Fsf-friends September 2006

fsf-friends@gnu.org.in

28 participants
40 discussions

Software Freedom Day
by Githin Alapatt 30 Sep '06

30 Sep '06

Hi, We conducted the Software Freedom day in a good manner. Here is the report and some photos. http://softwarefreedomday.org/gallery/2006/india/kerala/college_of_engg_che… FLOSS Cell College of Engineering Chengannur -- Cheers :-) githinATgmailDOTcom Free as in Freedom http://githin.googlepages.com/

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October 3rd Declared "Day Against DRM"
by പ്രവീണ്‍‌|Praveen 28 Sep '06

28 Sep '06

* * *"If consumers even know there's a DRM, what it is, and how it works, we've already failed" - Disney Executive.* *Defeating DRM is all about awareness*. The direct actions that we have taken are all about this. Whether it means protesting outside Apple Stores in Hazmat suits or getting HUGE press coverage for announcing the Bono petition (sign it now <http://defectivebydesign.org/petition/bonopetition>). Action gets attention, and creates space for debate. And as our friends at Disney recognize, if there is a debate, we will have won. Clear your schedule for a world wide day of action against DRM. *On Tuesday October 3rd we will all be taking action to raise the stakes and attempt to increase awareness to the threats of DRM - in a very significant way.* Add the action that you will take!<http://defectivebydesign.org/actions/plan_your_october_3rd_action>(real world or virtual) and ask others to join you. Or join the actions already planned<http://defectivebydesign.org/en/actions/oct3list>and get connected to others in your town. Submit your ideas <http://defectivebydesign.org/node/add/content-idea> for October 3rd and we will be ready to make it happen. Tell us<http://defectivebydesign.org/node/add/content-idea>how you think we can, together, raise awareness to defeat DRM. We will award prizes for the best ideas and actions<http://defectivebydesign.org/actions/plan_your_october_3rd_action>. Yes, that's right, to add a little more fun to the events (and we just love to get competitive here at DbD) we will award prizes for things like Best Idea, Best Action, Best Team Action, Best Photo, Best Blog, Best Video, Most People Contacted, Thing that makes us laugh.... and others. Submit your action today<http://defectivebydesign.org/actions/plan_your_october_3rd_action> ! *Based upon your actions on October 3rd<http://defectivebydesign.org/actions/plan_your_october_3rd_action>we will fulfill Big Media's worst nightmare: public awareness about the dangers of DRM.* Take a look at some of the idea's that have been submitted already!<http://defectivebydesign.org/ideas/day_against_drm> Is your idea too sensitive to tell everyone? Would it ruin the fun if everyone heard your idea now? Send us those suggestions<http://defectivebydesign.org/contact> . Digg this story!<http://digg.com/tech_news/October_3rd_Declared_Day_Against_DRM> http://defectivebydesign.org/en/blog/announce_day_against_drm -- "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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link - fonts on GNU/Linux
by Raghavendra Bhat 27 Sep '06

27 Sep '06

http://avi.alkalay.net/linux/docs/font-howto/Font.html -- Raghavendra Bhat Free Software: "You don't pay back, you pay forward." -- Robert A. Heinlein

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Training for two govt. schools in Chenganur
by Githin Alapatt 27 Sep '06

27 Sep '06

Hi, As a part of the "Software Freedom Day 2006" celebrations at College of Engineering Chengannur, a one day training camp is planned for the staff and students of two Government Schools in Chengannur. A group of 12 students from the college will be spending a day helping them install and learn GNU/Linux. We have selected a group of 100 students in each school who will attend our training. (We could not celebrate the SFD on time as we had exams that time, then the school had exams.) We have already installed IT@School on the computers at the schools. The college has agreed to provide us an LCD projector and laptops for the event. This is a part of the actvity of the FLOSS cell existing at the college. Hope this small contribution of ours goes a long way in making Free Software useful and popular. Date and Time: 28thSept 2006, 1000hrs to 1600hrs Venue 1: Govt. Girls' School, Chengannur Venue 2: Govt. Boys' School, Chengannur FLOSS Cell, College of Engineering Chengannur, Kerala. http://floss.cec.googlepages.com/ -- Cheers :-) githinATgmailDOTcom Free as in Freedom http://githin.googlepages.com/

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Fwd: Marathi spellchecker available for OpenOffice.org 2.0.x (updates !)
by priti patil 27 Sep '06

27 Sep '06

Hi all, New updates !! It's available here http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Dictionaries#Marathi_.28India.29 download mr_IN_pack.zip and install using "Install New Dictionaries" wizard of file menu. Works perfect with 2.0.x which has got inbuild huspell engine, but to make it work with 1.1.x and 2.x (with myspell) recompile their source code with Hunspell UNO component, then follow the same procedure. Please revert back with queries, suggestions, comments if any. PLEASE NOTE: It's just a 1st version of marathi spell checker and requires periodic refinements. Contributions will be highly appreciated. Regards. Priti Note: forwarded message attached. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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Use GPLv3 for Linux Kernel says Bruce Perens
by പ്രവീണ്‍‌|Praveen 26 Sep '06

26 Sep '06

Ultimately, we need to recognize that Linux is a 15-year-old kernel and that there will be another technical development to superscede it eventually. I can't say what that will be, but I think the best chance of mobilizing individual contribution to it would be to use GPL 3. *Bruce* http://digg.com/linux_unix/Use_GPLv3_for_Linux_Kernel_says_Bruce_Perens 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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Re: [MarathiOpenSource] Marathi spellchecker available for OpenOffice.org 2.0.x
by priti patil 26 Sep '06

26 Sep '06

Thanks ! By the way, it's only the 1st version and consistant refinement is needed for upcoming versions. Contributions will be highly appreciated. Regards. Priti --- RKVS Raman <rkvsraman(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Congratulations!!! > > -Raman __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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Marathi spellchecker available for OpenOffice.org 2.0.x
by priti patil 26 Sep '06

26 Sep '06

Hi all, This is for your information ! Most awaited marathi spell checker is now available for installation without any hassle through "Install new dictionary" wizard of "File" menu. It's in pipeline and will be available upstream very soon ! For more details please visit: http://blogs.nuxeo.com/sections/blogs/laurent_godard Do revert back with comments/suggestions, if any. Regards Priti Patil janabhaaratii Project Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (Formerly NCST) 8th Floor, Air India Building, Nariman Point, Mumbai 400 021. India. Telephone: +91 22 2202 4641, +91 22 2283 6924 Fax: +91 22 2204 9573 Website: www.cdacmumbai.in, www.janabhaaratii.org.in __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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rebel code
by Kush 26 Sep '06

26 Sep '06

Pls see these reviews http://www.amazon.ca/Rebel-Code-Inside-Source-Revolution/dp/customer-review… They give a better idea which i was not able to convey as well. The main point is that it gives ideas about trends and also is a great motivational book. There are so many ideas which tell how things happenned or why they fell in place. It really inspires one to be good in software. e.g. i remember when I was in engg college in 1991 we couldn't even think of writing an assembler software and here in the book there is this exceptional 19 year old who has a head start in programming and thinking of emulating an OS and that too Unix. Even now most of us cannot write or even think of designing systems software like compilers/assemblers/OS etc. There is a huge difference in quality among majority of our engineers and the normal engineers/technicians there. (when I read joelonsoftware.com --though its microsoft oriented, i feel we hardly know as much as these top chaps know) (also we are bogged down in a few open source projects like fonts development etc which hardly should have taken more than an year or two-- if there are more good indian led projects why can't a list be maintained for them like sourceforge.net) There is also a huge difference in quality and mindset between what type of so called engineers are being produced from our educational machine as compared to the western education system. There those people don't think of themselves as engineers till they get out of 6 to 8 year courses (no time limit is fixed unlike the people who pass out here after their 3 or 4 year courses and still don't know much) and in between drop out or take totally different subjects e.g. Larry Wall's career is not typical computer science subjects at all. Thats why he was so innovative and PERL was produced. Linus Torvalds stayed in college/university for 7/8 years, some of these bright chaps completed Btech and then Mtech next year or same year --there are so many options for training, research and development there --where we don't even come close. when i see such sites as http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/ee476/FinalProjects/ I am amazed. See the difference in quality between what their final year students produce and whats produced here (where most things are copied and students don't have any idea what to do till the term has already started) Then it was also quite interesting to read that Linus could lead so well the OS kernel work maybe as a result of the 1 year compulsory army officer training that he opted for during university days. We have nothing like that here.(not many Indian geeks want to build a sound body to cope with the pressure of working on computers and not many people understand what its like to have compulsory army training) He keeps things in his head --photographic memory and so on (thinking on one's feet, the maturity in tackling conflicts or not giving offense, developing leaders under him automatically etc etc). Difference between system of working with linux development as compared to emacs forking development etc etc-- so many management aspects are also revealed in the book --it can be read a few times just to understand and learn from such history. I think its a great book and can really really inspire new people to think ambitiously. Our drawbacks-- we have no authentic idea about the number of indian open source programmers/developers and whether there is an increase/decrease or constant number since nobody measures and nowhere in any open source project do we see names of Indians mentioned much. There should be some annual survey in some authentic Indian publication and highlighting of role models and good personality traits so that people understand what made open source/free software succeed. Spanish speakers/non english speakers ask more questions in forums than Indians and that shows places like Brazil,Mexico, Italy, East Europe, japan, korea etc are more active and increasing in development/computer literacy then in college we don't share or innovate code but compete unhealthily against each other --this is typical indian crab mentality --teachers do not see this aspect and cannot think of ways to reduce this mentality --only highlighting positive traits/ publicly praising healthy competition/sharing/giving/good leadership etc etc and publicising good indian/foreign role models can change this negative crab mentality. We even don't learn how humility has played such a great part in the open source movement--witness what one top hacker told how linus himself is and was so humble and encouraging which motivated all those around him. Or the great traits of Richard Stallman and so on and so forth. Our nerds think its infra dig to help somebody else --specially if they don't know computers or don't know as much as them. They think that is macho. They have never been told that --knowledge increases the more you use it or give/share it. Also knowledge is one thing no thief can steal from you (even if they succeed in the short term --your peers will eventually find out and time will compensate you unless you brood on that one negative thing for ever.) There is nothing like our abominable ragging in the west --people will sue the institution and the authorities if that happens there because their justice system works. A simple thing such as highlighting local political godfathers in an institution or state from a different/outside publication can keep such things in check. By outside publication, I mean say if an institution in Bihar has a lot of political interference (political godfathers who control student union/elections/council etc) have a report published in a publication outside Bihar or on the web --make the issue transparent and the politician will have to hide/duck for cover and all this nonsense will reduce. We have something like indiavotes.org /mumbaivotes.org now coming up which is asking educated people to understand and take part in higher governance so that quality of leadership improves. A great book is here http://www.vcn.bc.ca/citizens-handbook/ since good men should not be aloof from society. Einstein etc could motivate society because they were accessible and participative. Indian scientists/researchers/hackers must contribute to society by participating in the community too. Kush

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very important book
by Kush 25 Sep '06

25 Sep '06

I recently had a chance to read the book Rebel code by Glyn Moody published in 2001 and somewhat dated. The book must be made required reading for children in school (atleast from the 8th/9th class onwards)if India is ever to become a software superpower because of the following reasons-- It gives a complete overview of the history of the open source movement and one gets a good understanding from such history. It shows the values of the hacker movement--meritocracy, peer acknowledgement, pride in one's work etc etc plus also how work becomes worship/happiness and money comes naturally as a side effect. How sharing and giving reduce costs and ultimately increase the buying power of the whole world. What are the pitfalls that are to be watched for in leadership, getting group consensus, keeping the community whole and so on. How things could be easily subverted? and so on. How the commercialisation helped/did not help the movement? etc etc In short this book is a real motivator as it gives insights and shows things from various perspectives. Its not talked about later technologies such as php, mysql, open source CRM/ERP business solutions etc etc but it is certainly better than reading all those confusing computer magazines which do not tell about trends and tend to give information overload to people like me. I wish we had access to such books in 2001 itself. It would have helped a lot. In the end open source (volunteer driven part) has succeeded in some ways though core development now is being done by people paid by the establishment. But these top people have been given the freedom to innovate and do what they like once they have proved themselves. Also this movement was a backlash against vendor lock in, not listening to the customer, fleecing the customer etc etc because of the unequal balance of power etc between vendor and customer. Most of the factors which led to the free software movement have since reduced/vanished but eternal vigil is needed . Microsoft and others can bring back the clock anytime -- I think there is a parallel between the Kerberos episode and open document standards being adopted/twisted by Microsoft (decommodifying or non transparency in standards is mentioned). Its not only Microsoft which is bad but also Oracle, HP, Canon, IBM etc--they do what suits them most and leads to vendor lock in. Kush

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Fsf-friends September 2006