March 2009 - 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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Fwd: [fosscom] BJP accepts key sections of the FOSS Manifesto
by Anivar Aravind 10 Apr '09

10 Apr '09

---------- 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.

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RTI Application on VTU -M$ deal
by Anivar Aravind 30 Mar '09

30 Mar '09

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.

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Re: [Fsf-friends] [FSUG-Bangalore] Fwd: [ilugd] AGBM, and elections to ILUG-Delhi: Sun., May 3rd, 2pm, SIT-JNU
by Vikram Vincent 26 Mar '09

26 Mar '09

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/

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Re: [Fsf-friends] [FSUG-Bangalore] Fwd: [ilugd] AGBM, and elections to ILUG-Delhi: Sun., May 3rd, 2pm, SIT-JNU
by Vikram Vincent 25 Mar '09

25 Mar '09

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.

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Mani takes GIMP session for mount carmelites
by Senthil Sundaram (sensunda) 25 Mar '09

25 Mar '09

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 .

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Fwd: [ilugd] AGBM, and elections to ILUG-Delhi: Sun., May 3rd, 2pm, SIT-JNU
by Vikram Vincent 24 Mar '09

24 Mar '09

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/

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Re: [Fsf-friends] [FSUG-Bangalore] Fwd: [ilugd] AGBM, and elections to ILUG-Delhi: Sun., May 3rd, 2pm, SIT-JNU
by Vikram Vincent 24 Mar '09

24 Mar '09

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.

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Re: [Fsf-friends] [fsug-tvm] Re: CPI(M) manifesto calls for promotion of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS)
by Anivar Aravind 20 Mar '09

20 Mar '09

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

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[Fwd: [FSF] Community-produced free software textbooks for GNU/Linux users]
by V. Sasi Kumar 19 Mar '09

19 Mar '09

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

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Fwd: [ilugd] CPI(M) manifesto calls for promotion of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS)
by Vikram Vincent 19 Mar '09

19 Mar '09

---------- 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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CPIM Supports Free Software in Their Manifesto
by Anivar Aravind 19 Mar '09

19 Mar '09

Dear All, The political support for Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) continues to increase. 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 free software and other such new technologies, which are free from monopoly ownership through copyrights or patents; • Scrapping the Public Funded R&D Bill, that seeks to allow patenting of products that are developed through public funded laboratories • 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 With key parties from both the left and the right end of the political spectrum endorsing FOSS, the Congress is left as the only major national party which is yet to formally take a position on FOSS. One hopes that the Congress too will soon extend its support for free software when it releases its own manifesto next week, and explicitly acknowledge the significant political, socio-cultural and economic advantages of FOSS over proprietary software platforms. During last UPA govt some initiatives to adopt Free Software and Open standards are already happened such as Knowledge Commission report supporting FOSS in Governance & Education, 11th 5 year plan endorsing FOSS to counter digital divide & National Draft Policy on Open standards for E-Governance. Also the threat of Software patents came up during last UPA regime. Hope Congress will continue the support to Free software and Open standards by clearly stating it on their election manifesto. Also the stand on software patents is also getting important . (See http://public-software.in/FOSS-manifesto for a call from the Network of the FOSS Community in India (http://fosscom.in ) to the political parties, to recognise the advantages of FOSS in their election manifestos). Thanks, Anivar Aravind -- 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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Posting on behalf of Karthikeyan
by justin joseph 19 Mar '09

19 Mar '09

Posting on behalf of Karthikeyan Shanmugam iamsjkk AT gmail DOT com. "Open access to scientific and technological knowledge is critically important to developing nations. The information technology sector and the free software movement have shown that new technologies and methodologies can be developed by cooperative communities without monopoly ownership – either through copyrights or patents. There is a need to develop similar ways of promoting “science/knowledge commons”, across many different scientific and technological disciplines, like biotechnology and drug discovery. The above is excerpt from XIX Congress Political Resolution of CPIM in 2008 Part II NATIONAL SITUATION Under 'Science & Technology' CPI(M) supports Free Software for a long time. If CPI(M) makes promise people can trust. It's NOT true with BJP,one of election agendas of BJP in 1998 is 'Swadeshi' BUT immediately after it came to power in April 1998, it follows the WTO, the IMF and the World Bank.BJP came into power with slogan of 'swadeshi'. Immediately after assuming power it announced the ExIm(Export Import) policy which shifts 340 items to the list of Open General Licence (OGL) imports which led to liberal imports. Today BJP may say it supports Free Software after come into power it will kick the Free Software and dine with M$. As Yashwant Sinha wrote 'Confessions of a Swadeshi Reformer: My Years as Finance Minister' some IT minister of BJP may write 'Confessions of Free Software supporter : My Years as IT Minister'. I do NOT want to discuss in depth politics here if you are interested please send me a mail, I'll send you a document what BJP did between 1998 and 2004."

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Fwd: [ilugd] CPI(M) manifesto calls for promotion of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS)
by Vikram Vincent 19 Mar '09

19 Mar '09

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: vinay ವಿನಯ್ <vinay(a)itforchange.net> Date: 2009/3/18 Subject: [ilugd] CPI(M) manifesto calls for promotion of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) To: ilugd(a)lists.linux-delhi.org, ilug-cal-discuss(a)list.ilug-cal.org Dear All, The political support for Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) continues to increase. 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 These above measures are critical to support the public education system, local economy and the knowledge commons and counter neo-liberal pressures that aim to privatize the public information/knowledge domain. The CPI(M) has been a traditional supporter of free software, the comprehensive IT programs in Kerala, including in the public school system (http://itschool.gov.in/otherprograms.php#6) is based on FOSS. With key parties from both the left and the right end of the political spectrum endorsing FOSS, the Congress is left as the only major national party which is yet to formally take a position on FOSS. One hopes that the Congress too will soon extend its support for free software when it releases its own manifesto next week, and explicitly acknowledge the significant political, socio-cultural and economic advantages of FOSS over proprietary software platforms (see http://public-software.in/FOSS-manifesto for a call from the Network of the FOSS Community in India to the political parties, to recognise the advantages of FOSS in their election manifestos). Thanks, Vinay. _______________________________________________ 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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Microsoft Fights back with FIRE
by Arun SAG 17 Mar '09

17 Mar '09

Many people has admired on L.K Advani's IT vision. It seems like Gujarat is making an U-Turn .http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/project-on-it-upgradation-in-schools-makes-no-headway-in-gujarat/434979/ <http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/project-on-it-upgradation-in-school…> Conflicts of opinion between education department and IT department. LOL MOU with Microsoft to aid teachers in teaching FOSS. (this shows politicians dont know a heck about foss, or M$ might have bribed them (if u sign MOU with software gaint you get publicity for sure ) ) ZD-net covers it extensively http://blogs.zdnet.com/open-source/?p=3718 Find out who are the enimies to BJP if they promote http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Infotech/MS-top-telcos-may-be-hit/artic… Seems like microsoft is on FIRE BizSpark<http://blogs.livemint.com/blogs/incubator/archive/2008/12/17/microsoft-indi…> ,DreamSpark <http://www.dreamsparkindia.com> And Lot of Sparks to burn competition !! :( Just FYI Regards Arun SAG -- A computer is like air conditioning: it becomes useless when you open windows. <-Fighting 4 Freedom->

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Posting on behalf of Karthikeyan
by justin joseph 17 Mar '09

17 Mar '09

Posting on behalf of Karthikeyan Shanmugam iamsjkk AT gmail DOT com. "Open access to scientific and technological knowledge is critically important to developing nations. The information technology sector and the free software movement have shown that new technologies and methodologies can be developed by cooperative communities without monopoly ownership – either through copyrights or patents. There is a need to develop similar ways of promoting “science/knowledge commons”, across many different scientific and technological disciplines, like biotechnology and drug discovery. The above is excerpt from XIX Congress Political Resolution of CPIM in 2008 Part II NATIONAL SITUATION Under 'Science & Technology' CPI(M) supports Free Software for a long time. If CPI(M) makes promise people can trust. It's NOT true with BJP,one of election agendas of BJP in 1998 is 'Swadeshi' BUT immediately after it came to power in April 1998, it follows the WTO, the IMF and the World Bank.BJP came into power with slogan of 'swadeshi'. Immediately after assuming power it announced the ExIm(Export Import) policy which shifts 340 items to the list of Open General Licence (OGL) imports which led to liberal imports. Today BJP may say it supports Free Software after come into power it will kick the Free Software and dine with M$. As Yashwant Sinha wrote 'Confessions of a Swadeshi Reformer: My Years as Finance Minister' some IT minister of BJP may write 'Confessions of Free Software supporter : My Years as IT Minister'. I do NOT want to discuss in depth politics here if you are interested please send me a mail, I'll send you a document what BJP did between 1998 and 2004."

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OOffice Magazine Template
by Rakesh arky Ambati 16 Mar '09

16 Mar '09

Hi List, Does anyone know a good magazine template for OpenOffice.org writer. Cheers --arky Rakesh 'arky' Ambati Blog [ http://playingwithsid.blogspot.com ] Add more friends to your messenger and enjoy! Go to http://messenger.yahoo.com/invite/

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Re: [Fsf-friends] Fwd: [fosscom] BJP accepts key sections of the FOSS Manifesto (Anivar Aravind)
by sibi raj 15 Mar '09

15 Mar '09

I have been following the fsf-friends for the past two or three months. I just need a small clarification. If CPM is supporting FSF then it is "HIJACKING" of FSF . If BJP is supporting FSF then it is acceptance of FSF. Great work. --- On Sun, 15/3/09, fsf-friends-request(a)mm.gnu.org.in <fsf-friends-request(a)mm.gnu.org.in> wrote: From: fsf-friends-request(a)mm.gnu.org.in <fsf-friends-request(a)mm.gnu.org.in> Subject: Fsf-friends Digest, Vol 18, Issue 7 To: fsf-friends(a)mm.gnu.org.in Date: Sunday, 15 March, 2009, 12:00 PM 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. Fwd: [fosscom] BJP accepts key sections of the FOSS Manifesto (Anivar Aravind) 2. RMS article in todays Hindu (Senthil Sundaram (sensunda)) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Sat, 14 Mar 2009 16:02:40 +0530 From: Anivar Aravind <anivar.aravind(a)gmail.com> Subject: [Fsf-friends] Fwd: [fosscom] BJP accepts key sections of the FOSS Manifesto To: Greenyouth <greenyouth(a)googlegroups.com>, Principal Support List of FSF-India <fsf-friends(a)mm.gnu.org.in>, smc-discuss(a)googlegroups.com Message-ID: <35f96d470903140332t60cc998dvfc7ae6203ddf17ed(a)mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 ---------- 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. ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Sun, 15 Mar 2009 09:56:00 +0530 From: "Senthil Sundaram (sensunda)" <sensunda(a)cisco.com> Subject: [Fsf-friends] RMS article in todays Hindu To: "Free Software Users Group - Bangalore" <fsug-bangalore(a)mm.gnu.org.in>, "Principal Support List of FSF-India" <fsf-friends(a)mm.gnu.org.in> Message-ID: <C1F024B2AFA0CE4CB8E93810BD9CAA540869A37D(a)xmb-blr-414.apac.cisco.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" hi, The interview taken by the Hindu during RMS Bangalore visit in todays Hindu "IBM's recently-released Microsoft-Free Desktop, regarded as significant in non-proprietary circles, he says is "interesting" but questions IBM's skirting the ethical issue of freedom. " http://www.hindu.com/mag/2009/03/15/stories/2009031550070200.htm -S

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RMS article in todays Hindu
by Senthil Sundaram (sensunda) 15 Mar '09

15 Mar '09

hi, The interview taken by the Hindu during RMS Bangalore visit in todays Hindu "IBM's recently-released Microsoft-Free Desktop, regarded as significant in non-proprietary circles, he says is "interesting" but questions IBM's skirting the ethical issue of freedom. " http://www.hindu.com/mag/2009/03/15/stories/2009031550070200.htm -S

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National Seminar on “Embedded Design With GNU/Linux”
by Anoop Sasidharan 12 Mar '09

12 Mar '09

Free Software Cell, Government Engineering College, Barton Hill,Thiruvananthapuram is Organising a One Day National Seminar on “Embedded Design With GNU/Linux” On March21, 2009, Saturday at the Campus in association with Visiting Faculty Scheme, Directorate of Technical Education , Govt. of Kerala and Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment. Free Software continues to conquer more space with extensive applications in the field of Engineering and Technology, in general and electronics in particular. More and more microcontroller & microprocessor simulators, open hardware and embedded systems have come up with GNU/Linux as the core. Despite the farreaching functionality of these embedded systems, few educational institutions have harnessed the power of these free technologies that are in fact more powerful than their proprietary counterparts. This seminar on ‘Embedded Design With GNU/Linux” aims to bridge the gap between the knowledge accumulation process and its practical applications, thereby Enlightening the participants about various facets of embedded systems. Participants will be able to feel the synergy that Free software systems share with the learning process. This seminar brings forth an avenue for intensive interaction with experts like * Dr. V.Sasikumar, Rtd Sr.Scientist , CESS & Member, Free Software Foundation, India * Mr.Shakti Kannan, Sr. Engineer, Qvental, Hyderabad . * Mr.Pramode C.E. , Fosstronics, Thrissur and * Mr.David John, Tata Elexsi , Technopark , Trivandrum. The daylong seminar is planned on 21st March, 2009. With an expected participation of over hundred Engineering Students and Teachers spanning the nation, the event will open up a new window of opportunities and share new schools of thought. Registration for the Seminar can be done at http://fsc.gecbh.ac.in and is free of cost. Last date for registration is 17th March 2009. For More details contact : Ranjith. S. Kumar ( 9447295213 ) ranjith_s_kumar(a)yahoo.com, Anoop. S ( 9495986238 ) anooptvm(a)gmail.com -- S. Anoop www.sanoop.eu gameonbuzz.blogspot.com "To CaTcH Me yOu gotTa bE FaSt, To finD Me yOu gOtTa bE SmarT,bUt to Be mE… DaMn yOu mUsT Be kIdDiNg !! :P "

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FW: [FSUG-Bangalore] CMRIT is moving to GNU-Linux
by Senthil Sundaram (sensunda) 11 Mar '09

11 Mar '09

250 installtions gnu-linux installations to happen at CMRIT . Committed teachers make the difference . -s ________________________________ From: fsug-bangalore-bounces(a)mm.gnu.org.in [mailto:fsug-bangalore-bounces@mm.gnu.org.in] On Behalf Of jaykumar hs Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2009 6:00 PM To: fsugbangalore Subject: [FSUG-Bangalore] CMRIT is moving to GNU-Linux Hi, Today Karthik, Ravishankar and I met Prabhod, a faculty at CMRIT, Bangalore. We were very happy to learn that the computer science dept. in the Institution has moved to GNU-linux platform and also the management has instructed all of its students ( which includes all the streams) to use only GNU-linux on their laptops. Infact, all other departments also have been convinced and are moving to GNU-linux. Prabhod said the management would be very happy from this development as it would save lot of money on licensing. Earlier, about 3 months back, Suresh kodoor and Rakesh had visited CMRIT and taken sessions on free software philosophy and installation session. Prabhod and his HOD informed that installation session of GNU-linux could be held for about 250 students on their laptops during the technical fest. Hence, one day session covering free software philosophy, installation, alternatives available for different streams has been planned on 21.03.2009 at CMRIT. This is for about 250 students of II semester of all the students. Other college students may also join for the same. The HOD has invited us to take one day workshop for their faculty as well for which planning is being done. -jk _______________________________________________ FSUG-Bangalore mailing list FSUG-Bangalore(a)mm.gnu.org.in http://mm.gnu.org.in/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/fsug-bangalore

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[Fwd: Free And Open Source Software (FOSS) Conference in Amritapuri Campus]
by V. Sasi Kumar 10 Mar '09

10 Mar '09

-------- Forwarded Message -------- From: Dharan P Deepak - <dharanpdeepak(a)gmail.com> To: undisclosed-recipients : ; Subject: Free And Open Source Software (FOSS) Conference in Amritapuri Campus Date: Tue, 10 Mar 2009 19:18:14 +0530 Hi all, We are conducting a FOSS (Free and Opensource software) conference in Amritapuri campus on March 28th and 29th . The website is constantly work in progress and will take a while to be done. Meanwhile you can check out http://foss.amrita.ac.in Tentative agenda is at http://foss.amrita.ac.in/site/foss-conference/agenda - We are planning a track 3 as well - social aspects of FOSS and also include mysql. We are targeting 150 non Amrita students, 50 faculty (inviting free of cost), 150 Amrita students and 50 working professionals to attend this conference. The main aim is to promote awareness about foss and help get started with contributing to foss. As you know due to the economy people are finding it difficult to get jobs now a days. But jobs are available still for the right candidate. Getting in to FOSS is an added advantage for students or working professionals as it helps to improve their confidence and resume too. Recently when the VP of Nokia visited our campus he mentioned that he would definitely hire some one who has been contributed to opensource because it implies certain level of skills and attitude the student has. In this conference we have hands on session not just demos. This will help newbies as well as those who want to know how to contribute to FOSS. (Working with source code, making changes building etc). We are envisioning the website foss.amrita.ac.in to be a comprehensive foss portal for anyone who is interested in foss and working with foss. In the coming months we plan to have tutorials, links, video lectures etc to be uploaded and help people get started with foss. If you could inform all your friends, alumni etc that you know about this event. Registration is first come first served. It will definitely help the delegates as we have seen from the experience of our students. There are 4 outside speakers (3 from Sun Microsystems and 1 from InApp solutions - Mr Amrnath Raja) and the rest of them are students sharing their experience with the hands on session. -- print _me; Name error : '_me' not defined print $techblog; http://nextdoornerd.blogspot.com/ print $personal-blog; http://dharanpdeepak.blogspot.com/ pri#t%#*@#; Bad Bad Server, No donut for you! unable to show you the rest of this mail. -- V. Sasi Kumar Free Software Foundation of India Please visit http://swatantryam.blogspot.com

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Welcome to Xencio '09
by Abhijith V R 08 Mar '09

08 Mar '09

Hi Guys, We the Dept. of Information Technology is conducting a National Level Technical Symposium @ TKM Institute of Technology, Kollam Xencio '09 freedom in technology... Dated : 11 & 12 of March 2009 Venue : EDUSAT THEATRE, TKMIT, KOLLAM Seminars will be conducted on : 1. BOSS - Indian version of Linux ( Basics to Administration ) : CDAC Team {registrars will get BOSS dvd's @ the venue} 2. ANDROID - Free mobile software with OS : Satish Babu (President, InApp & Board member,SPACE & FSF India) 3. WEB 2.0 & AJAX using JMaki : Araafat Aboobacker, NIIT PVT. LTD. Bangalore 4. VFX & Animation : Vipin V (Centre Director, Image Infotainment Kollam & TVM) 5. Communication Skill Interactive Workshop : Turning Point Team Contests: 1. Debugging 2. Gaming 3. Poster Designing 4. Quiz Prize Money of Rs 25000/- awaits you and many more benifits.... for more details & registration visit: www.syritz-tkmit.org or contact : Abhijith V R (Event Co-ordinator) mob. +91 9995108454, +91 9809087656 with regards, Haxter

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Re: [Fsf-friends] [FSUG-Bangalore] Microsoft's secret plan behind the TomTom suit?
by Praveen A 07 Mar '09

07 Mar '09

Microsoft can't compete technically with Free Software, and they knew it years ago. Their answer was spreading fear, uncertainty and doubt about Free Software. Now they realise it is not working. So they took the next option they got, patents. It is a tactic of picking the weakest one for a fight and scaring others for a deal. On Mar 7, 2009 6:42 AM, "OpenSpace" <use.info(a)gmail.com> wrote: Please can someone explain this to me in plain english please? http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-276211.html Microsoft's secret plan behind the TomTom suit? A very interesting analysis of the Microsoft versus TomTom suit has appeared on veteran journo Glyn Moody's blog. Having established that Microsoft's "it's not about Linux" schtick is transparently wrong - the area covered by the FAT patents is pure Linux, unchanged by TomTom, so any Linux distro with FAT compatibility would qualify - we then get a post from Jeremy Allison, who's well versed in Microsoft's approach to open source. You must read the whole thing yourself - but in brief, he says that Microsoft has been putting all its IP deals under NDA because the cross-licensing of patents is disallowed under Section 7 of GPL 2. Thus, anyone who signs is disallowed from distributing any of the Linux kernel - so Microsoft has them over a barrel. This explains the secrecy behind all the deals - which, lest we forget, Microsoft is promoting as examples of open sharing - and is building up to a situation where Microsoft can detonate a huge improvised explosive device under Linux. What might save things is if TomTom prevails, negating the relevant patents - and there are good reasons to think it would, if it can afford to fight. If it can't afford to fight, then things get just that little nastier. As Allison says: "Tom Tom are the first company to publicly refuse to engage in this ugly little protection racket, and so they got sued. Had Tom Tom silently agreed to violate the GPL, as so many others have, then we'd only hear about a vague "patent cross licensing deal" just like the ones Microsoft announces with other companies. Make no mistake, this is intended to force Tom Tom to violate the GPL, or change to Microsoft embedded software." Rupert Goodwins' blog was originally posted on ZDNet.co.uk. _______________________________________________ FSUG-Bangalore mailing list FSUG-Bangalore(a)mm.gnu.org.in http://mm.gnu.org.in/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/fsug-bangalore

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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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