October 2008 - Fsf-friends

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: \_/ \_/ "-"

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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.

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Re: [Fsf-friends] Fsf-friends Digest, Vol 13, Issue 15
by Anoop Krishnan G 30 Oct '08

30 Oct '08

This must be a topic of Discussion as the world is moving so fast than v think ________________________________ From: "fsf-friends-request(a)mm.gnu.org.in" <fsf-friends-request(a)mm.gnu.org.in> To: fsf-friends(a)mm.gnu.org.in Sent: Tuesday, 28 October, 2008 11:30:01 PM Subject: Fsf-friends Digest, Vol 13, Issue 15 Send Fsf-friends mailing list submissions to fsf-friends(a)mm.gnu.org.in To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://mm.gnu.org.in/mailman/listinfo/fsf-friends or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to fsf-friends-request(a)mm.gnu.org.in You can reach the person managing the list at fsf-friends-owner(a)mm.gnu.org.in When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Fsf-friends digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Re: LINUX II (Linux Kernel having Microkernel Architecture) (Raj Mathur) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2008 10:51:36 +0530 From: Raj Mathur <raju(a)linux-delhi.org> Subject: Re: [Fsf-friends] LINUX II (Linux Kernel having Microkernel Architecture) To: fsf-friends(a)mm.gnu.org.in Message-ID: <200810291051.36189.raju(a)linux-delhi.org> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" On Wednesday 29 Oct 2008, Anoop Krishnan G wrote: > Now its time for another revolution inside LINUX ..... lets call it > LINUX-II ..... The monolithic architecture had become age old now its > need a change , we can start this change before the COPYRIGHT people > starts this revolution , the COPYRIGHT people had already set for it Umm, Linux and all GNU programs are already copyrighted! > .... so lets begin this revolution ...... "A LINUX WITH MICROKERNEL > ARCHITECTURE" .............. lets celebrate freedom in a new domain of Isn't that what Hurd is supposed to achieve? Anyway, there are arguments both for and against the microkernel architecture, so why don't we first debate whether that architecture is actually a major step forward or not? In the immortal words of some anonymous genius: If it ain't broke don't fix it :) Regards, -- Raju -- Raj Mathur raju(a)kandalaya.org http://kandalaya.org/ GPG: 78D4 FC67 367F 40E2 0DD5 0FEF C968 D0EF CC68 D17F PsyTrance & Chill: http://schizoid.in/ || It is the mind that moves ------------------------------ _______________________________________________ Fsf-friends mailing list Fsf-friends(a)mm.gnu.org.in http://mm.gnu.org.in/mailman/listinfo/fsf-friends End of Fsf-friends Digest, Vol 13, Issue 15 ******************************************* Add more friends to your messenger and enjoy! Go to http://messenger.yahoo.com/invite/

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Free Software and School Education
by Arun M 30 Oct '08

30 Oct '08

Dear Friends, In order to strengthen our campaigns to migrate schools in India to free software we must understand current situation. This mail is a request for volunteers from around the country to document current situation. We need to collect information from every state and document it is a public wiki. I suggest following format for collection of data. Feel free to modify. 1. State Name 2. Organisation setting the curriculum 3. Contact Details 4. Website 5. Curriculum details 5.a. Does curriculum includes IT/CS - Yes/No 5.b. Is IT/CS a compulsory subject - Yes/No 5.c. Does the curriculum specify any particular software - 5.d Is IT/CS an optional subject ? - Yes/No 6. IT/CS Syllabus 6.a. Does the syllabus specify software - Yes/No 6.b. Is it based on - Free Software/Proprietary Software/Both/ 7. Other information 7.a. Is there an external agency for IT training - Yes/No 7.b. Is there any training being provided to teachers - regards arun

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LINUX II (Linux Kernel having Microkernel Architecture)
by Anoop Krishnan G 29 Oct '08

29 Oct '08

Greetings to all freedom lovers !!! 10000 years ago man was not like this as he is now , a revolution had taken around him and in him , he had evolved these years ........... Now its time for another revolution inside LINUX ..... lets call it LINUX-II ..... The monolithic architecture had become age old now its need a change , we can start this change before the COPYRIGHT people starts this revolution , the COPYRIGHT people had already set for it .... so lets begin this revolution ...... "A LINUX WITH MICROKERNEL ARCHITECTURE" ............. lets celebrate freedom in a new domain of LINUX ..... Freedom lovers who is interested in this idea kindly contribute the vision ideas etc in my blog : http://anoopkrishnang.blogspot.com or feel free to contact me at anoopkrishnang(a)yahoo.in Greetings.............. Anoop Krishnan G ________________________________ Add more friends to your messenger and enjoy! Invite them now. Connect with friends all over the world. Get Yahoo! India Messenger at http://in.messenger.yahoo.com/?wm=n/

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"intellectual Property Rights" Centre to come in kerala!!
by mail＠swathanthran.in 28 Oct '08

28 Oct '08

Hi all, I just saw this http://www.thehindu.com/edu/2008/10/27/stories/2008102750630200.htm report about the kerala state government about to include mirages in Student syllabi. “The state will initially start five or six centres of excellence to provide degree-level classes to students in all five universities, and faculty will be provided in the universities and its affiliated institutions over a period of time,” said a senior official in the state education ministry who declined to be named because he is not authorised to speak to the media. snip... “The Kerala government’s move to include IPR in general education will also help overcome the severe shortage of professionals in the field of intellectual property rights and related areas in the country,” says R.S. Praveen Raj, a scientist at the Intellectual Property Management and Technology Transfer office, National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology, who played a key role in drafting the state policy. says, http://www.livemint.com/2008/08/26232915/Kerala-to-introduce-intellectu.htm… If the country need law experts, they should teach them law in its full vastness and details not some vague bush which is particularly designed to lead the reader to the wrong place as we all know. I think atleast the syllabii should clearly explain the difference in opinion against term and the parallel uprisings which clearly says about the absurdity of the term and concept. Students should not be moulded exclusively with the theories made by some established bad agendas... Its interesting to note, as we saw long before, the policy of the state about the same subject, points in a good direction as it comes in the knowledge commons way,i.e in between public domain and privatisation... http://www.kshec.kerala.gov.in/responses/resp_praveen.htm That link have the syllabus which i think atleast is to be edited to include the other side of the matter too.. Regards Shyam K

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Re: [Fsf-friends] [FSUG-Bangalore] Fwd: Indian political party turns to FOSS
by James Mathew 24 Oct '08

24 Oct '08

On Fri, Oct 24, 2008 at 6:49 AM, Aswin M. Sahadevan <aswinms(a)gmail.com> wrote: > >> Adopting Free software is certainly a good step for a political party. >> We need to hail BJP for this decision. >> > IMO, we must hail BJP but we should hail them as just another bunch of > users but not give them cult status. It should just be looked at as some > more users adopting free software and not as a political party. I mean, > we shouldn't be endorsing BJP at the end of the day. This is not the first time that a party has thrown its weight behind Free Software. (http://www.cxotoday.com/India/Interview/We_advocate_usage_of_free_software_…). James -- HASTA LA VICTORIA SIEMPRE!

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EU Report
by Mani A 23 Oct '08

23 Oct '08

A study on corruption in software procurement in EU See http://www.linux-magazine.com/online/news/eu_commission_open_bids_favor_pro… Best A. Mani -- A. Mani Member, Cal. Math. Soc

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Indian political party turns to FOSS
by Arun M 23 Oct '08

23 Oct '08

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is India's largest political party, with around 20 million Ordinary Members and about 4 million Active Members. In June, BJP announced its goal to become one of the most high-tech political parties in the next two years, and free and open source software (FOSS) will play an essential role in this project. http://www.linux.com/feature/150549

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National Conference on Free Software
by Mani A 22 Oct '08

22 Oct '08

NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON FREE SOFTWARE CUSAT CAMPUS, KOCHI UNIVERSITY PO, KOCHI-682022 —————————————————————————————————————————- A National Conference on FREE SOFTWARE is being held on the 15th & 16th of November, 2008 at the campus of Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kochi. The 2007 Conference was held in Hyderabad Say Yes to IT Information Technology (IT) has revolutionised the way people communicate and enterprises run their business. Internet has provided yet another space, the cyber space, facilitating people round the globe to organise themselves in newer forms. There is no debate that our country, its people and institutions need this technology for its progress. Understand Software Software is an important component of an IT application, if not the most important. Software remained in the public domain till nineteen eighties. In the eighties, it was taken over by business interests and is now a private property with Intellectual Property Right (IPR) restrictions. The impact of patents and copyrights which are various forms of IPR are basically two fold. On the one hand it has restricted the transfer and growth of knowledge in society through monopolisation, while on the other hand it has resulted in the siphoning of wealth from the brick and mortar economy to the cyber economy at alarming proportions. Free Software Movement The software professionals all over the world responded to this monopolisation by launching the FREE SOFTWARE movement and by legitimating General Public License (GPL) laws. The word Free relates to FREEDOM IN SOFTWARE. Software developed and distributed as per GPL laws ensures freedom to use, learn, modify, copy and distribute. Software development became a community effort. Individuals, social institutions and commercial enterprises are contributing to this effort. It has been an eventful journey for the FREE SOFTWARE movement, a tough one driven by self belief. What was perceived as an egalitarian and romantic concept slowly snowballed into a reality as GNU/LINUX took over the major space in the Information Technology Infrastructure domain in the global arena. Questions of user-friendliness were raised when it came to Application domain. The software professionals in Kerala have collaborated well with the global community to overcome these challenges. Respond to the Political Will What remained was the confidence of the political community and the administrators. The State Government of Kerala broke the ice with a visionary IT Policy which advocates the use of Free Software in Government offices and undertakings. As we turn into a user of IT it is necessary that we are not hijacked of our infrastructure and knowledge. FREE SOFTWARE embodies our freedom and self-reliance. Now the challenge is how quick and best the society imbibes and embraces this movement. We need to put in place the Human Resource and Delivery Channels. Conference Overview The Conference will be a milestone in the history of the Free Software movement in India. The event will comprise of * INAUGURAL & PLENARY SESSIONS * SEMINARS * OPEN FORUMS * WORKSHOPS * DEMONSTRATION OF PRODUCTS & TOOLS * EXHIBITIONS * SOUVENIR PUBLICATION * CULTURAL PROGRAMMES The Conference will be inaugurated by the Honorable Chief Minister of Kerala, Sri V.S. Achuthanandan and will be blessed by leaders of the Legislative Assembly and State and Central Ministers. The Conference will hear nearly 150 experts from the social, technological, industrial and educational domain. The Conference will debate nearly 50 topics of relevance. Activists working in free software and other philosophically related domains will deliberate in Open forums. Developers, Service providers & Users will demonstrate products and services. Educational Institutions will participate in exhibitions and contests. Souvenir will be a treasure in the archives. Cultural programmes will show case Kerala's rich heritage to delegates from outside Kerala. Nearly 1500 persons will participate in the 2 day deliberations. General public participation is expected to be close to 3000. The Organisers The dynamics of Free Software is multi-fold. It is academic, commercial, social and policy driven. The Conference will do justice to each of these streams as the Organisers of the Conference represent each of these streams. The prime organiser of the Conference is Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) which is the only University in the State dedicated to Science & Technology in toto. Open Software Solutions Industrial Co-operative Society Ltd owns one of the largest client base in Kerala in the Free Software sector. Appropriate Technology Promotion Society is a social organisation registered under Charitable Societies Act which has been functioning for the demystification of IT through publications and workshops. IT@School personifies a committed State policy and has drawn wide appreciation world wide for use of Free Software in education. There is an organising committee which is a broader platform of individuals representing all walks of life. The committee is blessed with the presence of Retired Justice Sri V.R. Krishnaiyer as the Chief Patron. Sri Dinesh Mani, MLA is the Chairman and Sri Joy Job Kulaveli, Syndicate member, CUSAT is the General Convenor. The Conference will be a preparatory ground towards establishing a Centre of Excellence in Free Software in Kochi. Join the Movement The Conference assures you a 2 day extravaganza of knowledge, partnership and motivation. Be a part of it. More at http://nfm2008.atps.in/ ---------------------------------------------------------- Best A. Mani -- A. Mani Member, Cal. Math. Soc

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Kerala woos IT sector investors
by CK Raju 20 Oct '08

20 Oct '08

"Dubai, Oct 20 (IANS) Even as the world is grappling with a financial crisis, Kerala has opened up investment in its IT industry with the target of generating over 200,000 jobs in the next five years. 'In these tumultuous times, there is a chance for smaller players to go up and we want to move up to the leader's spot,' Ajay Kumar, Kerala information technology secretary, told IANS during a visit here. Kumar is leading a high level delegation from Kerala at the ongoing Gitex 2008 show here, which is the Middle East's largest technology fair, to promote the south Indian state as an IT hub among prospective investors here..." Story at http://in.news.yahoo.com/43/20081020/860/ttc-kerala-woos-it-sector-investor… CK Raju ------------ The fun never stops .....

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IT/ITES SEZs now a nightmare for investors
by CK Raju 20 Oct '08

20 Oct '08

Existence of financial black-hole now confirmed, the discipline that preached greed is now bent upon tasting the blood of its disciples - practising the philosophy itself. Most of those who invested in SEZs , particularly the IT/ITES ones are well-poised to lose their deposits - not to mention about the plight of those who took bigger risks off the Stock Markets. The giant Titanic is sinking ... Economic theories are now failing the discipline ... what a way to go !! Smart City would be smarter for the ones who preferred to be out of it. All other who burnt their fingers, can at least take solace that through their sacrifice, they were able to prevent others. My worry is this should be an occasion for the left parties to rejoice on the streets - no one's to be seen; where are they ... Were they capitalists wearing lamb's garbs ... Free Software communities will continue to focus on people, overriding corporates - why do we need them, when we can deliver it ourselves ... Cheers, lets continue the celebrations .... with more freedom walks, freedom races, freedom parties .... CK Raju

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Re: [Fsf-friends] [Fsf-kerala] IT/ITES SEZs now a nightmare for investors
by CK Raju 20 Oct '08

20 Oct '08

On Mon, Oct 20, 2008 at 10:18 AM, Anoop Ambika <anoop(a)kreara.com> wrote: > sense. This time through the slogan should be "produce what the majority > wants as opposed to produce what the rich minority wants" Suggesting a minor amendment. - not 'wants' but 'needs'. There's a subtle difference between the terms. CK Raju

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Schools in Andhra Pradesh to go Microsoft way...
by CK Raju 15 Oct '08

15 Oct '08

".. An NComputing system works on a shared basis wherein each student's monitor, keyboard and mouse are connected to a shared PC through a small NComputing access device. The device will help the school cut electricity costs as it uses one watt of electricity, which is very low compared to a normal PC, informed Chairman and CEO of NComputing, Stephen Dukker. The systems will have Microsoft Windows Server operating system and Microsoft Office Suite for students to learn in addition to acquiring computer skills and learning subjects such as maths, said Chairman and Corporate Vice- President of Microsoft India Ravi Venkatesan..." http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/14/stories/2008101458480300.htm -------------- Somebody said Free Software Movement is active in Andhra Pradesh... CK Raju

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Working with IOTA, ILUG-Cal.ORG delivers FOSS-based Desktop Computing training to high school teachers
by Indranil Das Gupta 09 Oct '08

09 Oct '08

Dear all, Last year, we - the Indian GNU/Linux Users' Group - Kolkata Chapter, had conducted the highly successful [1] 2-month long weekend program on GCC programming workshops and tutorials at the Rajabazar Science College[2], University of Calcutta. Recently there was a call for support and collaboration from the Institute of Open Technology and Applications (IOTA), an autonomous society that has been recently set up under the aegis of Dept of Information Technology, Govt of West Bengal. IOTA's mandate, afaik, is to identify cases and espouse the use and adoption of FOSS in the state of West Bengal. Towards that end, training in FOSS based technologies of high school teachers across the state, has been identified by the society as one of the courses for immediate action. Several training programs are in the offing. The teachers' training program at West Bengal State University (WBSUB), Barasat was a part of that. Between 2nd and 4th October, 2008, 51 high school teachers belonging to 42 different schools from across the district of North 24 Parganas [3] attended the workshop. A team of six ILUG-CAL.ORG members gathered in Barasat (North 24 Parganas) from 4 different districts of WB, worked nearly against time to plan, execute and successfully deliver the program, with less that 20 hours of head-start before the event took off. It was the first time that ILUG-CAL has been involved in directly training the high school teachers in using FOSS. For the detailed report and the associated data please go to http://indradg.randomink.org/blog/archives/124 . cheers -indra References: [1] http://list.ilug-cal.org/pipermail/ilug-cal-discuss/2007-June/001363.html [2] http://santanu-sinha.blogspot.com/2007/06/workshop-on-gcc-at-rajabazar-scie… [3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_24_Parganas

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Science progresses only if knowledge is shared - says US dept of energy ( Office of Scientific and Technical Information)
by renuka prasad 09 Oct '08

09 Oct '08

An interesting message --- To make great discoveries, researchers need scientific information, and they need it fast. Through a suite of innovative tools and resources<http://www.osti.gov/collections>, OSTI works to ensure scientists and the American public can readily find and share research so that science can advance. This requires expertise and innovation in both knowledge management and knowledge diffusion, critical components of the nation's science cyberinfrastructure<http://www.osti.gov/innovation/research/cyberinfrastructure> . to read more ---check the link below http://www.osti.gov/innovation/

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A Brief Report on National Public meeting on Software Patents
by Anivar Aravind 08 Oct '08

08 Oct '08

See http://cis-india.org/advocacy/floss/software-patents/blog/the-national-publ… Anivar -- Any responsible politician should be encouraging a home grown Free Software industry because it creates the basis for future jobs. Learning Windows is like learning to eat every meal at McDonalds.

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Microsoft entry through ACM
by CK Raju 07 Oct '08

07 Oct '08

"..Microsoft has signed a licensing agreement with ACM providing all ACM Student Members with access, at no charge, to a variety (~ 100) of software packages through its Microsoft Developer Network Academic Alliance (MSDNAA). The goal of this program is to get these tools into the hands of current students. All active ACM Student Members are eligible to participate in the ACM/MSDNAA Program..." http://www.acm.org/membership/student/msdnaa-faq CK Raju

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Re: [Fsf-friends] International Centre
by shirish 07 Oct '08

07 Oct '08

Hi all, I think Mr. Sreekumar was talking about this . http://english.mathrubhumi.com/news.php?id=4099&cat=1&sub=14&subit=0 Just have to say looking forward for the same :) -- Regards, Shirish Agarwal This email is licensed under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ 065C 6D79 A68C E7EA 52B3 8D70 950D 53FB 729A 8B17

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International Centre
by Sreekumar R 06 Oct '08

06 Oct '08

What more regarding the new "International Centre for Free and Open source software" which I came to know from todays news paper.sreekumar

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(R)e-Governance in Kochi Corporation !!
by CK Raju 06 Oct '08

06 Oct '08

"...The capital and initial costs, including those for hardware with software system cost, application software, creation of web portal, data digitisation and training and capacity building of personnel for the first two years of the commission, will be available from the Central government. The cost of the land and building, site preparation, civil infrastructure, employee cost, power and communication cost shall be borne by the State government or the urban local body. Wipro, one of the IT majors, is in the process of preparation of the detailed project report for the e-governance programme for Kochi. The agency is expected to complete the work within two months, Ms. Antony said. The Kochi Corporation had earlier made some attempts to computerise the office with the support of the Information Kerala Mission. A portion of the data in the possession of the Corporation was converted into electronic format earlier. .." Full story at http://www.thehindu.com/pp/2008/10/04/stories/2008100450510100.htm --------------- Are our activists in government aware of this new development ? Why aren't the platforms, mode of storage of public information, types of standards being deployed not mentioned here ? Is it another Microsoft back-door ? CK Raju

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Software Patenting
by Praveen A 06 Oct '08

06 Oct '08

"If formulaic Hindi films were protected by patent laws, we would be able to make only one film," joked Abraham. The system of software patenting wipes out smaller businesses and innovation, he said. "Software, like poetry and literary works, is already protected by copyright. After all, Bill Gates made his fortunes from copyright and not patents. But many software companies are trying to get additional protection." Copyright and patents are both part of intellectual property rights, but copyright restricts the expression of an idea while patents restrict the idea itself, according to Abraham. Under a patenting regime, even before a kid writes one line of code he has to read many patents." Full Coverage http://www.timeoutbengaluru.com/aroundtown/aroundtown_feature_details.asp?c… Another story by Hindu http://www.hindu.com/2008/10/05/stories/2008100559810400.htm Vote for it at FS Daily http://www.fsdaily.com/Legal/Software_patenting_will_harm_industry_consumer -- പ്രവീണ്‍ അരിമ്പ്രത്തൊടിയില്‍ <GPLv2> I know my rights; I want my phone call! <DRM> What use is a phone call, if you are unable to speak? (as seen on /.) Join The DRM Elimination Crew Now! http://fci.wikia.com/wiki/Anti-DRM-Campaign

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Software freedom? Why? (Derek Cordeiro's blog)
by Frederick Noronha [फ़र ेदरिक नोर ोनया] 04 Oct '08

04 Oct '08

01 October 2008 Software Freedom<http://www.derekcordeiro.com/2008/10/software-freedom.html> Software Freedom day is celebrated worldwide on the 3rd Saturday of September 1 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software%20Freedom%20Day>. But in Goa, it was celebrated at BITS Pilani, Goa Campus<http://www.bits-goa.ac.in/>on the 27th(or was it a 2 day event?). I have heard people define Free/Open Source Software time and again. There are endless discussions about which Open Source license is the best. One thing that should be known to all: Open Source Software is here to stay. Open Source even mentioned in textbooks e.g. Software Engineering books like Object-Oriented and Classical Software Engineering by Steven Schach. But what is the easiest way to adopt Free Software on your Desktop PC? If you already use GNU/Linux or *BSD or Solaris, you already have a whole lot of free software already installed. You probably have very little non-free software. The only thing you can do to contribute is to help others(could be help new users, or help developers, etc). If you use Microsoft Windows or Mac, follow some easy steps. Use Free Software as much as possible. 1. Firefox <http://getfirefox.com/> /Chrome/Flock <http://flock.com/> for browsing. 2. OpenOffice <http://openoffice.org/> for good quality formatted text documents/spreadsheets/presentations.(at the time of writing, OpenOffice 3.0 RC3 is available) extra: Check out the openoffice extensions like the template packs I and II 3. Pidgin <http://pidgin.im/> for Instant Messaging. 4. Thunderbird <http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/thunderbird/> for email. 5. Free Developer tools like Eclipse <http://eclipse.org/> , Netbeans<http://netbeans.org/>together with MinGW <http://www.mingw.org/> /MSYS <http://www.mingw.org/wiki/msys> and free libraries like wxWidgets <http://wxwidgets.org/> (If you know MFC, it is an excellent choice). 6. Java <http://java.sun.com/> is mostly Free software, use it. The most important thing though is not to discourage others from using it.(This goes out especially to fanboys who are pretty narrow minded). Sometimes I've heard people say that Linux sucks. I cannot disagree or agree -- Linux is far from perfect, but nothing really is perfect.(The same people say that Vista is awesome--I think Microsoft will not completely agree with that). Buzz up!<http://buzz.yahoo.com/article/pub/http%253A%252F%252Fwww.derekcordeiro.com%…> ShareThis <http://www.derekcordeiro.com/#> Posted by Derek J C at 3:15:00 PM<http://www.derekcordeiro.com/2008/10/software-freedom.html> in freedom <http://www.derekcordeiro.com/search/label/freedom> 2 comments<http://www.derekcordeiro.com/2008/10/software-freedom.html#comment-form> <http://www.blogger.com/email-post.g?blogID=2174257787047055345&postID=25716…> http://www.derekcordeiro.com -- FN * Independent Journalist http://fn.goa-india.org Blog: http://fredericknoronha.wordpress.com Tech links from South Asia: http://twitter.com/fn M: +91-9822122436 P: +91-832-2409490

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Freedom Walk started - Walking the Walk
by Praveen A 04 Oct '08

04 Oct '08

Hi, Freedom Walk organised by Zyxware and many Free Software communities have started on October 2nd as planned. I request everyone to try find some time to join this or at least talk about it with your friends and write about it if you maintain a blog. You can keep yourself updated with the latest happenings at http://www.freedomwalk.in/ Some photos of the walk started appearing on the website http://www.freedomwalk.in/content/17/freedom-walk-day-0-photos-departure-at… http://www.freedomwalk.in/content/15/freedom-walk-day-1-photos http://www.freedomwalk.in/content/16/freedom-walk-day-2-photos Cheers Praveen -- പ്രവീണ്‍ അരിമ്പ്രത്തൊടിയില്‍ <GPLv2> I know my rights; I want my phone call! <DRM> What use is a phone call, if you are unable to speak? (as seen on /.) Join The DRM Elimination Crew Now! http://fci.wikia.com/wiki/Anti-DRM-Campaign

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Part 2 of the GNU/Linux primer
by shirish 02 Oct '08

02 Oct '08

Hi all, One of the comments fuelled a part 2 of the GNU/Linux primer. http://flossexperiences.wordpress.com/2008/10/02/gnulinux-primer-2/ Some caution though, I had played with few themes before settling on this one, what do you think? Some more changes in the coming week or two are expected. Feedback, suggestions and flames all invited and encouraged. :) -- Regards, Shirish Agarwal This email is licensed under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ 065C 6D79 A68C E7EA 52B3 8D70 950D 53FB 729A 8B17

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Fsf-friends October 2008