Fsf-friends January 2009

fsf-friends@gnu.org.in

37 participants
42 discussions

Free Software a Social Movement yet ???
by Nidhin Sasi 10 Jan '09

10 Jan '09

With respect to Anivar's below mail : "*Free Software movement is a Social Movement. If some states realised* *the arguments raised by a movement it is the victory of the Movement.* *You and me are part of that. You can Find various examples of Free* *Software & Open standards adoption in Central Govt Policies, 11th 5* *year Plan, Knowledge Commission Report etc. On non-left ruled states,* *Tamil Nadu did some positive steps on Free Software adoption due to* *ELCOTs intervention. You can find similar examples from Other states."* * ** * *I did a study about Free Software in Public Enterprises of Kerala for* *SPACE in 2005 October & November (Before Left Govt coming to power) .* *It clearly shows more than 95% of successful e-governance projects are* *on Free Software Platform . Most of them were not political decision* *and silent adoption by the developers (Report is available at* *http://space-kerala.org/downloads/foss.pdf )* * * *And Left's adoption of Free Software Policy in Kerala is also a* *logical follow up of various actions & discussions initiated by Free* *Software Activists. Even the decision to adopt Free Software in* *IT at School <http://mm.gnu.org.in/mailman/listinfo/fsf-friends> was decided in an SCERT meeting (with the support of 85% of* *teachers) much before 2006 elections. But the govt came after* *election got the political advantage of this decision. and we are very* *happy about that because they are also helping FS movement by adopting* *new policies .* * * *But when people are pushing Bush's binary logic of "Either you are* *with us or You are against us" (only-cpim positions and branding* *everything else as Anti-CPIM) we have to remind history*." Free Software has been mentioned here as a Social Movement citing the instances and its effect from Bottom rather than from Top. I am a newbie and don't know much about the history of Freesoftware Movement in India and so have my own indifferences or doubts regarding the above mentioned point, hence kindly correct my doubts or misunderstandings. As far as my understanding, Social Movement is taking the ideology to different classes of people and involving them too in the movement. Kerala is in the forefront of the promotion of Free Software from among the different states but still most of the students passing out from the Engineering colleges & Diploma schools are unaware about the so called Social Movement or the ideas they are promoting. Obviously they have vague idea about Free Software which many consider is the same as Open source. My question arises here that why the so called Social Movement was not able to create much awareness among the student community in a State which is in the Forefront of promoting Free Software? Why the huge majority of students still unaware of the existence of such a Social Movement? (May be this understanding could be wrong which I made largely from the angle of the students from South Kerala) I can infer 2 reasons for this. – Either the so called Free Software Movement has never been a Social Movement OR there are some serious flaws in the Free Software Movement. (There could be many other reasons also.) As a person new to the movement I can't deal with the second reasoning since that should be dealt by those who were part of the so called Social Movement. Regarding the first point, I would like to provide some thoughts as an engineering student from Kerala who wasn't aware of the Free Software Movement. There was never a technical session or a presentation or a philosophical talk by any of the people associated with the Free Software – Social Movement in my college. Neither did I hear about similar programs in other colleges. There was never any sort of mass campaigning or mobilization efforts I ever saw in my college or heard about in other colleges where I had friends. As I became associated with Free Software Movement I started to understand that the persons who were previously associated with Free Software Movement were mostly those were technically very interested or ideologically very much in synch with Free Software. Such an approach as far as I am concerned could never be called a Social Movement, it could only be called a Group or Forum of similar minded people. Obviously these groups could influence various govt policies due to their efforts but it definitely has its own limitations too. A Govt could not be pressurized to implement the policy unless there is a strong Movement from the bottom or else the Govt should be embodied with the very ideology what the movement from bottom is trying to campaign. Though there have been various discussions going on around, one thing is obvious how the Left govt headed by CPI(M) supported its cause in Kerala and has been in the forefront of promoting and spreading the ideas of Free Software in India. Due to this support by the Govt, many of the students atleast have a vague idea about the concept and about some of its advantages. But still unaware of the "Social Movement" which made the Govt to implement it! How the various fragmented free software groups were able to exert pressure or were in the fore front of such an initiative from the Top is still not clear to me. Also the mass movements in Kerala mainly led by CPI(M) were also supportive as Anivar itself mentioned "85% of teachers (mainly from KSTA)". Hence a blind mentioning of "*Left's adoption of Free Software Policy as a logical follow up*" is but trying to hide the reality. How "Free Software Concept" becomes just one of those in CPI(M)'s policies can be discussed detailed in a separate thread but certainly needs a mentioning here to show how it was not just an automatic adoption by the CPI(M) led govt. It would be better also to think what could have been the success which now the activists are trying to attribute to themselves, had CPI(M) not supported or promoted Free Software (which again is impossible since Free Software is naturally a part of the entire Left politics). If you take the different Mass Movements in Kerala such as students movement, youth movement, teachers movement, science movement etc were in the forefront of organizing people and to create awareness and to fight for various rights and issues concerning the people. These mass movements had a great role in creating the so called "Culture" which someone mentioned was the reason for the spread of Free Software in Kerala. Through Free Software Movement, our priority is not to create only "Users" of Free Software but "Creators" too. An example I can provide of AC3 (Slum Computing Centre in Bangalore). The people who took initiative could have just installed linux in the systems and taught the children basic computer skills. Would that have created them any awareness? But the members went above that and talked to them about Free Software, by involving them in campaignings like that against Microsoft-VTU (in which very few from FSUG, the sole representative of Free Software group in Bangalore participated). Even in this campaign there was very less participation from the members of FSUG whether for the ground level working for the campaigning or atleast their participation for the program. I have seldom seen anyone proposing to conduct classes atleast for those in IT industry and supporting Free Software Movement to make them more capable in the technical part. I have never heard about any such initiatives by anyone even for the employees in Technopark or Info park. Hence both IT employees and Engg/Diploma students are till now not mobilized or atleast reached to create awareness about Free Software. Then how can this be called a Social Movement? For mentioning it as a Social Movement we have to follow the approach of the other Mass Movements and going to as much as communities and sections of people as possible which is certainly lacking in the existing movement according to me. I have heard about the various projects undertaken by the Free Software groups but what I understood was that these projects are focusing more on certain specific areas and might make that particular project very successful or highly qualitative. But what about the quantity? How can we call the movement a Social Movement unless many other sections are still not included in the movement? Coming back to Karnataka, I find the society itself very different from that of Kerala especially on basis of the Social indices. AC3 was just one centre which we were able to know because some of the Free Software activists were also involved. What about numerous other such centres or slum areas? If some NGO is teaching them basic computer skills, those children are growing under restricted freedom in technology. How to reach them without a Social Movement and just through the existing Mail groups? What about the awareness FSUG is able to create among the Engineering/Diploma students & IT workers in Bangalore? Please correct whether my understanding was wrong or whatever I mentioned were not correct, if so kindly correct me. Thanks & Regards Nidhin

3 9

Fwd: [Freed-managers] Talk by RMS: Copyright v/s community in the age of computer networks
by Praveen A 10 Jan '09

10 Jan '09

---------- Forwarded Message ---------- Subject: [Freed-managers] Talk by RMS: Copyright v/s community in the age of computer networks Date: Thursday 18 Dec 2008 From: "Andrew Lynn" <lynn.andrew(a)gmail.com> To: freed-managers(a)lists.linux-delhi.org Welcome to life at 10,000,000,000 bits per second! India is establishing a National Knowledge Network, with a backbone in multiples of Gbps. The initial phase would be implemented in the next few weeks, with JNU being connected at 1Gbps. While the technical details of the project have been put in place, it is of importance to look at content and applications, and the rights behind these. We are honoured that Richard Stallman, of the Free Software Foundation would deliver a talk on "Copyright v/s community in the age of computer networks" at the School of Life Sciences Auditorium, Jawaharlal Nehru University TIme: 6:00 pm Date; Friday, 19th December, 2008 R.S. Mani, a Senior Technical Director with the National Informatics Center would introduce the National Knowledge Network prior to the talk. Regards, Andrew -- 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

2 2

Re: [Fsf-friends] Free Software a Social Movement yet ???
by Anilkumar KV 10 Jan '09

10 Jan '09

2009/1/10 ck raju <ck.thrissur(a)gmail.com> > On Sat, Jan 10, 2009 at 10:39 AM, Anilkumar KV <anilankv(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > Tarnish the image of a partner organisation with baseless allegation will > no > (1) If an organisation can be tarnished with baseless allegation, then > there could be serious problems with the way in which it is organised > or constituted. Here it is the other way around. There is serious problem with one who raises the baseless allegations even in out of context. Tarnishing is not the way of positive criticism. Here those who work around these baseless allegations uses the platform of free software movement, to attempt to prevent the functioning of a larger a organisation for software freedom. These type of act is against the philosophy of freedom we advocate. > > (2) When a people-based organisation makes a section of people whom it > believes are behind this act of tarnishing, its enemy or target - then > also it ceases to be a people-based organisation anymore - because > from that point thereon, it becomes factional - a situation from where > it can no longer see *people* in its entirety. This is also a big > problem if the organisation claims to be a peoples' organisation > standing for ethical causes. Let the people decide which are people-based organisation. Deviating the target of a forum of free software movements to tarnish other organisations out of context is not done with good motive. (3) Lastly, why should you want the organisation which you support to > be accepted always by everyone as *Jesus-like* ? If we roll-back a > little, be a litlle more tolerant to accusations, allegations etc, > blood will continue to flow normally through our veins for better > productive purposes !! You may play with argument and counter argument by yourself, and not attribute those to me. I was asking the free software movements to come forward to work in coherence to strengthen the movement further. You may listen and realise whose blood is flowing abnormal. - Anilkumar K V

2 2

Google Summer of Code 2009 : Announcement
by ck raju 09 Jan '09

09 Jan '09

Hello everyone, While we will be making a formal announcement with more details later this year, we wanted to let all would-be student participants in Google Summer of Code 2009 know that we will be holding the program once again this year. If you are interested in participating, it's a great idea to begin investigating FOSS projects you would enjoy contributing to *now*. Not sure where to get started? No time like the present to subscribe to project mailing lists, hang out in project IRC channels or in their forums, check out some source code and start investigating how things work. We have universally heard from our mentors that their most successful students are those who got involved with the project early. You'll look great to your would-be mentors if you ask them smart questions. Major bonus points if you submit a patch or two. Going through your first code reviews with a new Open Source project is a rite of passage in FOSS development and it's a great way to show that you are engaged with the project. Remember, your mentors want to learn more about both your strengths and weaknesses, so don't be afraid to make mistakes. They happen to the best of us. If you're trying to decide which projects may be right for you or would like to hear some advice from past participants, check out our Advice for Students page: http://code.google.com/p/google-summer-of-code/wiki/AdviceforStudents We'll be letting folks know more details at the upcoming FOSDEM conference, so until then stay tuned for more details. Please bear in mind, though, that not all organizations that participated in GSoC 2008 will be returning for 2009. Take time now to explore your interests and scratch your own itch - that is what Open Source is all about! Cheers, LH -- Leslie Hawthorn Program Manager - Open Source Google Inc. http://code.google.com/opensource/ I blog here: http://google-opensource.blogspot.com - http://www.hawthornlandings.org

1 0

Comrades’ new-found love with IT
by sandeep sr 09 Jan '09

09 Jan '09

http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Comrades%E2%80%99+new-f… Finally CPM has decided to take the plunge, putting all speculations to rest. It will be really bad if things go by the way as reported. If opportunists start controlling the Free Software movement, it is very likely that it is the ideals of FS that is going to be modified more than any software under it. They can't be blamed for it, since it is quite habitual for them to reverse their announced policies as part of trying to catch up with the present, just as they did in the case of World Bank and ADB loans(to name just two). Madhyamam, a local daily today has a report by P.K Prakash that Mr. Joseph Mathew, was removed from his post as IT Advisor to the Kerala CM, as he resisted the efforts of a group from taking over FSF India. The attempts to organize a local FSF chapter in TN without the consent of the Board Members, the Kochi conference, and the latest reports ... may be the 'hijack' theory was not entirely baseless. -- Sandeep

19 113

Fwd: [FSUG-Bangalore] linux training for chennai corpn school teachers
by Anivar Aravind 07 Jan '09

07 Jan '09

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: vinay sreenivasa <vinay(a)itforchange.net> Date: Wed, Jan 7, 2009 at 3:38 PM Subject: [FSUG-Bangalore] linux training for chennai corpn school teachers To: Free Software Users Group - Bangalore <fsug-bangalore(a)mm.gnu.org.in> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Chennai/Corporation_school_teachers_to_b… CHENNAI: School teachers of Corporation schools will soon be adept in computer operations , thanks to a new training programme launched by the civic body. "A total of 2,000 teachers from primary and middle schools will attend the training . We aim to reach 500 teachers in the first phase, of which 150 will sit for the three-day training module provided by ELCOT starting today," Corporation Mayor M Subramanian said at the launch of the initiative here on Monday. Teachers from 139 primary schools, 109 middle schools, 38 high schools and 29 higher secondary schools will be covered by the programme. A sum of Rs 50 lakh has been spent on the initiative. "As a policy, ELCOT has been promoting open source software and we use Linux in our operations for word processing, spreadsheets and so on. It might be a little difficult for those who are used to Windows to operate on Linux but we are assuming that the teachers we train do not know how to work on computers. For every computer we purchase, we estimate an amount of Rs 2,500 to take care of the training," Santhosh Babu, managing director, ELCOT, said. In a bid to better the infrastructure at schools, the Corporation has procured 844 computers at a cost of Rs 2.3 crore, which will be distributed by local administration minister M K Stalin, Mayor Subramanian said. A total of 804 teachers who helped achieve 100% result among students of classes X and XII will be given a cash incentive of Rs 4,42,000 in total, he added. CHENNAI: School teachers of Corporation schools will soon be adept in computer operations , thanks to a new training programme launched by the civic body. "A total of 2,000 teachers from primary and middle schools will attend the training . We aim to reach 500 teachers in the first phase, of which 150 will sit for the three-day training module provided by ELCOT starting today," Corporation Mayor M Subramanian said at the launch of the initiative here on Monday. Teachers from 139 primary schools, 109 middle schools, 38 high schools and 29 higher secondary schools will be covered by the programme. A sum of Rs 50 lakh has been spent on the initiative. "As a policy, ELCOT has been promoting open source software and we use Linux in our operations for word processing, spreadsheets and so on. It might be a little difficult for those who are used to Windows to operate on Linux but we are assuming that the teachers we train do not know how to work on computers. For every computer we purchase, we estimate an amount of Rs 2,500 to take care of the training," Santhosh Babu, managing director, ELCOT, said. In a bid to better the infrastructure at schools, the Corporation has procured 844 computers at a cost of Rs 2.3 crore, which will be distributed by local administration minister M K Stalin, Mayor Subramanian said. A total of 804 teachers who helped achieve 100% result among students of classes X and XII will be given a cash incentive of Rs 4,42,000 in total, he added. -- Vinay Sreenivasa IT for Change 91-98805-95032 vinay(a)itforchange.net http://itforchange.net http://india.is-watch.net/ http://is-watch.net _______________________________________________ FSUG-Bangalore mailing list FSUG-Bangalore(a)mm.gnu.org.in http://mm.gnu.org.in/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/fsug-bangalore -- 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.

1 0

FOSSMeet @ MEC
by Sarath Lakshman | ശരത്ത് ലക് ഷ്മണ് 07 Jan '09

07 Jan '09

Hi! Model Engineering College, Kochi is proud to present to you FOSSMEET @ MEC (http://mec.fossmeet.in), the Free and Open Source Software meet on January 25th, 2008 (Sunday) at our college campus. The FOSSMEET @ MEC is part of the annual techno-management symposium of Model Engineering College, Kochi - eXcel 2K9. Some of the keynote speakers at this event include: * Atul Chitnis - Atul is the Chairman and founder of FOSS.IN, one of Asia's biggest FOSS conference communities. He is also the Senior VP of Geodesic Information Systems Ltd. * Shreyas Srinivasan - Shreyas is an active contributor to the GNOME project. He is one of those people who has dedicated his life for increased contribution to FOSS. He is also the co-founder of RadioVeRVe, an internet radio company. * Santhosh Thottingal - Santhosh is a GNU enthusiast and has made several contributions to Malayalam language computing. Santhosh is the developer of Dhvani TTS and also the project admin of Swathantra Malayalam Computing. For details regarding registration, and more info about the event, please visit http://mec.fossmeet.in We hope to see you at FOSSMEET @ MEC. Best Regards, FOSSMEET @ MEC team

1 0

Re: [Fsf-friends] Microsoft intervenes to put Chinese software lovers in jail
by ck raju 07 Jan '09

07 Jan '09

On Tue, Jan 6, 2009 at 4:07 PM, renuka prasad <renukaprasadb(a)gmail.com> wrote: > not only jails even some people minds also in horrible condition ( i > meant we have people have so much feedom that they are not bothered > about some freedoms which they are neglecting to think about/ ofcourse > we cant blame for those who do not know at all for the first time ) On Wed, Jan 7, 2009 at 3:26 AM, Praveen A <pravi.a(a)gmail.com> wrote: > I was referring to past instances where party has branded people who > spoke against it. CIA spy, Media Syndicate ... to list a few. The Microsoft Press report: "..The Futian People's Court in Shenzhen, China, handed down sentences to 11 ringleaders of the world's largest software counterfeiting syndicate today... The 11 accused were part of a criminal syndicate responsible for manufacturing and distributing more than an estimated $2 billion (U.S.) worth of high-quality counterfeit Microsoft software..." =========== I was wondering about the use of term "syndicate" by Microsoft Press. I won't be surprised if the one who helped Microsoft to edit this report happens to be a "fat sheep" from Red-mon-d HQs in Thiruvananthapuram - whose services have been hired !! CK Raju

1 0

Microsoft intervenes to put Chinese software lovers in jail
by ck raju 06 Jan '09

06 Jan '09

The Futian People's Court in Shenzhen, China, handed down sentences to 11 ringleaders of the world's largest software counterfeiting syndicate today. The sentences, ranging from 1.5 to 6.5 years, include the longest sentences handed down for this type of crime in China's history. Microsoft and hundreds of Microsoft customers and partners also provided information which assisted in the investigation. The 11 accused were part of a criminal syndicate responsible for manufacturing and distributing more than an estimated $2 billion (U.S.) worth of high-quality counterfeit Microsoft software. The counterfeit software, found in 36 countries and on five continents, contained fake versions of 19 of Microsoft's most popular products and was produced in at least 11 languages. "Microsoft greatly appreciates the work of China's PSB and the FBI in taking strong enforcement action against this global software counterfeiting syndicate," said David Finn, associate general counsel for Worldwide Anti-Piracy and Anti-Counterfeiting at Microsoft. ------------------- Full story at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2008/dec08/12-31ChinaSentencingPR.… ========= Indian jails are in horrible condition. Everybody there want to get out on bail as fast as possible. Nobody is interested to go there. Lets continue with Free Software, experience "high-quality original" software, enjoy our freedom and deny Microsoft lovers from taking centrestage of our lives. CK Raju

4 3

Re: [Fsf-friends] Comradesâ new-found love with
by Maxin John 06 Jan '09

06 Jan '09

Hi Justin, I usually don't fall prey to the "Flame wars" strategy though I enjoy that most when it is related to technology like: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanenbaum-Torvalds_debate >Maxin another way of saying your opinion would have been to refer to >this: > >http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hominem Justin, Thank for the new word "Ad_hominem". Frankly speaking, I wasn't aware of this word till you pointed out. Justin, one more thing.. I am not a politically biased person. I consider myself free from Politics, religion and above all, America ( I have the freedom to believe so, I guess) When I was 12 years old, I have participated in a Rally conducted by the Left wing people of Department of Telecommunications (My father works with BSNL and believes in the Left wing till MVR left the party). Then our slogan was: "One computer will replace 10 workers. So prevent the computerisation in National Level ". I still remember me happily moving along with the crowd with my father with a red flag in my left hand :) If we were successful then, now we won't have to write these mails supporting freedom and GNU/Linux. Justin, if you still have some more patience left in your mind, please read what communist party thinks about freedom : Tiananmen square: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square_protests_of_1989 About Stalin: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Purge Though I am not a member of FSF,I still don't think Stallman's view of freedom includes "Freedom to Kill" See this link: It is funny.. http://copyfight.corante.com/archives/2005/02/15/the_one_where_richard _stallman_calls_bill_gates_a_communist.php Happy Hacking.. Thanks and Regards, Maxin B. John

4 3

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 January 2009