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Fwd: [FSUG-Bangalore] Blog post on National Conference & Boycott Novell Protest (PART- 3)
by Vikram Vincent 20 Nov '08

20 Nov '08

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Fwd: [FSUG-Bangalore] Blog post on National Conference & Boycott Novell Protest (PART- 2)
by Vikram Vincent 20 Nov '08

20 Nov '08

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: <naveen.nj(a)birlasoft.com> Date: 2008/11/20 Subject: Re: [FSUG-Bangalore] Blog post on National Conference & Boycott Novell Protest (PART- 2) To: fsug-bangalore(a)mm.gnu.org.in * PART – 2 * * (This is a continuation of PART-1. So first read PART-1 and then read PART- 2)*** *A Glimpse into The FSF Conference - CUSAT* I understand the passion the free software activists had while protesting against Novell, an outflow of grave anti-dominion feel. But this was not the way, especially considering that the protest against Novell was lead by a member of the program committee – there should've been some morale. 'NOVELL' was the next important thing after the conference from Saturday, considering the gargantuan 20x30 backdrop hung in the main stage. I must say, being humble enough to proclaim that I possess some basic common-sense that it is next to unbelievable that among the 15 – 20 people behind the BOYCOTT NOVELL MOVEMENT, not even one of them saw this banner. I remember Mr. Arkky (the cameraman in the exhibition hall) who send a mail about this, and many others retorting about this '*UNFORTUNATE INCIDENT'* but present in the inauguration ceremony. As per the hierarchy of incidents, the fact that Novell had a hand in sponsorship was realized too late by them, too difficult for me to accept considering the above facts, and even if they knew it early, instead of resorting to cheap publicity methods and making a mess of things they should've shown the sense of making it clear with other committee members like Anil and Deepak who have made their points clear through blogs and mails before. But they fled with their say-sos and made the innocents from MEC & TCR Engg College partners of their crime – conspiring how to make a huge mess out of the whole thing. Some* ALUMNI* did approach the organizers but not to gather support for BOYCOTT NOVELL movement, but to escape the hands of the volunteers for the chaos caused by these so called revolutionaries. Novell put up their stall only after giving the sponsorship cash to the organizers. I won't be able to digest the reason – even if I get one – why one among the program committee member himself lead this anarchy!!!!!!!. Why I call it a beautiful drama, I'll speak about later - but after this drama of incidents I had a casual chat with the organizers of the Novell stall. They actually thanked the protestors – how wonderful – as the whole incidents boosted up their publicity. People who knew nothing about Novell now know everything about it – the very purpose of stalls & publicity. 'Boycott Novell' posters were pasted in many stalls forcefully. Banners welcoming the delegates put up on behalf of the various associations like Cochin University Employees Association and Cochin University Teachers Association etc had no escape... Dr Bhasi, a highly honored faculty of CUSAT, when trying to obstruct the chaos that ensued in the exhibition hall was probed about his authority in the matter. It is demeaning to note that a former student stooped to such low levels as to ask such a respected man to remove the posters himself. I do take this as an opportunity to express my heartfelt regret at such an action. Even the University Security Officer, Mr. Suresh Babu – an extremely student friendly officer, was assaulted by questions about his authority and was asked to show his identity card – how appalling for him, for us. Volunteers, pushing away their exam pressures going on throughout this month did an awesome job to make the whole program a grant success – their dedication and commitment to the principles of such a movement being the driving force. Unfortunately they too weren't spared. The 'former students' who did witness a variant of such an atrocity during Culturals and Sports can have a better understanding, I suppose. *(To be continued as PART – 3)* Regards, Naveen ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: *Anivar Aravind* <anivar.aravind(a)gmail.com> Date: Tue, Nov 18, 2008 at 5:51 PM Subject: [FSUG-Bangalore] My Blog post on National Conference & Boycott Novell Protest To: Principal Support List of FSF-India <fsf-friends(a)mm.gnu.org.in>, Free Software Users Group - Bangalore <fsug-bangalore(a)mm.gnu.org.in>, Free Software User Group Thrissur- Discussion list <discuss(a)lists.fsugtsr.org> I blogged about the national Conference & Boycott Novell Protest http://anivar.movingrepublic.org/2008/national-free-software-conference-boy… If you are any more questions to me. Leave a comment on the post . I will update the FAQ Anivar -- I am always happy when I am Protesting: Richard M. Stallman _______________________________________________ FSUG-Bangalore mailing list FSUG-Bangalore(a)mm.gnu.org.in http://mm.gnu.org.in/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/fsug-bangalore ********************************************************************************************************************************************************************* "This message and any attachments are solely for the intended recipient and may contain Birlasoft confidential or privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient,any disclosure,copying, use, or distribution of the information included in this message and any attachments is prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us by reply e-mail at (administrator(a)birlasoft.com) and permanently delete this message and any attachments. Thank you." ********************************************************************************************************************************************************************* _______________________________________________ FSUG-Bangalore mailing list FSUG-Bangalore(a)mm.gnu.org.in http://mm.gnu.org.in/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/fsug-bangalore -- Vikram Vincent +919448810822 http://swatantra.org/

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Fwd: [FSUG-Bangalore] Blog post on National Conference & Boycott Novell Protest (PART - 1)
by Vikram Vincent 20 Nov '08

20 Nov '08

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: <naveen.nj(a)birlasoft.com> Date: 2008/11/20 Subject: Re: [FSUG-Bangalore] Blog post on National Conference & Boycott Novell Protest (PART - 1) To: fsug-bangalore(a)mm.gnu.org.in *PART - 1* ** *A Glimpse into The FSF Conference - CUSAT* I am a fresher – in all aspects – into FSF. I feel my pulse mount when I see monopoly, the reason that leads me down here. I was back to my campus (CUSAT) last weekend when I came to know about this conference and had the honor of being a delegate for the last two days. But what I witnessed finally had to be mentioned about, at least to serve my mindset. A Temple of Education – one like CUSAT – esteemed to be one among the best in the state has been affronted by some recent series of atrocious incidents happened during the Free Software National Conference - labeling the students and teachers of this prestigious institution as erratic and irresponsible, questioning their integrity and devotion. It has been raised by some 'former students' and some so-called revolutionaries who love to be addressed as the 'proprietors of free software movement, supported by a few intellects. I, as an alumni and a witness to the roll of incidents take it as my obligation to comment on it. The SFI and the CUSAT University Union is being blamed in the light of the recent incidents that took place. But the fact that it was SFI who first invited Richard Stallman *(Prophet of FSF)*to preside over the Students Parliament which held on 2004 in Trivandrum and that it was the CUSAT University Union who made the platform for him in CUSAT is being deliberately kept under cover. The tradition of CUSAT B.Tech Students - has been put down! There was a time when they retorted the monopoly of the big players when the American Dictator was screeching Iraq with bombs - with pure rejection of sponsorships from big-names like Pepsi & Coke and moved into the court raising fund from among them to accomplish their Culturals & Sports. Let's get into the nerves of this Novell Whim. Only two days before the conference started did the organizing committee get the sponsorship from Novell - the reason why Novell's name was omitted from the official website of the conference. Organizing committee is at an obvious burden for not letting themselves know who is pouring in such a huge amount – lack of commonsense, I must say!!! But its beating around the bush, let me hit on the nail - the fact that Novell's stall appeared in the exhibition only on Saturday morning while the exhibition actually started on Thursday, is the ultimate proof that sponsorship from Novell was confirmed only on Thursday or Friday. It is intriguing that even after knowing this one of the program committee members himself is raising the issue that Novell's name was purposefully omitted from the conference website. This has to be thought off amply. *(To be continued as Part 2)* Regards, Naveen ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: *Anivar Aravind* <anivar.aravind(a)gmail.com> Date: Tue, Nov 18, 2008 at 5:51 PM Subject: [FSUG-Bangalore] My Blog post on National Conference & Boycott Novell Protest To: Principal Support List of FSF-India <fsf-friends(a)mm.gnu.org.in>, Free Software Users Group - Bangalore <fsug-bangalore(a)mm.gnu.org.in>, Free Software User Group Thrissur- Discussion list <discuss(a)lists.fsugtsr.org> I blogged about the national Conference & Boycott Novell Protest http://anivar.movingrepublic.org/2008/national-free-software-conference-boy… If you are any more questions to me. Leave a comment on the post . I will update the FAQ Anivar -- I am always happy when I am Protesting: Richard M. Stallman _______________________________________________ FSUG-Bangalore mailing list FSUG-Bangalore(a)mm.gnu.org.in http://mm.gnu.org.in/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/fsug-bangalore _______________________________________________ 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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Freedom of expression cant be suppressed with muscle power
by Anivar Aravind 20 Nov '08

20 Nov '08

Freedom of expression cant be suppressed with muscle power. MES students recovered deleted videos from their memory card. I posted them in my blog post http://anivar.movingrepublic.org/2008/national-free-software-conference-boy… -- 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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The conference issues and facts
by Kiran Chandra 20 Nov '08

20 Nov '08

It is very unfortunate that a campaign on the name of novell is being carried out against the conference which is also going out of proportion. These kinds of attempts just harm the movement and will be of no good. Hence i am coming out with facts. The sole contention should be to keep the freedom flag waving. There would be none who would not be criticising the collaboration of Novell with Microsoft. However confining the attention of the entire community to one issue would undermine the importance and success of the conference which is historic for the free software movement. This protest doesn't appear to be the one against novell rather to be against an important confernce of a high magnitude in the history of the movement. This was a conference which was well attended by 1500+ participants that includes industry, students, academia, Vice Chancellors, Policy makers and many others from all walks of life. There were 30 seminars, 17 workshops, 18 open fora, exhibition and many other kinds of activities.There were good number of declarations made and initiatives taken up. At a time when there is a back door entry of software patents an initiative on behalf of the lawyer community to take on the patents in the legal battles was announced. An agreement for collaboration between eight universities to conduct research on and based on free software and to implement it was made. There are many in these lines which have been an outcome of this conference. There was huge number of academia representing this conference. Any protest organised, will generally be made in front of the office of novell or in the presence of the representative of the novell. However this protest was not called when the novell representative was there on the dias as a speaker on which me and nagarjuna were also present. The community has never seen any protest in front of the novell offices or the other conferences supported by novell accross india. The situp was organised infront of the main hall, the posters were being put at all parts of the campus. The actions thus appear to the community that they were just not against novell but against the conference. This is not the first time that such issues are being created by the same people. They were trying to create hurdles, divert the attention and subvert it even during the preparations of the conference. There are many conferences that are happenning in the country which are organised by many others, we as FSF India will be attending them and try to ensure to get the best benefit for the movement. The main organiser was CUSAT(Cochin University of Science and Technology), there is an LDF govt. which supports free software hence the conference could get support externally. These kind of conferences are in the interest of Free Software Movement. We in the movement are trying to rally the support of all political parties. Tomorrow even other political parties also will be forced to support us, the movement will have to be built accordingly. Why should we a part of the community get involved in killing initiatives and attributing them to the events of political parties. Attributing such things would not help the movement to grow. The community watching these kind of developments will be forced to beleive that these people only want to subvert the conference. The university authorities will act in their own discipline if there is some problem that creeps in the course of the conference. Any man handling is condemned without any second thought. This conference was not organised by novel or was it the sole sponsorer. It was one among the many sponsorers. Taking up a campaign which is not in the top list of FSF campaigns and calling for the boycott novell protest on the second day of the conference when the entire delegation was seriously debating the issues concerning just undermines the conference. This hue and cry rather than helping the movement just undermines the conference and the movement. This is absolutely not doing good to the movement. The continuous row on whatever levels(either personal or official) and spilling over words will just harm the movement. The energy of the community that should be focussing on more important issues is being dragged into such debates which will not help in attending to important issues confronting the movement. Let us march to the international conference with the spirit of the conferences held and concentrate more on the priority issues like patents which is an immediate necessity. --Kiran Chandra

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some concerns
by haynes davis 19 Nov '08

19 Nov '08

Does FSF-India want to continue the 'Boycott-Novell protest' by pasting posters over Novell posters and boards all over India? Will FSF-India condemn the cpim hijack news that came in Mangalam and Newage Business ? The hijack view is expressed by many who are associated with FSF-India. Will FSF-India disassociate from such comments? If FSF-India takes any decision on these, who all will be bounded by that? Can any one 'escape' the decision by representing any other group? During the decision making who all will be heard in the process? How can FSF-India make sure that the communities' concerns at large can be addressed? Regards, Haynes

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Time for a Change
by Roshan Phillip 19 Nov '08

19 Nov '08

Friends, I think it is high time for a change....we need a strong organization to take this movement forward. And for that we need a strong leadership. Nagarjuna, Arun etc are good..but their activities seem too localized. I think Kiran Chandra has proved himself as a very able leader within a short span. His activities in Andhra, Grass root level work in Bangalore, the big event in Chennai and finally in Kochi, all these are just signs of how an organization should be taken forward. Moreover, an organization cannot work in isolation. Kiran's close connections with the Communist Party can be and should be used for the benefit of the organization. Being the editor of CPI(M)s very popular newspaper, he should be able to take the organization to the next level. On behalf of the free software volunteers across the country, i request the current leadership to step down gracefully, as it is high time for a change.

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Thanks ilug cochin
by Senthil Sundaram (sensunda) 19 Nov '08

19 Nov '08

Hi, I would also like to second the report of ilugc...if initial reporting was not sensational and confrontational..things would have been much better for us.. also seeing the pictures in anivars blog/video i thought people had infact a good chance to protest..till the last unfortunate turn of event.. and i repeat if some seniors wrote in the way ilug-cochi wrote - we wouldnt have had these flames..i hope fsf-i sides with people like this rather than sensationalists. thanks senthil

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Fwd: [ILUG-Cochin.org] ILUG Stall at National Conference 2008
by Anivar Aravind 19 Nov '08

19 Nov '08

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: <events(a)ilug-cochin.org> Date: Tue, Nov 18, 2008 at 11:34 PM Subject: [ILUG-Cochin.org] ILUG Stall at National Conference 2008 To: mailinglist(a)ilug-cochin.org Warm Greetings to the Swathanthra Software Community, The ILUG Stall at the National Conference was a grand success, simply because we were the only stall with the theme "Freedom" emphasizing the core values of Free Software unlike most of the other stalls at the exhibition. Of Course it is debatable question as to the presence of stalls from fertilizers to fisheries at the exhibition, but of course it was a very great opportunity to explain to them the core values of this social movement. Also considering the fact that there were lot of proprietary software being exhibited in several stalls. We raised our voice against these stalls, providing our help to replace it with Free Software. Some agreed while others were reluctant. The stall was put up from 13th after bringing in the machines the previous day night. But it wasnt until 14th afternoon that the stall reached full fledged functioning. Although we had been given a small space at the conference, we made best use of it, by displaying very good and relevant information about Free Software and the GNU movement thereby keeping our stall always filled with people. We had 4 machines setup to display various applications. One of them was used to give a demo of the Installation process of the Debian and Gnewsense DVDs and CDs we were distributing. Ours was a stall, were anyone could just walkin and try their hands at any of the applications, this helped people to get a feel of what Free Software was. Again this is considering the fact that 90% of all the visitors were either new to Free Software or had just started using it. In order to meet the expenses for the stall we had distributed Debian GNU/Linux DVDs and Gnewsense CDs for a price. While we never forced anyone to pay the original price, we explicitly told them to pay whatever they like the minimum being the cost of the DVDs. While for CDs several were given free of cost to the people who visited, especially students and those who could not afford. The first day saw very few people visiting the stall. The second day turned out to be more crowded with people turning out in moderate numbers. There were students, parents, freelance developers and teachers turning up at our stall to understand what exactly free software meant. The most important achievement was we being able to clear up several of the misconceptions. The hard copies of RMS Essays we had put up for a price were also purchased by a few. The first day of the conference had a big rush at the exhibition venue with the delegates pouring in as well. A couple of us had attended a session by Nagarjuna (gnowledge.org), FSF India Chairman. After the speech we caught up with him and guided him to a second venue to devliver his next speech. Nagarjuna came to the exhibition late and visited our stall. Although there have been discussions offline about our plans to change the group Name, nothing has been discussed on the list yet. We made use of the occasion when Nagarjuna visited us and requested him to correct our name for us on our banner. He accepted our request and as per our initial plans he corrected our name on the banner to "Indian Libre User Group". He also spend some time with ILUG Cochin Members, SNGIST College students and MES College students. He also discussed a few points about the "Business model of Free Software" with Mr Unais Mohammed" from KSEB. We also had the FSUG Bangalore coming to put up their stall at the venue. It was also a stall of the Ambedkar Community Computer Center, were a handicapped boy Mani was selling pictures made by him using Free Software(GIMP). We had a great time with the students and faculty of SNGIST College, Manjaly and MES College of Engg, Kuttipuram sharing their knowledge with us. Sunday was a day of action in every way. There were two sessions by ILUG on the day. "Significance of Free Software on Mobile Platforms" was handled by Sameer and an Open Forum Discussion on "Significance of Free Software Groups in Society". The first talk focussed on the growing importance of Operating Systems on Mobile Phones and how Free Software was the apt choice for Mobile platforms as well. "OpenMoko" was used as a reference. The Open Forum discussion was focussed more on helping 3 groups to help form User Groups in their colleges. SNGIST Manjaly, Paravur. KKTM Kodungaloor, and CUSAT. The dicussion saw several of the participants pouring out ideas to start groups in these colleges. CUSAT already having a Free Software group, just needed to get it up an running again. A group of people belonging to the Free Software Community including students had also done a protest against the main sponsor Novell, ILUG Cochin also pledged their support by putting up posters of "BoyCott Novell" in the stall.Some friends of the members of ILUG Cochin had come in and handed over posters and volunteered to stick them in the stall. At the same moment the organizers were rushing towards our stall to remove the posters as Novell had objected to it. The rough behaviour from the organizers were a matter of concern, especially the seizure of the cameras carrying the pictures of the brawl. The series of events that happened was bad in terms of the organizers taking an unnecessary tough stand on the matter and not lending an ear to the actual facts. We were happy to raise our voice and protest with the Free Software community opposing the likes of forces like Novell. Indeed it was good to see a resistance in a programme of such magnitude like the National Conference. Although there is no doubt to the fact that the conference did its job, bringing people from all walks of life and ILUG Cochin did the job telling people the principles behind it, the opposition against Novell has also increased the significance and importance of the event thereby bringing about a lot of questions into the community which would not have been raised otherwise. The stall was dismantled by 5.00pm at the end of the exhibition and everyone left for home after an eventful day and 4 days of hard work. Thanks to Binny and Sreenadh for spending all 4 days in the stall from day to night. Thanks to Shibin, Kevin Sha, Anil, IB Manoj for helping with the functioning of the stall. Thanks to the students and faculty of SNGIST Manjaly for helping us out with the stall and taking care of it in our absence. Thanks to Nagarjuna G for spending a great time with us. All the people who visited the stall. And of course the organizers of the National Conference for having provided us an opportunity to put up the stall Unfortunately senior members like Jay Jacob and Balakrishan Sir were unable to make it to the conference. _______________________________________________ Mailinglist mailing list Mailinglist(a)ilug-cochin.org http://ilug-cochin.org/mailman/listinfo/mailinglist_ilug-cochin.org -- 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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Is civil disobedience required for Free Software Movement
by renuka prasad 18 Nov '08

18 Nov '08

Want to hear from you all about the subject mentioned above This request is not for discussions about any particular event or any incidents that have or are taking place , please avpid any kind of cross references , please put your own thought More interested to know what software freedom fighters think about this , If you are a software freedom fighter believing in the ideologies of FSM initiated by RMS and can think about the topic mentioned in the subject can help me in understanding about the same regards

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