Fsf-friends February 2006

fsf-friends@gnu.org.in

26 participants
32 discussions

[Free/Libre and] Open-Source Approach Works to Find Stem Cell Fabrications
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 08 Feb '06

08 Feb '06

http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/tech/200602/kt2006020616301311780.htm Linux, Hwang Woo-suk and Lies Open-Source Approach Works to Find Stem Cell Fabrications By Kim Tae-gyu Staff Reporter Shown above is a captured picture of the Web site of the Biological Research Information Center. The site played a pivotal role in finding out stem cell paper fabrications by cloning scientist Hwang Woo-suk. Linux, the open-source software, seems to have nothing to do with South Korea’s disgraced cloning scientist Hwang Woo-suk, at least at a glance. Yet, a professor points out the fall of Hwang’s once-hailed saga on cloned stem cells does relate to the spirit of Linux -- to improve something using the teamwork of anonymous people. "Look at the process of how Hwang’s purported medical exploits on stem cells proved to be lies. Then you can taste the spirit of Linux," Prof. Min Kyung-bae at Kyung Hee Cyber University said. "Just as glitches in Linux continue to be fixed by developers from across the world because its underlying sources are open, Korea’s young scientists collaborated to discredit Hwang," he said. Indeed, a group of young scientists who casually visited the Web site of the state-backed Biological Research Information Center (BRIC), at bric.postech.ac.kr, played a pivotal role in detecting Hwang’s fakes. A woman fidgets in her bag before getting off the subway without clearing poop of her pet. After this photo was revealed through the Internet last year, she became the target of nationwide criticism. When the public was leaning toward allowing Hwang to prove the veracity of his team’s stem cell research last December, they changed the tide by pinpointing how Hwang doctored data. Their findings prompted Seoul National University (SNU), where Hwang worked, to get to the bottom of "Hwanggate," and SNU finally concluded most of Hwang’s purported exploits were hoaxes. Likewise, Linux, a free and open-source software first developed by Finnish university student Linus Torvals, is the result of numerous people’s efforts. Unlike such disclosed-source operating systems as Microsoft Windows, the source codes of Linux are available to the public and anyone can freely use, modify and redistribute it. Programmers upgrade Linux seamlessly to improve it. Such worldwide collaboration empowers Linux, which now poses a genuine threat to the thus-far dominant Microsoft Windows. "Both cases amply demonstrate that collective intelligence always scores a victory over monopolistic players, such as Microsoft or Hwang," Min said. "That might not be true in the short run. But over the long haul, I firmly believe the power of conscious folks overwhelms power ruled by a handful of secrecy-obsessed inner circle members," he said. Linux-Like Culture & Fall of Stem Cell Myth In Feb. 2004, Hwang dramatically lionized himself by announcing he and his crew had cloned human embryos and extracted stem cells from them in an article in the U.S.-based journal Science. He strengthened his reputation last May with a highly touted follow-up paper, which was also printed by Science, on tailor-made stem cells. The 53-year-old claimed that his team had established a total of 11 stem cells of somatic cells of as many patients suffering from incurable diseases or inabilities. The customized stem cells were expected to open the door to so-called "cell therapy." The cells, when transplanted, are supposed to retain an ability to become any type of cell in the human body. The off-the-rack cells especially draw attention because they were believed not to trigger immune responses in transplantation since they were cloned from patients themselves. However, the Hwang’s star fell as abruptly as it rose: the SNU professor was found to have fabricated data for the papers. Linux Penguin An investigative panel at SNU concluded that Hwang’s team never created cloned embryonic stem cells, and a police investigation is now underway. A local TV network, MBC, initially raised suspicions on the veracity of Hwang’s works late last year but the allegation was on the verge of being discarded due to controversies over the broadcaster’s inappropriate way of collecting data regarding Hwang. MBC was revealed to have threatened some of Hwang's underlings and that drew the ire of many Korean citizens, who lashed out at the TV station and asked them to stop investigating the legitimacy of the stem cell papers. At the time, the BRIC site surfaced and anonymous writers voluntarily subjected the photos documented in Hwang’s Science papers to microscopic scrutiny. A pair of frequenters at the site posted a message saying the Science pictures seemed to be fabricated, and others confirmed the suspicion by showing how the they were cooked. Their allegations were backed with material evidence and gained a broad-based acknowledgement. SNU finally launched probes into the case to eventually uncovered the fakes. "A number of Korea’s no-name scientists did what even keen-eyed referees at the illustrious Science journal could not do during the review process. It amply demonstrates the powers of collaboration and Korea’s Linux-type Internet culture," Min said. Negative Aspect of Korean Internet Culture Although Koreans could detect Hwang’s misconduct through the collective intelligence coupled with its unique Internet culture, some observers say this could be problematic. "Korea's boisterous Internet culture can end up as cyber terrorism at any time because the country’s awareness of ethics falls short of its technical reputation," Prof. Lee Su-jin at Kookmin University said. "Let me take an example. See the so-called dog excrement girl who became the target of an Internet witch-hunt due to a really minor reason," she said. Last year, a woman got off a subway car without cleaning up her pet's poop. Then her photograph was posted on the Web, and netizens relentlessly attacked the girl, turning the event into a kind of nation-wide cyber lynching. She might not be able to lead a normal life afterwards since some netizens revealed her name, age and school, usually under the veil of anonymity. The incident, which showed that ordinary citizens as well as public figures can fall victim to cyber attacks, raised alarm flags for many people who have experienced attacks and groundless criticism on the Internet. "The case reveals the flip side of Korea’s Internet culture. Sometimes it works in the right direction but sometimes it does not. We need to be aware of it," Prof. Lee at Kookmin said. Prof. Min at Kyung Hee concurs. "Our Internet culture is kind of a double-edged sword. It can help Korean society to be transparent and scandal-free as shown by the Hwanggate, but it can trigger scandal itself or spawn innocent victims," Min said.

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[Fwd: Call for Participation Opens for 2006 O'Reilly EuroOSCON]
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 07 Feb '06

07 Feb '06

-------- Forwarded Message -------- Call for Participation Opens for 2006 O'Reilly European Open Source Convention Sebastopol, CA-- EuroOSCON, the O'Reilly European Open Source Convention, is now accepting speaking proposals for its second annual event. This year's theme is "Opening Innovation." With free and open source software use on the rise all across the continent and particularly in governments, EuroOSCON creates a place for developers, sys admins, entrepreneurs, and business people working in free and open source software to come together to delve into critical issues across the spectrum of open source technologies. EuroOSCON takes place 18-21 September in Brussels, Belgium. Proposals are being accepted until 6 March. The program committee is seeking session and tutorial proposals full of actionable information and advice, above and beyond what's available online or in books. Proposals on the following platforms and applications are especially welcome: -Multimedia including voice (VoIP) and video -AI including spam-busting, classification, clustering, and data mining -Collaboration including email, calendars, RSS, OPML, mashups, IM, presence, and session initialization -Project best practices including governance, starting a project, and managing communities -Microsoft Windows-based open source projects including .NET, Mono, and regular C/C++/Visual Basic Windows apps -Enterprise Java techniques including integration, testing, and scalable deployment solutions -Linux kernel skills for sysadmins including virtualization, tuning, and device drivers -Device hacking including iPods, Nintendo, PSP, XBox 360, and beyond -Design including CSS, GUI, and user experience (XP) -Entrepreneurial topics including management for techies, how to go into business, and business models that work -Security including hardening, hacking, root kits (Sony and otherwise), and intrusion detection/cleanup -Fun subjects with no immediate commercial application including retro computing, games, and BitTorrent EuroOSCON co-chairs Nat Torkington and Nikolaj Nyholm would also like to review proposals for EuroOSCON that focus on the specific needs of the European FLOSS community, particularly policy and government roles. Notes Torkington, "We're taking the great response from last year, along with delegates' suggestions, and building a EuroOSCON program that's focused on the issues critical to the professional European open source community." EuroOSCON brings a wide range of technologies, projects, and dimensions of interest together under one roof. Tracks at EuroOSCON include: business; desktop apps; databases, including MySQL, PostgreSQL, Ingres, and others; emerging topics; Java; Linux dernel for sys admins; Linux for programmers; Perl; PHP; programming, including everything that's not specific to a particular language; Python; security; Ruby, including Ruby on Rails; web apps, including Apache; and Windows. EuroOSCON and its US counterpart, OSCON, are where developers, sys admins, innovators, decision-makers, and open source advocates using free and open source software gather to share ideas, discover code, find solutions, and connect face to face. More information on speakers, sessions, tutorials, and events will be available when general registration opens in April 2006. O'Reilly conferences include: the O'Reilly Emerging Telephony Conference (ETel); the O'Reilly European Open Source Convention (EuroOSCON); the MySQL Users Conference, co-presented with MySQL AB; ETech, the O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference; Where 2.0 Conference; and Web 2.0 (co-hosted by Tim O'Reilly and John Battelle, and co-produced with MediaLive International). O'Reilly conferences bring together forward-thinking business and technology leaders, shaping ideas and influencing industries around the globe. For over 25 years, O'Reilly has facilitated the adoption of new and important technologies by the enterprise, putting emerging technologies on the map. Additional Information: For convention details and to submit a proposal, visit: http://conferences.oreilly.com/eurooscon For news articles, blogs, announcements, and photos (available for use with attribution) from EuroOSCON 2005, see: http://conferences.oreillynet.com/eurooscon/coverage/ For information on exhibition and sponsorship opportunities at O'Reilly conferences, contact Andrew Calvo at (707) 827-7176 or andrewc(a)oreilly.com. To become a media sponsor at O'Reilly conferences, contact Yvonne Romaine at (707) 827-7189 or yromaine(a)oreilly.com. Upcoming O'Reilly conferences (http://conferences.oreilly.com): -O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference, March 6-9 in San Diego, California -MySQL Users Conference, April 24-27 in Santa Clara, California -Where 2.0, June 13-14 in San Jose, California -O'Reilly Open Source Convention, July 24-28 in Portland, Oregon About O'Reilly O'Reilly Media spreads the knowledge of innovators through its books, online services, magazines, and conferences. Since 1978, O'Reilly has been a chronicler and catalyst of leading-edge development, homing in on the technology trends that really matter and spurring their adoption by amplifying "faint signals" from the alpha geeks who are creating the future. An active participant in the technology community, the company has a long history of advocacy, meme-making, and evangelism. For more information: http://www.oreilly.com # # # O'Reilly is a registered trademark of O'Reilly Media, Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

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Re [Fsf-friends] Mozilla & Fedora contributer in Bangalore Y!
by doxa＠sancharnet.in 07 Feb '06

07 Feb '06

Dear Basil, Bangalore news agents are already tied-up with change of political guard there. If trips like these are arranged at least once in other states also, perhaps they can also be helpful in sending across a national message. Keeping such issues in mind, may help the cause in a better sensible way. One of the folks, CK Raju --------Original Message ------- Discard if u guys are already aware Hi folks... Long time Mozilla contributor Christopher Blizzard and Fedora community manager Greg DeKoenigsberg are visiting Bangalore soon and want to meet the FOSS geeks around here.

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Mozilla & Fedora contributer in Bangalore Y!
by b a s i l 06 Feb '06

06 Feb '06

Discard if u guys are already aware Hi folks... Long time Mozilla contributor Christopher Blizzard and Fedora community manager Greg DeKoenigsberg are visiting Bangalore soon and want to meet the FOSS geeks around here. Christopher Blizzard has been a long-time contributor to open source software. He has contributed to GNOME and Mozilla since their inception in the late 1990s and has worked at Red Hat since 1998. He's currently a board member of the Mozilla Corporation, an organization founded to promote and develop the Firefox web browser, and manages the desktop group at Red Hat. Greg DeKoenigsberg joined Red Hat in 2001 as an engineering manager for Red Hat Network. He has been working full-time with the Fedora community since 2004. In that time he has organized several FUDCons, led the Fedora Extras project, and established the Fedora Ambassadors and Fedora Live CD projects. He is currently the community relations manager for Red Hat. You can meet them at the Yahoo! office on M.G Road on Monday 6th Feb at 6:30 PM, i.e., today folks ! For those who weren't there when Mark Shuttleworth had come there - it is near the Trinity circle end of M.G road behind the UTI bank and opposite of Nalli silks. So see you all today evening and have a good time with the Fedora folks. Sorry for the delayed mail. -- \|||/ (o o) ----ooO-(_)-Ooo-------- b a s i l e-mail : basilappackan(a)gmail.com gsm : +91 9880936210 " Freedom is nothing else but a chance to be better" ~Albert Camus

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Donations for FSF India, activities in North
by Arun M 06 Feb '06

06 Feb '06

Hi Friends, FSF India is now having 80 G status. That means any donations to FSF India will be tax exempted (50%). We request you to consider providing personal donations to FSF India. Also if you think your company or your employer will be interested in contribution to FSF India please get in touch and help us raise funds for expanding our activities. FSF India is now participating in All India People Science Network meeting organised in Guwahati. We are able to network with several organisations in North India. In coming year we will be organising more programs in Northern part of India. With Regards, Arun.

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[Fwd: [ox-en] "Arctic Monkeys" - breakthrough for Free Music?]
by V. Sasi Kumar 06 Feb '06

06 Feb '06

Sorry for cross posting, but this is really interesting! -------- Forwarded Message -------- From: Stefan Merten <smerten(a)oekonux.de> Reply-To: list-en(a)oekonux.org To: list-en(a)oekonux.org Cc: Stefan Merten <smerten(a)oekonux.de> Subject: [ox-en] "Arctic Monkeys" - breakthrough for Free Music? Date: Sun, 05 Feb 2006 23:06:14 +0100 -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hi! A few minutes ago in a German TV newscast they said that in Britain the band Arctic Monkeys has a #1 in the music charts. They said that this band started to distribute their music by Internet and still do. This sounds really exciting :-) . Can anyone provide us with some more information on this? Links? Mit Freien Grüßen Stefan -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.2 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Processed by Mailcrypt 3.5.7 <http://mailcrypt.sourceforge.net/> iQCVAwUBQ+Z21QnTZgC3zSk5AQHDmwP9GqBSOeHwyh3tZPivt9TFeTrfEuP2bC+y 27qhAs6LqUm0awJLodC9lJelJJKDLdNcOvxXw28lhZX4eBq5DykNimPdbKZUexbk edR0Sy9uA1Rs8Kfw+7UqTXPW0kmhxKbAjKQnQTwCvbc6Bu/DoyugfP6h0PTqn4SG xs+dK1AuDHM= =YdUD -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- _________________________________ Web-Site: http://www.oekonux.org/ Organization: http://www.oekonux.de/projekt/ Contact: projekt(a)oekonux.de -- V. Sasi Kumar <sasi.fsf(a)gmail.com> Free Software Foundation of India

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No Software Patents (People's Democracy)
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 05 Feb '06

05 Feb '06

No Software Patents People's Democracy (Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) Vol. XXIX No. 50 December 11, 2005 No Software Patents Govt Assures FSF India UNION minister of commerce and industries, Kamal Nath has assured that the Indian government is committed to its stand of not allowing software patenting for the time being and that it would reiterate this stand in the forthcoming meeting of WTO ministerial at Hong Kong. This was conveyed to a delegation of Free Software Foundation of India (FSF India), which met the minister on December 6 in New Delhi and discussed with him about the proposal for software patenting which came up early this year. It comprised M Arun, secretary and Y Kiran Chandra, secretary FSF AP Chapter. CPI(M) Polit Bureau member and MP, Sitaram Yechury and CPI(M) central committee member and MP, P Madhu accompanied the delegation. A memorandum was also submitted to the minister on this issue. In a statement released to the press, the FSF India representatives termed the discussion with the minister as fruitful. The minister informed the delegation about his opinion that copyright provides reasonable protection for the software industry. However, pointing out that there was a strong demand from sections of the Indian IT industry to allow the patenting of software in conjunction with hardware, the minister expressed the need to find a via media between arguments of different groups. The FSF India stated that in the coming days it will interact with industries, particularly small and medium industries, to highlight the harmful effects of generic software patenting and also in order to understand the needs of the industry. "It would be working with the industry to find a via media which will protect the larger social interests and at the same time protecting economic interest of industries", the statement assured. (INN)

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Fwd: Asia Commons: Asian Conference on the Digital Commons
by Anivar Aravind 04 Feb '06

04 Feb '06

---------------------------- Original Message ---------------------------- From: jchittoor(a)csdms.in Date: Wed, February 1, 2006 8:04 pm -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Asia Commons: Asian Conference on the Digital Commons April 18-20, 2006 Bangkok, Thailand http://www.asia-commons.net During the last 20 years or so, the level, scope, territorial extent, and role of copyrights and patents have expanded into new sectors. There has been much discussion and debate on the impact of copyrights and patents at a micro level of economic activity while at a macro level, policy dialogue in several international fora, not least of which is WIPO, has been addressing barriers posed by copyrights and patents. Asia Commons: Asian Conference on the Digital Commons invites researchers working in the area of copyrights and patents, promoters of collaborative models, development practitioners engaged in collaborative content creation and dissemination and custodians of public information to go beyond the current dialogue and debate to explore key issues and ideas related to access to knowledge and culture in Asia. Participants are invited to explore key themes and questions related to the Asian Commons: * What is the relationship between infrastructure and copyrights on access to culture and knowledge? * How do software and business process patents affect innovation? * What are the impacts of patents on software innovations in Asia? * What are the emerging Open Business Models for content production in Asia? * Given existing legal, cultural and infrastructural environments both within and outside of Asia, how can we contribute to increasing access to knowledge and culture through an Asia Commons? While we will be inviting a number of speakers who are seen as thought-leaders in the field of Access to Knowledge and Culture, we will also look to innovative approaches to ensure a high degree of interaction among participants in spaces and sessions which are designed to maximize the exchange of experiences and ideas. Conference Fees, Registration, and Scholarships: There are no fees for participation in the conference which is supported through funding made available by the International Development Research Centre's (IDRC's) Pan Asia Program (http://www.idrc.ca/panasia). If you are interested in participating, please register online at http://www.asia-commons.net/conf_registration/add or email registration(a)asia-commons.net to receive a registration form which can be submitted through email. Please register before March 8, 2006. Thanks to the generous support of IDRC's Pan Asia (http://www.idrc.ca/panasia) and UNDP APDIP's IOSN (http://www.iosn.net) there are also a number of scholarships available for participants in need of financial support. Please visit http://www.asia-commons.net/participate for more information. Can't Join Us? For those unable to join us physically during the event, we invite you to participate through the participants discussion list and visit http://www.asia-commons.net for outputs during the conference itself. To subscribe to the participants discussion list, send an email to participants-request(a)asia-commons.net with the word subscribe in the subject. A special issue of i4d Magazine (http://www.i4donline.net) will be produced in June 2006 based on the conference and its themes. We look forward to seeing you at Asia Commons. Your Organising Committee: - Shikha Shrestha, Bellanet Asia (in partnership with SAP International) (http://www.sapint.org) - Sarah Kerr, Bellanet International Secretariat (http://www.bellanet.org) - Jaya Chittoor, Centre for Science, Development and Media Studies (http://www.csdms.in) - Sunil Abraham, UNDP APDIP's International Open Source Network (http://www.iosn.net) ----------------------------------

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From "manipulative grace" to "public disgrace"
by doxa＠sancharnet.in 03 Feb '06

03 Feb '06

"THIRUVANANTHAPURAM APRIL 13. The Information Kerala Mission (IKM), functioning under the Department of Information Technology of the Government of Kerala, has emerged as one of the three institutions in the race for the prestigious national awards instituted by the Computer Society of India..." The graceful-plot hatched by IKM in 2002 to hoodwink the UDF Government (after successfully convincing late Chief Minister EK Nayanar with the 'cat and mouse' story - that both M$ Windows and GNU were mere cats, and the need was 'just to catch the rat'). Full story appearing in The Hindu at http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2002/04/14/stories/2002041405350400.htm "KOCHI: Awards for exemplary initiatives in e-governance were given away at the national e-governance conference here on Thursday. Kerala Public Works Minister M.K.Muneer distributed the awards in various categories. There were Golden, Silver and Bronze icons in each category...." The disgraceful exit from national scene in 2006. Full story at http://www.hindu.com/2006/02/03/stories/2006020304741700.htm --------------- Compiled by CK Raju, Thrissur

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Create a custom GNU/Linux network install image
by प्रव ीण् ए (Praveen A) 03 Feb '06

03 Feb '06

Hi, Built on LinuxCOE a powerful set of tools recently open sourced by Hewlett Packard, Instalinux makes installing Linux easier than ever. http://www.instalinux.com/ LinuxCOE http://linuxcoe.sourceforge.net/ News stories: http://linux.sys-con.com/read/176353.htm Almost the same - http://www.pclinuxonline.com/article.php?sid=10355 Cheers Praveen -- "GNU is the system, and Linux is the kernel." A proud GNU user http://www.gnu.org Me scribbles at http://www.pravi.co.nr

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Fsf-friends February 2006