Fsf-friends February 2009

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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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Adoption of FS based subjects in syllabus at CU
by Vikram Vincent 04 Mar '09

04 Mar '09

In a major move, the B.Sc. Computer Science Dept. of CU has introduced Python, PHP, GNU/Linux administration into the syllabus. References to M$ and its office applications in the Computer Fundamentals paper were replaced by OOo. There is also a shift from Turbo-C to GCC and friends. Topics related to Free software and open standards have been introduced into the IT paper of BBM. The Free Software based 'Moodle' - a learning management system(LMS) is being implemented as a policy throughout the University in a phased manner. Debian GNU/Linux is being installed in at least one system per department on a trial basis and both teaching and support staff are being trained. The creation of a Free Software Group is being planned as part of the CS Dept. academic activities. FS based projects will be given to the students for imlementation. These changes come after more than a year's efforts in convincing and training the staff and students on Free Software. -- Vikram Vincent +91 9448810822 http://swatantra.org/

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Fwd: [FSF] ESP: Looking at Microsoft's FAT patents through Bilski glasses
by Nagarjuna G. 27 Feb '09

27 Feb '09

FYI see the forwarded mail on the subject. --

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Debian Chiguru - Alpha CD released
by Omshivaprakash H L 25 Feb '09

25 Feb '09

Original Post: https://sourceforge.net/forum/forum.php?forum_id=922951 Project page: http://sf.net/projects/kannada The Kannada Localization project and Tech volunteers group from sampada.net community (http://tech.sampada.net) is happy to announce Debian Chiguru distribution CD release. The team released this CD on 7th February, 2009 during the GNU/Linux Habba version 3 celebrated at NMAM Institute of Technology, Nitte. This distribution has add-ons for Kannadigas to read, write and work with Kannada on their computer. Chiguru is based on Debian Lenny. The distribution is to focus on providing an improved distribution for Kannada users in particular, and Indian language users in general. This release can be used either as a live CD, or as an installer CD. GUI installer is available. We have long term goals to develop this distribution to meet specific computing requirements for Kannada users and Karnataka. We encourage users to download, install/run Chiguru and send feedback to the community. This would help us improve it, evolve it into a much useful packaged distribution. Visit Gnu/Linux habba official website: http://habba.in For support requests or to get in touch with the Technical team, write to us: tech-volunteers at sampada.net Cheers, Omshivaprakash, Release coordinator -- -- "A well-directed imagination is the source of great deeds" -- With Best Regards, Omshivaprakash.H.L | ಓಂ ಶಿವಪ್ರಕಾಶ್ ಎಚ್. ಎಲ್ | ॐ शिवप्रकाश् एच्. एल् Website : http://www.techfiz.info Blog : http://platonic.techfiz.info Phone: 91- 9902026518 AIM : fizworks ICQ : 265216744 IRC : #techfiz server: irc.freenode.net channel: #linux-india #ubuntu-in #gnu-india #kannada

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End software patents - phase ii
by Harish Singh 24 Feb '09

24 Feb '09

All, FSF has released a press note to mark new direction and people tasked with the end software patents project. Excerpts follow: By organizing this information and delivering it into the hands of activists and law makers, we can form an immense tool to help existing and future campaigns around the world -- Ciaran O'Riordan, Director End Software Patents... See https://www.fsf.org/news/endsoftwarepatents-phase-II for details. regards, Harish

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Embedded Linux
by Anoop Krishnan G 23 Feb '09

23 Feb '09

Hello, Can any one help me with embedded linux . I want to run LINUX based rtos in PIC microcontroller , specifically DSPIC30F2012-301/SP , can any one help me with this. Freedom Regards and Wishes, Anoop Krishnan G Share files, take polls, and make new friends - all under one roof. Go to http://in.promos.yahoo.com/groups/

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Re: [Fsf-friends] Fsf-friends Digest, Vol 13, Issue 15
by Anoop Krishnan G 23 Feb '09

23 Feb '09

Hello, Can any one help me with embedded linux . I want to run LINUX based rtos in PIC microcontroller , specifically DSPIC30F2012-301/SP , can any one help me with this. Freedom Regards and Wishes, Anoop Krishnan G Did you know? You can CHAT without downloading messenger. Go to http://in.webmessenger.yahoo.com/

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women and free software
by Juan Carlos Gentile Fagundez 22 Feb '09

22 Feb '09

I'm very interested to understand more on the topic "women and free software in India" As I could 'perceive' being in some events in India, the situation is a little bit terrible. Women absolutely separated not to say 'segregated' This gave me the impression that not being talking to a group of activists for freedom since women was outside. Was that just my perception and impression? regards juan -- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.hipatia.net - http://aty.hipatia.net - http://guri.c-o-d-e-x.net Italia - tel: +39 3929657778 +39 3384192487 - India - +91 9633621956 jabber: jucar(a)hipatia.net -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fingerprint: 7464 DDDE 9D5D 3B6C CBF9 7699 A021 CE74 EA7A D95A Public key 0xEA7AD95A at http://pgp.mit.edu

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Custom SPIN for DF-Day+
by Mani A 22 Feb '09

22 Feb '09

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Document Freedom Day is on the 25thof March. Plenty of teams will be taking part in the event (I am coordinating the Kolkata team IlugCalinfo ) Is it possible for somebody to make a custom spin including: 1. Mainly destop oriented packages (updated to stable Fedora10) 2. All Open Office stuff with good collection of templates, Dictonaries 3. Scribus, GIMP, Koffice, Gnumeric, Docbook, Lua, Quanta etc (latest stable) 4. TexLive and IDEs 5. Lots of Advocacy related documentation + Whitepapers, Technical reports, Tutorials etc (for DF-Day): (I can help) 6. Documentation More (please suggest) (a non official spin can be considered for some locales ... for rpmfusion things) I think many teams would be able to make copies and do lot more. Best A. Mani -- A. Mani Member, Cal. Math. Soc -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (GNU/Linux) iEYEARECAAYFAkmfLuQACgkQunMISzvdfU6RTwCfRC92xf81fWxnUSWptO5eagxG Z+kAnRt0hFEqyR47jJq/JUz2E5IoZ3eI =pjJO -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Fsf-friends February 2009