http://rahulsundaram.livejournal.com/11995.html
"Smolt is the opt-in hardware profiler for Fedora and while the
initial focus was on Fedora, Smolt is derived from RHN client tools
and is based on HAL and has always been portable to other Linux
distributions and possibly other operating systems which HAL has been
ported to like FreeBSD or Solaris. The idea as Max Spevack has hinted
before is to have a neutral central website to gather metrics on Linux
usage. There are many other advantages. We could understand some
patterns and gain insight into how Linux systems are being used and
prioritize testing and focus development. We could talk to hardware
vendors and gain more support. A shared and coordinated effort between
Linux distributions and other operating systems would have enormous
benefits for both developers and end users."
Cheers,
Debarshi
--
GPG key ID: 63D4A5A7
Key server: pgp.mit.edu
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Nagarjuna G. <nagarjun(a)gnowledge.org>
Date: Jul 17, 2007 9:46 PM
Subject: Fwd: The Inquirer: Microsoft twists and turns over ODF
To: Jaijit Bhattacharya <Jaijit.Bhattacharya(a)sun.com>, Venkatesh
Hariharan <venky(a)redhat.com>, Ashish Gautam <agautam(a)in.ibm.com>
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Georg C. F. Greve <greve(a)fsfeurope.org>
Date: Jul 17, 2007 12:27 PM
Subject: The Inquirer: Microsoft twists and turns over ODF
To: greve(a)fsfeurope.org
FYI.
The Inquirer picked up on the Conversion Hoax.
My reaction to this is online at
http://www.fsfe.org/fellows/greve/freedom_bits/the_inquirer_on_ms_ooxml_and…
[ http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=41055 ]
Microsoft twists and turns over ODF
Comment Claims ODF is a monopoly
By Nick Farrell: Tuesday 17 July 2007, 15:49
VOLE WATCHERS might be curious about the clever backflips the
creature has been performing over the last few weeks over the
OpenDocument Format.
In its latest manoeuvre, it has offered the claw of friendship saying
that it would back ratification of its own Open XML format along with
(ODF) as ISO standards. However, the policy document penned by Volish
general managers Tom Robertson and Jean Paoli said Microsoft will
only give its blessing if ODF promotes choice among the world's
consumers.
Yep, Vole is claiming it is a poor struggling company being stomped
on by these nasty open saucers who hold a monopoly and are trying to
squeeze it out of the market. Microsoft knows a lot about playing
monopoly and realises it is more than just getting a hotel on Park
Lane that wins you the game. But you need to have some serious
psychological projection problems to think that the ODF could kill
off Vole's lucrative Office product.
By casting itself as 'open' and the 'opensource ODF format' turns the
tables on its own image. The question is that it has about as much
chance of pulling of a stunt like that as Boris "computer games rot
your brains" Johnson has of getting through the London Mayoral
elections without putting his foot in his mouth at least twice.
Robertson and Paoli say that ODF's design is attractive to those
users that are interested in a "particular level" of functionality.
However the Volish "Open XML may be more attractive to those who want
richer functionality, the ability to integrate business data into
their documents by defining their own document schema, or a format
that was designed to be backwards compatible with existing
documents."
Although this sounds like our Voles are claiming that Open XML is
better but you need a bid of trash out there to show how good it is,
they deny this. They say it just that the two products meet different
needs.
Just in case you were confused, they tell us it is how some people
wanting to travel will drive and others will fly. It does not say
which they think is the format which is crawling in traffic and which
does the soaring, but we think we can guess. This month Microsoft has
been trying to show how friendly it is to the ODF by instructing its
new Linux chums Novell, Xandros, Linspire and Turbolinuxto come up
with some conversion software between OpenXML and the ODF.
The problem is that if Robertson and Paoli's early claim is correct
would be theoretically impossible to convert a plane into a car? If
Open XML is so complex it would be a bugger to convert into something
as simple as ODF. Unless they have got it all wrong of course.
More here.
http://fsfeurope.org/documents/msooxml-questions
--
Georg C. F. Greve <greve(a)fsfeurope.org>
Free Software Foundation Europe (http://fsfeurope.org)
Join the Fellowship and protect your freedom! (http://www.fsfe.org)
What everyone should know about DRM (http://DRM.info)
--
Nagarjuna G.
http://www.gnowledge.org/http://www.hbcse.tifr.res.in/Data/Objects/n/nagarjun/viewObject
--
Nagarjuna G.
http://www.gnowledge.org/http://www.hbcse.tifr.res.in/Data/Objects/n/nagarjun/viewObject
The converter hoax
Instead Microsoft focusses on MS-OOXML, which it promotes on the
grounds of technical superiority and wider range of features. But if
Microsoft's claims to technical superiority of MS-OOXML over ODF are
true, how could one ever be converted perfectly into the other?
Microsoft maintains that while it would have been easy to support the
Open Document Format (ODF) natively, it had to move to MS-OOXML
because this was the only way for them to offer the full features of
its office suite. But if Microsoft itself is not able to represent
its internal data structures in the Open Document Format (ODF) in its
Microsoft Office suite, how could an external conversion program from
MS-OOXML accomplish this task?
The answer to both questions is that it is not possible because two
things cannot be the same and different at the same time.
Read More At http://www.heise.de/open/artikel/92735
--
Anivar Aravind
moving Republic
Peringavu.P.O
Thrissur-18
Kerala
http://anivar.movingrepublic.org/about
Hello,
I thought that I'd put forward some of the important points I've been going
through on the issue.
The Kothari commission of 1964 correctly elucidates the basic objectives and
functions of universities and their role in national life: "A university
stands for humanism, for tolerance, for reason, for the adventure of ideas
and for the search of truth. It stands for the onward march of the human
race towards even higher objectives. If the universities discharge their
duties adequately, then it is well with the nation and the people... Their
principal object is to deepen man's understanding of the universe and
himself - in body mind and spirit, to disseminate this understanding
throughout society and to apply it in the service of mankind... They are the
dwelling places of ideas and idealism, and expect high standards of conduct
and integrity from all the members.. Theirs is the pursuit of truth and
excellence in all its diversity"
-----
The Dr. S Radhakrishnan Commission suggested that the Govt. spending on
education (Immediately after Independence) should be as follows:
6% of GDP, 10% of Central budget. Additional we need around 30% of State
budget.
-----
"The public spending - Central and State - on higher education has indeed
been low, amounting to less than half a per cent of GDP over the last two
decades, even though the Govt. itself targets a spending rate of 1.5% of
GDP."
"Normally, obtaining and adopting the nomenclature "university" in India has
its regulatory implications. Section 2(f) of the UGC Act, 1956, defines a
University to mean an institution established or incorporated by or under a
Central Act, a Provincial Act or a State Act. Going by this section, for an
institution to identify itself as a university in India, it would have to be
set up by a Central or provincial legislative Act."
"There is one other route to university status. based on the recommendations
of the Radhakrishna Commission a provision was included under section 3 in
the UGC Act that institutions which have a distinct character of their own
could be deemed to be a university and enjoy the concomitant privileges
without losing their distinctive character."
......
"While foreign providers can use these routes to obtain university status,
there are two implications they would have to take into account. First,
since a university has either to be established by an Act or be deemed to be
an university by th University Grants Commission, they would be subject to
the regulatory system for formal "universities" as it evolves through the
interventions by the executive and the judiciary. There cannot be a
framework that applies to foreign universities which is any less regulatory
or more open than what applies to domestic private universities."
"This environment may undermine the fundamental objective driving foreign
entry... In their search for profit and repatriation, they are bound to make
a case under the ongoing GATS negotiation... "
--C.P . Chandrashekar,"A foreign hand"
-----
Socio-cultural implications
The report of the 'Policy Perspective Seminar On Internationalisation Of
Higher Education And Operation Of Foreign Universities In India' states:
"Though this idea sounds well and high, but in practice it might as well
result in selected flow of information/knowledge and skills from one set of
countries to another set of countries in one direction whether in single or
multi-disciplines subjects. If this happens then it might as well result in
draining of resources of receiving country as well as strong cultural and
political influences by one set of countries on other set of countries."
-----
There is a bit on conditions for entry and functioning but more on that
later.
Regards
Vincent
Dear friends,
I proposed a symposium on copyleft revolution to this conference to be
held in Mumbai at TISS from 3rd till 7th of Dec 2007.
http://www.5thiccg.org/
Those of you want to speak in the symposium, please submit your
proposals before the end of 20th August 2007. The shape of the
session will be confirmed by 3rd of September 2007. The symposium
will accommodate about five speakers on the panel, and the total
duration including at least half-an-hour discussion will be about 2
hours.
Copyleft Revolution
In the last thirty years the role and significance of Information and
Communication Technology have grown significantly, reconfiguring the
spatial logic of modern society. However, it has not remained an
equally accessed base and gone under the control of a few global
corporations that are investing billions of dollars for its
modernisation, impacting the process of knowledge construction and
dissemination for a small section of the society and thereby
transforming other fields of human creativity. As a response to the
above hegemonistic framework, a parallel cultural and political
movement is under way that is growing at an unprecedented pace and
influencing the way how science, software and other kinds of symbolic
forms are created, published and distributed. Popularly known as the
Copyleft culture, it is essentially a Free Software Movement that took
off by an innovative use of the existing copyright and by publishing
software under a copyleft license. This license is meant to give four
fundamental rights to the user of the software published under the
copyleft license: to use it for any purpose, to understand how it
works, to make modifications, and to distribute the modifications.
One of the major outcomes of this revolution is the GNU/Linux
operating system (popularly known by its misnomer, Linux). The
copyleft movement is currently transforming other fields of human
creativity as well---science, poetry, music, cinema and other symbolic
forms. Of these, the most popular success story is Wikipedia.org, the
largest multilingual encyclopedia of the world. There are other, not
yet fully fructified, movements such as public library of science,
open access, creative commons, open music, etc.
The proposed session aims at generating awareness about the Copyleft
movement in general, and discussing its relation to science and
education in particular. While challenging the patent and other
similar systems, it also intends to deliberate on a new model of
development of ICT, centered around collaboration and sharing among
different communities.
Contact address : Nagarjuna G, Homi Bhabha Centre for Science
Education Mumbai, India, nagarjun(a)gnowledge.org
--
Nagarjuna G.
Hello,
Is this a sign that the Free Software Movement is growing in Bangalore???
I think that we need to seriously reassess our Movement and work to build it
further and faster. Bangalore has a *huge* potential to build the Movement
and it only needs us to put in our 2 drops of sweat.
"BANGALORE: Microsoft Corporation has chosen Bangalore for its first-ever
exclusive and independent educational venture in the world. The company will
set up a university in the city to impart high-end computer education. The
university may well be India's first run by a multinational company."
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2196363.cms
Continuing I have some observations on the issue.
With education becoming a multi-billion dollar industry and India
occupying a huge part of that pie the proposed entry of a "University of
Microsoft" assumes a huge significance particularly since the effects of
rampant commercialisation of education is becoming more and more obvious.
So how is this argument significant on a Free Software list?
Well, while the Supreme Court declared that the 112 private universities set
up under the Chattisgarh Private Universities Act were illegal, this was
only on technical grounds. It was on the grounds that the UGC was not
consulted, nor were the guidelines to set up a Pvt University followed.
However, we are witnessing efforts by the Govt. to remove these hurdles and
allow FDI(foreign direct investment) in education.
Now personally I have experienced the effects of commercialisation of
education with my college where I started my Engineering studies being
forced to close shop due to the lack of basic facilities. While a
"University of Microsoft" may provide ideal conditions for "education" it
will set a precedent for other fly-by-night operators to come here and set
shop.
The Kothari commission of 1964 correctly elucidates the basic objectives and
functions of universities and their role in national life: "A university
stands for humanism, for tolerance, for reason, for the adventure of ideas
and for the search of truth. It stands for the onward march of the human
race towards even higher objectives. If the universities discharge their
duties adequately, then it is well with the nation and the people... Their
principal object is to deepen man's understanding of the universe and
himself - in body mind and spirit, to disseminate this understanding
throughout society and to apply it in the service of mankind... They are the
dwelling places of ideas and idealism, and expect high standards of conduct
and integrity from all the members.. Theirs is the pursuit of truth and
excellence in all its diversity"
Now IMHO this captures the essence of the "University of Free Software".
The FSF needs to act immediately and come out a detailed stand on the issue.
Perhaps the FSF-I leadership could throw more light on the issue.
--
Regards
Vikram Vincent
+919448810822
Project Engineer,
NRCFOSS, AU-KBC
http://groups.google.com/group/bangalore_alive/http://fci.wikia.com/wiki/Campaign_to_promote_free_software_in_karnataka
FYI
FOSS4G
http://www.foss4g2007.org/
The annual Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial (FOSS4G) conference
brings together the people who create, use, and support open spatial
software. No other event brings together members of the open source
development, open data creation, and open standards promotion communities
like FOSS4G. Find out more <http://www.foss4g2007.org/about_foss4g/> about
FOSS4G.
Best
A. Mani
--
A. Mani
Member, Cal. Math. Soc
I installed Debian version: 4.0 Etch on a Dell inspiron 6000 laptop. The
touch pad response is very slow and it is almost impossible to work with the
touch pad. USB mouse works fine. Can someone help?
thanks,
ashish
--
Last ball.
3 runs to win.
What a shot!
They are running...
One...four! India!!
oneforindia.org