Fsf-friends July 2007

fsf-friends@gnu.org.in

32 participants
58 discussions

Internet, tech skills growing quietly in Goa...
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 02 Sep '24

02 Sep '24

INTERNET, TECH SKILLS GROWING QUIETLY IN GOA PANJIM, April 30: Goa's BSNL internet service provider is already providing some 3000 broadband connections in the state, and roughly another 24,000 people dial-up to get access the Net using this central government-run service. These figures emerged during an informal discussion at the monthly meeting of the India Linux Users Group (Goa), a network promoting Free Software and Open Source in the state. ILUG-Goa, which holds its meetings usually on the fourth Saturday of each month at the Goa Science Centre at Miramar, sees a range of tech issues -- usually directly related to Free Software and Open Source in Goa. During it's meet on April 29, a range of issues came up for discussion, from how to partition your hard-disk (to install GNU/Linux side-by-side with Windows), to software tools to ehance productivity, and various internet and broadband options available to users in diverse parts of Goa. For instance, there are some useful Free Software tools to monitor your bandwidth usage on BSNL's broadband. One such tool is available for free download at http://tinyurl.com/qgu9p Called the Data One Broadband Statistics, this is a screen-scraper written using Perl to download usage statistics of BSNL's Data One (www.bsnl.co.in/service/dataone.htm) broadband service and total it. Generally, BSNL (www.bsnl.co.in) allows only the Microsoft-based IE and has no monthly total. But trust Indian software talent to find a work-around. This solution comes from the Free Software/Open Source network in Chennai. Meanwhile, the Goa free software network stays connected and announces its event via http://iluggoaannounce.notlong.com There are no fees for joining, all are welcome, and encouraged to form parallel user-groups in diverse parts of the state. Meanwhile, the Fedora Core 5 Free Software distribution has just become available on DVD in Goa. Number of foreign magazines are also available. Members of ILUG-Goa such as engineer Bijon Shaha and software pro Arvind Yadav gave diverse views on techies-only distros like 'Gentoo'. Debopriyo 'DP' Sarkar pointed to a 'mindmap' of various Free Software distributions or 'distros' available, which was illustrated at linuxhelp.blogspot.com Earlier, there was a brief presentation on FreeMind. FreeMind is a premier free mind-mapping software written in Java. It has the potential of playing the role of a high productivity tool. Operation and navigation of FreeMind is faster because of one-click "fold/unfold" and "follow link" operations. Other members raised a range of issues -- from how to get started in GNU/Linux, to playing around with tools like StumbleUpon, and how to encourage Free Software usage in schools and educational institutions. Remy Furtado of Rosary College, Navelim expressed an interest in working on the Free Software tool Moodle, ideal for distance education, as the Goa University moves to a pattern of semisterisation. Goa Engineering College's Prof George Easaw has done work on this platform, as have others. Reacting unofficially, BSNL officials said Goa now had six STMS 155 MBps connectivity, which was resulting in a speedy expansion of broadband to many parts of the state. But for broadband facilities to become available in village areas, at least 60 subscribers were needed to make operations viable. So far, broadband from BSNL is available in a growing number of areas in Goa: Panjim, Vasco (except Cortalim, but including Sada, Mangor, Bogmalo, Sancoale and other areas), Ponda, Bambolim, Merces, Dona Paula, Porvorim, Mapusa town, Calangute-Candolim, and Saligao, among others. Equipment has already been installed in Aldona exchange, and broadband facilities are expected to go functional -- ------------------------------------------------------------- | India Linux Users' Group, Goa | | Join the friendly user group | | Mail list http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ilug-goa/join | ---------------------------------------------------------- | | http://groups.yahoo.com/group/teach-yourself-linux | | http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ilug-goa-announce | | http://www.iosn.net/country/india/organizations/ilug-goa/ | ------------------------------------------------------------- , , / \ .-. * SOFTWARE ((__-^^-,-^^-__)) (. .) * FREEDOM `-_---' `---_-' / V \ * SHARING `--|o` 'o|--' // \\ \ ` / /( )\ KNOWLEDGE IS POWER ): :( '.^^_^^.' SHARE IT EQUITABLY :o_o: \_/ \_/ "-"

2 1

Careers in FLOSS... (Dec 2003 issue of LFY)
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 06 Jun '24

06 Jun '24

=========================================== LINUXForYou * Dec 2003 (Vol 1 No 10) In India Rs 50 (with CD) http://www.linuxforu.com Pages 102 * US$7.95 0 74470584957 =========================================== THIS ISSUE has probably reached your city. Saw it in Bangalore, and also got a complimentary copy from the LFY team at LinuxBangalore2003. But when I reached back to Goa on Dec 4, it wasn't in as yet. So it might take time to reach 'small town' India... FN REVIEWED: Mandrake 9.2 * PhProjekt * StarOffice 7.0 COMPUTERS AT TIS HAZARI, the session courts for the city of New Delhi, are being shifted over to Linux, courtesy the National Informatics Centre. - Rahul Chopra in this month's editorial. LINUX LEARNING CENTRE at Bangalore is offering courses in administration, security, development (internals and programming essentials, programming with Qt, device driver programming, MySQL & PHP), RHCE and Red Hat rapid track certification. www.linuxlearningcentre.com DotGNU RELEASES CD: It can now be used to implement application programs and Web services in C# and C applications under multiple operating systems, including GNU/Linux, FreeBSC, MacOS, MS Windows. The 219 MB release 0.1 CD is available as a free download at http://download.freedom.biz/dotgnu/dotgnu-0.1-cdrom.iso.gz.torrent e-Bridge calls itself "the new state-of-art training facility from eSpark Infotech is now open in the heart of Bangalore". It's offering embedded Linux courses (Linux fundamentals, programming Linux, embedded C & Linux, realtime C & Linux, Linux internals, device drivers, networking) and DSP courses (DSP fundamentals, TI/analog dev programming, audio/video, image processing, bio-medical systems). www.ebridgesolutions.net Linux.net provides a free e-mail service to those who want an e-mail address that ends in '@linux.net' MAJOR UPDATES and releases: OpenNA Linux 1.0, Gibraltar Firewall 1.0, Xandros Desktop 2.0, Onebase Linux 2.0, CUPS 1.120rc6. CAN YOU MAKE money with open source? Registration entails a "nominal fee" of Rs 5000 for a three-day conference. http://www.linuxasia2004.com/attendees/ February 11-13, 2004, New Delhi. SEND IN YOUR favourite slogans for a tee-shirt, and win five free copies of the shirt... LFYedit at efyindia.com MONEY CAN't buy respect, says Robert Adkins. Some of us might have met this guy at LB2003 in Bangalore. He's the CTO of Technetra Corp, and an advocate and implementer of FLOSS solutions for government. He can be contacted at radkins at technetra.com CAREERS WITH FLOSS: The number of students opting for courses in Open Source is growing steadily, even as industry experts predict a growing need for trained professionals in this expanding field. EXIT RED HAT, ENTER FEDORA: It's official now; the free (of cost) version of Red Hat Linux will not be available anymore. This has created a lot of FUD in an already unstable environment, thanks to the SCO episode. But is Red Hat closed for good? WEB-BASED COLLABORATION SOFTWARE: PHProjekt is an easy-to-install collaboration suite, which runs on the open source platform and databases. As the design of the system is developer-friendly, adding new features and components is a piece of cake. STAROFFICE: The latest version of Sun's office suite, StarOffice 7, may just be the right solution for the cost-conscious user. It loads faster than the earlier version, and sports some noticeable improvements. IN THE LFY CD THIS MONTH: Slackware (the "oldest Linux distro") and a range of GNU software for Windows users. FALLING BACK on backup systems. MAKING ADOPTION OF Linux in the enterprise easy. www.linux4e.com Business partners required: http://wwww.linux4e.com/partners ooWRITER HELPS YOU create your own templates and styles so that you can work with documents easily. Open Source is key to IBM's vision of computing. User empowerment is key to Microsoft's, writes Alolita Sharma USING DATABASE functions in Calc, a tutorial. (Wish there were more how-tos for the user in this mag! --FN) HALDIA DOCKS: it has a uniquely designed Linux installation with an active-active cluster set up, which is considered the best of its kind. This has ensured efficiency and cost-effectiveness. BASIC UNIX commands and concepts: an extract from *Running Linux* (Shroff Publishers, Pp 674 only Rs 425 in India). VxWorks and LynxOS are definitely the biggest embedded operating systems in use today. But slowly they are acknowledging the power of GNU/Linux and how it can help them maximise deployments. HELP LINUX GO INDIAN: By using various translation tools, you can join Language translation groups working across India to help translate GNU/Linux into your language. EXPERT INTRODUCTION: Multi-threaded programming under Linux. KICKSTART YOUR Linux installation (Part I): Installing Red Hat Linux on multiple machines one after another can be quite tedious. To avoid answering the same question over and over again, try the KickStart method, as it does not need any user intervention. WRITE CHEQUES. NOT JUST BOOKS: Niyam Bhushan on how anybody can turn thoughts into words, and words into wealth. NFS CLIENTS for Windows. OpenSSL PACKAGE offers a vast crypto library of algorithms WAIT QUEUES in Linux device drivers UNDERSTANDING recursive sub-routines INDIA-RELATED NEWS: HP launches GNU/Linux laptop Mandrake's latest distribution Oracle announces 10g for GNU/Linux Delixus offers India Linux CxProtect anti-virus mailing solution for mail-servers Trade management system from Network Programs Netweb Technologies unveils Tyrone MRO-Tek rolls out Network Management Systems Review of FLOSS at BangaloreIT.com =========================================== DISCLOSURE: This journalist (FN) writes a monthly column for LFY and gets paid for it. Promoting awareness about the content of LFY however is not part of the job, and is carried on with the intention spreading awareness about FLOSS among different GNU/Linux user groups in India. -- Frederick Noronha : http://www.fredericknoronha.net : When we speak of free Freelance Journalist : http://www.bytesforall.org : software we refer to Ph 0091.832.2409490 : Cell 0 9822 122436 : freedom, not price.

2 1

Moglen and Web-2.0
by Mani A 31 Jul '07

31 Jul '07

"Moglen : And, in fact, it's data that stands as O'Reilly's second "open source doesn't matter" Web 2.0 pitch. We should care more about controlling our information than code. You want to move away from Google? Fine. Google should let you take your information with you." http://www.regdeveloper.co.uk/2007/07/26/oreilly_moglen_oscon/ Best A. Mani -- A. Mani Member, Cal. Math. Soc

1 0

Beryl can improve usability and work-flow
by Mani A 30 Jul '07

30 Jul '07

Beryl is not just eye candy... "If you have Beryl installed, you can select windows for grouping by pressing [super]+s (the [super] key is usually the "windows" key) or by holding down the [super] key and using the left mouse button to draw a box around the window(s) you want to select. Once selected, you group them press [super]+g to group them. Once you've got your group, press [super]+t to tab them together. You've then got a handy group of windows that are tidy, and easily selectable. To change windows, just hover your mouse over the title bar, or use [super]+left or [super]+right to cycle through the windows. scale plugin and the four desktop corners Because the four corners of the desktop are the easiest parts to hit with your mouse, it makes sense to try and put some form of useful action in each of the four corners. The scale plugin has a number of options as to which windows get included in the when activated. You can activate all windows on all sides of the cube, or just the windows on the current cube face, or just the windows associated with the current application. It is this last option that can be useful for tasks that involve a whole bunch of windows from one application - like the gimp, or kopete. You can set the actions for each corner of the desktop in Beryl settings manager. Under the general page, you'll find an icon for shortcuts in the left panel, and under that, a tab for screen edges." Read more at http://liquidweather.net/howto/index.php?id=92 Best A. Mani -- A. Mani Member, Cal. Math. Soc

2 2

why, still proprietary software @ higher secondary syllabus.
by Sarath Lakshman 29 Jul '07

29 Jul '07

Hi friends, I have been here with the issue of using non-free and non-standards compilers in higher secondary computer science syllabus. It was really appreciative to introduce purely free softwares at high schools and the feedbacks from students are awesome. Only problem I heard about it was about driver supports and low monitor frequency problems. I found a nice FAQ for solving that at space-kerala's support website. During the time Govt decided to implement free sofware at high schools, i read in the news item that they would be implementing FS at higher secondary on the following year. But I'm sad to see nothing pleasing in progress. By last march I passed out from +2 and I really couldn't see FS supporting syllabus till now. Being a free software enthusiast, I had been using GCC and MYSQL myself at school at a desktop installed with SLYNUX Gnu/Linux distro at my own risk saying my teacher that I won't use non-free software. I used the same box installed with gcc and mysql for my practical examination too. I had tried my best to spread the need of freedom at computing to my companions and teacher. I could only hear a yess boss reply from most of them and they weren't ready to use gnu tools or gnu/linux since they weren't in syllabus. My teacher smiled reading http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/schools.html and nothing more positive. <http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/schools.html> By now, students passing out from 10th standard are trained on free software platform. The students who choose Com SC at higher secondary will be taken into the worst environment of proprietary software at plus one and plus two. I feel its bad for a transition from free software to Proprietary software. This is the condition prevails now. What Iam still repeating here is : HSS CS syllabus is so easy to migrate to GNU/Linux platform The tools they currently use are: 1) M$ Windows platform 2) Turbo C++ IDE 3) Oracle SQL What we really require for migration is: 1) GNU/Linux 2) VI editor 3) MySQL or other GPLed ones <http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/schools.html> You can see some posts about this issue two yeas back here at fsf-friends [ http://gnu.org.in/pipermail/fsf-friends/2005-August/ ] Hope we could do some practical move on this issue. With regards, Sarath. http://sarathlakshman.info

1 0

OpenOffice 2.x Marathi User Guide Launched!!!
by Anand Kulkarni 27 Jul '07

27 Jul '07

Dear All, We are very glad to publish the OpenOffice 2.x Marathi User Guide. There are 3 PDF files you can download: 1) Word_Processor_2_x_Marathi_Guide_2_0.pdf (For OpenOffice Writer) 2) Spreadsheet_2_x_Marathi_Guide_2_0.pdf (For OpenOffice Calc) 3) Presentation_2_x_Marathi_Guide_2_0.pdf (For OpenOffice Impress) We had released OpenOffice 1.x Marathi User Guide around 1 year back. Now we have upgraded to OpenOffice 2.x. You can download the guides from http://svs.org.in/Downloads.html The credit goes to: 1) Mr. Amit Kadu 2) Mrs. Anagha Bapat 3) Mr. Anand Kulkarni 4) Mrs. Dhanashri Kulkarni 5) Mrs. Jyoti Bochgire 6) Mr. Pankaj Thakre 7) Mrs. Yashaswini Godse For any query, feel free to revert back. Thanks. Warm Regards, Anand Kulkarni Sarvangin Vikas Sanstha Pune http://svs.org.in ____________________________________________________________________________________ Take the Internet to Go: Yahoo!Go puts the Internet in your pocket: mail, news, photos & more. http://mobile.yahoo.com/go?refer=1GNXIC

1 0

Software Freedom Day -- register your teams now
by Praveen A 27 Jul '07

27 Jul '07

Hi, If you have not yet registered for Software Freedom Day you can register here http://softwarefreedomday.org/cgi/register.html To see the teams already registered from India see http://softwarefreedomday.org/teams/asiaandmiddleeast/india If you register before July 31 you will be getting T-shirts and CDs. Cheers Praveen -- പ്രവീണ് അരിമ്പ്രത്തൊടിയില് Join The DRM Elimination Crew Now! http://fci.wikia.com/wiki/Anti-DRM-Campaign

1 0

Switching to GNU/Linux -- for newbies
by Praveen A 27 Jul '07

27 Jul '07

Switch to Linux! GNU/Linux, or simply Linux, is an alternative to Microsoft Windows. It is easy to use and gives more freedom to users. Anyone can install it: Linux is free as in freedom, and often available free of charge. http://www.getgnulinux.org/ Can point to newbies to GNU/Linux. Cheers Praveen -- പ്രവീണ് അരിമ്പ്രത്തൊടിയില് Join The DRM Elimination Crew Now! http://fci.wikia.com/wiki/Anti-DRM-Campaign

1 0

A Patent Is Worth Having, Right? Well, Maybe Not
by Praveen A 26 Jul '07

26 Jul '07

A Patent Is Worth Having, Right? Well, Maybe Not PATENTS are supposed to give inventors an incentive to create things that spur economic growth. For some companies, especially in the pharmaceutical business, patents do just that by allowing them to pull in billions in profits from brand-name, blockbuster drugs. But for most public companies, patents don't pay off, say a couple of researchers who have crunched the numbers. Read full story http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/15/business/yourmoney/15proto.html?ex=134215… -- പ്രവീണ് അരിമ്പ്രത്തൊടിയില് Join The DRM Elimination Crew Now! http://fci.wikia.com/wiki/Anti-DRM-Campaign

1 0

SugarCRM goes GPLv3
by Praveen A 26 Jul '07

26 Jul '07

"We are proud to adopt the GPL V3 with our next major Sugar Community Edition release," said John Roberts, CEO and co-founder of SugarCRM Open Source Project. "We would like to thank the Free Software Foundation (FSF) for leading such an important effort to deliver the most modern FOSS license. The FSF undertook a very difficult process and incorporated many diverse developer and user needs and combined them into a fair and just representation of what FOSS means to our communities." http://www.sugarcrm.com/crm/about/press-releases/20070725-GPLv3-FOSS.html -- പ്രവീണ് അരിമ്പ്രത്തൊടിയില് Join The DRM Elimination Crew Now! http://fci.wikia.com/wiki/Anti-DRM-Campaign

1 0

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

Fsf-friends July 2007