Fsf-friends September 2006

fsf-friends@gnu.org.in

28 participants
42 discussions

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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Free software on AIR
by Hiran Venugopalan 24 Sep '06

24 Sep '06

Today there will be a broadcast on Free software by Sminesh [GEC,Thrissur] at 9.15pm in All India Radio Thrissur. Thanks to C K Raju [DOXA] for information. May the source be with you................ Hiran Venugopalan http://hiran.movingrepublic.org # 09846951870

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Re: [FSF-locale] Indian language translations of GNU manifesto and GPL
by Nagarjuna G. 22 Sep '06

22 Sep '06

On 9/20/06, klchxbec <klchxbec(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > Hello, > > Is anyone working on translating the GNU manifesto to indian languages ? > If yes, please let me know their email addresses. I want to participate > in this task, at least as far as Hindi language is concerned. > > I know there is a Malayalam translation of the GPL. > Since most people use fsf-friends list, I took the liberty to forward this mail to fsf-friends list. Nagarjuna

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Re: Open letter to B&MGF ATLA Re: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Access to Learning Award (ATLA) 2007 (Frederick Noronha)
by Vihan Pandey 21 Sep '06

21 Sep '06

Great Reply Fred ! You are an inspiration :-) By the way did Rebecca respond after your reply ? Regards, - vihan

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Open letter to B&MGF ATLA Re: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Access to Learning Award (ATLA) 2007
by Frederick Noronha 21 Sep '06

21 Sep '06

Dear Rebecca, Thanks for letting me know about this. As you might be aware, I consider myself part of the Free Software movement. As such, I find it unacceptable to work with a fund that made its millions on the premise of the questionable practices of proprietary software. While INASP (the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications) is a great idea and approach, can we afford to forget the need for an International Network for the Availability of Access to Software Products? Would this be acceptable to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which you might argue is separate from Microsoft Corp, but nonetheless made its billions on just the opposite approach? Or do you consider scientific publications to be sharable, but not software? In addition, I really don't believe our planet merely needs a million dollars (or many million dollars) to spur intiiatives forward. Specially when this money was earned at the cost of placing unacceptable blocks on the sharing of software, curbing software freedom, and turning nine out ten computer users into "pirates". In my view too, what we need is talent and skill that looks at the problems and the needs of the many rather than at the luxury and greed of the few. While the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has been claiming to do exactly this, history tells us differently. Is it possible to take the clock back to the pre-Open Letter to Hobbyist Days? See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Letter_to_Hobbyists or http://www.blinkenlights.com/classiccmp/gateswhine.html Or, alternatively can your initiative think of joining the campaigns of the Free Software movement, and its emphasis on the freedom to run, study, copy and improve software? If not, why not? Is it merely because it threatens a business model that helps to concentrate wealth in a phenomenal manner? Am sharing this note with our BytesForAll list. If anyone is interested in taking up your offer, it's upto them. I wouldn't. Thank you anyway for taking the trouble to write though; nothing personal here, but I feel such issues and assumptions need to be debated. FN On 20/09/06, Rebecca Priestley <rpriestley(a)inasp.info> wrote: > > Frederick Noronha > Founder > Bytes For All > > Dear Mr Noronha, > > Firstly, let me introduce myself. I work for INASP (the International > Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications) and one of my > responsibilities is to assist in the coordination of the 2007 Access to > Learning Award, an award given by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It > recognises excellence in providing access to information through computers, > at no cost to the user. The recipient will receive an award of up to US $1 > million. It must be stressed that this is an award for work already > completed or in progress, it is not a grant. > > We are currently contacting our large international network with > information to encourage applications. I am sure many of your contacts may > be eligible. We should be grateful if you could use means at your disposal, > e.g. news item in your bulletin or journal, or links from your website to > inform your community and contacts. > > Please find attached a copy of the ATLA brochure in English and the > application form. Full information (including brochures in relevant > languages, and application form) is also available on our website at > http://www.inasp.info/ldp/awards. I would like to send you > a few hard copies of the brochure too so could you please let me know you > postal address? > > If you think I can help in any other way, please do get in touch with me. > > Best wishes, > > Rebecca > > > > > ----------- > Rebecca Priestley > Programme & Events Officer > International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications > (INASP) > 58 St Aldates, Oxford OX1 1ST, UK > Tel: +44(0)1865 249909 > Fax: +44(0)1865 251060 > Email: rpriestley(a)inasp.info > Skype: rebeccapriestley > Web: http://www.inasp.info > > INASP is a registered UK charity: number 1106349 -- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Frederick Noronha http://fn.goa-india.org 9822122436 +91-832-240-9490 http://fredericknoronha.wordpress.com http://www.flickr.com/photos/fn-goa/

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Software Freedom Day 06 a grand success
by പ്രവീണ്‍‌|Praveen 19 Sep '06

19 Sep '06

Hi, We had a woderful Software Freedom Day in Bangalore and I would like to thank all who helped in making this event a grand success. Also cheers to Hiran, Pavithran and all others who helped make this event a great success not just in bangalore but all over India. "This year they had shortlisted some colleges in Bangalore and our dear > BMSCE was a part of it.But it so happened that the coordinators for our > College backed out from conducting the event in our college thinking that > the response will be bad.And many thanks to Ram , an active member of > FOSS.in, me and my friends Sharadha,Shilpa, Nandini and Ganga took up the > initiative and oragnised the entire thingie in good 6 hours yesterday.Somephone calls and the event was finalised ." > "Yesterday whole night me and my friends were hoping that people will turn > up and make the event a huge success. And it happened !!!" -- Nethravathi B http://netravathib.blogspot.com/2006/09/16th-september-2006-software-freedo… "We reached BMS at around 9:15 AM to see the Audi filled with Praveen, Dilip > and myself only. Ahem… It was 9:30 and lo behold!!! The AUDI was jam packed > with people not having place to sit and extra chairs been roped in. Great!!! > 350 people packed in a 300 capacity audi!! " -- Anjhan aka tuxmaniac http://www.tuxmaniac.com/blog/?p=12 " About 60 people stayed back and we splitted into 4 groups and addressed > their doubts and asked about their interest areas. Me and Dilip took charge > of one group and we had a very interesting discussion. Other three groups > were handled bu Aanjhan, Srikanth and Dinesh. We had to leave the hall only > because they had to close the hall and we left the campus becuase it was > already 1 30 and all of us were started feeling hungry." -- Praveen A [me :-)] http://www.pravi.co.nr/2006/09/16/software-freedom-day/ "Audience participation was good and there were some interesting questions. > ESR's `Cathedral and the Bazaar' came into the discussion and was soon being > twisted out of shape (sample: whether you would like to enter a Cathedral or > a Baazar? Cathedral is more solid, peaceful - but it alienates you; Baazar > is more `inclusive', you become part of it)!" -- Pramod CE http://pramode-ce.livejournal.com/42465.html See more at http://fci.wikia.com/wiki/SFD Also add more info there if you have got. 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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A small exposure to GNU/Linux
by Roshan 18 Sep '06

18 Sep '06

This post is sent to three lists (GNU/Linux , FSF-EDU, FSF-FRIENDS) because I wanted to share this experience and also have a small question. I was asked to present a seminar on a topic assigned to me. The seminar topic doesn't have much relevance to this post, but there was something different that I tried. In a way, I have exposed "Free Software, Ubuntu LIVE CD" distro to my classmates and one of my professor. I didn't speak about GNU and Free Software, but I did mention about considering (GNU/Linux) as an alternative to Windows. One mistake I committed, was I being a bit bais to GNU/Linux and pin-pointing _only_ Microsoft to be responsible for proprietary software. The question that I have ask is this. We had a DLP Projector that could not synchronize with the hardware and the display always went out of Range for Ubuntu 6.06. Why?..Doesn't ubuntu run on DLP's? __________________________________________________________ Yahoo! India Answers: Share what you know. Learn something new http://in.answers.yahoo.com/

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Kerala to celebrate Free Software Day in Schools
by Vimal Joseph 14 Sep '06

14 Sep '06

Dear All, FSF India along with IT@School project, Govt. of Kerala is planning to celebrate "Software Freedom Day 2006" on the 15th and 16th of September. On 15th, the students will be briefed about the importance of "Knowledge Sharing and Community" in the school assembly, and "Software Freedom day" message from Sri. M.A Baby, Education Minister, will also be read out. on 16th, a Digital Painting Competition on "Freedom, Sharing and Community" for students (Exclusively on free software) will be conducted in every school, and selected pictures will be uploaded to a website, the details of which will be notified later. We request the Free software community to participate/help the Software Freedom day celebrations in your nearby school. Also please send us your suggestions/comments and photos/reports of the Software Freedom Day celebrations. in solidarity, ~vimal -- Free Software, Free Society <http://www.gnu.org.in> Download IT@School GNU/Linux from http://www.edugrid.ac.in/webfolder/download/schoolGnu/slgnu.html

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Library to celebrate Free And Open Source software
by Frederick Noronha 14 Sep '06

14 Sep '06

http://www.zwire.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=17185243&BRD=2279&PAG=461&dept_i… Library to celebrate Free And Open Source software 09/13/2006 Software Freedom Day, a global, grassroots effort to educate the public about the virtues and availability of Free and Open Source Software, will offer CDs, demonstrate Open Source products, and increase public awareness of Open Source Software. Products such as Linux, Firefox, OpenOffice.org, NVU, Audacity and the GIMP are showing up on more desktop computers every day. Firefox is a tabbed Internet browser with millions of downloads since its release, the GIMP is a top-notch graphics editing program, NVU is a complete web authoring system, Audacity is a cross-platform audio editing system, OpenOffice.org is a fully integrated office suite, and the list goes on. All these Open Source products are available free. Open Source Software runs many of the world's servers. LAMP, which stands for Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP, is becoming the software of choice for System Administrators and is increasing its market share annually. By 2008, the LAMP market share is expected to be over 37 percent. Locally, Susquehanna County Library and Susquehanna Community Information Network (CIN) websites were developed and are maintained using Joomla! which is a dynamic, state-of-the-art Content Management System (CMS). "As frugal librarians, we love Joomla! because it's free, like all Open Source Software," said Hilary Caws-Elwitt of the Susquehanna County Library. "The best part is that staff members can add content easily to the library's website without needing to know any code. At the CIN, all non-profits and community organizations are encouraged to add content. Plus, Joomla! is flexible and powerful - just as good as software we'd have to pay thousands for!" Free and Open Source Software is freely available from the Internet, or on CDs and DVDs. You can install it on as many computers as you like, copy, or share with friends. Broadband Internet is recommended for downloading. If you do not have broadband at home, go to your local library, download the software, burn it to a CD to take home. As an incentive for participating teams to promote Software Freedom Day, the international sponsor has organized a global competition, offering high performance IBM servers to teams with the best event publicity, documentary, FOSS deployment project, and event. Autographed T-shirts are being offered as prizes to individuals producing the best SFD logo, event photo, blog coverage, and photo of the highest-ranking government official at an SFD event. Information is available at the local website, http://sfd2006.gbztechnology.com, and the global website, http://www.softwarefreedomday.org/. Local team leader William Davies may be reached by calling 865-368-1912 or by registering at the local website. (c)Susquehanna Independent Weekend 2006 -- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Frederick Noronha http://fn.goa-india.org 9822122436 +91-832-240-9490 http://fredericknoronha.wordpress.com http://www.flickr.com/photos/fn-goa/

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Fsf-friends September 2006