Fsf-friends March 2009

fsf-friends@gnu.org.in

19 participants
24 discussions

Fwd: [fosscom] BJP accepts key sections of the FOSS Manifesto

by Anivar Aravind

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Venkatesh Hariharan <venkyh(a)gmail.com> Date: Sat, Mar 14, 2009 at 3:38 PM Subject: [fosscom] BJP accepts key sections of the FOSS Manifesto To: network(a)lists.fosscom.in Dear Friends, Key sections of the FOSS manifesto (Point # 1 on FOSS in education, # 4 on open standards, #5 on encouraging freely shareable, FOSS based knowledge repositories like Wikipedia in Indian languages), have been strongly articulated in the BJP's IT vision document that was unveiled today by BJP's prime ministerial candidate, Shri LK Advani. The 40 page vision document is at: http://www.lkadvani.in/eng/images/stories/it-vision.pdf The press release is at: http://www.lkadvani.in/eng/content/view/799/281/ I am also enclosing my blog on this subject: Venky ===== http://osindia.blogspot.com/2009/03/bjps-it-vision-supports-open-source-and… Saturday, March 14, 2009 BJP's IT Vision supports open source and open standards The BJP, the largest opposition in India has released an IT Vision document that endorses open source and open standards. Many of the points mentioned in the FOSS Manifesto for India that we put up online last week have been incorporated in this document. This document was unveiled by none other than Shri. LK Advani, the BJP's candidate for Prime Minister. I did a quick read of the 40 page document and am impressed with how thorough and comprehensive it is. As a long time supporter of free and open source software, I am delighted to see a major Indian political party endorse it. However, I am even more delighted to see that this endorsement is rooted in a comprehensive vision for India's development. A big chunk of the credit for this document should go to Shri. Sudheendra Kulkarni (an alumnus of IIT Bombay) and Shri Prodyut Bora (an alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad). Shri Kulkarni was advisor to Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee when Vajpayee was prime Minister of India and Shri Bora is Head of the IT Cell of the BJP. I was happy to see that the Digital Colonization theme that my friend, Jaijit Bhattacharya of Sun talks about has been incorporated in this document. Apart from the FOSS Manifesto, some of my key passions on open standards (that we don't pay for standards like weights and measures in the physical world, so why should we pay for standards in the digital world?) have been reflected. Also, as a co-founder of IndLinux.org which we started in 2000 in an attempt to bridge the digital divide, I am happy to see that the BJP has promised to create a National Mission for Indian Language Computing. The CPI(M), another national party in India has always been a strong supporter of our stand on open source, open standards and our fight against software patents. We are hopeful that other political parties will also take cognizance of the FOSS Manifesto and incorporate the same into their IT plans for India. With the country scheduled to go to polls next month, we now have a broad consensus emerging around the use of open source and open standards. This is great news for all of us who believe in free and open source software! _______________________________________________ Network mailing list Network(a)lists.fosscom.in http://lists.fosscom.in/listinfo.cgi/network-fosscom.in -- 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.

13 years, 11 months

RTI Application on VTU -M$ deal

by Anivar Aravind

See the response to RTI application by CIS http://cis-india.org/advocacy/floss/blog/rti-application-on-microsoft-vtu-d… Great Work Pranesh 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.

13 years, 11 months

Re: [Fsf-friends] [FSUG-Bangalore] Fwd: [ilugd] AGBM, and elections to ILUG-Delhi: Sun., May 3rd, 2pm, SIT-JNU

by Vikram Vincent

2009/3/24 Harish Singh <kumar.harish.singh(a)googlemail.com>: > Uh. Where did you find that quote ? It sounds like you picked that one out When people make rash comments without investigating the facts we can evaluate the person and their opinions better. > of a hat. That quote is inaccurate on so many levels, I wouldn't know where > to start. The original quote is here http://www.allgreatquotes.com/politician_quotes.shtml "Bad politicians are sent to Washington by good people who don't vote. -- William E. Simon" > FYI Debian is not an example of democracy by their own admission. Before you > post something to a public forum you should check your notes. Do you follow the elections of the DPL? What about the intense discussions on matters of policy within Debian? I guess you are talking through your hat. Read http://www.debian.org/devel/constitution and follow the appropriate MLs. > If you want to see democracy and its ill effects on a project head on over > to > http://lwn.net/Articles/197383/ ( > > Re: Democracy: No silver bullet ) > http://lwn.net/Articles/197380/ ( > Managing Gentoo - a study in quotes ). There is nothing there in those links that contradicts what opinion I have expressed. The developers are expressing their individual opinions on the issues mentioned. If you feel that FSF-I need not follow transparency, democracy, dynamism, accountability then you and whoever else are free to keep that opinion. I can tell you quite confidently that if FSF-I follows such a path then it will not be long before the only people left with FSF-I are its office bearers. <off-topic> Currently, the majority of the votes cast across the country are by uneducated people. They vote for a particular party because they are given certain incentives. The people who claim to be educated ie., the urban and educated lot and others give a variety of reasons for not partaking in this important responsibility towards our country. And then they complain... So because you did not vote the corrupt come to power. Check out the Ads by Times on TV they really emphasise on the point. A popular band from Christ College 'Thermal and a Quarter' came out with a song called 'Shut up and Vote' Watch it on youtube. http://www.mid-day.com/poll2009/2009/mar/180309-Jaago-Re-One-Billion-Vote-C… And if you do not like any of the contestants then at least cancel your vote so that it is not misused. So shut up about the problems and vote. </off-topic> -- Vikram Vincent +919448810822 http://swatantra.org/

13 years, 12 months

Re: [Fsf-friends] [FSUG-Bangalore] Fwd: [ilugd] AGBM, and elections to ILUG-Delhi: Sun., May 3rd, 2pm, SIT-JNU

by Vikram Vincent

2009/3/25 Harish Singh <kumar.harish.singh(a)googlemail.com>: > Hello! You are not reading what is the official statement at debian.org . > Essential it says > "Even though Debian isn't really a democracy, we use a democratic process to > elect our leaders and to approve general resolutions. These procedures are > defined by the Debian Constitution > <http://www.debian.org/devel/constitution>. " ><snip> The developers decided upon that process. That is democracy. >From your series of mails I understand that you are not for a democratic process. Whether India is truely democratic is debatable but not for this list. But as long as the Preamble of Indian Constitution http://www.iloveindia.com/constitution-of-india/preamble.html says that we are a democratic republic we shall work to ensure that it remains as such.

13 years, 12 months

Mani takes GIMP session for mount carmelites

by Senthil Sundaram (sensunda)

Hi, Yesterday (sunday), Mani had taken GIMP session Mount Carmel MBA students (Shivaji Nagar) & We Care group (a group working for handicapped children). There were 40 students from Mount Carmel & total around 70. The feedback was excellent and everyone praised Mani for his good english. I was not there and Mani briefed us about this. http://slumdweller.wikispaces.com/faq It is a very good effort from Mani and now he is growing confidence to take GIMP session to bigger crowd. He also told them briefly about the concept of Free Software. Thanks & Regards senthil for mani mani : is from a working class family [ son of a loading / unloading worker ] - got access to a old laptop few months back - learnt gimp himself - from screencasts given by a volunteer - need for FREE HARDWARE - FREEDOM HARDWARE - FREE AS IN FREE CHAI .

13 years, 12 months

Fwd: [ilugd] AGBM, and elections to ILUG-Delhi: Sun., May 3rd, 2pm, SIT-JNU

by Vikram Vincent

Maybe FSF-India can learn from this. +1 for ilugd --> transparent, accountable, democratic without diluting any core ideas, dynamic==potential for evolution... ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Gora Mohanty <gora(a)sarai.net> Date: 2009/3/22 Subject: [ilugd] AGBM, and elections to ILUG-Delhi: Sun., March 3rd, 2pm, SIT-JNU To: ILUGD main list <ilugd(a)lists.linux-delhi.org> Hello everyone, We will be having an annual general body meeting (AGBM), and conducting elections to the governing board for ILUG- Delhi at 2pm, Sun., 26th April. Anyone needing a postal notification should send me a request to that effect, including your mailing address. The meeting will be at the School of Information Technology, Jawaharlal Nehru University (SIT, JNU). For directions, see Area 5 on the map at http://www.jnu.ac.in/main.asp?sendval=JNUCampus Enter from the North Gate behind Munirka DDA flats, turn left at the T-point, and left again at the next T-point. The building on your right is the administration building which anyone should be able to direct you to. Turn in at the second right, and turn immediately left into the parking lot for the auditorium. The SIT is immediately behind the auditorium. Please feel free to call me at 9868527992 in case of any issues. The annual elections will also be held at this meeting, with Jyoti Bhargava <jyoti(a)jdesignlab.com>, as the election officer. Please send mail to Jyoti if you are interested in contesting the elections. The available posts are: President: Treasurer: Vice President: General Secretary: Joint Secretary: Member (2 posts): Regards, Gora _______________________________________________ ilugd mailinglist -- ilugd(a)lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd Archives at: http://news.gmane.org/gmane.user-groups.linux.delhi http://www.mail-archive.com/ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org/

13 years, 12 months

Re: [Fsf-friends] [FSUG-Bangalore] Fwd: [ilugd] AGBM, and elections to ILUG-Delhi: Sun., May 3rd, 2pm, SIT-JNU

by Vikram Vincent

2009/3/24 Harish Singh <kumar.harish.singh(a)googlemail.com>: <snip> "Bad people are elected because good people don't vote." Free Software Movement and projects like Debian et.al are examples of democratic functioning. Maybe by using these FS related examples people may apply it to the non-software world too.

13 years, 12 months

Re: [Fsf-friends] [fsug-tvm] Re: CPI(M) manifesto calls for promotion of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS)

by Anivar Aravind

2009/3/19 Santhosh സന്തോഷ് VS <everlovingyouth(a)gmail.com>: > "the Congress is left as the only major > national party which is yet to formally take a position on FOSS." > This is the reason for the doubt as the election here is > between congress and CPM > Clear that it is political. Otherwise which is the proof that congress is > not using it any where? I posted a Modified Version of Vinay's Mail. We expect Congress will also Support Free Software and Open Standards and all parties will reach at a common position on supporting Free Software A lot of positive steps are happened during UPA regime 1. Knowledge Commission report endorsing Free Software ( Now they have to take t to Policy) 2. 11th 5 year plan says FOSS is the only way to move forward to increase Computer penetration in india from 1% of population to 5 % percent 3. National Draft Policy on Open standards ( They have to Mandate it now) Negative : Draft Patent manual that tried to introduce software patents that will have a serious negative impact on small and medium software enterprenures in the country So it is the time for them to decide on taking credits of these positive moves happened on UPA regime by including the followups on their Manifesto. A short Note(personal) on CPIM & BJPs Policies (lets talk negatives) we can congress also in this list after their manifesto BJP's IT Vision Document seems to be from a techno-nationalist perspective. It envision citizen as a member of network society ( obliviously they will miss a lot of citizens who does not have the access ) which is under state surveillance. Access Question is not properly pointed in BJP's policy. it is more about access quality & infrastructure (ie middle class and upper class ) Also it omits Important issues of Privacy of citizen in digital spaces. It is talks about National ID cards (Biomentric? ) Cyber Warfare etc. It Also keeps silence about important issues like patents. But their adoption is very positive . It opens a dialogue space with BJP on Free Software Values. Now they seems to be only concerned about Digital security of the state & not about the citizen . Also there are critiques about practicality of the policy based on cost estimates CPIM's manifesto is little more progressive for me compared to BJPs IT vision. It focuses extending the idea of Free software to other sectors like agriculture & Drug Discovery. But is silent about Open standards. The strong point against new Public Funded R & D Bill (which allows state patenting of Public Funded Research ) and against US & EU influences in Indian patent Office i also good. So let hope All Political parties will have a healthy competition on Supporting Free Software. we can reach at a conclusion based on all Manifestos Anivar

14 years

[Fwd: [FSF] Community-produced free software textbooks for GNU/Linux users]

by V. Sasi Kumar

Seems interesting. Anyone interested? -------- Forwarded Message -------- From: Peter Brown <peterb(a)fsf.org> To: info-fsf(a)gnu.org, info-press(a)gnu.org Subject: [FSF] Community-produced free software textbooks for GNU/Linux users Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2009 11:31:35 -0400 The Free Software Foundation and FLOSS Manuals are joining forces in a sprint to write a new textbook introducing GNU/Linux beginners to the command line. Join us as we sprint to release a new book by Monday March 23rd! You can participate in the online authoring of this new text by visiting http://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/book-sprint Community-produced free software textbooks for GNU/Linux users BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- Thursday, March 19, 2009 -- The Free Software Foundation (FSF) and FLOSS Manuals today announced a community project to collaboratively produce a new free software textbook for GNU/Linux users, with an text sprint to write the first title in the series, "Introduction to the Command Line." At the March 21st-22nd GNU/Linux conference LibrePlanet (http://fsf.org/conference), the FSF and FLOSS Manuals will be providing the space and technology to collaboratively write and edit a new textbook for free software users entitled, "Introduction to the Command Line." FLOSS Manuals' Adam Hyde said, "This is an exciting opportunity to work with the FSF and help build a sustainable model for the production of more textbooks for free software users. I encourage volunteers to start contributing text and ideas immediately. This new book will be available online for free download immediately after LibrePlanet finishes on Monday, March 23, and two hundred copies will be available for sale in book form from the FSF web site." FSF executive director Peter Brown said, "By purchasing a copy of this new book, supporters can help kickstart the production cycle of additional freely licensed, community-written texts for free software. We also hope that our collaboration with FLOSS Manuals will encourage more volunteer authors to participate in the production free software documentation". All material will be available under both the GNU General Public License and the GNU Free Documentation License, and all editorial contributions to the book will be recognized in print. Details are available at http://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/book-sprint About the Free Software Foundation The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of free (as in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU operating system and its GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for free software. The FSF also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and political issues of freedom in the use of software, and its Web sites, located at fsf.org and gnu.org, are an important source of information about GNU/Linux. Donations to support the FSF's work can be made at http://donate.fsf.org. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA. About the FLOSS Manuals Foundation The FLOSS Manuals Foundation (Stichting FLOSS Manuals) creates free, libre and open source software documentation for free, libre and open source software. FLOSS Manuals is a community of free documentation writers that publish free manuals about free software across multiple languages. By supporting quality, user-friendly documentation, FLOSS Manuals aims to encourage the use of this software, to support the technical and social revolution it enables. Media Contacts Adam Hyde FLOSS Manuals adam(a)flossmanuals.net <mailto:adam@flossmanuals.net> http://www.flossmanuals.net/about http://www.booksprint.info Peter Brown Executive Director Free Software Foundation +1 (617) 542 5942 x25 campaigns(a)fsf.org <mailto:campaigns@fsf.org> _______________________________________________ info-fsf mailing list info-fsf(a)gnu.org http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-fsf -- V. Sasi Kumar Free Software Foundation of India Please visit http://swatantryam.blogspot.com

14 years

Fwd: [ilugd] CPI(M) manifesto calls for promotion of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS)

by Vikram Vincent

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Raj Mathur <raju(a)linux-delhi.org> Date: 2009/3/19 Subject: Re: [ilugd] CPI(M) manifesto calls for promotion of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) To: ilugd(a)lists.linux-delhi.org On Wednesday 18 Mar 2009, vinay ವಿನಯ್ wrote: > The CPI(M) manifesto released on the 16th of March calls for the > promotion of FOSS. The manifesto can be accessed at > http://www.cpim.org/manifesto.pdf > > Following are some of the highlights of the policy - > - Promoting FOSS and other such new technologies, which are free from > monopoly ownership through copyrights or patents; > - Revamping the functioning of the Patent offices to ensure strict > adherence to the Indian Patent Act; Stop training and orientation of > Indian Patent office personnel by the US and European Patent offices I wish they'd also explicitly mentioned revamping the school IT syllabus. OTOH, it's great we have at least one more party with a stated vision that encompasses FOSS -- now everything else being equal I'd toss a coin and vote for either BJP or CP/M ;) Digression... I don't recall the BJP stating a position on patents in agriculture and pharmaceuticals yet. However, at the risk of being forever banned from this list, I believe that openness and transparency in those sectors is orders of magnitude more critical than some piddly little software patent and FOSS vs proprietary software debate that only affects a few of us elite types. People dying because of lack of food, farmers unable to use the seeds of their crop for their next sowing, patients not receiving treatment since they cannot afford patent-encumbered medicines -- these are issues that make intellectual debates about software seem as relevant as a dispute in a kids games of marbles during all-out nuclear conflict. From that point of view, thank you CP/M for at least mentioning patents in agriculture on page 16. OldMonk's Thought of the Day: No one died because of proprietary software. </digression> 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 _______________________________________________ ilugd mailinglist -- ilugd(a)lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd Archives at: http://news.gmane.org/gmane.user-groups.linux.delhi http://www.mail-archive.com/ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org/

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Fsf-friends March 2009