Fsf-friends July 2006

fsf-friends@gnu.org.in

24 participants
26 discussions

by Arun M

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bangalore to Host the Fourth International Conference on GPLv3 India will host the Fourth International GPLv3 Conference in Bangalore, this August 23-24, 2006. A part of the world-wide drive to create awareness about the upcoming version three of the GNU General Public License (GPLv3), the two-day conference is expected to draw delegates from across the communities - legal, bureaucrat and academia. While the first day will see Richard M Stallman and Eben Moglen, the original architects of the GPLv3 license, communicating latest updates on the GPLv3 final draft, the second day holds panel discussions on localisation, awareness and adoption of GPLv3 and threat of Digital Restrictions Management (DRM). The event to be held at the Indian Institute of Management - Bangalore is a sequence to the Third International GPLv3 Conference that took place in Barcelona, Spain. Similar events have already been held in the USA and Brazil. The international GPLv3 conferences are part of a year-long public consultation process to update the GNU General Public License (GPL). The version 3 of the GPL, essentially, takes into account changes in terms of legal and technical environment, in which software licenses operate, and the need to increase protection against new threats such as software patents and Digital Restrictions Management (DRM). The worldwide awareness drive for GPLv3, is to ensure that, all users of software distributed under its terms, have the freedom to examine, share, and modify that software. For registration kindly visit GPLv3 conference website http://gplv3.gnu.org.in For Details, kindly contact: Arun M (FSF-I) arun(a)gnu.org.in Prof Rahul De' (IIM-B) rahul(a)iimb.ernet.in Abhas Abhinav (FSUG-Bangalore) abhas(a)deeproot.co.in Venue: IIM-B Date: 23, 24 August, 2006 Contact numbers: Abhas Abhinav (FSUG-Bangalore) #080-41124785 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

16 years, 10 months

Comments on the GPLv3 Process

by Ramanraj K

It is reported at http://news.com.com/2061-10795_3-6099985.html that Linus Torvalds has sharply criticised GPLv3 draft terms as "inferior" to GPLv2. Several elements in the GPLv3 draft unfortunately make it plain that the shift is from "freedom" to "slavery", "hate" and "fear". If the GPLv3 ever comes into effect with such terms, it may even make non-free licenses look very respectable. I recently modified the licensing terms of the Calpp project that I am maintaining, so that modifications to the Calpp code base would be only under GPLv2 until further notice, to ensure a comfortable level of freedom for its developers and users. The most important reason why most people appreciate the GPL are the four freedoms: 0: freedom to run the program, for any purpose 1: freedom to study how the program works with source code and adapt it to your use 2: freedom to redistribute copies and 3: freedom to improve and release improvements to the public. The GPLv2 has implemented the freedoms as license conditions giving rights to licensees to enjoy the freedoms listed above, and has not only stood the test of time, but has created a good ecosystem of free software where developers, users, businesses and governments have benefited. GPLv3 should ideally be towards giving better rights to developers and licensees to make the freedoms more effectively usable and enjoyable. Many clauses in the draft GPLv3 are unintelligible and ambigious, giving open invitations for interpretations. Having provisions for "additional terms" would make the GPL a non-standard license, and even worse, they would only help to curtail rights and make the freedoms illusory. If the GPLv3 mission is alter the well known freedoms 0 to 3 substantially, then it is fairly important to discuss that in the first place, before the actual license terms are discussed. It is premature to discuss the GPLv3 draft, without arriving at a broad consensus on what fixes are required to the basic freedoms enjoyed by developers and licensees. I would request RMS and the FSF to first make a restatement of freedoms 0 to 3 before proceeding further with the GPLv3 process. In India, most of the criticism about the GPL has been about making the freedoms more practically available by making the GPL more enforceable. Many have asked if the GPL violates the "Rule against Perpetuity" Most GPLed software is freely available for download by the public from the Internet, and therefore, the terms in the GPLv2 that ensure perpetuity for public benefit, advancement of knowledge, commerce and other benefits to mankind make it valid and enforceable. This issue in fact holds the key to the future progress of the GPL. Focus and attention on the public nature of code contributions and examining ways and means to strengthen the distribution of computer programs and modifications on the Internet with better licensing conditions should help. If the GPLv3 draft process ignores real issues, and side-tracks into the private domain, it may just end up there, as a self-defeating meaningless exercise for all of us. Regards, Ramanraj K

16 years, 10 months

Flame

by doxa＠sancharnet.in

I think the GPLv3 is just getting 'debated'. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/02/08/gpl3_linus_replies/ We could do a diff between GPLv2 and GPLv3 to know what exactly lies behind. CK Raju ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message was sent using NWebmail, BSNL's Webmail Program

16 years, 10 months

ANN: ApacheCon Asia '06 in Colombo, Sri Lanka - August 14th-17th

by Sanjiva Weerawarana

This is my first post to this list .. I hope this announcement is appropriate. My apologies if not. FYI I'm one of the folks actively involved in the Sri Lankan FOSS. We're organizing a week of FOSS events in August again this year (see http://www.foss.lk/events/2006/fosssl) and the particular note below is about ApacheCon Asia. Bye, Sanjiva. ================== ApacheCon Asia is the first ever Asian offering of the popular ApacheCon Conference of the Apache Software Foundation (ASF). ApacheCon Asia provides an excellent opportunity to experience first-hand what ASF technologies and development communities can do for you and your enterprise. The program consists of two technical tracks in the main conference and a large number of tutorials. In addition a "hackathon" will be held the day before the conference where attendees can interact with various Apache project developers and learn and contribute! Priced at a very affordable level, the conference will be held in Colombo, Sri Lanka from August 14th to 17th at the Trans Asia Hotel. The complete agenda and registration information of ApacheCon Asia 2006 are available at http://asia.apachecon.com/ Register by Friday, August 4th and receive a 10% early bird discount! Interested in sponsoring? See: http://asia.apachecon.com/conference/sponsor/ We look forward to seeing you in Colombo! --The ApacheCon Asia Organizing Team.

16 years, 10 months

educational software for children--townplanning

by Kush

Hi all, Nowadays a lot of kids of middle class, upper middle class and rich sections of society play video/computer games which have a lot of violence etc in them. These games are generally expensive and very addictive plus they make children self centered and unable to think of working in a team or group. (sense of getting inputs from the community is not there as collaboration is not a part of the game) Lincity (or similar games) could be a way to motivate a child to the profession of town planning which is a very specialised job right now and in the hands of an elite few leading to a lot of lost inputs from the general populace. The mess in urban areas is a result of too few fossilised thinkers at the top who have a lot of power but paucity of ideas. Once children are introduced to such games which call for inputs from others (maybe at a later stage) and once such games become commonplace, more and more people will start participating in town and country planning processes far more easily than at present. I hope ngos and software developers can both think of such better ways to educate the newer generation and take away the dread of a specialised occupation by building even better games and user interfaces. Such games taken at a young stage could easily launch a child into a career and give them a headstart. Parents would also like to see children doing something constructive even while playing computer games. Besides several offshoots of such games can take place such as easily designing a place of residence etc (profession of architect, civil engineer, structural engineer, interior designer, landscape artist, GIS planners etc etc) There is a lot of scope in this idea for people in the game/educational software business. Kush -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [Fsf-friends] city planning--application software Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2006 16:34:14 -0400 From: Kush <be_a_sport(a)rogers.com> Reply-To: Principal Support List of FSF-India <fsf-friends(a)mm.gnu.org.in> To: Principal Support List of FSF-India <fsf-friends(a)mm.gnu.org.in> CC: Anil Laul <anillaul(a)vsnl.com>, karmayog <karmayog(a)yahoogroups.com> Hi all, Is there any site which rates open source application softwares in various categories? e.g. I was trying to find applications under town planning etc and I found only one working application software which has not been improved after 2004 or so.(looks like the development has stopped) The application is known as http://lincity.sourceforge.net/ and after playing it in ubuntu one can see it is entry level and not like the commercial simcity game. Still town planning is a very specialised occupation and it will become increasingly relevant as more and more parts of India get urbanised. Allowing such FREE tools in the hands of youngsters and the youth will only lead to better plans, debates, creativity and decision making as town planning impacts so many areas for a better quality of life. Its time we start thinking strategically on key applications such as these to make India and the world a better place. Maybe then such imaginative scenarios can be added to real gis maps etc. http://www.freemap.in/ is an effort in that direction (for the city of mumbai) but it leaves much to be desired as the data used is faulty or outdated. Kush _______________________________________________ Fsf-friends mailing list Fsf-friends(a)mm.gnu.org.in http://mm.gnu.org.in/mailman/listinfo/fsf-friends

16 years, 10 months

Second Discussion Draft of Revised GPL Released

by James Mathew

Six-Month International Review Process Leads to Revisions and Clarifications BOSTON and NEW YORK, July 27, 2006 -- The Free Software Foundation (FSF) and the Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC) today have released the second discussion draft of the GNU General Public License (GPL) version 3 (GPLv3). This new draft marks the middle of a year-long public review process designed to evaluate proposed changes and to finalize a new version of the GPL. The GNU GPL is the most widely used free software license worldwide: almost three quarters of all free software programs (also known as "Free/Libre and Open Source Software", or FLOSS) are distributed under this license. Since the GPL's last revision more than 15 years ago, free software development, distribution, and use have changed tremendously. Since the release of the initial GPLv3 discussion draft in January, members of the free software community have submitted nearly one thousand suggestions for improvement. Many have continued the discussion at international GPLv3 conferences held in the United States, Brazil, and Spain. With the help of discussion committees, the Free Software Foundation and the Software Freedom Law Center have considered all the issues raised by public comments. The new draft of GPLv3 contains extensive revisions in light of these comments. "We have considered each suggestion with care," said Eben Moglen, founder and Chairman of the Software Freedom Law Center, which represents various free software projects and is assisting FSF in revising the new license. "By listening to people from around the world, we are working toward a license that acts consistently in many different legal systems and in a variety of situations." "The primary purpose of the GNU GPL is to preserve users' freedom to use, share, and modify free software," said Richard Stallman, founder of FSF and original author of the GPL. "We depend on public review to make the GPL do this job reliably." About the Revisions The new draft clarifies that the license only directly restricts DRM in the special case in which it is used to prevent people from sharing or modifying GPLv3-covered software. The clarified DRM section preserves the spirit of the original GPL, which forbids adding additional unfree restrictions to free software. GPLv3 does not prohibit the implementation of DRM features, but prevents them from being imposed on users in a way that they cannot remove. Other significant revisions in the new draft include a reworked license compatibility section, and provisions that specifically allow GPL-covered programs to be distributed on certain file sharing networks such as BitTorrent. Additionally, this release includes the first draft of the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) version 3. The LGPL license covers many free software system libraries, including some published by the Free Software Foundation. The text of the new GPL and LGPL drafts can be found on the web at <http://gplv3.fsf.org/>. The site also includes audio commentary from Eben Moglen; a rationale document which describes the changes to the new draft; and further information about the GPLv3 revision process. As with the first draft, community members are encouraged to submit comments online at gplv3.fsf.org. Throughout the remainder of the process, there will continue to be international GPLv3 discussion conferences, including one next month in Bangalore, India. A third discussion draft of GPLv3 is expected to be released this fall, and the final version will be released between January and March of 2007. "Last November, we published a document which outlined the process for drafting the new GPL," said Eben Moglen, chair of SFLC. "As of now, we are still on schedule for a final release in early 2007." -- HASTA LA VICTORIA SIEMPRE!

16 years, 10 months

re: rating open source softwares

by Kush

came across this link too http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_revision_control_software

16 years, 10 months

GPLv3 community in orkut

by प्रव ीण् ए (Praveen A)

http://www.orkut.com/Community.aspx?cmm=17659738 -- "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

16 years, 10 months

asterisk users group in India

by Kush

Hi, http://asterisk.pbx.in/ (got this address from taug.ca) Its very strange to see the archives of the so called asterisk users group of India started in april 2005. Most of the archived messages are from non-indians and the jun archive is missing. It was quite a pleasant surprise to know that asterisk was known to the tech savvy among us since the group started around Apr 2005 according to what i can make of the archives but the messages show another story. Kush

16 years, 10 months

SELF project at HBCSE, TIFR

by Nagarjuna G.

The forwarded mail informs about the project that HBCSE, TIFR will be part of in promoting free software and generating documentation. If free software hackers are intersted in joining the team please send me a mail off the list, with a note saying in what way can you contribute. The link http://www.selfproject.eu/ and http://www.selfproject.eu/kickoff provides more info. Nagarjuna ----- Forwarded message from Wouter Tebbens <w.tebbens(a)staff.isoc.nl> ----- > Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2006 18:10:35 +0200 > From: Wouter Tebbens <w.tebbens(a)staff.isoc.nl> > Subject: [Self-l] Completely booked SELF Conference in The Hague (10 july) > To: SELF mailinglist <self-l(a)selfplatform.org> > Reply-To: w.tebbens(a)staff.isoc.nl, > General SELF mailinglist <self-l(a)selfplatform.org> > Organization: ISOC-SELF > User-Agent: KMail/1.9.1 > > Many of you have been there on this very inspiring first SELF Conference and > kick-off of the project. For those of you who have missed it, find here a > short summary, and links to presentations on the website: > > http://www.selfproject.eu/kickoff > > On Monday the 10th of July Internet Society Netherlands organised in The Hague > a completely booked conference about Free Software and education and how the > creation of open content revolutionizes our societies. Vice-mayor of the City > of The Hague, Frits Huffnagel opened the day with an inspiring speech about > the need for innovation through the use of Free Software > > Speakers were amongst others: > > * Jan Willem Broekema (OSOSS) > > * dr. Nagarjuna G. > (project leader Knowledge platforms Homi Bhabha Center for Science > Education, India) > > * Georg Greve (president FSF Europe, Germany) > > See his bio or download presentation PDF > * Mathias Klang (project leader Creative Commons Sweden) > > * David Megias (coordinator Master Free Software UOC, Spain) > > * Wouter Tebbens (Internet Society Nederland, project leader SELF) > > Besides there were panel discussions with national and international experts, > like prof. dr. Paul Klint (CWI), drs. Marja Verstelle (Leiden University), > Joep van Nieuwstadt (Exin), Jonas ?berg (Free Software Foundation Europe), > Martijn Verver (VPRO New Media), Thijs Chanowski, Michael van Wetering > (KennisNet), Leo Besemer (ECDL), Tom Dousma (SURF) and prof. Kees Stuurman > (University of Tilburg). > > The event marked at the same time the official launch of the ambitious SELF > project that will setup an international platform for educational and > training material about Free Software and Open Standards with the financial > support from the European Commission. > > The focus of the platform is on material about Free Software and knowledge > creation about open standards. ISOC.nl leads the international consortium > with strong partners from the rest of Europe (amongst which some universities > and the Free Software Foundation Europe), India and Argentina. S.E.L.F. > stands for Science, Education and Learning in Freedom. > > This first SELF Conference was supported by the Open Source agency from the > Dutch goverment, Programme OSOSS, the city of The Hague and the European > Commission. > > _______________________________________________ > Self-l mailing list > Self-l(a)selfplatform.org > http://mail.selfplatform.org/mailman/listinfo/self-l_selfplatform.org ----- End forwarded message -----

16 years, 10 months

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Fsf-friends July 2006