Fsf-friends January 2007

fsf-friends@gnu.org.in

28 participants
46 discussions

Re [Fsf-friends] National Workshop on FOSS in Science
by doxa＠sancharnet.in 09 Jan '07

09 Jan '07

>An interesting experience was that we came to know that there was >pressure from some sources on the media to not cover the programme. Most often media lives by exceptions. More dangerously, it gets itself into a blindfolded situation after generalising on such exceptions. Perhaps, our movement might have ceased to be an exception. Cheers Dr Sasi. CK Raju Thrissur ------------ PS: Participants loved each and every session and its presenter (incl the Indian RMS ;-)) - feedback from teachers at MES College of Engg.

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National Workshop on FOSS in Science
by V. Sasi Kumar 08 Jan '07

08 Jan '07

A National Workshop on FOSS in Science (http://www.space-kerala.org/fsc) was held at the Union Christian (UC) College during January 4-6, 2007. There were about one hundred participants including students from the College. There were several presentations on various topics including scientific data visualisation using Python and MayaVi, free applications for mathematicians, LaTeX, and FOSS GIS. Prof. Nagarjuna spoke about gnowledge and symantic web; Prabhu Ramachandran (who developed MayaVi) presented a talk on the use of Python programming and MayaVi for scientific data visualisation; Ajith Kumar of Inter University Accelerator Centre demonstrated Phoenix (an acronym for Physics through Home Made Equipment and Innovative Experiments) which is a small piece of equipment that can be interfaced with a computer and an experimental set up (and both the hardware and software are Free); Ravi Kumar from GSI presented a talk on FOSS GIS; Dr. Manjusha Joshi from Bhaskaracharya Pratishtan presented a talk on FOSS applications for mathematicians; Vijayakumar discussed the use of CVS; Deepak presented a talk on FOSS tools for sharing ideas; Prof. Krishnan from Anna University presented a talk on the efforts taken by NRC FOSS. Dr. E. Krishnan was to have given an introduction to LaTeX, but he could not make it and I had to substitute for him (and I am sure the participants certainly lost out as a consequence). I hope I have not missed listing any lecture. The arrangements were excellent and most of the participants and resource persons (all of whom were present throughout the Workshop) really enjoyed their stay there. The college has a long tradition of standing for freedom -- Mahatma Gandhi was there in 1925 and planted a tree that is still there and Rabindranath Tagore was a member of their faculty in 1921-23. Many of the political and cultural leaders in Kerala were students of this college. And their logo says "The truth shall make you free". On the whole, the location and the proceedings were very interesting -- including a cultural programme presented by the students of the college in which some of the participants contributed impromptu. In the concluding session, some of the participants specifically stated that they are just waiting for the next Workshop here :-) There is a FOSS Cell in the college and they plan to conduct Workshops focussed on some of the topics that were presented there, such as Data Visualisation, LaTeX, etc. The Workshop was organised jointly by the FOSS Cell of UC College and SPACE, and was supported by Kerala State IT Mission and NRCFOSS/CDAC. An interesting experience was that we came to know that there was pressure from some sources on the media to not cover the programme. This means that someone is getting panicky about the spread of Free Software and we saw that as a very positive sign. -- V. Sasi Kumar <sasi.fsf(a)gmail.com> Free Software Foundation of India

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E-Governance efforts in Kerala - II
by doxa＠sancharnet.in 08 Jan '07

08 Jan '07

Its not just an in-house affair, the nexus spreads it wings beyond and extends them to bodies like United Nations - with a different theme altogether. http://www.itu.int/osg/spu/wsis-themes/ict_stories/themes/case_studies/kera… A local state affair is now part of a global corrupt mafia ! CK Raju

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E-Governance efforts in Kerala : CAG indicting IKM
by doxa＠sancharnet.in 08 Jan '07

08 Jan '07

http://cag.nic.in/cag_reports/kerala/rep_2004/LB_08_CHAPTER_IV_.pdf is the original document of Comptroller and Auditor General indicting (the most dubious e-governance project in the subcontinent) IKM and Government (exposing the links that senior IAS officials have with the project and Microsoft). "A review of the implementation of the project was conducted by Audit during February � July 2003 with reference to records in IKM headquarters, one Grama Panchayat2 and two Municipal Corporations3. The bilingual data base in SQL4 Server in MS Access format was analysed using Computer Assisted Audit Technique and sample test method." ==> Project clearly involves proprietary corporate solution. "Government stated (July 2004) that the unutilised Central assistance of Rs 25.72 crore released during March 2003, according to ways and means position, had been deposited in the PD account of the Director of Panchayats. As IKM had utilised only Rs 2.37 crore during 2003-04, there was no justification to release funds of that magnitude to them." ==> (in this period we have farmers committing suicides) "Wasteful expenditure of Rs 69.78 lakh to train technical persons The expenditure of Rs 69.78 lakh incurred on selection, training and stipend to the apprentice trainees had become a waste. The Government stated (November 2004) that the expenditure incurred on training of technical persons was insignificant compared to substantial cost benefits that would accrue from BOLT mode. The reply is not tenable as the wasteful expenditure represented 22% of funds earmarked for training (Rs 3.15 crore).." ==> 3.15 crore for training - includes food, accommodation, travel and campfire expenses - truly 5 star for a State like Kerala. "Though the administrative control of IKM was transferred from the SPB to LSGD in July 2001, no fresh agreement was executed between C-DIT and LSGD for continuation of the project after 31 March 2001. Government stated (November 2004) that steps were taken to sign the MoU between C-DIT and LSGD with effect from April 2001. Such agreement with retrospective effect will not serve the desired purpose." ==> Conspiracy between State Planning Board and Local Self Government Department "In the absence of higher level suitable provision for validation of data at an upper level, there was a risk of issuing incorrect certificates, as the integrity of the data input cannot be vouchsafed. " ==> Even if it is technically corrected, the platforms and standards are proprietary and the risk would only continue. "The Government stated (November 2004) that online operation of Soochika and Sevana had commenced. But online operation of Sulekha, Sanchaya and Samkhya is yet to start." ==> IKM presenting plain lies before public with Government approval. "Due to inadequate controls for authorizing and capturing system access logs, the security of the system cannot be vouchsafed." ==> Since freedom to access software components is missing, security is not there and can never be there. All this and more at http://cag.nic.in/cag_reports/kerala/rep_2004/LB_08_CHAPTER_IV_.pdf ======== As of now, the Executive Mission Director of IKM has been promoted to be Chairman of IKM and is a member of State Planning Board. The earlier Planning Secretary, SPB is now Secretary to LSG Department (under whose control now IKM also comes). ==> simple switching theory. CK Raju Thrissur

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RMS in Gurgaon
by Sasi Kumar 07 Jan '07

07 Jan '07

Unconventional¸ hard-hitting and maverick are three words that best describe the free software-preaching messiah Richard Stallman. Mesmerizing an over packed auditorium¸ Stallman's captivating speech included insights on proprietary software¸ scorn for the well established norms of religion¸ dislike for a "drowning" George Bush and the evolutionary history of the GNU/Linux operating system. says the website of MDI, Gurgaon. Please see http://mdi.ac.in/news_events/news_events_site.asp?newsid=126. -- V. Sasi Kumar Free Software Foundation of India Please see: http://swatantryam.blogspot.com/

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Festival... in Marathi or Hindi
by Frederick Noronha 07 Jan '07

07 Jan '07

Priti and team: Congrats! It's nice to have Festival in Indian languages. Just what is needed. Hope this news will be shared with all the GNU/Linux user groups and others interested. (Have sent it to ILUG-Goa http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ilug-goa already.) For those who might not know Festival: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festival_Speech_Synthesis_System Festival is a general multi-lingual speech synthesis system developed at Centre for Speech Technology Research (CSTR) at the University of Edinburgh. It is distributed under a free software license similar to the BSD License. It offers a full text to speech system with various APIs, as well an environment for development and research of speech synthesis techniques. It is written in C++ with a Scheme-based command interpreter for general customization and extension.[1] The Festvox project aims to make the building of new synthetic voices more systematic and better documented, making it possible for anyone to build a new voice. It is distributed under a free software license similar to the MIT License. --- In bytesforall_readers(a)yahoogroups.com, priti patil <pritisd@...> wrote: > > Get it from here > > > http://janabhaaratii.org.in:9673/indicbhaaratii/Members/Priti_Patil/festiva… > > http://janabhaaratii.org.in:9673/indicbhaaratii/Members/Priti_Patil/festiva… > > Priti > > priti patil <pritisd@...> wrote: Hi all, > > On this upcoming special occassion of new year I am very happy to announce a new year gift on behalf of janabhaaratii team :) > > festival_mr (Marathi Text-To-Speech engine) and festival_hi (Hindi Text-To-Speech engine) are in their alpha state. Working crudely for both Marathi and Hindi, now under refinement process for it's next version. > > Will be available for testing on an eve of new year (most probably) !!! > > After testing, please do revert back to us since your valuable inputs can make it BETTER. > > Acknowledgments to Dr. Alka Irani (Chief Investigator, janabhaaratii), Sunil Mohan and Chaitanya Kamisetty (telugu l10n team), DONLab, Dept. of CS&E, IIT Madras, our team, karunakar (indlinux) and many.... > > > Warm Regards > > Priti Patil > janabhaaratii > Language Computing Group > C-DAC, Mumbai -- FN M: 0091 9822122436 P: +91-832-240-9490 (after 1300IST please) http://fn.goa-india.org http://fredericknoronha.wordpress.com

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Re Re: Re [Fsf-friends] TN may shut door on Microsoft
by doxa＠sancharnet.in 06 Jan '07

06 Jan '07

> Great step. (Perhaps soon we may be seeing Free Software instead of > Open Source - but I think it conveys the *spirit*.) Hmm... can you elaborate on the 'spirit'ual aspect?? The current (TN's, not mine) spirit is spirit (alcohol) as in Free Beer. Assuming that TN Govt is not part of OS movement, the amended spirit would soon be that as in Free Speech. CK Raju

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Re: Mumbai Free Map Workshop
by Vihan Pandey 05 Jan '07

05 Jan '07

> The workshop is free and open to the public. Ideally, participants > should be familiar with the open source software and the Linux operating > system, Of course, you mean the GNU/Linux operating system. Regards, - vihan

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Re Re: Re Re: Re [Fsf-friends] TN may shut door on Microsoft
by doxa＠sancharnet.in 05 Jan '07

05 Jan '07

>and requesting him to think about FLOSS and not just Open Source; >Requesting him to think about GNU and not just Linux. Yet to get a >response though.) Great work, congratulations and do keep going. CK Raju

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A New Year Gift: festival_mr and festival_hi
by priti patil 05 Jan '07

05 Jan '07

Get it from here http://janabhaaratii.org.in:9673/indicbhaaratii/Members/Priti_Patil/festiva… http://janabhaaratii.org.in:9673/indicbhaaratii/Members/Priti_Patil/festiva… Priti priti patil <pritisd(a)yahoo.com> wrote: Hi all, On this upcoming special occassion of new year I am very happy to announce a new year gift on behalf of janabhaaratii team :) festival_mr (Marathi Text-To-Speech engine) and festival_hi (Hindi Text-To-Speech engine) are in their alpha state. Working crudely for both Marathi and Hindi, now under refinement process for it's next version. Will be available for testing on an eve of new year (most probably) !!! After testing, please do revert back to us since your valuable inputs can make it BETTER. Acknowledgments to Dr. Alka Irani (Chief Investigator, janabhaaratii), Sunil Mohan and Chaitanya Kamisetty (telugu l10n team), DONLab, Dept. of CS&E, IIT Madras, our team, karunakar (indlinux) and many.... Warm Regards Priti Patil janabhaaratii Language Computing Group C-DAC, Mumbai __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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Fsf-friends January 2007