Fsf-friends November 2006

fsf-friends@gnu.org.in

28 participants
38 discussions

Announcement: National Workshop on FOSS in Science
by Vimal Joseph 14 Nov '06

14 Nov '06

Dear All, FOSS in Science [www.space-kerala.org/fsc] is a national workshop being organised by the Union Christian College[http://www.uccollege.edu.in/], Aluva, Kerala State, in collaboration with the Society for Promotion of Alternative Computing and Employment (SPACE)[www.space-kerala.org] and Free Software Foundation of India (FSFI)[www.gnu.org.in]. The three-day workshop will focus on the relevance of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) in science education, scientific research and scientific computing. This is the first such workshop to be conducted in India, and is aimed at introducing FOSS to college teachers, doctoral students, research workers and others. The workshop will have as speakers, eminent FOSS experts from leading institutions like IIT Bombay, TIFR, Institute of Plasma Research, Bhaskaracharya Pratishthana, Free Software Foundation of India and Geological Survey of India. Participants will also have an opportunity to get hands on experience in using some of the software that is introduced by the speakers. A CD containing the GNU/Linux operating system, along with a number of applications that can be used in scientific research, will be given to all participants. The CD may be used to install the software on any number of computers and may also be freely copied and distributed. Schedule ------------- Dates January 4 to 6, 2007 Detailed schedule available at workshop website: http://www.space-kerala.org/fsc Venue --------- Union Christian College, Alwaye, Ernakulam, Kerala Registration: ------------------ Last date: December 15, 2006 Please see the registration page (http://www.space-kerala.org/fsc) for more details FOSS in Science Mailing list ----------------------------------------- Please join the online discussion mailing list for FOSS in Science at http://mm.gnu.org.in/mailman/listinfo/foss-in-science About Union Christian College, Alwaye -------------------------------------------------------- Union Christian College, established in 1921, is a premier educational institution in Kerala imparting quality higher education. The idyllic campus, spread out in 42 acres, is located close to the banks of River Periyar, Aluva, hardly 8 kms from the Kochi International Airport. The college has made significant contributions over several decades in providing to the society and industry talented and dedicated individuals who have strived untiringly for the national objectives of peace, freedom and prosperity. The present eminence is a function of its history, tradition, quality of academic output and contributions to public life. About SPACE --------------------- SPACE, the Society for Promotion of Alternative Computing and Employment is a registered society that has members from academia, IT industry, professional societies such as IEEE and Computer Society of India, and IT Administration of the Government of Kerala. The vision of SPACE is to promote Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) in academics, governance and individual use, and supporting the use FOSS for employment generation in Kerala. About FSF India ----------------------- FSF India, Free Software Foundation of India is a non-profit organisation committed to advocating, promoting and propagating the use and development of swatantra software in India. Its goal is to ensure the long term adoption of free software, and aim for the day when all software will be free. This includes educating people about software freedom and convincing them that it is the freedom that matters. Press contact -------------------- To get more information about this Workshop, please contact Bruce Mathew at the Union Christian College (+91 9447209932) or Vimal Joseph at the SPACE (vimal (at) space-kerala.org) regards, ~vimal -- Free Software, Free Society <http://fsfs.hipatia.net>

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Sun Releases GPL Java Today
by പ്രവീണ്‍‌|Praveen 14 Nov '06

14 Nov '06

[sorry for cross posting] "Months of speculation and waiting are now over. Sun will release key parts of Java under GPLv2 today (November 13th, Monday). The initial release today will include the HotSpot runtime, javac compiler, JavaHelp, and Sun's Java ME implementation. The rest of Java will be released under GPLv2 early next year. Richard Stallman of the FSF has endorsed the move, and will appear on a live web cast <http://www.sun.com/2006-1113/feature/index.jsp> with Sun CEO Johnathan Schwartz and software chief Rich Green. " http://www.javalobby.org/java/forums/t84244.html Great win for Free Software. Cheers Praveen -- "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 Me scribbles at http://www.pravi.co.nr

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Fwd: Freedom Task Force now launched
by Nagarjuna G. 13 Nov '06

13 Nov '06

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: "Free Software Foundation Europe" <press(a)fsfeurope.org> To: press-release(a)fsfeurope.org Date: Mon, 13 Nov 2006 00:56:12 +0100 Subject: FSFE Launching Freedom Task Force, Co-operating with gpl-violations.org FSFE Launching Freedom Task Force, Co-operating with gpl-violations.org FTF to educate programmers and corporations on how to avoid licensing problems, as well as enforce Free Software licences The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) announced today the launch of the Freedom Task Force, [1] thanks to a grant of EUR 30.000 from Stichting NLnet. The organisation, working closely with Harald Welte of gpl-violations.org [2], seeks to help programmers properly set up and organise projects legally, as well as educate companies to understand how the GPL works. As needed, the purpose of the group will also include enforcement in the case of licence violations. FTF is located in FSFE's offices in Zurich, Switzerland. "Free Software itself has become commercial mainstream, but knowledge about Free Software and in particular its licences is often lagging behind," explains Georg Greve, FSFE's president. "With large companies like SUN embracing Free Software at the heart of their business, the software ecosystem is transforming in ways that underline the requirement for services like the FTF." FTF will include experts with technical and legal backgrounds as well as volunteers, working together to provide organised and co-ordinated responses to individual cases where there may be misunderstandings about what a licence requires or a violation of its terms. FSFE has hired Mr. Shane Coughlan to serve as FTF Co-ordinator. Shane Coughlan on the other tasks of the FTF: "We seek to give commercial and non-commercial Free Software developers the maximum support possible with our fiduciary activities. By helping them bundle their legal interests, we are able to safeguard the legal status of a project while it can focus on technological and managerial issues. For projects that FSFE has accepted into its fiduciary program, FSFE will also be in a position to defend their interests in the eventuality of licence violation." Harald Welte, the first person who enforced the GNU GPL in court, will be working closely with the FTF: "My gpl-violations.org work has shown how much the community needs a more focussed approach to deal with these violations. While there was good contact with FSFE in the past, we will now be working closely together, sharing our information and resources to best protect the rights of Free Software developers." "We have as a primary goal to help corporations to adhere to the licences from the onset, rather than to have to enforce violations later," explains Mr. Coughlan. "We encourage those responsible for compliance for their company to contact us, so we can work together to avoid licence compliance problems, rather than having to later solve problems that could have been avoided in the first place." Stichting NLnet [3] Chairman Teus Hagen expressed pleasure at the launch of FTF: "We are very happy to support the launch of the FTF because in our view this is a timely and necessary step to consolidate Free Software. We ourselves at times felt the need for a reliable partner to handle these issues, and in our experience the FSFE is such a partner. We hope that many others will contribute to and support this effort, and see the FTF as an important step in the maturing of Free Software." [1] http://fsfeurope.org/ftf [2] http://gpl-violations.org [3] http://www.nlnet.nl About the Free Software Foundation Europe: The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a non-profit non-governmental organisation active in many European countries and involved in many global activities. Access to software determines participation in a digital society. To secure equal participation in the information age, as well as freedom of competition, the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) pursues and is dedicated to the furthering of Free Software, defined by the freedoms to use, study, modify and copy. Founded in 2001, 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 FSFE. Further information: http://fsfeurope.org About gpl-violations.org: In the past 30 months, gpl-violations.org has helped uncover and negotiate more than 100 GPL violations and has obtained numerous out-of-court settlement agreements. The gpl-violations.org project is a not-for-profit effort to bring commercial users and vendors of Free Software into compliance with the licence conditions as set forth by the original authors. The project was founded and is managed by Mr. Harald Welte, a Linux Kernel developer and Free Software enthusiast. For more information on the project, its mission, milestones and goals, please see http://gpl-violations.org Contact: Free Software Foundation Europe Belgium: +32 2 747 03 57 Switzerland: +41 43 500 03 66 UK: +44 29 200 08 17 7 Germany: +49 700 373 38 76 73 Shane Coughlan, FTF Co-ordinator, FSFE extension: 408 Joachim Jakobs, Media Relations, FSFE extension: 404 mobile: +49-179-6919565 -- Georg C. F. Greve <greve(a)fsfeurope.org> Free Software Foundation Europe (http://fsfeurope.org) Join the Fellowship and protect your freedom! (http://www.fsfe.org) What everyone should know about DRM (http://DRM.info) -- Nagarjuna

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Free Software Programmes in Indian Social Forum (ISF -06) Newdelhi
by Anivar Aravind 10 Nov '06

10 Nov '06

Dear Friends, I'm now writing from Indian Social Forum in New Delhi. I came to know that Following Programmes Organised by Free Software Foundation (In Association with All India People's Science network(AIPSN)) is happening in ISF. 1. Plenary Session: Intellectual Property Rights: Overarching Issues Speakers: P.M.Bhargava, S.P.Sukla, Debesh das, Amit Sengupta, Satyajit Rath, Mishi chowdhary, Prabir pukayastha Venue: P2 Time : 10th 9.00am-12.00noon 2. IPR and Software Speakers: Prof.Pratap reddy, Raj mathur, Ignatious Kunjumon, Frederic Noronha, Prabir Pukayastha Venu: S10 Time: 11th 9.00am-12.00noon 3. Panel Discussion: IPR, Agriculture& Biotechnlogy Speakers: Abhijit Sen, Satyajit rath, Vineeta Bai, Smitha Gupta, Bhaskar Goswami,Abhay Kumar Venue: M4 Time: 12th 9.00am-12.00 noon 4. Action Plan on IPR & Globalisation Venue: W1 Time: 13th 9.00am-12.00pm ISF06 is happening on Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Grounds, New Delhi From 9-13th. I attended the Plenary Session. Good Discussion is happened even though the audience was little in Number. I Request the FSF Volunteers from Delhi to Come and Join The Programmes One more Happy News. As of WSF2004 in Mumbai, Free Software gives the Soul for the Media Centre of ISF06. Nearly 30 Computers Here are Completly Working On Free Software. Volunteers from ILUG Delhi are Providing Technical Support ~ Solidarity Anivar Aravind

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Re: Join IRC: irc.freenode.net , #marathiopensource, #janabhaaratii
by Vihan Pandey 10 Nov '06

10 Nov '06

> > At the end of the day its up to your free will to determine are you > > interested in ``high quality technically superior software and > > extreme amounts of $$$" or are you interested in building a better > > society based on freedom and equality. > > Or maybe even both! At a technical level yes. But at a philosophical level not without self conflict and contradiction. Regards, - vihan

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IOSNFOSSINASIA
by Frederick Noronha 10 Nov '06

10 Nov '06

------------------------------------------------------------------- IOSNFOSSINASIA * IOSNFOSSINASIA * IOSNFOSSINASIA * IOSNFOSSINASIA * ------------------------------------------------------------------- 8 8"""88 8""""8 8"""8 01010101010101010101010101010101010 8 8 8 8 8 8 Compiled by Frederick [FN] Noronha. 8e 8 8 8eeeee 8e 8 Supported by the International Open 88 8 8 88 88 8 Source Network www.iosn.net Copyleft 88 8 8 e 88 88 8 May be reproduced with due credit 88 8eeee8 8eee88 88 8 01010101010101010101010010101010010 8"""" 8"""88 8""""8 8""""8 8""""8 8 8 8 8 8 e eeeee 8 8 eeeee e eeeee 8eeee 8 8 8eeeee 8eeeee 8 8 8 8eeee8 8 " 8 8 8 88 8 8 88 88 8e 8e 8 88 8 8eeee 8e 8eee8 88 8 8 e 88 e 88 88 88 8 88 8 88 88 88 8 88 8eeee8 8eee88 8eee88 88 88 8 88 8 8ee88 88 88 8 November 2006 ------------------------------------------------------------------- IOSNFOSSINASIA * IOSNFOSSINASIA * IOSNFOSSINASIA * IOSNFOSSINASIA * ------------------------------------------------------------------- Spotlight ------------------------------------------------------------------- START A FOSS PACIFIC RESEARCH PROJECT WITH IOSN PIC The Pacific Island Countries (PIC) node of the International Open Source Network (IOSN) is formed by a consortium of 4 regional organizations: Pacific Islands Chapter of the Internet Society (PICISOC), South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC), Secretariat of the South Pacific Community (SPC), and the University of the South Pacific (USP). This consortium is led by USP, which coordinates IOSN PIC from its Faculty of Science and Technology's School of Computing, Information, and Mathematical Sciences. IOSN PIC focus areas include: FOSS applications in PIC; FOSS techniques to support the creation, storage and delivery of teaching and training materials; incorporation of FOSS in academic courses; Linux System Administrator Training of Trainers and certification; legal issues related to FOSS; localization of FOSS; and awareness raising. IOSN PIC aims to foster research in the area of FOSS applications and development in the region, and is currently seeking ideas and expressions of interest for possible projects. IOSN will not be involved in every case in managing and implementing all projects, but it can assist in seeking funds from donors and providing technical advice. For more information, please contact Dr. Marko Schütz <schutz_m AT usp DOT ac DOT fj>. IOSN PIC is one of three centres of excellence of IOSN. Others include IOSN ASEAN+3 and IOSN South Asia. For more information, please visit http://www.iosn.net Other resources related to FOSS in PIC: IOSN PIC - http://www.iosn.net/pacific-islands/ Pacific Island Countries Free/Open Source Software Communities and Activities Report (PICFOSSCAR), first edition, 22 March 2006 - http://www.iosn.net/pacific-islands/picfosscarpdf/view (PICFOSSCAR's third edition is planned for December 2006. Please share short reports of any activities related to FOSS in the region.) USP-IOSN Microgrant Programme for Pacific Island Countries - This Programme is a competitive grants scheme available to individuals or teams in the Pacific Island Countries. http://www.iosn.net/pacific-islands/usp-microgrants/ FOSS Resources for PIC - http://www.iosn.net/pacific-islands/countries/ Asia-Pacific Reports ------------------------------------------------------------------- ASIAN TEAMS CELEBRATING SOFTWARE FREEDOM DAY: Bangladesh Linux Users Alliance http://www.linux.org.bd/ Bangladesh Open Source Network http://www.bdosn.org/ Bangla l10n Team (bangla_l10n AT yahoogroups.com) Jahangirnagar University Open Source Network (ju_osn AT yahoogroups.com) Chittagong University (cu_osn AT yahoogroups.com) BUET Open Source Network (buet_osn AT yahoogroups.com) RUET Open Source Network (ruet_osn AT yahoogroups.com) SUST Open Source Network (sust_osn AT yahoogroups.com) Brunei: Brunei LINUX Users Group http://blug.mms2udirect.net Location: Bandar Seri Begawan and Kuala Belait Local parent organization: Brunei LINUX Users Group Team Contact: Hj Azaman Hj Suleiman Contact information: azlinux AT gmail.co China: http://hackinglinux.org/ Indonesia: OpenSource (http://opensource.3wsi.net) Debian (http://debian.3wsi.net) Linux-aktivis (http://www.linux.or.id) kslbl (http://kslbl.hcm-consultant.com) Contact Person : [Meta Nurwidyanto] meta AT softhome.net, [Nasir Simbolon] nasir AT kecapi.com, [Richard Sitompul] richard.sitompul AT gmail.com [Muhammad Hafizh] acid20burn_tux AT yahoo.com Surabaya Linux User Group (http://surabaya.linux.or.id) [Moh. Noor Al 'Azam] noorazam AT rad.net.id, [Cahyo Darujati] darujati AT rad.net.id Jogjakarta Linux/FOSS User Group (http://jogja.linux.or.id) info at jogja dot linux dot or dot id Java User Group Indonesia (http://www.jug.or.id) jug-indonesia AT yahoogroups.com BlueOxygen Federation (http://www.blueoxygen.org) Project: Cimande (http://cimande.dev.java.net) Komodo - Digital Library System (with Minister of R&D) Kresna (http://kresna.ristek.go.id) Contact: frans AT blueoxygen.org Iran: Isfahan Linux Users Group. ziaee AT itland.ir (Majid Ziaee) Farsi Linux Project Ebadiebadi AT aictc.com Israel: Hamakor, an Israeli FLOSS NPO Action Plan for SFD. See discussion here (english mostly): Softwre Freedom Day - Call for Help [http://linmagazine.co.il/node/view/3436] Chameleon.org.il Technical Howto Documents Writting Contest: Chameleon is holding a Technical Howto Documents Writting Contest day. Main Prize: SuSE Linux 10.1. every participant will get a Linux Technical Kit Resource Kit. Malaysia: Malaysian Open Source Group (http://my-opensource.org) Free/Open Source Society Malaysia (http://foss.org.my) Aizat <aizat.faiz(a)gmail.com> Mongolian Open Source Initiative: Week of FOSS is one week event a part of SFD that will educate computer science students about FOSS at their universities. During this week we will give talk on topics what is FOSS, what are benefits, how does it develops, how I can get involved to the students of 10 major computer science teaching universities in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. http://www.mnosi.org/ Nepal: Team Name: FOSS Nepal Community Contact: fossnepal AT gmail dot com Pakistan: Team Islamabad. Location: Pakistan Software Export Board, Ministry of IT & Telecom. Open Source Resource Center (http://www.osrc.org.pk) Team Contact: Sufyan Kakakhel skakakhel AT pseb.org.pk Team Karachi. Local parent organization: Department of Computer Science - UNIVERSITY OF KARACHI. NUCES-FAST Karachi. Date: September 10th, 2005. Team Lahore. FOSSFP: Free and Open Source Software Foundation of Pakistan. [http://www.fossfp.org] Team Contacts: Dr. M Anwar-ur-Rehman Pasha, Chairman Fouad Riaz Bajwa, General Secretary. Singapore: Harish Pillay will be speaking on "The Importance of Open Source in Education". Both Red Hat and LUGS are participating in this event. http://wiki.lugs.org.sg/SoftwareFreedomDay2006 Contact information: harish.pillay AT gmail.com Sri Lanka: The Lanka Linux User Group (LKLUG) [http://www.lug.lk/] and the Sri Lankan FOSS community [http://www.foss.lk/] BLOGS: http://budlite.blogspot.com/2006/09/open-invitation-to-celebrate-software.h… http://nirmaljayasinghe.wordpress.com/2006/09/17/free-and-open-source/ http://chaarmax.blogspot.com/2006/09/software-freedom-day-tomorrow.html http://budlite.blogspot.com/2006/09/freedom-lost-at-software-freedom-day.ht… http://chanux.wordpress.com/2006/09/21/software-freedom-day-2006-1-2/ http://chanux.wordpress.com/2006/09/21/software-freedom-day-2006-2/ Philippines: Vizcayano Linux Users Group V.L.U.G http://vlug.vizcayano.com Pangasinan Linux Users Group P.L.U.G http://www.plugz.cjb.net baguiocity philippines http://CLANph.farvista.net Vietnam: http://www.hanoilug.org/ IOSN News ------------------------------------------------------------------- FOSS@WORK An International Workshop for Small and Medium IT Enterprises, Heritage Hotel, Manila, Philippines, 12-15 November 2006 The International Open Source Network (IOSN) ASEAN+3, UNDP-APDIP, InWEnt-Capacity Building International of Germany and University of the Philippines Manila are hosting a workshop on FOSS for Small and Medium Enterprises in the IT industry (SMITE). While there are many SMITEs working with and on FOSS solutions, many others in the region are still unfamiliar with FOSS. IOSN ASEAN+3 is organizing a workshop for developers, senior IT staff and IT decision makers of SMITES, to provide orientation and technical training on FOSS architecture and community management skills. The workshop will: be an opportunity to network experienced FOSS developers with potential FOSS developers; be an opportunity to share experiences and best practices, and promote collaboration; and enhance the technical skills of developers through power training Topics Overview of FOSS Business models for FOSS FOSS collaboration and project management tools Content management systems Productivity (OpenOffice + localization) IP-based voice services Developing multimedia with FOSS SMS programming with FOSS And more Workshop participation fee is Php 5,500.00 (or USD$100.00) - subsidies are available for qualified applicants. Register online at http://www.iosn.net/asean-3/countries/philippines/events/foss-at-work/regis…. Find out more at http://www.iosn.net/asean-3/countries/philippines/events/foss-at-work or email asean3(a)iosn.net Linux System Administrator Training of Trainers ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok, Thailand, 28 August – 9 September 2006 Quezon City, Philippines, 9 – 21 October 2006 Two regional training of trainers sessions were held over the last two months in Bangkok, Thailand and Quezon City, Philippines. A major barrier against adoption and deployment of FOSS in developing countries is the lack of human resources with FOSS skills. These introductory programmes aims to address the problem by training trainers so that they can train others in their countries, and therefore kick-start a self-sustaining development of FOSS human resources. The course introduces Linux trainers to training with open content Linux system administration training materials and low-cost certification examinations of the Linux Professional Institute (LPI). The training of trainers session held in Bangkok attracted 20 participants from Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia and Thailand. It was co-organized by IOSN, the National Electronics and Computer Technology Center (NECTEC), NECTEC Human Resources Development Center and Linux Professional Institute. The session in the Philippines was co-organized by IOSN ASEAN+3 and Linux Professional Institute. Both events were supported by InWEnt-Capacity Building International of Germany and Open Society Institute. For more information, please visit http://www.iosn.net/asean-3/countries/thailand/tot/linux-training-of-traine… http://www.iosn.net/asean-3/countries/philippines/events/tot/training-of-tr… Asia Source II ------------------------------------------------------------------- Free and Open Source Technologies for NGOs and SMEs, Sukabumi, Indonesia 22-30 January 2007 This follows the much-remembered and talked-of eight-day Asia Source held in Bangalore in January 2005. This camp was one in a series of international camps on the use of free and open source software being organized across the developing world. Asia Source II seeks to build the skills and networks of those in the region who are working in the non-governmental organization (NGO) and small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sectors. The event will bring together people from the more technical to the more content-oriented. These range from software developers and system administrators, to trainers, consultants and FOSS advocates, as well as technology/NGO project managers, and tech-savvy activists/NGO workers. Areas of focus will include the following: TRACK ONE: Open Publishing and Broadcasting: Communication Strategies and Writing Effectively. Graphic Design, Web Tools [Content Management Systems, Blogs, Wikis] and Audio/Video Production and Streaming. Script Writing and Story Boarding. File Formats and Conversion Utilities. Shooting and Editing Methodologies Who should attend: Campaigners, Content Developers, Web Masters, Activists, Fundraisers, Graphic Designers, Film Makers, Radio Professionals, New Media Practitioners and Archivists. TRACK TWO: Alternative Hardware and Access: Refurbished Hardware, Thin Clients, Hardware Hacking, Wireless Solutions and Community Radio. Who should attend: Server Administrators, Network Administrators, Trainers, E-Riders, Rural Community Organisers, Relief Workers, Privacy Activists and ICT4D Professionals. TRACK THREE: FOSS Implementation and Migration: Moving an NGO or SME from proprietary software to FOSS. Participatory Design and Planning, Evaluating FOSS, End-User Training and Support Techniques, Dealing with Desktops, Proxy Server, Firewall, Mail Server and Groupware. Change management and migration strategies. Who should attend: Server Administrators, Network Administrators, Trainers, E-Riders, ICT4D Professionals and Software Developers TRACK FOUR: Information Management: Mapping Information Sources and Requirements. Best practices for Creating Specifications, Information Architecture and User Interface Design. Web-based Databases, Geographical Information Systems, Customer Relationship Management, Application/Communication Security and Disaster Management Systems. Who should attend: Heads of Organisations, Senior Management, Campaigners, Activists, Fundraisers, Archivists, Community Organisers, Environmentalists, Relief Workers and Health Workers. Workshop participation fee is USD$75.00 – subsidies to cover the participation fee is available for qualified applicants. The deadline for application is 17 NOVEMBER 2006. Find out more and register online at http://www.iosn.net/regional/asiasource-2007, or email asiasource2(a)iosn.net NEW FOSS CASE STUDIES ------------------------------------------------------------------- 14 new case studies from across the world are available on http://www.iosn.net/publications/case-studies The case studies looks at the successful deployment of FOSS in select projects from Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe and Latin America. In each case study, the reasons for choosing to use FOSS together with the development, implementation and impact of the FOSS applications are discussed. The benefits obtained and challenges encountered as well as any valuable lessons learned are also highlighted. These case studies are from a forthcoming IOSN publication entitled, "Breaking Barriers: The Potential of Free and Open Source Software for Sustainable Human Development – A Compilation of Case Studies from Across the World." To submit a case study on how your project has successfully deployed FOSS, please email info(a)iosn.net. The case study should follow the same format as follows: Summary; Background of Organization; Objectives of Project; FOSS Application (Description, Choice of FOSS, Development and Implementation, Deployment, Impact); Lessons Learned; Current Status of Project; Benefits and Challenges; Other Information; Conclusion; Contact Information (Project Name, Organization, Contact Person(s), Street/Postal Address, Email(s), Telephone, Fax) Website(s) Links from Asia-Pacific ------------------------------------------------------------------- OPTIONS AND SOLUTIONS: OLD HARDWARE http://polishlinux.org/choose/linux-on-old-hardware/ By Borys Musielak Is [GNU]Linux a good choice for your old PC? This article examines the main issues connected with using GNU/Linux on some very old hardware. The article also covers choosing a distro, a desktop and the key applications for such a configuration. An article by FROM BANGLADESH: Ubuntu Bangladesh http://www.ubuntu-bd.org/ FROM VIETNAM: Hacao Linux http://hacao.com/ Hacao Linux is a small Vietnamese Linux distribution, based on Puppy Linux (http://www.puppylinux.org/) by Nguyễn Quang Trường. The Hacao Office.2.01 VN version integrates the free office suite OpenOffice.org 2.0.3 in Vietnamese and can be installed to a 256 MB USB drive. FROM PACIFIC ISLAND COUNTRIES: Pacific Island Countries FOSS mailing list – http://lists.apdip.net/mailman/listinfo/iosn-pacific [iosn-pacific] provides a forum to discuss FOSS issues in Pacific Island Countries. Archives: http://lists.apdip.net/pipermail/iosn-pacific/ ------------------------------------------------------------------- IOSN NEWSLETTER: FOSS in Asia-Pacific is compiled by Frederick Noronha and supported by the International Open Source Network <http://www.iosn.net> IOSN promotes the adoption of free/open source software, open standards and open content for sustainable human development in the Asia-Pacific region. IOSN is a network with a small secretariat based at the UNDP Regional Centre in Bangkok and three centre of excellence -- IOSN ASEAN+3, IOSN PIC (Pacific Island Countries) and IOSN South Asia, based in Manila, Suva and Chennai respectively. To find out more, contact the centres of excellence. IOSN ASEAN+3: asean3(a)iosn.net IOSN PIC: pic(a)iosn.net IOSN South Asia: southasia(a)iosn.net IOSN is an initiative of UNDP Asia-Pacific Development Information, and supported by the International Development Reserch Centre of Canada. To include Asia-Pacific related news about FOSS in this newsletter, please email frededericknoronha(a)gmail.com This newsletter is released under the Creative Commons Attribute 2.5 license. Reproduction of the contents of this newsletter is encouraged, provided acknowledgement of the source(s) is made. -------------------------------------------------------------------

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FOSS.in talks...
by Frederick Noronha 10 Nov '06

10 Nov '06

QUOTE: FOSS.IN is one of the world's largest and most focussed FOSS events, held annually 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. ENDQUOTE http://foss.in/2006/info/Final_List It was truly an herculean task to wade through the tons of amazing talks and tutorials, and we must admit that we have left out a lot of good talks for unavailability of slots. The organizers express gratitude to all the people who submitted talks and hope they will be involved with the event in some way. The List 1 A.R.KARTHICK OPENCLOVIS ASP - An Open Sourced Carrier Grade Middleware Talk 2 Aaron Seigo KDE4 And You Talk 3 Aaron Seigo Writing Applications With KDE4 Workshop 4 Aditya Godbole Porting the FreeBSD kernel Talk 5 Ajit Sabnis Open Source Portal Talk 6 Anandaraj Thangappan Eclipse plugin development Talk 7 Andrew Cowie On The Cutting Edge: solving the fundamental structural problem of the free software movement Talk 8 Andrew Cowie Opening GTK to Java programmers: the past, present and future of the java-gnome bindings project Talk 9 Aneesh Kumar K.V Linux Kernel Clustering Framework Talk 10 Anurag Shekhar Apache Derby 10.2 Talk 11 Archana Kumar Open Source IT Monitoring Tool - A look at Zenoss Talk 12 Ashutosh Dhanesha Project INVITE Talk 13 Ashwin Chaugule Linux WiFi Stacks Talk 14 Avik Sengupta OpenBSD in the wild - a personal journey Talk 15 B N Poornima Best Practices in Linux Kernel Testing Talk 16 B.C. Sekar Adding new protocol decode support in Ethereal Workshop 17 Bijon B Shaha A 'Toaster' in Service of Freedom Talk 18 Biju Chacko Using Gentoo Portage to Build a Sand Boxed Application Stack Talk 19 Biswaranjan Nayak The State of OTG in the Linux Kernel Talk 20 Charles Rose Software Change Management for Hardware Talk 21 Christof Wittig How we Fix the Software Industry with Open Source Talk 22 Christoph Hellwig Contributing to the Linux Kernel for fun and profit Talk 23 Christoph Hellwig The TFRC Tunnel Protocol - an XFRM-based tunnel driver for Linux 2.6 Talk 24 Danese Cooper The Truth about FOSS and Open Standards Talk 25 Dibya Prakash Porting Ruby into Symbian OS - Google SOC project Talk 26 Frederick FN Noronha Ten Tips To Turbocharge The Team: Getting Smaller User-Groups Moving Talk 27 Gopalarathnam Venkatesan JSON - a lightweight data-interchange format Talk 28 Guntupalli Karunakar Indic computing workshop Workshop 29 Harald Welte OpenPCD and OpenPICC: Free Software and Hardware for RFID Talk 30 Harald Welte Developing with OpenEmbedded on the Simputer Talk 31 Harsha Padmanabha Image builder for Embedded Systems Talk 32 Indranil Das Gupta IT Asset Management using FOSS tools Talk 33 Isaac Praveen Developing web applications with perl/Catalyst Talk 34 Jaimon Jose Secure Linux Programming Talk 35 Jaya Kumar The Linux kernel, GPLv2 and GPLv3 Draft2 Talk 36 Jaya Kumar ALSA and OLPC audio Talk 37 Jayasankar Divakarla Linux Security Module. Talk 38 K .Sebi Kumar Open standards and CGL driving Telecom revolution Talk 39 K. K. Subramaniam FOSS tools in primary schools Talk 40 Kai Voigt MySQL 5.0 & LDAP Talk 41 Kalyan Varma Digital Photography and Linux Talk 42 Kartik Mistry How to become 3rd Indian Debian Developer Talk 43 Kushal Das Inside of Fedora Extras, a technical journey Talk 44 Luke Kanies Puppet - Portable System Automation Talk 45 MADHUKAR GUNJAN CHAKHAIYAR iSCSI - An emerging technology and its footprint in Linux. (( STANDARD- IETF 50 AND RFC 3720 )) Talk 46 Mahesh T. Pai Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodiet? Talk 47 Manu Konchady A FOSS Bridge to Cross the Digital Divide Talk 48 Mathew Varghese Open Source Product Documentation Framework Workshop 49 Natarajan Kannan Webmarker - Your marker pen for the web Talk 50 Nirav Mehta FOSS infrastructure for your organization Talk 51 Noor Ul Mubeen sUSBix - stick to it ! Talk 52 Pankaj Kaushal Monitoring Large Scale Web Applications with Nagios Talk 53 Peter Karlsson Application Perf Tuning on OpenSolaris using DTrace Talk 54 Philip Tellis libyahoo2 - the 'other' messaging library Talk 55 Pradeepto Kumar Bhattacharya Interview Tips - How to perform well in your next Interview? Tutorial 56 Prashanth Mohan Tutorial Session on LDTP Tutorial 57 Prashanth N Udupa Visualization on Linux with VTK Designer Talk 58 Priti Patil Project Talk: janabhaaratii: Localisation of Free/Open Source Software Talk 59 Raghu Venkataramana WET – A commercial grade opensource web testing tool Talk 60 Rahul Sundaram One Laptop Per Child - challenges & development Talk 61 Ramya B.B Pushing drivers to user-space Talk 62 Rasmus Lerdorf Getting Rich with PHP 5 Talk 63 Roger Persson Creating a Flexible Robot Controller using Python Talk 64 Russell Nelson Which Open Source License? Talk 65 Russell Nelson "But I'm not a hardware guy" Tutorial 66 Shyamal Misra SDL - The New Mantra of Game Development Talk 67 SijiSunny An Historical Merging from Xfree86 to Xorg Talk 68 Sirtaj Singh Kang Writing an SMS Service with Free Software Talk 69 Sirtaj Singh Kang Qt Graphics View - A Fresh Canvas Talk 70 Sivakumar Thyagarajan Building an open source Java EE 5 application server - Project GlassFish Workshop 71 Sony Kuruvilla Philip OpenVPN - A functional and easy VPN Tutorial 72 Sudhakar Thaths Chandra Hacking the Slug Workshop 73 Sulamita Garcia Makefiles - Dark Magic in Programming Talk 74 Sulamita Garcia Creating Load Balance environments Tutorial 75 Sunil Abraham Impact of Indian Copyright and Patent Law on FOSS Talk 76 Suparna Bhattacharya ext4 development - a work-in-progress update Talk 77 Suparna Bhattacharya Linux and the art of minimalist development Talk 78 Tim Pritlove Closing Keynote Talk 79 Vamsee Krishna Kanakala Strap on your rocket packs: Web Development in Common Lisp Tutorial 80 Venkata Kishore BrandZ: A framework for non-native vitualized operating enviroment in OpenSolaris Talk 81 Vivek K.S. OpenAlchemy Talk 82 Vrushali Mahalley Overview of Open Web Single Sign-On Talk * * * * * People who wish to attend FOSS.IN can now register themselves online and avail the cool 50% discount on the Rs.1000 delegate fee - if you register online and bring your registration code to the venue, you have to pay only Rs.500! Online Registration will be open till the 22nd of November 2006, after which registration opens at the venue (without discount). Please read the instructions carefully, and don't forget to bring your registration code to the venue! Here's the URL to go to: https://foss.in/2006/cfp/delegates/ -- FN [https://southasiaict4d.wordpress.com/] 9822122436 +91-832-240-9490 [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers] [http://fn.goa-india.org] Technology, freedom, people: You can contribute to make this mix work!

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Re: Join IRC: irc.freenode.net , #marathiopensource, #janabhaaratii
by Vihan Pandey 09 Nov '06

09 Nov '06

Hello, You wrote : One more thing, AFAIK FSF doesn't believe in the > promotion of term ``Open Source''. Can someone give clarification on > this issue? The clarification has been made innumerable times, since the time ``certain" people decided the term ``Free Software" was not the ideal term and values of freedom would not find place in the software industry and among ``techies". The entire concept is VERY well documented here : http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/ The specifics vis a vis ``Open Source" are here : http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-software-for-freedom.html At the end of the day its up to your free will to determine are you interested in ``high quality technically superior software and extreme amounts of $$$" or are you interested in building a better society based on freedom and equality. The decision you make in terms of following the movement and term ``Free Software " or ``Open Source" consequently decides a better future for one. Moreover what you preach to others will have an impact as well. The choice is yours. Regards, - vihan

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Launch of India Legal Information Institute
by Talwant Singh 08 Nov '06

08 Nov '06

INAGURATION OF INDIA LEGAL INFORMATION INSTITUTE Dear Sir/Madam, You will be glad to know that India Legal Information Institute is will be inagurated on 25th of November, 2006 at 10:30 am at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi by the Hon. Prime Minister. This is going to be India's First Free Legal Portal providing: 1. Central & State Laws, 2. Judgements of Supreme Court/High Courts & District Courts 3. Biographies of all Legal Luminaries, 4. Legal News, Views & Events 5. Legal, Cyber & Forensic Education 6. E-Library of Law 7. E-Journal 8. Discussion Forums 9. Law Blog 10. Links to other Legal Websites Your constructive suggestions to make this Institute a success are welcomed. Thanks Talwant Singh

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FSF announces release of gNewSense 1.0
by Debarshi 'Rishi' Ray 08 Nov '06

08 Nov '06

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: John Sullivan <johns(a)fsf.org> Date: 02-Nov-2006 17:07 Subject: FSF announces release of gNewSense 1.0 To: gnu-prog(a)gnu.org BOSTON, November 2, 2006 - Free Software Foundation announces release of gNewSense version 1.0. (Screenshots available at http://www.fsf.org/news/gnewsense) gNewSense (http://www.gnewsense.org) is a free software GNU/Linux distribution created by two Irish free software advocates, Brian Brazil and Paul O'Malley, and is based on the Ubuntu and Debian distributions. The goal of gNewSense is to provide users with a software package that offers the stability of Ubuntu with the addition of freedom. In announcing the release of version 1.0, the gNewSense developers stated, â€œFrom a philosophical perspective we wanted to create a GNU/Linux distribution where the user has access to all the sources for all software on the system. This includes everything from the heart of the kernel through to the everyday desktop applications." With the avowed goal of providing a completely free distribution - one without non-free kernel binary "blobs" or any other non-free software, the Free Software Foundation has announced sponsorship of the project. Ted Teah, FSF's free software directory maintainer explained, "With all the kernel firmware and restricted repositories removed, and the reliance on Ubuntu's proprietary distribution management tool gone, this distribution is the most advanced GNU/Linux distribution that has a commitment to be 100% free." gNewSense will provide users with full security updates and is available for immediate download in LiveCD ISO format along with a version of the Ubiquity graphical installer. Furthermore, the gNewSense team has created a set of software called Builder which allows users to create their own gNewSense-based distributions. gNewSense provides detailed instructions on how to use the software and the recipe to roll out a customized distro. The Free Software Foundation is providing the gNewSense team with a high end build machine (running with a free BIOS), with bandwidth and with assistance in developing artwork. The FSF plans to aid widespread adoption of the distribution and, with the release of gNewSense 1.0, is making a call for volunteers who have the skills to act as the following: * Developers; * Website Maintainers; * Graphic Artists; * Freedom verifiers to monitor package additions and mailing lists; * Documentation Writers. To volunteer, please, sign on at irc.freenode.net and /join #gnewsense. You can also join the mailing list via the project website http://www.gnewsense.org/ ----30---- About the Free Software Foundation The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of free (as in freedom) software - particularly the GNU operating system and its GNU/Linux variants - and free documentation for free software. The FSF also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and political issues of freedom in the use of software. Their Web site, located at www.fsf.org, is an important source of information about GNU/Linux. Donations to support their work can be made at http://fsf.org/join They are headquartered in Boston, MA, USA. Press contact: To schedule an interview with the developers of gNewSense, please contact Ted Teah at the Free Software Foundation (+1 617-542-5942) or Peter Brown (+1 617-542-5942) or email pr(a)fsf.org ---------- -- John Sullivan Program Administrator | Phone: (617)542-5942 x23 51 Franklin Street, 5th Fl. | Fax: (617)542-2652 Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA | GPG: AE8600B6 -- http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/gnu-prog -- "India is not, as people keep calling it, an underdeveloped country, but rather a developed nation in an advanced state of decay." --Shashi Tharoor

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Fsf-friends November 2006