~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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
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
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This message was sent using NWebmail, BSNL's Webmail Program
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.
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
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!
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
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 -----