opportunities in the Left-ruled states M SARITA VARMA, INDRANIL CHAKRABORTY & PRAGATI VERMA Posted online: Monday, October 09, 2006 at 0000 hours IST Linux or open source seems to thrive wherever Left governments rule. And as Kerala schools log Microsoft out and boot open source systems, Linux world is buzzing with excitement over possibilities in the communist-ruled states. Though West Bengal and Tripura have to go whole hog to adopt a free software model, ideological closeness is more than evident. Kerala, most insiders' feel, is turning out to be Richard Stallman's happiest hunting ground. His personal vibes with Velikakathu Sankaran Achuthanandan, even from VS's pre-chief minister era, are in play. It's a picture watching the duo cozying together in a similar attire — Stallman in a crumbled white T-shirt and VS in homely sleeveless white banian. Secretly, people do wonder what Class VII drop-out Marxist patriarch chitchats with whiz-kid of the Red Hat business-model. However, those who attended a Stallman seminar on FOSS, could clearly see that Linux and Left are on the same wavelength. 'Keep that door open,' Stallman shouted jovially to the crowd flocking in and out of the seminar hall during a tea-break. "But not the windows," added 84-year old chief minister in matching spirits. CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP Sitaram Yechury seems to be open source' best friend in West Bengal. He doesn't stop at citing Kerala's example to the state governments but prescribes it to the central government too. "The government should be forced to use free software and GNU-Linux based operating systems in the delivery of information for public use so that costs are kept low," he maintains. For the West Bengal government, it has always been a balancing act between the demands of large global corporations and the possibility of a more sustainable and cheaper alternative route to implement the e-governance programme in the last six years. Microsoft clearly can't be expected to take it lying down. "Every third Linux server being sold today is shipped to high performance computing segment and we had a gap in our product portfolio there. We have just launched a product for that space now,'' says Microsoft director (competitive strategy), Radhesh Balasubramaniam. Linux, according to him, is not eating into their marketshare but is replacing Unix. He has a point. Microsoft's marketshare has remained almost the same since last quarter at about 68% on the server side (open source's mainstay) compared to 70% two years ago. Linux, however, has grown to corner over 20% of the market from 11% two years back and its market is estimated to grow 21 % annually, according to IDC. Linux case is believed to be growing stronger in places like West Bengal as Microsoft is shying away from setting up a development centre in the state. The state information technology minister, Debesh Das is playing it safe. "State government is not against any particular company or individual. We don't like to oppose any business group." However, the state government has failed to develop a holistic policy in the areas of egovernance and implementation of free software or GNU/Linux has been limited to the discussion table. Subir Roy, the state informatics officer, said: "In the last five years, we haven't had any notable e-governance implementation based on free software or open source. One of the reasons is that most of the development work is vendor driven. Free software is not a popular IT system for most of the global vendors. The other important reason, according to Roy, is the lack of network in the state. "The free software with GNU/Linux operating system is best suited in a web-based environment. Due to the lack of state-wide area network, web based applications can't be used. Lack of IT infrastructure is one of the reasons the state's e-governance could not have free software implementation. Debesh Das paints a contrasting picture on open source' future in the state. "The state government would consider using open source software as the default exploitation route for the West Bengal funded software infrastructure in e-governance," he says. Das is not ready to believe that the state is not serious about free software. "One of the reasons for our low rate of adoption of GNU/Linux operating system in the public sphere is the lack of awareness on the benefits of free software." Insiders attribute it to ideological comradeship between Marxism or socialist ideology and free software movement. Stallman, however, shrugs away saying, 'Communist' is a label for anybody who questions the unfairness in the existing business models. "I am not against the idea of private business as long as it respects human rights and freedom." Why are then left leaders going gaga over free software? For many, the Left's love for free software is more to do with the basic copyright or the patent issue. "The Left thinks that existing copyright laws are against the creation of a more equitable distribution and so the alternative is Copyleft," says, West Bengal University of Technology (WBUT) vice chancellor, Ashoke Thakur. The Copyleft, as opposed to Copyright, originated in the GNU project and is the basic philosophical tenets in the formation of the free software movement. Copyleft is a form of licence whereby any user of the sofware under this has the freedom to use, copy, share, change and distribute the changed version. Curiously enough, market pushed Linux in Kerala much before the Marx-might came to play. This is because most PC vendors prefer margins from 'FOSS' (free open software systems), as they are free of copyright violation fuss. In response to the public mood, the Congress-led UDF Government lavished its e-governance initiatives with FOSS options, wherever possible, with some hand-holding from NIC ( National Informatics Centre). But the momentum came from the market. The die was cast on October 2005, when Microsoft came out with a sting operation in Thiruvananthapuram on anti-piracy crackdown "humiliating" a couple of PC sellers. "Dealers always prefer to do straight business and when it is FOSS systems, there are no ethical dilemmas," says State computer dealers association president, PK Harikrishnan. Right or wrong, it boils down to a question of seeing software as a market. Make some discreet queries, and you will find as much as 95% of multimedia PC buyers expect freebies of atleast two basic slices of Microsoft software, costing Rs 4200 to Rs 20,000 ( Windows 98 to MS office XP). Well aware of this, Microsoft is working overtime to make its products more affordable with initiatives like Windows Starter Edition. Efforts to make inroads into the academic community are equally evident. "We recognise that affordability is a stumbling block in certain sections of the society. We are seriously looking at new technology and business models to address this gap,'' says Radhesh Balasubramaniam. Most dealers find it hard to preach honesty to customers. The anti-Microsoft mood swung to a crusading level when LDF Government swore to power four months ago. Kerala is now in a bid to become Asia's first FOSS (free and open software) destination, taking the recently evolved model of a province in Spain. "Stallman's recent visit had an electrifying effect," says MA Baby, State Education Minister, who lost no time to chart out a schedule to migrate computers of 12,500 high schools in Kerala to FOSS in three years. And he is not alone. Unions of coconut toddy tappers, who 20 years ago went on an orgy of smashing down computers, are now in the flush of realisation that the brave new world of computers is not all about Bill Gates. In fact, the State Toddy Workers' Welfare Board is on the forefront of offices who have switched over to Linux. Some state departments like public works have shifted their server OS to Linux. Applications like file tracker and project monitoring software have said goodbye to Microsoft. Naturally PC venders are smelling more Linux in the G2B pie. This week, Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishat (KSSP), CPI (M)'s science and youth outfit, is setting up a Linux helpdesk (read aggressive FOSS marketing wing). And if you believe KSSP activist N Sudhir, "Open Sources systems are not anti-profit. They just have a different and more ethical business model. We are out to explode the Microsoft-propagated myth that free software systems does not make money." -- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Frederick Noronha http://fn.goa-india.org 9822122436 +91-832-240-9490 http://fredericknoronha.wordpress.com http://www.flickr.com/photos/fn-goa/

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Hi
by Bhaskar Chowdhury 09 Oct '06

09 Oct '06

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Gnumeric is better than Excel
by Sasi Kumar 06 Oct '06

06 Oct '06

"Persons who desire to use a spreadsheet package to perform statistical analyses are advised to use Gnumeric rather than Excel." says a report. Here is the report: The open source spreadsheet package "Gnumeric" was such a good clone of Microsoft Excel that it even had errors in its statistical functions similar to those in Excel's statistical functions. When apprised of the errors in v1.0.4, the developers of Gnumeric indicated that they would try to fix the errors. Indeed, Gnumeric v1.1.2, has largely fixed its flaws, while Microsoft has not fixed its errors through many successive versions. Persons who desire to use a spreadsheet package to perform statistical analyses are advised to use Gnumeric rather than Excel. See: http://www.csdassn.org/reportdetail.cfm?ID=508 -- V. Sasi Kumar Free Software Foundation of India Please see: http://swatantryam.blogspot.com/

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Oct 8, 2006 is the last date for registering as a speaker at FOSS.in
by Frederick Noronha 05 Oct '06

05 Oct '06

http://foss.in/2006/info/Main_Page Welcome to the FOSS.IN/2006 Site! November 24-26, 2006 National Science Symposium Centre, IISc, Bangalore, India Speaker and Talks Registration open till October 8th Register now! FOSS.IN is one of the world's largest and most focussed FOSS events, held annually in India. Over the years, it has attracted thousands of participants, and the speaker roster reads like a "Who is Who" of FOSS contributors from across the world. -- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Frederick Noronha http://fn.goa-india.org 9822122436 +91-832-240-9490 http://fredericknoronha.wordpress.com http://www.flickr.com/photos/fn-goa/

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Re: [Fsf-kerala] if u really want to earn money in less time and without spending money then read this messege carefully
by Dileep M. Kumar 04 Oct '06

04 Oct '06

On 10/3/06, mayank raj <mayank_raj001(a)yahoo.co.in> wrote: > > if u really want to earn money in less time and without spending money > then read this messege carefully > > list admin, please boot this person from all our lists. -- eMail: dileep.kumarayil (at) gmail.com www: http://www.symonds.net/~dileep/ blog: http://www.kumarayil.blogspot.com "Value your freedom, or you will lose it, teaches history. `Don't bother us with politics', respond those who don't want to learn." -- Richard Stallman

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'India's Patents Act must extend to software'
by Frederick Noronha 03 Oct '06

03 Oct '06

T H E H I N D U Online edition of India's National Newspaper Thursday, Sep 14, 2006 ePaper `India's Patents Act must extend to software' Special Correspondent To become ICT superpower, India will have to recognise patenting NEW DELHI: Craig Mundie, Chief Research and Strategy Officer, Microsoft Corporation, on Wednesday voiced concern over the fact that India's Patents Act still did not extend to intellectual property (IP) protection of software and underlined the need for addressing this issue urgently. (India protects software only under its copyright law). Addressing an interactive meeting on the `Role of IPR in the Knowledge Economy' organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Mr. Mundie pointed out that although India had made a lot of progress in enforcing IPR, it had still to bear in mind that for becoming an ICT (information and communication technology) superpower it would have to recognise patenting as a standalone enterprise. This was a key component for moving India forward from a manufacturing-services-led economy to an innovation-led economy, he said. "No field of scientific and engineering endeavour can progress without the advancement of IT where software is the centrepiece,'' Mr. Mundie said, and added that in the U.S., 30-40 per cent gains in productivity in the Eighties were attributable to innovations. ICT, he said, was at the heart of productivity increases in labour and capital, lowering of transaction cost, innovation and further growth in ICT to fuel economic growth. R. A. Mashelkar, Director General, of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), while giving a snapshot of the current state of play in the IP sphere, noted that while some of the advanced countries had benefited from strong IP laws, in a country like India which had to look at the concerns of both top end and the bottom end of the population, the issue of balance in the IP regime became important. Piracy in India, Dr. Mashelkar said, was a serious issue and it was here that penalties had to be swift, sure and severe. A high-level committee had made recommendations in this regard and the issue is at an advanced stage of consideration of the government. PTI reports: Pre-paid computer cards Microsoft on Wednesday said it would introduce pre-paid cards in India that would enable customers to access the company's genuine software without paying any fee upfront, a move apparently aimed at curbing piracy of its software. -- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Frederick Noronha http://fn.goa-india.org 9822122436 +91-832-240-9490 http://fredericknoronha.wordpress.com http://www.flickr.com/photos/fn-goa/

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Re: Linus Torvalds -just for fun
by Roshan 03 Oct '06

03 Oct '06

Kush wrote: > Also the student in western system of education > decides what they want > to really study whereas we in India are asked to > cram any and everything > to give us so called "more rounded" knowledge > --ultimately the course is > so vast that we just get superficial knowledge of > everything and hardly > learn much. Not necessarily. I don't know from which university you are, but I would comment based on Mumbai University. The course contents is decided by the Academic Council of Mumbai University. For students, the aim is not to cram everything and anything, but to study and understand the concepts and theory. There are mistakes, but the aim of courses (specially of Computer Science and Information Technology) aim to give you a fundamental knowledge about each subject you learn. The fault lies in the examination pattern that allows rote learners marks. However, again, it is expected that the student learns and reproduces concepts in a systematic way that serves as a criteria for alloting marks. > Most private engg colleges have low > standards and students > just try to pass by hook or crook. Programming > exercises are copied and > there is no system of competitive learning by > sharing and open > discussion. I think we should have our elective > known to us in 2nd year > and study should be according to that elective. It is on the student's side, to ensure, that he/she is honest in his/her work. It is the responsibility of the teacher to spend some additional time discussing topics of relevance. Some foundation has to be built up before building something. Electives, afaik, are allowed when that is done. > There is another difference when I compare with > Indian > colleges/universities --methods of teaching. Linus > had information about > textbooks/recommended reading books much much before > his course started > and therefore was able to prepare in advance whereas > in our college days > we used to wait for the teacher to tell us which > books to buy after the > term started or was half way thru. We used to save > on books by borrowing > from the library (generally badly stocked) or get > earlier editions /hand > me downs. Atleast for graduate and post-graduate studies in Mumbai University, the syllabus is available (unless out of stock) before the course begins. (assuming a regular course, not one that is introduced). Perhaps, the seniors, themseleves should maintain a copy of the same. The syllabus is exhaustive enough to provide details on the author's of the books,the reference books and the topics covered for a particular subject. Along with this, the practicals, the tutorials / assignments and the lecture schedule is all provided. (Again, atleast for Computer Science and Information Technology) For engineering colleges, there are enough restrictions by the AICTE, and even so, there is a document called "Mandatory Disclosure" that discloses a lot of details necessary to know about the college in terms of academics and resources. > Kush, Please don't get me wrong. I do not intend to refute anything. The point is I feel, there is a communication gap that might have resulted into thoughts expressed by you. __________________________________________________________ Yahoo! India Answers: Share what you know. Learn something new http://in.answers.yahoo.com/

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Re: [Fsf-friends] Linus Torvalds -just for fun
by NS Srikanth 03 Oct '06

03 Oct '06

Message: 2 Date: Mon, 2 Oct 2006 15:31:57 +0530 From: "Roshan Mathews" <rmathews(a)gmail.com> Subject: Re: [Fsf-friends] Linus Torvalds -just for fun To: "Principal Support List of FSF-India" <fsf-friends(a)mm.gnu.org.in> Message-ID: <1c4dc2780610020301q6826b6a8ua92d27977337b3f5(a)mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed In Robert Pirsig's "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" (available online at http://www.virtualschool.edu/mon/Quality/PirsigZen/), Hi This link does not work. It says no page to display. Is the link correct? I am very much interested. Can you gove the correct link please? NS Srikanth

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Fsf-friends October 2006