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Press Release: India should opposse DRM: Richard Stallman
by Anivar Aravind 23 Aug '06

23 Aug '06

India should opposse DRM: Richard Stallman India should not enact a Digital Rights Management (DRM) law, Dr. Richard M. Stallman, the founder of the Free Software Movement and the GNU Project said. He was speaking at the Fourth International Conference on GPL v3 held at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, on August 23rd, 2006. He commented that the people who implement DRM, which he called the "Digital Restrictions Management", should be in prison if the government is really of the people, by the people and for the people. This law actually restricts the freedom of the people. A company that uses the restrictions in producing its DVD will give the format it uses to create the DVD only to a company that promises to protect that restriction. The law has been enacted in the US and the European Union has given a direction in favour of DRM. Now the government of India is contemplating modifying its laws to incorporate DRM. The time given for the public to register their comments on the law was short and was insufficient for anyone to give a comprehensive response. That time itself is now over. It is important that the public take this issue and try to convince the government that what they are planning to do goes against the interests of the people and protects only the interest of the large companies. He went on to say that the Free Software licences like the GNU General Public Licence can do only a little to protect users from these laws. The conference was organised by the Free Software Foundation of India, and the Free Software Users Group, Bangalore, in association with the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, to discuss the draft of the new version of the General Public Licence (GPL), GPL v3. Dr. Stallman explained why a new version became necessary. He said that revisions become necessary when problems with the existing licence became clear, and when new circumstances threatened the freedom that Free Software promised its users. As an example of the new circumstances, he mentioned the DRM law and the example of a program called Tivo. Tivo is a device that records television programmes for the user to watch at another convenient time. This is a combination of software and hardware. The software is based on the GNU/Linux operating system, which is Free Software. All Free Software gives its users the freedom to modify the software to suit their purpose, and thus this software also gives the freedom to its users. But the hardware is designed to reject any software that is not one of the versions that is designed to run on it. Thus, though the user has the freedom to modify the software, it becomes meaningless because then it cannot be used. In other words, though the software is Free, the freedom becomes meaningless. The present GPL is not violated, though the freedom is, in practice, useless. The new version became necessary because of such circumstances. Prof. Eben Moglen, Professor at the Stanford Law School, Legal Advisor to the Free Software Foundation, and one of the important contributors to the new draft, said that protecting the licence from violations is not an easy job, and involves considerable work from a trained advocate. He said that a legal expert will be engaged in India if many violations of the GPL are found here. Referring to the problem related to some circuits used in wireless networking, he said that there has been serious problems from Japan, which has declared that any programmer who releases software for wireless circuits under any licence that makes its source code available, will be arrested next time the person lands in Japan. The conference will continue on 24th August, when two panels will discuss the relevance of Free Software for software businesses and in Education. The draft of GPLv3 can be read at http://gplv3.fsf.org/ and the detailed programme of the conference can be seen at http://gplv3.gnu.org.in/Conference/Schedule. Some photographs of the event are available at -- http://gnu.org.in/gplv3-conf-pics/index.html Anivar Aravind Free Software Foundation of India http://gnu.org.in

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Hi all
by kuldip M katatiya 23 Aug '06

23 Aug '06

Hi frds this is kuldip your new frd

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INVITATION
by Mishi Choudhary 21 Aug '06

21 Aug '06

Note: Forwarded message attached -- Original Message -- From: "Mishi Choudhary" <mishi_c(a)rediffmail.com> To: sailaw(a)gmail.com Cc: "mishi_c" <mishi_c(a)rediffmail.com> Subject: INVITATION Warm Regards Mishi Choudhary

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Re: 3 films for linux advocacy
by Debarshi 'Rishi' Ray 20 Aug '06

20 Aug '06

Thanks to Shakthi Kannan and Tinku Sampath. We were looking at the possibility of screening the movie in one of our university GLUG meets. It seems that it might now be a reality soon. Cheers, Debarshi -- Don't be humble ... you're not that great. -- Golda Meir

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INVITATION
by Mishi Choudhary 19 Aug '06

19 Aug '06

Note: Forwarded message attached -- Original Message -- From: "Mishi Choudhary" <mishi_c(a)rediffmail.com> To: sailaw(a)gmail.com Cc: "mishi_c" <mishi_c(a)rediffmail.com> Subject: INVITATION Warm Regards Mishi Choudhary

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INVITATION
by Mishi Choudhary 19 Aug '06

19 Aug '06

Note: Forwarded message attached -- Original Message -- From: "Mishi Choudhary" <mishi_c(a)rediffmail.com> To: sailaw(a)gmail.com Cc: "mishi_c" <mishi_c(a)rediffmail.com> Subject: INVITATION Warm Regards Mishi Choudhary

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Aruba Networks bag contract to upgrade Microsoft's wireless LAN
by Debarshi 'Rishi' Ray 19 Aug '06

19 Aug '06

http://www.linuxworld.com.au/index.php/id;754084996 Cheerio, Debarshi -- Don't be humble ... you're not that great. -- Golda Meir

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we need such machines in india
by Kush 19 Aug '06

19 Aug '06

To bring the concept of free/open source software to most Indians without fast internet access http://www.freedomtoaster.org/?q=node/72 If south africa can do it so can we. Kush

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Re: [Fsf-friends] 3 films for linux advocacy
by Debarshi 'Rishi' Ray 18 Aug '06

18 Aug '06

> Yes Gaurav... I was the guy who contacted the director. If any want > screening, put a mail to the director. He will respond. Sure. Should I mail to info2(a)revolution-os.com? Regards, Debarshi -- Modern art is what happens when painters stop looking at girls and persuade themselves that they have a better idea. -- John Ciardi

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3 films for linux advocacy
by Debarshi 'Rishi' Ray 17 Aug '06

17 Aug '06

> http://www.revolution-os.com/index.html What are the terms & conditions for Revolution OS? I have a copy of the movie which I got from my friend. Now I do not know whether he bought it or rented it. Can I distribute my copy or screen it for non-commercial purposes? Regards, Debarshi -- "I'm tired of all this nonsense about beauty being only skin-deep. That's deep enough. What do you want, an adorable pancreas?" -Jean Kerr

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School GNU/Linux goes online
by Vimal Joseph 17 Aug '06

17 Aug '06

Hello List, IT@School GNU/Linux is a single CD customised Debian GNU/Linux distribution containing the typical software tools required by an high school student or teacher. Apart from a host of typical desktop applications it also contains various educational applications like TuxPaint, Ghemical, Kalzium, DrGeo, Gcompris etc. The CD was customized by IT@School Project of Kerala Government in association with Free Software Foundation of India (www.gnu.org.in) downloaded the cd from : http://www.edugrid.ac.in/webfolder/download/schoolGnu/slgnu.html ~vimal -- Free Software, Free Society <http://fsfs.hipatia.net>

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RMS videos
by doxa＠sancharnet.in 17 Aug '06

17 Aug '06

http://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&q=rms%20stallman&btnG=Search&cr=c… Nice links. CK Raju ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message was sent using NWebmail, BSNL's Webmail Program

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3 films for linux advocacy
by Kush 15 Aug '06

15 Aug '06

http://www.revolution-os.com/index.html "The Codebreakers", a BBC documentary on FOSS and international development. It is available under a Creative Commons attribution license: http://www.apdip.net/news/fossdoc the code (swedish) http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3498228245415745977

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RMS in Mumbai
by nagarjun＠gnowledge.org 13 Aug '06

13 Aug '06

RMS (Richard M. Stallman) will be in Mumbai on 27th. The purpose of this email is to know if we could organize a public lecture on 27th. Please let me know your ideas: like your organization or college would like to host him and the lecture etc. Nagarjuna

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Phoenix - Embedded Linux Application
by doxa＠sancharnet.in 13 Aug '06

13 Aug '06

Friends, A one-day workshop on Phoenix has been organised at MES College of Engineering, Kuttippuram on Tuesday, 22 August 2006 at 09:30am. BP Ajith Kumar (Inter University Accelerator Center, New Delhi) and Pramode CE (IC Software, Thrissur), the brains behind the project would be explaining. The session would be of great use for teachers and students pursuing interests in electronics, computer science and physics, especially for those who have a passion for freedom even on research issues. All are welcome. MES College of Engineering, Kuttippuram is 3 kms from Kuttippuram Railway Station towards Kunnamkulam/Thrissur side. KSRTC buses has a regular stop near the college. Rgds, CK Raju ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message was sent using NWebmail, BSNL's Webmail Program

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[OT] An appeal
by Nagarjuna G. 12 Aug '06

12 Aug '06

(If you are a commmon member of the lists to which this email is sent, you get more than one copy of this mail, sorry.) As many of you know FSF India is organizing GPL V3 Conference at Bangalore, (http://gplv3.gnu.org.in). The response to the conference was overwhelming, and we already recieved registrations beyond the capacity. We thank you all for the enthusiastic response. Due to recent increased security restrictions on both International and national airlines, some of our guests were diverted to other less restrictive airlines which allowed laptops and books. Making these alternative arragements to our guests caused doubling of the expenses, and cancellation expenses. In some cases refunds were also not possible. As a result FSF India does not have these extra funds at this moment. We thought of bringing this to the notice of free software community, and explore the possibility of support. This is an appeal to contribute to FSF India. Since we do not have enough time to make alternative arrangements we seek your active support at this needy hour. Even if the support is small from each of you, if more people give a small sum, we will be able to make sure this will happen. The additional required budget is around Rs. 150,000/- (or around $3000/-). If you also know any one who could sponsor a ticket or part of the ticket do let us know. The conference registration was kept free and we thought we could manage well with our earlier budgets. Conference registration continues to be free, but do consider sending donations. You may also consider becoming taking fellowship (http://www.gnu.org.in/fellowship). http://www.gnu.org.in/donate#account FSF Account information: Free Software Foundation of India. Acc No : 632000002698 Bank : HDFC Bank LTD. Branch : Trivandrum. FSF India have 80G status under Income Tax Act. All donations to FSF India are tax-deductible (by order number: C. No 302/ADIT(E)/24/2005-05 Dated: 25/01/06 ). Please note that, for the time being, we are unable to accept donations from outside India. Thanks Nagarjuna

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Invitation to a lecture by Richard M. Stallman
by Indranil Das Gupta 09 Aug '06

09 Aug '06

Dear all, On Aug 16th, a seminar - "Free Software - A Necessity for Sustainable Development?" has been organized at G.D. Birla Sabhaghar from 2 PM onwards. The principal speaker is Richard Stallman, other speakers include Mr. Sitaram Yechuri, MP, and Dr. Puspa Bhargava, Vice Chairperson, National Knowledge Commission. The program would be inaugerated by Dr. Debesh Das, Hon'ble MIC, Dept of IT, Govt of WB, and will be presided over by Prof. Sankar K. Sen. I've a few invitation cards for distribution on a first-come-first-served basis. Anyone who is interested to listen to RMS's lecture, please contact me immediately for your invitation cards at : EMail : indradg(a)gmail.com Phone : 98300-20971 cheers, -indra

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Which license should I use?
by Kushal Das 07 Aug '06

07 Aug '06

Hi, I am making an application which is actually a combination of different packages. Now the problem is these packages are of diffrent licenses like : GPL, LGPL, MIT, MPL. Now I am confused in which license my application should be released ? And whether it is at all required to have a license for my application or not? Regards, Kushal

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SEEKING YOUR SUPPORT FOR A DOCUMENTARY
by Rudradep Bhattacharjee 07 Aug '06

07 Aug '06

Hi all, This is Rudradeep Bhattacharjee writing in from Mumbai. I am presently an Independent Research Fellow with Sarai, working on a documentary on the theme 'Cyberspace and Freedom, in the Indian context'. I was wondering if anyone had any interesting visual material, photographs, video fotage, etc., which might be useful. I am sorry about the vagueness, but the fact is I have no idea what you might be having. If there is anything at all that you think is interesting, please write back. Thanks. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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Debian Times started
by प्रव ीण् ए (Praveen A) 07 Aug '06

07 Aug '06

Hi, There is now a site dedicated to News about Debian. Checkout http://times.debian.net/ Cheers Praveen -- "Value your freedom, or you will lose it, teaches history. `Don't bother us with politics', respond those who don't want to learn." -- Richard Stallman Me scribbles at http://www.pravi.co.nr

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Consilience 06 conference on FOSS at NLSIU
by Ramanraj K 03 Aug '06

03 Aug '06

A brief note on the Consilience 06 event on Free Software that took place last week at National Law School, Bangalore, is available at http://freeshell.in/~ramanraj/kr_nlsiu.txt -Ramanraj K __ Consilience 06 * Law and Technology Committee * el~ték * NLSIU A Conference on Free/Open Source Software SCHEDULE 26th July, 2006- Day One: ======================== 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM- Session on Intellectual Property and FOSS * Hon'ble Mr. Justice Yatindra Singh, Judge, Allahabad High Court * Mr. Sunil Abraham, Manager, International Open Source Network 11:30 AM to 11:45 AM- Refreshment Break 11:45 AM to 1:30 AM- Session on Using FOSS in Public Administration * Mr. Ramanraj K, Lawyer, Chennai 1:30 PM to 2:30 PM- Lunch 2:30 PM to 4:00 PM- Session on Licensing Matters * Mr. Neel Mason, Lawyer, Delhi 27th July, 2006- Day Two: ======================== 8:30 AM- Richard Stallman address via videoconference: Why software wants to be free, followed by discussion. 11:45 AM to 2:00 PM- Session of FOSS Business Models * Mr. Atul Chitnis, Sr. Vice President, Geodesic Information Systems Pvt. Ltd * Mr. Anand Babu, Member, FSF India & Software Developer 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM- Session on Protecting FOSS Assets * Mr. Kenneth Gonsalvez, NRC-FOSS, Chennai 11:30 AM to 11:45 AM- Refreshment Break 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM- Lunch 3:00 PM to 5:30 PM- Session on Policy Implications of FOSS - An Indian Perspective * Dr. Nagarjuna, Chariman, Free Software Foundation of India * Mr. Sudhir Krishnaswamy, Consultant, Planning Commission of India 5:30 PM to 6:00 PM- Open discussion and debate on conference points and follow-up 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM- Closing session at Hotel Central Park Plaza with accompanying dinner/mixer VENUE Primary conference sessions for the 26th and 27th will take place at the Training Centre in the National Law School of India University (NLSIU) campus at Nagarbhavi (Near Chandra Layout off Mysore road; 12km from city centre). Closing session and dinner will take place at Hotel Central Park Plaza (In Manipal Centre, near M.G. Road). The accomdation for the keynote speakers will be provided for at the Training Centre in the NLSIU campus. WEB SITE http://www.nls.ac.in/consilience2006/index.html

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Fwd: [PRC] BLAG
by Anivar Aravind 02 Aug '06

02 Aug '06

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Monica Narula <monica(a)sarai.net> Date: Aug 2, 2006 6:14 PM Subject: [PRC] BLAG To: Free/Libre and Open Source Software Project List <prc(a)sarai.net>, cm_translation(a)sarai.net Hi all was wondering what the word on the street was about Blag (http:// www.blagblagblag.org/), and if anyone had used, had experiences with it? As the site says: blag - le brixton linux action group works to overthrow corporate control of information and technology through community action and spreading Free Software. blag - blag linux and gnu blag is an operating system. blag has a suite of graphics, internet, audio, video, office, and peer to peer file sharing applications. you can replace a windoz installation with blag. if you would like to install and run blag, download and burn it to cd. best M Monica Narula Raqs Media Collective Sarai-CSDS 29 Rajpur Road Delhi 110054 www.raqsmediacollective.net www.sarai.net Knowlege is power... share it equitably! _______________________________________________ prc mailing list prc(a)sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/prc

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Geographical limitation.....For or against freedom??
by Hiran Venugopalan 02 Aug '06

02 Aug '06

There is some thing which has to be removed. 13.[8] Geographical Limitations. Which is there in the G P L v2,other open source licenses released by O S I and in all non-free software license like EULA....but in our case,the freedom which we all think,enjoys,inspires and fight for......is that good to have such a statement like geographical limitation?? Should we support that??While we support such a license phrase,how can we shout against the FREEDOM OF BLOG and such thing?While the freedom of usage,study,modification and the redistribution is not allowed to citizen of certain countries or geographical region,I think it as a matter of caging freedom.What we matter [as I think] is freedom;not just for me but for the whole community,there my enemies are too included [Or you say that Microsoft or Adobe or Autodesk guys are not allowed to use GNU]. I am not an expert in these and I am just a new one to the field on free software and this movement.Do help me to understand the real concept. |* Hiran Venugopalan |** http://hiran.movingrepublic.org |**# 09846951870 |*

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Fourth International Conference
by Arun M 02 Aug '06

02 Aug '06

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bangalore to Host the Fourth International Conference on GPLv3 India will host the Fourth International GPLv3 Conference in Bangalore, this August 23-24, 2006. A part of the world-wide drive to create awareness about the upcoming version three of the GNU General Public License (GPLv3), the two-day conference is expected to draw delegates from across the communities - legal, bureaucrat and academia. While the first day will see Richard M Stallman and Eben Moglen, the original architects of the GPLv3 license, communicating latest updates on the GPLv3 final draft, the second day holds panel discussions on localisation, awareness and adoption of GPLv3 and threat of Digital Restrictions Management (DRM). The event to be held at the Indian Institute of Management - Bangalore is a sequence to the Third International GPLv3 Conference that took place in Barcelona, Spain. Similar events have already been held in the USA and Brazil. The international GPLv3 conferences are part of a year-long public consultation process to update the GNU General Public License (GPL). The version 3 of the GPL, essentially, takes into account changes in terms of legal and technical environment, in which software licenses operate, and the need to increase protection against new threats such as software patents and Digital Restrictions Management (DRM). The worldwide awareness drive for GPLv3, is to ensure that, all users of software distributed under its terms, have the freedom to examine, share, and modify that software. For registration kindly visit GPLv3 conference website http://gplv3.gnu.org.in For Details, kindly contact: Arun M (FSF-I) arun(a)gnu.org.in Prof Rahul De' (IIM-B) rahul(a)iimb.ernet.in Abhas Abhinav (FSUG-Bangalore) abhas(a)deeproot.co.in Venue: IIM-B Date: 23, 24 August, 2006 Contact numbers: Abhas Abhinav (FSUG-Bangalore) #080-41124785 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Hurd Update - correction -Debian update
by doxa＠sancharnet.in 01 Aug '06

01 Aug '06

Sorry, that was debian announcement. CK Raju

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Re: Re: Flame
by doxa＠sancharnet.in 01 Aug '06

01 Aug '06

Is Linus probably presupposing that the 'users' of free software may not transform into ethical beings ('sharks with lasers')? There are recent findings that 15 odd (even less) people, in most of the free software projects, do some 80% of the actual development work as 'core developers' - not strictly Eric Raymond's huge bazaar. What is not known is the real reason behind his 'fairness' concern? Philosophers like Nagarjuna are better equipped to analyse these issues... For us, how different are things going to be, if we continue to get free software in combination of GPL2 and GPL3? In any case if there are huge stumbling blocks - a fork can always be invoked - if we have the requisite talent of 15 odd core developers and the persuasive skill of the 1 or 2 'maintainers'? Despite knowing that RMS rejects religions - yet is not averse to accepting few from any of them - why does Linus raise 'crusader' and 'GOD' metaphor? CK Raju

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Hurd Update
by doxa＠sancharnet.in 01 Aug '06

01 Aug '06

============Hurd Announcement============= =======from Frans Pop <elendil(a)planet.nl>== A week since the planning was posted, time for an update. Thanks to James, the upload of d-i was processed very quickly. Since then various, mostly minor issues have been identified and resolved. We are now at the stage where final tests before the release can be done for all arches, so if you have some time, please run an installation on your favorite architecture(s). Please file an installation report with your results, or, if you are a d-i team member, update [0] directly. Beta 3 candidate images are available from the following locations: Full CD and DVD images: links "weekly snapshot" images on [1] Netinst and businesscard CD images: links to "daily built" images on [1] the "daily" images now point to the etch_d-i builds [2] Images for other installation methods: http://ftp.nl.debian.org/debian/dists/sid/main/installer-/current/images/ Known issues: - S/390 Beta 3 candidate images are broken; will be fixed with next upload - Lowmem settings in Beta 3 images are not yet correct; see below On Monday 24 July 2006 11:52, Frans Pop wrote: > One important TODO item is updates to debian-cd, especially for > architectures that are dropping 2.4 support in d-i. If your > architecture needs such changes, please contact me. Joey and Steve can > probably help with the changes where needed. As far as we know all needed updates in debian-cd have been made and successful builds for all types of CD images are now available. A fair amount of changes were needed, so please test CD-based installs. > All this does mean that the current lowmem levels need serious review > for all architectures. The good news is that memory requirement for a > "bare" install (lowmem level 2) looks be hardly changed. An updated lowmem was uploaded today and will be included in the final upload for Beta 3. The "level 1" limits have been increased substantially for all arches. For a few arches "level 2" limits have been adjusted as well. We will need to get back to this before the RC releases. Release planning ================ We are mostly running according to schedule. > 29 Jul Last chance to upload udebs for inclusion in intrds Last expected uploads (localechooser and lowmem) now done. > 30 Jul Testbuild of weekly images (using d-i images from unstable) Images for all architectures are now available. > 1 Aug Final upload of d-i images There is one issue that will probably delay the final upload of d-i images. A new upstream version of directfb was uploaded recently which FTBFS on powerpc. This breaks builds of d-i on arches which support the graphical installer. Hopefully this will be resolved soon. > 2- 5 Aug Testing This can already start now. > 2 Aug Last chance to upload udebs not included in initrds > 4- 6 Aug Preparation of release notes, errata, etc. > 5 Aug Migration of d-i to testing > 6 Aug CD builds > 7 Aug Release Will slip too depending on when the issue mentioned above is resolved. Cheers, FJP [0] installer/doc/devel/release-checklist [1] http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer/ [2] If you need to test sid_d-i images (using daily built d-i images), use http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/daily-builds/etch_d-i/arch-latest//iso-cd/ -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.1 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQBEzf4wgm/Kwh6ICoQRArSoAKC3aqd/TvZl1oLYh5UHySNy1CoBhQCfRiUy Jt1arH5y+P6wPiEUBXFj6Wk= =Arlv -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Comments on the GPLv3 Process
by Ramanraj K 01 Aug '06

01 Aug '06

It is reported at http://news.com.com/2061-10795_3-6099985.html that Linus Torvalds has sharply criticised GPLv3 draft terms as "inferior" to GPLv2. Several elements in the GPLv3 draft unfortunately make it plain that the shift is from "freedom" to "slavery", "hate" and "fear". If the GPLv3 ever comes into effect with such terms, it may even make non-free licenses look very respectable. I recently modified the licensing terms of the Calpp project that I am maintaining, so that modifications to the Calpp code base would be only under GPLv2 until further notice, to ensure a comfortable level of freedom for its developers and users. The most important reason why most people appreciate the GPL are the four freedoms: 0: freedom to run the program, for any purpose 1: freedom to study how the program works with source code and adapt it to your use 2: freedom to redistribute copies and 3: freedom to improve and release improvements to the public. The GPLv2 has implemented the freedoms as license conditions giving rights to licensees to enjoy the freedoms listed above, and has not only stood the test of time, but has created a good ecosystem of free software where developers, users, businesses and governments have benefited. GPLv3 should ideally be towards giving better rights to developers and licensees to make the freedoms more effectively usable and enjoyable. Many clauses in the draft GPLv3 are unintelligible and ambigious, giving open invitations for interpretations. Having provisions for "additional terms" would make the GPL a non-standard license, and even worse, they would only help to curtail rights and make the freedoms illusory. If the GPLv3 mission is alter the well known freedoms 0 to 3 substantially, then it is fairly important to discuss that in the first place, before the actual license terms are discussed. It is premature to discuss the GPLv3 draft, without arriving at a broad consensus on what fixes are required to the basic freedoms enjoyed by developers and licensees. I would request RMS and the FSF to first make a restatement of freedoms 0 to 3 before proceeding further with the GPLv3 process. In India, most of the criticism about the GPL has been about making the freedoms more practically available by making the GPL more enforceable. Many have asked if the GPL violates the "Rule against Perpetuity" Most GPLed software is freely available for download by the public from the Internet, and therefore, the terms in the GPLv2 that ensure perpetuity for public benefit, advancement of knowledge, commerce and other benefits to mankind make it valid and enforceable. This issue in fact holds the key to the future progress of the GPL. Focus and attention on the public nature of code contributions and examining ways and means to strengthen the distribution of computer programs and modifications on the Internet with better licensing conditions should help. If the GPLv3 draft process ignores real issues, and side-tracks into the private domain, it may just end up there, as a self-defeating meaningless exercise for all of us. Regards, Ramanraj K

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Flame
by doxa＠sancharnet.in 31 Jul '06

31 Jul '06

I think the GPLv3 is just getting 'debated'. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/02/08/gpl3_linus_replies/ We could do a diff between GPLv2 and GPLv3 to know what exactly lies behind. CK Raju ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message was sent using NWebmail, BSNL's Webmail Program

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ANN: ApacheCon Asia '06 in Colombo, Sri Lanka - August 14th-17th
by Sanjiva Weerawarana 28 Jul '06

28 Jul '06

This is my first post to this list .. I hope this announcement is appropriate. My apologies if not. FYI I'm one of the folks actively involved in the Sri Lankan FOSS. We're organizing a week of FOSS events in August again this year (see http://www.foss.lk/events/2006/fosssl) and the particular note below is about ApacheCon Asia. Bye, Sanjiva. ================== ApacheCon Asia is the first ever Asian offering of the popular ApacheCon Conference of the Apache Software Foundation (ASF). ApacheCon Asia provides an excellent opportunity to experience first-hand what ASF technologies and development communities can do for you and your enterprise. The program consists of two technical tracks in the main conference and a large number of tutorials. In addition a "hackathon" will be held the day before the conference where attendees can interact with various Apache project developers and learn and contribute! Priced at a very affordable level, the conference will be held in Colombo, Sri Lanka from August 14th to 17th at the Trans Asia Hotel. The complete agenda and registration information of ApacheCon Asia 2006 are available at http://asia.apachecon.com/ Register by Friday, August 4th and receive a 10% early bird discount! Interested in sponsoring? See: http://asia.apachecon.com/conference/sponsor/ We look forward to seeing you in Colombo! --The ApacheCon Asia Organizing Team.

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educational software for children--townplanning
by Kush 28 Jul '06

28 Jul '06

Hi all, Nowadays a lot of kids of middle class, upper middle class and rich sections of society play video/computer games which have a lot of violence etc in them. These games are generally expensive and very addictive plus they make children self centered and unable to think of working in a team or group. (sense of getting inputs from the community is not there as collaboration is not a part of the game) Lincity (or similar games) could be a way to motivate a child to the profession of town planning which is a very specialised job right now and in the hands of an elite few leading to a lot of lost inputs from the general populace. The mess in urban areas is a result of too few fossilised thinkers at the top who have a lot of power but paucity of ideas. Once children are introduced to such games which call for inputs from others (maybe at a later stage) and once such games become commonplace, more and more people will start participating in town and country planning processes far more easily than at present. I hope ngos and software developers can both think of such better ways to educate the newer generation and take away the dread of a specialised occupation by building even better games and user interfaces. Such games taken at a young stage could easily launch a child into a career and give them a headstart. Parents would also like to see children doing something constructive even while playing computer games. Besides several offshoots of such games can take place such as easily designing a place of residence etc (profession of architect, civil engineer, structural engineer, interior designer, landscape artist, GIS planners etc etc) There is a lot of scope in this idea for people in the game/educational software business. Kush -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [Fsf-friends] city planning--application software Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2006 16:34:14 -0400 From: Kush <be_a_sport(a)rogers.com> Reply-To: Principal Support List of FSF-India <fsf-friends(a)mm.gnu.org.in> To: Principal Support List of FSF-India <fsf-friends(a)mm.gnu.org.in> CC: Anil Laul <anillaul(a)vsnl.com>, karmayog <karmayog(a)yahoogroups.com> Hi all, Is there any site which rates open source application softwares in various categories? e.g. I was trying to find applications under town planning etc and I found only one working application software which has not been improved after 2004 or so.(looks like the development has stopped) The application is known as http://lincity.sourceforge.net/ and after playing it in ubuntu one can see it is entry level and not like the commercial simcity game. Still town planning is a very specialised occupation and it will become increasingly relevant as more and more parts of India get urbanised. Allowing such FREE tools in the hands of youngsters and the youth will only lead to better plans, debates, creativity and decision making as town planning impacts so many areas for a better quality of life. Its time we start thinking strategically on key applications such as these to make India and the world a better place. Maybe then such imaginative scenarios can be added to real gis maps etc. http://www.freemap.in/ is an effort in that direction (for the city of mumbai) but it leaves much to be desired as the data used is faulty or outdated. Kush _______________________________________________ Fsf-friends mailing list Fsf-friends(a)mm.gnu.org.in http://mm.gnu.org.in/mailman/listinfo/fsf-friends

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Second Discussion Draft of Revised GPL Released
by James Mathew 28 Jul '06

28 Jul '06

Six-Month International Review Process Leads to Revisions and Clarifications BOSTON and NEW YORK, July 27, 2006 -- The Free Software Foundation (FSF) and the Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC) today have released the second discussion draft of the GNU General Public License (GPL) version 3 (GPLv3). This new draft marks the middle of a year-long public review process designed to evaluate proposed changes and to finalize a new version of the GPL. The GNU GPL is the most widely used free software license worldwide: almost three quarters of all free software programs (also known as "Free/Libre and Open Source Software", or FLOSS) are distributed under this license. Since the GPL's last revision more than 15 years ago, free software development, distribution, and use have changed tremendously. Since the release of the initial GPLv3 discussion draft in January, members of the free software community have submitted nearly one thousand suggestions for improvement. Many have continued the discussion at international GPLv3 conferences held in the United States, Brazil, and Spain. With the help of discussion committees, the Free Software Foundation and the Software Freedom Law Center have considered all the issues raised by public comments. The new draft of GPLv3 contains extensive revisions in light of these comments. "We have considered each suggestion with care," said Eben Moglen, founder and Chairman of the Software Freedom Law Center, which represents various free software projects and is assisting FSF in revising the new license. "By listening to people from around the world, we are working toward a license that acts consistently in many different legal systems and in a variety of situations." "The primary purpose of the GNU GPL is to preserve users' freedom to use, share, and modify free software," said Richard Stallman, founder of FSF and original author of the GPL. "We depend on public review to make the GPL do this job reliably." About the Revisions The new draft clarifies that the license only directly restricts DRM in the special case in which it is used to prevent people from sharing or modifying GPLv3-covered software. The clarified DRM section preserves the spirit of the original GPL, which forbids adding additional unfree restrictions to free software. GPLv3 does not prohibit the implementation of DRM features, but prevents them from being imposed on users in a way that they cannot remove. Other significant revisions in the new draft include a reworked license compatibility section, and provisions that specifically allow GPL-covered programs to be distributed on certain file sharing networks such as BitTorrent. Additionally, this release includes the first draft of the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) version 3. The LGPL license covers many free software system libraries, including some published by the Free Software Foundation. The text of the new GPL and LGPL drafts can be found on the web at <http://gplv3.fsf.org/>. The site also includes audio commentary from Eben Moglen; a rationale document which describes the changes to the new draft; and further information about the GPLv3 revision process. As with the first draft, community members are encouraged to submit comments online at gplv3.fsf.org. Throughout the remainder of the process, there will continue to be international GPLv3 discussion conferences, including one next month in Bangalore, India. A third discussion draft of GPLv3 is expected to be released this fall, and the final version will be released between January and March of 2007. "Last November, we published a document which outlined the process for drafting the new GPL," said Eben Moglen, chair of SFLC. "As of now, we are still on schedule for a final release in early 2007." -- HASTA LA VICTORIA SIEMPRE!

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re: rating open source softwares
by Kush 26 Jul '06

26 Jul '06

came across this link too http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_revision_control_software

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GPLv3 community in orkut
by प्रव ीण् ए (Praveen A) 25 Jul '06

25 Jul '06

http://www.orkut.com/Community.aspx?cmm=17659738 -- "Value your freedom, or you will lose it, teaches history. `Don't bother us with politics', respond those who don't want to learn." -- Richard Stallman Me scribbles at http://www.pravi.co.nr

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asterisk users group in India
by Kush 23 Jul '06

23 Jul '06

Hi, http://asterisk.pbx.in/ (got this address from taug.ca) Its very strange to see the archives of the so called asterisk users group of India started in april 2005. Most of the archived messages are from non-indians and the jun archive is missing. It was quite a pleasant surprise to know that asterisk was known to the tech savvy among us since the group started around Apr 2005 according to what i can make of the archives but the messages show another story. Kush

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SELF project at HBCSE, TIFR
by Nagarjuna G. 22 Jul '06

22 Jul '06

The forwarded mail informs about the project that HBCSE, TIFR will be part of in promoting free software and generating documentation. If free software hackers are intersted in joining the team please send me a mail off the list, with a note saying in what way can you contribute. The link http://www.selfproject.eu/ and http://www.selfproject.eu/kickoff provides more info. Nagarjuna ----- Forwarded message from Wouter Tebbens <w.tebbens(a)staff.isoc.nl> ----- > Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2006 18:10:35 +0200 > From: Wouter Tebbens <w.tebbens(a)staff.isoc.nl> > Subject: [Self-l] Completely booked SELF Conference in The Hague (10 july) > To: SELF mailinglist <self-l(a)selfplatform.org> > Reply-To: w.tebbens(a)staff.isoc.nl, > General SELF mailinglist <self-l(a)selfplatform.org> > Organization: ISOC-SELF > User-Agent: KMail/1.9.1 > > Many of you have been there on this very inspiring first SELF Conference and > kick-off of the project. For those of you who have missed it, find here a > short summary, and links to presentations on the website: > > http://www.selfproject.eu/kickoff > > On Monday the 10th of July Internet Society Netherlands organised in The Hague > a completely booked conference about Free Software and education and how the > creation of open content revolutionizes our societies. Vice-mayor of the City > of The Hague, Frits Huffnagel opened the day with an inspiring speech about > the need for innovation through the use of Free Software > > Speakers were amongst others: > > * Jan Willem Broekema (OSOSS) > > * dr. Nagarjuna G. > (project leader Knowledge platforms Homi Bhabha Center for Science > Education, India) > > * Georg Greve (president FSF Europe, Germany) > > See his bio or download presentation PDF > * Mathias Klang (project leader Creative Commons Sweden) > > * David Megias (coordinator Master Free Software UOC, Spain) > > * Wouter Tebbens (Internet Society Nederland, project leader SELF) > > Besides there were panel discussions with national and international experts, > like prof. dr. Paul Klint (CWI), drs. Marja Verstelle (Leiden University), > Joep van Nieuwstadt (Exin), Jonas ?berg (Free Software Foundation Europe), > Martijn Verver (VPRO New Media), Thijs Chanowski, Michael van Wetering > (KennisNet), Leo Besemer (ECDL), Tom Dousma (SURF) and prof. Kees Stuurman > (University of Tilburg). > > The event marked at the same time the official launch of the ambitious SELF > project that will setup an international platform for educational and > training material about Free Software and Open Standards with the financial > support from the European Commission. > > The focus of the platform is on material about Free Software and knowledge > creation about open standards. ISOC.nl leads the international consortium > with strong partners from the rest of Europe (amongst which some universities > and the Free Software Foundation Europe), India and Argentina. S.E.L.F. > stands for Science, Education and Learning in Freedom. > > This first SELF Conference was supported by the Open Source agency from the > Dutch goverment, Programme OSOSS, the city of The Hague and the European > Commission. > > _______________________________________________ > Self-l mailing list > Self-l(a)selfplatform.org > http://mail.selfplatform.org/mailman/listinfo/self-l_selfplatform.org ----- End forwarded message -----

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fsf must rate and talk about application softwares too
by Kush 19 Jul '06

19 Jul '06

Hi all, Right now it is easy to always go to sites which provide certain kinds of application softwares but in the real world people need collaborative softwares. I think the business world is using propreitary applications for distributed work and we don't have sites which give any ratings for such softwares from the open source world. I am talking of the virtual private network applications or CRM or CMS or wiki type softwares where lay people can really collaborate in an office or group setting. We have no rating mechanisms to judge which features are better among a group of softwares. Typically people are interested in knowing 1 whether moin moin is better than (and in what ways) mediawiki or zwiki etc etc in the field of wiki softwares. (I came across Moin moin accidentally thru the dapper ubuntu cd which features it in the opencd.org project.) or whether egroupware is better than other softwares in the same line? (groupware substitutes for lotus notes etc) or whether joomla is comparable to drupal or mambo etc etc in features" (cms applications) or whether openoffice's base application (database) is any good and if there are alternatives available in the open source world at present which can take on msaccess? (or a workaround with a mysql application for ms access) or how does freegis compare with postgis and maxdb etc gis application softwares ? (in the gis world of open source software) or whether ruby on rails will soon outpace python, perl and php in web based application development? (though perl, php, python each have a HUGe body of historical strength) Or whether eclipse is better than kdevelop(c++) or anjuta or bluefish or boa constructor(python or delphi/pascal) or other IDEs? (when newbies have to develop open source softwares) or the merits/demerits of IDE tools which are linked to version control system tools like cvs or subversion etc etc--which are the best tools in version control according to various features/parameters or whether there are better tools than argo UML (poseidon is propreitary) in the field of application development software in terms of high level requirements specifications software and automatic generation of software tools or what are the strengths vs weaknesses in short form and dispassionately analysed etc without advertising jargon. I don't know any place where such information can be easily read and found. and these are the things which really matter for laymen to come to speed in the adoption of open source software in India. Sourceforge.net earlier used to give a maturity rating (development status) for an application but it does not do so now. Even earlier the application software results could never be ordered by the development status (except for paid customers of sourceforge) It would be great if fsfindia or somebody could enhance the work of sourceforge by having some ratings and categorisation of key application development tools/catalysts. Thanks Kush

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Re: [Fsf-friends] Indian governments blocking blogspot, geocities, and other sites.
by Debarshi 'Rishi' Ray 19 Jul '06

19 Jul '06

Die hard bloggers may try http://www.pkblogs.com/

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Indian governments blocking blogspot, geocities, and other sites.
by Debarshi 'Rishi' Ray 18 Jul '06

18 Jul '06

Hi, http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/06/07/17/1732209.shtml http://in.rediff.com/news/2006/jul/17blog.htm http://jace.seacrow.com/ Having gone through all the above sites, it seems that the dividing line between the Indian and Chinese governments has gone down by a level. My knowledge about the issue is restricted to these sites and IRC channels on freenode.net, so I would not make further comments. However it seems that Indian Express is covering the issue, and there has been a coverage on certain news channels. Regards, Debarshi

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The Value of Free Software
by प्रव ीण् ए (Praveen A) 17 Jul '06

17 Jul '06

The Value of Free Software Evolution's usefulness has long been hampered by the lack of a single feature. Because it is free software, one organization knew the feature could be added, either by themselves, or by paying someone to do it for them. Find out what they did, why and how they did it, and how you can get the patch for yourself. http://lxer.com/module/newswire/view/64720/index.html Regards Praveen PS: Most people think the freedom to change the software is not useful to them if they don't know programming, this is an excellent example why Free Software is better than proprietary software. see Shreyas' post about it http://blogs.gnome.org/view/shres/2006/07/12/0 -- "Value your freedom, or you will lose it, teaches history. `Don't bother us with politics', respond those who don't want to learn." -- Richard Stallman Me scribbles at http://www.pravi.co.nr

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RMS on GPL - sidekick
by doxa＠sancharnet.in 14 Jul '06

14 Jul '06

"..There's one other thing I should say. It's a very general thing. Governments that impose harsh restrictions on their citizens, backed up by cruel punishments, on behalf of corporations, are showing that they are not really on the citizens's side. They're not working for us, they don't represent us except with lip service. They represent the corporations and their goal is to rule us. These governments are democratic only in name. And since governments get their legitimacy from ruling on behalf of the people and protecting the people's rights, these governments lose their legitimacy. I'm very sad to say that almost all governments around the World have done this. Government of the people, by the flunkies, for the corporations. And it makes me very sad. ..." (Stallman at http://fsfeurope.org/projects/gplv3/barcelona-rms-transcript.en.html) Sounds perfect. CK Raju Thrissur ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message was sent using NWebmail, BSNL's Webmail Program

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GPL conference in Bangalore
by Krishna Pagadala 14 Jul '06

14 Jul '06

All, I have not seen any more news about gpl conference in Bangalore. How are the preparations proceeding? Krishna ===================================== Misinterpreting Copyright by Richard Stallman "Die Gedanken Sind Frei": Free Software and the Struggle for Free Thought by Eben Moglen mp3 ogg Free Knowledge blog . --------------------------------- New Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. Call regular phones from your PC and save big.

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GDM login screen on FSF India
by Hiran Venugopalan 10 Jul '06

10 Jul '06

Hi I have made a GDM login screen for Free software foundation of India. You can download it from http://hiran.v.googlepages.com/GDM-Freesoftwarefoundation.tar.gz -- Happy hacking | Hiran Venugopalan | |http://hiraneffects.blogspot.com | | # 09846951870 |

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Re: [Fsf-friends] GDM login screen on FSF India
by Ajay Pal Singh Atwal 10 Jul '06

10 Jul '06

One more request The buttons/ links to change language should be available in the login screen and if possible localization support would be good. -- Sincerely Ajay Pal Singh Atwal Dept of CSE & IT BBSBEC, Fatehgarh Sahib Punjab, INDIA -------------------------------- http://www.bbsbec.ac.in http://www.ajaypal.com -------------------------------- ajaypal[at]bbsbec.org, ajaypal[at]acm.org ----- Baishampayan Ghose <b.ghose(a)gnu.org.in> wrote: > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > Hash: SHA1 > > On 07/06/2006 04:39 PM, Hiran Venugopalan cobbled together some > glyphs > to say: > > Hi I have made a GDM login screen for Free software foundation of > India. > Nice work, Hiran. A few suggestions --

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GNU/Linux on AIR
by Pramode C.E. 09 Jul '06

09 Jul '06

Hi All, Please check out http://vivek-b.livejournal.com/5273.html __________________________________________________________ Yahoo! India Answers: Share what you know. Learn something new http://in.answers.yahoo.com/

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Re: [Fsf-friends] Biggest Open Source ‘e-governance’ Application in The Country - Ready for Rollout in Chhattisgarh State
by Ajay Pal Singh Atwal 09 Jul '06

09 Jul '06

we read the title wrong, maybe it should says "Biggest use of open source technology in an e-Gov Project..." Exciting news, if gov projects are using Open Source (preferably FLOSS/ GPL) technologies and tools, that is the first step. Let the gov people taste freedom, it is addictive. My best wishes. -- Sincerely Ajay Pal Singh Atwal Dept of CSE & IT BBSBEC, Fatehgarh Sahib Punjab, INDIA -------------------------------- http://www.bbsbec.ac.in http://www.ajaypal.com -------------------------------- ajaypal[at]bbsbec.org, ajaypal[at]acm.org ----- Baishampayan Ghose <b.ghose(a)gnu.org.in> wrote: > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > Hash: SHA1 > > On 07/09/2006 11:23 AM, VMK cobbled together some glyphs to say: > > Biggest Open Source ‘e-governance’ Application in The Country - > > Ready for Rollout in Chhattisgarh State > > > http://egovindia.wordpress.com/2006/07/08/biggest-open-source-%e2%80%98e-go… > > Does this work ? Can this be DUPLICATED in other States ? How about > > LOCALIZATION of LANGUAGES ? > Where is the source code? Do this people understand what ``Open > Source'' > Software is? Merely running on the GNU/Linux platform doesn't make > any

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Kerala Govt FOSS policy
by Arun M 07 Jul '06

07 Jul '06

To achieve these goals, the Government would create an investor-friendly environment and develop infrastructure. The Government was aware of the strategic importance of promoting Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). It would strive to make Kerala the FOSS industry destination of the country. http://www.hindu.com/2006/06/17/stories/2006061714610400.htm http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/06/17/stories/2006061703471900.htm

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Re: [Fsf-friends] GDM login screen on FSF India
by Ajay Pal Singh Atwal 07 Jul '06

07 Jul '06

Thanks for the nice login screen -- Sincerely Ajay Pal Singh Atwal Dept of CSE & IT BBSBEC, Fatehgarh Sahib Punjab, INDIA -------------------------------- http://www.bbsbec.ac.in http://www.ajaypal.com -------------------------------- ajaypal[at]bbsbec.org, ajaypal[at]acm.org ----- Hiran Venugopalan <hiran.v(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Hi I have made a GDM login screen for Free software foundation of > India. > You can download it from > http://hiran.v.googlepages.com/GDM-Freesoftwarefoundation.tar.gz > > > > -- > Happy hacking > > | Hiran Venugopalan | > |http://hiraneffects.blogspot.com | > | # 09846951870 | > _______________________________________________

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battery info for laptop users
by Kush 06 Jul '06

06 Jul '06

excellent site http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm

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Open Document Formats:Microsoft succumbs to public pressure
by James Mathew 06 Jul '06

06 Jul '06

** http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/5153350.stm -- HASTA LA VICTORIA SIEMPRE!

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