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CD of Distros at IT Kerala FSF Pavilion
by N S Srikanth 03 Aug '02

03 Aug '02

Hi, Visited FSF Pavilion at IT Kerala 2002. Though the pavilion is manned by knowledgeable personnel, I did not get to have the distro burned at the Stall as was suggested in one of the earlier mails. Will it be arranged in the remaining two days at least? N S Srikanth Trivandrum -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Learn from other's mistakes. You will not have the time to commit all of them yourself and learn from it! --------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Re: [Fsf-friends] [fred@bytesforall.org: [Life] Taking the Penguin to the classroom (Goa)]
by gnu＠vsnl.net 02 Aug '02

02 Aug '02

May I suggest not using "Linux" and "GNU/Linux" together!! Use one of them, but not both in a single article, that too in consequtive sentences. It is a bit confusing for newbies who are already confused about the whole thing! Thanks Ramakrishnan

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Philippines/Malaysia Open Source Hubs (fwd)
by Frederick Noronha 02 Aug '02

02 Aug '02

Extracts from a note by Bala Pillai <bala(a)tamil.net> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Tamil Ants/Erumbugale, The most interactive open source/Linux community in our time zone/Asia springs out of the Philippines. Primarily because the Filipino psyche is a more secure psyche, a more self-confident pyche. Folks who are self-confident worry about the future less, and allocate more time diagnosing and solving problems rather than echoing and reechoing it. Filipinos are also more into sharing and online sharing - we should look to more symbiosis with them. Manila-based Miguel Paraz whom I have interacted with since 1996, is a key catalyst in the Filipino Linux community. http://www.q-linux.com is a good starting point to get a feel for the key Open Source catalysts in the Philippines. KL,Malaysia-based Dinesh who runs http://www.alphaque.com is another lead Open Source catalyst in our tmiezone. Do look for symbiosis opportunities there too.... I see lots of room for us to symbiosis together. For example, there is likely to be areas where we diagnosing, documenting, analysing, coding or publicising where there is over-duplication. If we coordinated ourselves and found out where our circles and priorities intersect , we could share this work and get fruits out faster. For your consideration. cheers../bala Bala Pillai <bala(a)tamil.net> Founder, Thamil Innaiyam (since 1995) http://www.tamil.net Founder, Malaysia.Net (since 1995) http://www.malaysia.net Founder, The Asia Pacific Internet Company (since 1995) http://www.apic.net Towards Wired Ants Mindhood: Click on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/erumbugal Sydney, Australia Phone: + 61 2 9498 4852 Yahoo Instant Messenger: bala2pillai

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CALLFORPAPERS: Linux-Kongress, NORDU2003
by Frederick Noronha 31 Jul '02

31 Jul '02

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jochen Topf <jochen(a)remote.org> Subject: Linux-Kongress 2002 registration opens! Date: 16 Jul 2002 16:53:56 GMT Registration is now open for the Linux-Kongress 2002. If you register before August 9 you will receive a 33% discount on the conference fees! The Linux-Kongress is one of the worlds leading Linux developer conferences aimed at the experienced developer community. One day of tutorials is followed by a two-day, two-track conference program, with a Linux exhibition to browse in between the talks. The conference language is English. Organized by the German Unix User Group (GUUG) the Linux-Kongress will bring together for the 9th time Linux enthusiasts from around the world for talks about security, multimedia, clustering, new kernel developments and much more. You can also join your fellow developers in birds-of-a-feather sessions, sample the local beer at our Social Event and compete against your peers in the Linux-Kongress Komplete Konfusion Kuiz. The conference takes place at the University of Cologne, Germany. On Wednesday, September 4 there are five tutorial to chose from. The conference itself will open on Thursday, September 5 with a keynote by Marcelo Tosatti, the maintainer of the 2.4 kernel tree. Thanks to the German Ministry of Education and Research there is a special deal this year: Students pay only 50 EUR for the conference, tutorials and the Social Event! For all the details and online registration have a look at our web page: http://www.linux-kongress.org/ Don't forget to register in time for the 33% discount. I hope to see you in Cologne! Jochen Topf ########################################################################## # Send submissions for comp.os.linux.announce to: cola(a)stump.algebra.com # # PLEASE remember a short description of the software and the LOCATION. # # This group is archived at http://stump.algebra.com/~cola/ # ########################################################################## ------------------------------ From: Lars Tunkrans <ltu(a)icl.se> Subject: NORDU2003 - Call For Papers Date: 16 Jul 2002 16:54:00 GMT Reply-To: ltu(a)icl.se Subject: Call For Papers NordU2003 5th NordU/USENIX Conference, General Technical (NordU2003) February 10 - 14, 2003 Aros Congress Center Vaesteraas, Sweden Important Dates Paper submissions due: September 2, 2002 Notification of acceptance: October 2, 2002 Camera-ready final papers due: December 2, 2002 Conference Organizers Program Chairs Martin Wahlen, Sound Foundation Poul-Henning Kamp, FreeBSD developer & consultant Program Committee Seppo Kauppinen, Lars Tunkrans, Fujitsu Services Kristen Nielsen, TDC TeleDanmark Network Division. Review Committee Jonas Skeppstedt, Lund University Marshall Kirk McKusick, Unix developer & consultant - formerly CSRG UCB. Julia Lawall, DIKU Brian A. LaMacchia, Microsoft Tutorial Coordinator Ulla Sandberg Organization Committee Anita Nilsson, UniForum Marknadskonsult Jan Saell, Irial Overview The NordU program committee solicits papers on topics related to UNIX and UNIX like systems and UNIX system administration. We especially encourage papers on novel techniques, architectures and methodologies. Topics of interest include but are not limited to: Security Security Audits Common Problems Mandatory Access Controls Operating Systems Virtual Memory File Systems Device Drivers Open Source/ Free UNIX Open Source projects Open Source methodologies Open Source case studies Economic Impacts High Performance Computing Clustering the GRID High Availability Clustering Storage Technologies Checkpoint Techniques. Mobile Computing IPv6 802.11b BlueTooth Software Development Languages Development Environments Change Management Interoperability Windows Standards Storage Area Network Interconnects UNIX drivers software Paper Submissions Submissions should be full papers of about 4000-6000 words. The maximum submission length is 14 single-spaced A4 pages, including figures, tables, and references, using an 11pt font. Submitted papers should be in PDF format. The committee will not review papers that exceed the length limit, or papers in other formats such as Word or HTML. Extended Abstracts are acceptable, if they provide sufficient detail. Submissions are due on September 2, 2002. The program committee and external readers will judge papers on technical merit, significance, relevance, and presentation. A good paper will demonstrate that the authors: Are attacking a significant problem, have devised an interesting, compelling solution, have demonstrated the practicality and benefits of the solution, have drawn appropriate conclusions, have clearly described what they have done, and have clearly articulated the advances beyond previous work. Please read the detailed USENIX author guidelines for more information. Accepted papers may be shepherded through an editorial review process by a member of the program committee. The NordU conference, like most conferences and journals, does not allow submissions that are substantially similar to works that are previously published or are under review for publication elsewhere. Papers accompanied by non-disclosure agreement forms will not be read or reviewed. Best Paper Awards Awards will be given for the best paper. Work-in-Progress Reports Would you like to share a provocative opinion, interesting preliminary work, or a cool idea that will provoke discussion? The NordU technical sessions will include slots for work-in-progress reports and "outrageous" opinion statements. We are particularly interested in presentations of student work. To submit, please send a proposal (one page or less) to the program committee at pgm03(a)nordu.org. Birds-of-a-Feather Sessions Birds-of-a-Feather sessions (BoFs) are informal gatherings organized by attendees interested in a particular topic. BoFs will be held in the evening. BoFs may be scheduled in advance by emailing the Program Committee at pgm03(a)nordu.org. BoFs may also be scheduled at the conference. Registration Materials Complete program and registration information will be available in December 2002 on the conference Web site. The information will be in both HTML and a printable PDF file. If you would like to receive the program booklet in print, please email your request, including your postal address, to: congrex(a)congrex.se ########################################################################## # Send submissions for comp.os.linux.announce to: cola(a)stump.algebra.com # # PLEASE remember a short description of the software and the LOCATION. # # This group is archived at http://stump.algebra.com/~cola/ # ########################################################################## ------------------------------

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TC-Emu
by r_sreekumar 31 Jul '02

31 Jul '02

On Wed, 31 Jul 2002 Ajith Kumar wrote : > >ajith > > > >Hello all, > >here is a small program that will help those who want to do >Turbo-C >style graphics under X-window . >----------- >There are some people who require some minimal amount of graphics >and >managing it using >Turbo-C under DOS platform. Here is a program that can help you >compiling and running >those programs with minor modifications. Turbo-C graphics >functions are >emulated in a crude >manner using X-lib calls. >A program draw.c to draw a rectangle is shown below > >#include "xwin.c" > >void mycode() >{ >rectangle(100,100,200,200); >} > >int main() >{ >makeWindow (600, 500); / creates a window to draw >return 0; >} > >You just needs to include the file xwin.c, that is provided. >Write all >your code inside a function >named 'mycode' . Compile it using the command > >gcc -o draw -I/usr/include/X11 -L/usr/X11R6/lib -lXaw3d -lXt >-lX11 >draw.c > >Attaching draw.c, demo.c and a Makefile. >Your feedback would be nice. > >ajith > > >

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GLUE CD revised
by Arun M 30 Jul '02

30 Jul '02

FWD message from Mr Ajith, ---- From: Ajith Kumar <ajith(a)nsc.ernet.in> To: fsf-friends(a)gnu.org.in, ajith(a)nsc.ernet.in Subject: GLUE CD revised Date: 30 Jul 2002 11:03:10 +0530 Hello, I would like to announce the availability of GNU Linux Utilities for Education , GLUE, CDROM. You can browse the CD and install packages from it. Compilers for logo, basic, pascal etc are include. Lot of tutorials on various topics. Graphics Programming on GNU/Linux for the "Turbo C" fellows. The new version includes an installation script and does the following 1. Converts the GNU/Linux installed machine to a Terminal Server. Installation and configuration of LTS is done by the script. If the terminal video cards are autodetected by XFree86-4 , they just boot from the ether-boot floppy created. (tested on redhat 7.1 & 7.3 ) 2. Installs and configures IceWM ( a fast , flexible window manager ideal for terminal servers) and puts a menu tailored for school use. 3. Installs other RPM & TGZ packages from CD Anybody interested in getting a copy may contact Free Software User Group Calicut ( fsug(a)rediffmail.com) or me Other contacts: Rajeesh P., Calicut, (Ph. 355415) ajith

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IT Expo in Trivandrum
by Arun M 30 Jul '02

30 Jul '02

Hi All, FSF India will be participating in IT Expo to be conducted in Technopark, Trivandrum. The program will be from 1-4th next month. Regards Arun.

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Now its time for Forbes to take notice
by CK Raju 29 Jul '02

29 Jul '02

The capitalist tool 'Forbes Magazine' has produced quality "Linux special" report. Details are at http://www.forbes.com/2002/07/16/linuxintro.html That's an astounding piece of journalism as it would help quell the fear of the 'market' with such fair and positive remarks about Linux. CK Raju Kerala Institute of Local Administration

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Happy Birthday FSF India
by Rajkumar S 29 Jul '02

29 Jul '02

Hi all, Yesterday (20 July 2002) was the first anniversary of the Inauguration of FSF India in Trivandrum. kind of funny that no one remembered it. Is FSF India a legal entity by now? raj __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - Feel better, live better http://health.yahoo.com

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Re: [Fsf-friends] IT Expo in Trivandrum
by baiju m 29 Jul '02

29 Jul '02

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More from Peru
by Raju Mathur 29 Jul '02

29 Jul '02

http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,54141,00.html Microsoft's Big Stick in Peru By Agustin d'Empaire 2:00 a.m. July 27, 2002 PDT BUENOS AIRES -- Afraid that Peru may adopt a bill decreeing the use of open-source software in all government systems, Microsoft apparently enlisted the American ambassador in Lima to help try and convince the Peruvians to kill the legislation. Wired News has obtained a copy of a letter sent by U.S. Ambassador John Hamilton to the president of the Peruvian Congress, expressing his dismay at the proposed legislation. Congressman Edgar Villanueva, the bill's chief sponsor, said he considers Hamilton's letter to be "overt pressure" on Peru by the United States and Microsoft. If so, the letter would continue the long-standing U.S. tradition of meddling in Latin American affairs, political analysts say. In his June letter, Hamilton said that while the United States doesn't oppose the development of open-source software, it prefers to support a free market where the quality of the product can determine the issue. He added that by excluding proprietary software companies like Microsoft, Peru would be hurting an industry that "has the potential to create 15,000" jobs in the local economy. </excerpt> Is he the US ambassador or the MS ambassador? -- Raju -- Raju Mathur raju(a)kandalaya.org http://kandalaya.org/ It is the mind that moves

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GNOWSYS Development version released
by Nagarjuna G. 28 Jul '02

28 Jul '02

A development version of GNOWSYS-0.1-1 is released at http://www.zope.org/Members/nagarjuna/GNOWSYS. http://savannah.gnu.org/projects/gnosys GNOWSYS, Gnowledge Networking and Organizing System, is a web application for developing and maintaining semantic web content developed in Python and works as an installed product in ZOPE. The application provides generic classes, viz. object, object type, association, association type, facet, facet type, occurance, occurance type, theme, scope, etc., for developing semantic web content. For those who are aware, the application follows the structure of TopicMaps (http://www.topicmaps.org). It is intended to develop as a powerful prototype application demonstrating the potential of an expert system within the paradigm+of object oriented database technology. Presently it cannot import/export the content in the form of XTM (XML Topic Maps) standard, but this feature is being developed. The application can be used for web based knowledge representation and management projects, for developing structured knowledge bases, as a collaborative authoring tool, suitable for making electronic glossaries, dictionaries and encyclopedias, for managing large web sites or links, developing an online catalogue for a library of any thing including books, to make ontologies, classifying and networking any objects etc. This tool is intended to be used also for an on-line tutoring system with dependency management system between various concepts. It also contains a facility to add rules into its rule base, and execute the rules. Once completely implemented this feature will make the product really powerful, for it can infer and make new relations. Though a prototype of rule base already exists in the developing version, more elegant implementation is being worked out. GNOSYS is a free software, released under GPL. Project website will be managed from http://savannah.gnu.org/projects/gnosys Sample applications that are developed using GNOWSYS will be available at http://www.gnowledge.org/, which is a site under development. You can download from the Zope site: http://www.zope.org/Members/nagarjuna/GNOWSYS You can also download soon from the savannah site using the cvs after the files are setup. This product depends on another Zope Product, Transparent Folders. Nagarjuna

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Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 `woody' available
by Raghavendra Bhat 28 Jul '02

28 Jul '02

Hello: I have downloaded the seven ISO images of Debian GNU/Linux v3.0 aka woody. Listers wanting a copy of the same can mail me offlist. I am willing to copy it and mail it to Listers who have a need for it. Please note that Debian GNU/Linux `Woody' (Official) comes in 7 CDs and is one wonderful job by the community. :) Have a nice day... -- .-"".__."``". ragOO, Amateur Radio VU2RGU .-.--. _...' (/) (/) ``' Free Software for a Brave GNU World (O/ O) \-' ` -="""=. ', Computing as a Community Resource! ~`~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Elx Linux... on desktoplinux.com (some time back)
by Frederick Noronha 25 Jul '02

25 Jul '02

http://www.desktoplinux.com/articles/AT6850645834.html An interview with ELX Linux founder and chief architect, Abhi Datt Rick Lehrbaum (Feb. 4, 2002) DesktopLinux.com founder and executive editor Rick Lehrbaum interviews Abhi Datt, Chief Software Architect and founder of Project ELX, a new project to create a uniquely easy-to-use Linux distribution. Abhi Datt describes his vision for Project ELX, lists the main features of the ELX Linux distribition, provides an update on the status of ELX, and shares his thoughts on how Linux can succeed on the desktop and elsewhere. -------------------------------------------------------------------- DesktopLinux.com: What is ELX? What are its main objectives? Abhi Datt: ELX, as its name suggests, is "everyone's Linux". It is the most comprehensive work ever done to bring Linux to desktop. Very soon, ELX will bring to users a complete suite of various Linux based operating systems so that it caters to the complete needs of a wide range of users -- from home, to corporate, to power users, to hardcore developers. Our vision and mission are to take Linux to everyone. DesktopLinux.com: What are the key features and software that ELX will provide? Abhi Datt: The expression "ease of use" has become such a misnomer that I would rather refrain from using it. ELX's true brilliance can only be appreciated by actually using it. ELX does not believe in "dumbing down" the system to achieve so called simplicity. It's the most comprehensive work ever done to bring Linux on the desktops of all -- and by that I mean normal users, power users, and developers. People who think ease and power cannot walk hand-in-hand should try ELX to change their opinion. It's easy to make a Windows-lookalike desktop, but its difficult to make it actually work like one -- of course I'm not talking about Windows' inimitable ability to crash! Small things do matter. For example: How do you share files in Windows? Right click on any folder and pick share, a couple of buttons, and off it goes in the network. ... How do you copy your files to your floppy? Right click and send to floppy. ... How do you add a printer? Go to Control panel say add printer and follow the wizard. ... How do you change Network settings? ... How do you zip a file and email it? ... Try doing all this in ELX, and you will know why ELX is ELX. ELX comes with 3 fullfledged office suites (including OpenOffice), 5 browsers, 2 state-of-the-art email clients with outlook express compatibilty, a complete multimedia suite to run virtually all file formats, and more. "Application Launch Pad System" (ALPS) manages all this in the most intelligent way. Though the default desktop environment is based on KDE, it installs base libraries of Gnome so all Gnome applications work perfectly well. For system adminstrators and network administrators, ELX offers the latest Linux kernel with a lot of security patches. It also provides the latest configuration tools, the ability to control a network securely from any remote place via a browser, a firewall utility, plus an auto backup utility which is advanced enough to handle backup of complete partitions automatically on a periodic basis over the network itself. If someone is looking for an extraordinary development environment, ELX is the answer. It provides twin compilers (gcc 2.96 and 3.0.3) switchable on a flick of a button, twin QT libraries, latest development components, four preconfigured IDEs (Integrated Development Environments) incuding a Java IDE, two databases and preconfigured database drivers in IDEs, Sun's latest JRE, and a graphical versioning system. What else could a developer ask for? There is so much in ELX that if I tell you about any one of its areas, it will overshadow all the others. ELX has so much to offer that it can best be judged by actually using it. We are, in fact, releasing multiple versions of ELX along with the main release so that users can pick the most appropriate package. But ELX will never do a version which is inadequate in any means. So its fundamental character of Power and Ease will alway be preserved even in its basest of versions. DesktopLinux.com: Is ELX a totally free and open source distribution? Abhi Datt: The base version of ELX will remain free and under GPL, though there will also be several commercial versions available. DesktopLinux.com: What is the current status of ELX? Can people download and run ELX now? When can we expect a first "finished", stable version? Abhi Datt: Right from day one ELX has come out with an ultra stable version. We have a record that out of more than 40 thousand ELX users worldwide, there is not even a single after-install crash problem reported so far. And in many places (even in some renowned universities) it's used as a server because of its stabilty, ease of use, and ease of configuration. The current release of ELX (the new ISO set of preI/rc2E currently available) has no known bugs and is highly stable. It has been thoroughly tested. It is very much available for download. Users can visit our download page. The main release of ELX can be expected very shortly. In fact, it is currently under testing by several universities and developers worldwide. It will have several firsts to its credit -- a part of which we are keeping as a surprise. DesktopLinux.com: What is your vision of the opportunity for Linux on the desktop? What are the main barriers to the growing use of Linux on the desktop? (what are the key things that must be done in order for Linux to succeed? etc...) Abhi Datt: I think as a result of the entry of ELX there will be very little, if any, reason left with potential migrators to not switch over to Linux. But to actually keep maintaining a fair balance with the mammoth resources and market clout of Microsoft, all the Linux supporters should focus themselves on the real issues, which according to my understanding are as follows . . . Linux support from hardware vendors -- All hardware vendors have to be pressed to release Linux drivers out of factory, and in fact to ensure fair play in the market the US Government should pass a statutory regulation directing these vendors to do the same or at least write a clear and conspicous warning on their devices such as: "WARNING: ALL CUSTOMERS ARE HEREBY WARNED THAT THIS PRODUCT CURRENTLY SUPPORTS ONLY WINDOWS BASED SYTEMS". Hiding or not prominently displaying this fact from the innocent buyers is one of the prime reasons why people who want to excercise their freedom of choice also sometimes get badly locked into one technology only. How often does it happen that you purchase a laptop / modem / webcam only to later discover that your hardware is either not supported or partially supported in Linux? This attitude of most hardware/system vendors has made it almost impossible for Linux developers to keep up, since the onus is left to Linux developers to create compatible drivers to support the hardware/system vendors when it should really be the reverse. Linux support from software vendors -- Software application vendors should come forward and make their applications available to Linux users as well. In any case, more and more business applications are now becoming web based and therefore operating system independent. But applications used for specific purposes like CAD / CAM, graphic designing, etc. need to be made available for Linux as well. It now makes more commercial sense than ever for application vendors to have their Linux versions ready. Education -- There is a pressing need to educate and inform normal desktop users and corporate users so that they can make informed decisions rather than allowing themselves to fall into vicious cycles of vendor designed technology traps. The implications of their buying decisions with respect to both hardware and software have a direct impact on them both technically and financially. In fact we are planing to start an "Educating exercise" through the ELX website, to help people make informed and proper decisions. Until and unless we involve "normal users" in this cause, some of the hardware/software vendors will keep taking advantage of their ignorance. We'll be inviting both hardware and software vendors to inform Linux users how much of their product range currently supports Linux and when (if at all) they plan to provide Linux support for the rest. We will also try to inform users as much as possible regarding alternatives, provide compatibility rankings, etc. This will allow normal users to make better decisions. Lack of action oriented focus -- To bring much needed fair balance into action, the focus of the Linux friendly organizations should be unified. Until and unless we bring Linux closer to common normal users, it will keep itself distant from people's acceptance. Though IBM has announced a mammoth support for Linux, it has kept itself largely to the enterprise/server side of it. On the other hand, Sun would contest with Microsoft for issues such as not "standardizing" its Java standards, conceding in a way that Microsoft's OS can be the only viable vehicle to do so. Why? If giants like them can spend a fraction of their resources on addressing issues like giving more support to Linux developers, business application development on Linux, Framing common standards for Linux application development, and so forth, results would be far more effective. Finding a way to make money --- There needs to be some mechanism in open source where people can make some money (if they desire to do so) so they get further motivated to the cause rather than taking these issues part time, or as university days passions, or, for that matter, kind hearted gestures. In fact, to some extent this image of the Linux / open source community was responsible for not allowing it to gain an entry into serious corporate environments for a long time. Now, however, users are demanding an equal level of services from Linux companies, and also are not hesitating to pay for it. DesktopLinux.com: Do you think there is either a geographical or cultural difference in how Microsoft is perceived in India and other parts of Asia vs. how they are perceived in the U.S. and Europe? For example, is it easier or harder to get individuals and companies to switch to Linux from Windows in India and the rest of Asia than in the U.S. and Europe? Abhi Datt: One great thing about Windows is that it has proven to be a great unifier of cultural/geographical disparities of all sorts. It behaves the same way for everyone, everywhere -- and also evokes similar responses. As far as my experience goes, U.S citizens are the first to embrace, support, and encourage newer/better technologies. People in the U.S. are more open to change and are on the lookout for newer and better alternatives. Often, they make changes due to technical, rather than economic, reasons. Here in Asia, on the other hand, Linux is growing in popularity because of the immediate economic advantages it offers. Currently, a wave of Linux is sweeping througout China and South Korea. And Linux has just recently started picking up in India. DesktopLinux.com: Please give a brief overview of the history and background of the ELX project. Who are its leaders? Is a commercial enterprise funding or supporting ELX, or is it a community project based on volunteer efforts? How many developers are working on ELX? Abhi Datt: Project ELX was begun in February 2000, to build a distribution with the ease of Windows and robustness of Linux. For a little while it was funded by a commercial organization. Thereafter, it was funded by me until we became self sufficient -- this initially included a lot of sacrifices on the part of every ELX team member, who worked for minimum salaries and rejected lucrative job offers in India and overseas. All this because of their love towards ELX. We managed to achieve self sufficiency through various assignments including work in areas of embedded systems, training, and migration solutions. Now, with orders for support versions and CD's pouring in, we expect to be posting profits. We at ELX are a team of twelve people all below the age of 27 and with highly technical background and experience. Each ELX team member is key to the project. Narsi is Chief of Operations at ELX; his role in ELX design and development has been instrumental. He and I share the same vision, and without him I could never have taken this endeavor so far. Other key team members: Padmaja leads the Installation Team, Murali leads the Programs Management Team, Sudarshan leads the Desktop Team, Venkat leads Testing Team, and Praveen heads up Web-based Development of ELX. My own role is that of Chief Software Architect and founder. I, together with my team, design technical roadmaps, frame day-to-day objectives, and ensure that the teams' objectives are met by putting everyone's efforts in the right direction. I also am responsible for taking care of business issues at ELX. DesktopLinux.com: Is there anything else you would like to add? Abhi Datt: I'd like to add that the role of DesktopLinux.com in promoting the ease factor of Linux is equally instrumental -- if not more so -- than developing a product like ELX itself. For an organization like us which has an ace product like ELX, but limitations both geographically and in terms of resources, it is difficult to make our voice heard. We are extremely thankful to DesktopLinux.com for taking up the cause of actually bringing Linux nearer to people. DesktopLinux.com: And we are most grateful to you as well, for your efforts of creating "the people's Linux" -- and also for sharing some of your time and thoughts with the Desktop Linux community. Thank you and good luck with Project ELX! ------------------------------------------------------------------ Talk back! Do you have comments or questions on this story? talkback here Please note: If you have tried ELX Linux and would like to make comments about it, please post your comments here. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Related stories: Elx Linux "PRE-I release candidate-II" available for download And in this corner, it's 'everyone's Linux'... A forum member's first impression of ELX Linux Elx Linux-Pre-I now available for download A review of Elx, "everyone's Linux" Elx -- Everyone's Linux

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Call for Participation: "Open Source: A Case for e-Government" (fwd)
by Frederick Noronha 25 Jul '02

25 Jul '02

---------- Forwarded message ---------- Open Source: A Case for e-Government Washington, DC Oct. 17 - 18, 2002 infoDev, the Cyberspace Policy Institute of The George Washington University, and the UNDP are proud to present a conference on Open Source: A Case for e-Government to be held in Washington, DC, USA, Oct. 17 - 18, 2002. The conference will draw participants from local, national and international organizations from both the public and private sector. The goals of the conference include: - the presentation of best practices - raising awareness - sharing of experiences among policy makers, donors, users/consumers, universities, and industry specialists in Open Source, e-Government and related fields. To facilitate the organization of topics and events at the conference, you are invited to submit speaking and demonstration proposals. We strongly encourage speakers from both developed and developing countries to share experiences and submit proposals. More information on the conference and a Call for Speakers can be found on the conference website http://www.egovos.org --- You are currently subscribed to infodev-l as: fred(a)bytesforall.org To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-infodev-l-110453U(a)lists.worldbank.org

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(fwd) [LIG]NevyOS going Open??
by Raju Mathur 21 Jul '02

21 Jul '02

Interesting: initially Tisya (the authors of NevyOS) were fanatical about making a closed-source OS based on the Linux kernel. Now they need help with opening it. If you have suggestions for Tisya, please send them to the Linux-India-General mailing list (mailto:linux-india-general@lists.sourceforge.net). I'll try to ensure that relevant posts go through even if you're subscribed. Please send plain-text e-mails only -- HTML shall be terminated with extreme prejudice. Regards, -- Raju This is an RFC 1153 digest. (1 message) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Mayuresh Kathe <mayuresh(a)mac.com> Sender: linux-india-general-admin(a)lists.sourceforge.net To: linux-india-general(a)lists.sourceforge.net Subject: [LIG]NevyOS going Open?? Date: Sat, 20 Jul 2002 15:55:45 +0530 Hi all, Can we discuss a few issues regarding open source licensing of NevyOS? We are contemplating going Open Source with NevyOS. Reason: 1. Its time Unix took a break from X. NevyOS is best poised to do that. 2. Its time we gave MS a run for its money on the desktop too. Again, NevyOS is best poised to do that. (because, currently there are over 10 developers world wide developing killer apps for NevyOS, they would like to go open source too). But, at the same time what could be the alternatives for generating revenues if I have to atleast gain back on the investment? Could someone be charged if he is deploying NevyOS on a hardware platform of his design? If yes, what sort of a license will we have to put NevyOS under? Any brain storms on how we can enforce such licenses worldwide? ~Mayuresh End of this Digest ****************** -- Raju Mathur raju(a)kandalaya.org http://kandalaya.org/ It is the mind that moves

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Now its time for Norway
by CK Raju 20 Jul '02

20 Jul '02

Here's the latest trend from Norway. http://www.online.ie/technology/viewer.adp?article=1784902 CK Raju

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Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 Released !!!
by Arun M 20 Jul '02

20 Jul '02

The Debian Project is pleased to announce the release of Debian GNU/Linux version 3.0. Debian GNU/Linux is a free operating system, which now supports a total of eleven processor architectures, includes KDE and GNOME desktop environments, features cryptographic software, is compatible with the FHS v2.2 and supports software developed for the LSB. http://www.debian.org/News/2002/20020719

2 1

FEATURE: The promise of an operating system...
by Frederick Noronha 19 Jul '02

19 Jul '02

************************************************************************** NEVY OS -- THE PROMISE OF AN OPERATING SYSTEM: LINUX KERNEL PLUS WIMP Or, why working on hardware is a hard job in India -------------------------------------------------------------------------- BRIEfnCOUNTERS: BY FREDERICK NORONHA fred at bytesforall dot org ************************************************************************** We were leaving Bangalore by the sleeper-bus (yes, Goa has this strange mode of long-distance transport) when someone can rushing in to meet me. It was twentish-something Mayuresh Kathe <mayuresh(a)mac.com>, with a small hardware device in hand. That was the best part of a year ago. We were supposed to talk to each other via e-mail. But that never happened; mostly due to this writer's fault. Each time we exchanged mail, one ended up feeling that there were still more inputs needed before the 'story' could get done. Maybe because the story itself was a rather difficult one to comprehend. Putting Kathe in touch with a journo friend in Mumbai didn't quite work out. Fighting the odds in the hardware and software world, Kathe was obviously getting increasingly irritated with having to struggle to get a hearing from the media. Writing on software which is easy to describe or understand despite the distance is one thing. Hardware and operating systems prove to be an uphill task -- specially if you're the kind of a writer who background is journalism, rather than hard-core technology. How much of an innovation is this innovation? Is it an approach that makes sense? We're still not sure... So what better than let Kathe describe his work in his own words... We invite readers' reactions to Kathe's ideas, expressed in the form of a Q&A that he sent in recently: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- What is Nevy OS? ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nevy OS is a new name of the 'Indy' operating system, the first operating system from Tisya Microsystems Pvt. Ltd., and probably the first Operating System from the Indian sub-continent. Nevy OS is being created and constantly improved to work for the upcoming computing device from Tisya, called 'Nevy'. Nevy could be a computing device which will break away from most traditional theories, and twist certain beliefs to create the real people's computer. At this point, we would prefer not to talk about Nevy, because we want to maintain an element of surprise. But, just to keep you interested, let us tell you that it's going to be a portable *not a hand-held* and will be the culmination of over four years of research and development. Nevy OS is being built on the Linux kernel with a state of the art graphical environment which is zippy yet featureful. It is based on the 'WIMP' (Windows Icons Menus Pointers) paradigm that originated at Xerox and best implemented by Apple Computers and most abused by Microsoft ;^) Nevy in its current release has a menuing system; web browser jotpad; application game of snake network configurator. This is a Preview Release 1. It is being done to let people get a feel of what is coming their way. We will be releasing updated, improvised and application rich PRs regularly. Please keep your browsers tuned in to http://www.tisya.co.in/downloads/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Why is it called Nevy? ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 'Nevy' and the 'Nevy OS' get their names as a tribute to the person who has touched my heart. That person was the prime cause for bringing me out of the dumps, for making me fight back and infuse a renewed sense of purpose in life. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Why is it not called 'Indy' anymore? ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Because an awesome company (SGI) in Silicon Valley makes computers by the same name. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Who were the people involved in the project directly/indirectly? ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lots of them... But primarily, the most important people were: besides myself as the driving force and investor behind the idea, Erle Pereira, who has been one of the closest buddies and persons to support me the longest. He's also the one to be in a constant state of confusion, because of the various strategies laid out and executed by that terrible guy called Mayuresh. There's Amit Kucheria, one of the most amazing and enthusiastic brains, who have been providing constant moral support from afar (as far away as the US of A). Alan Kay, though he hasn't supported directly, but has always been the kind of person who would suddenly appear out of nowhere and tell you things which would make certain pieces of the big puzzle fit in. Mr. Jef Raskin again though not a direct supporter has been a constant guide and the force to make me think out of the box. (He also manages to give a kick on the #$%^ to wake you out of the dream world) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- When did it start, where and how? ------------------------------------------------------------------------- It started sometime around the year 1997-98 when I was getting bored of all the routine development work as part of his duties at Larsen & Toubro, Mumbai. I wanted something more challenging, something which would allow me to tap into my latent potential and do something significant. I was doing quite some amount of research on easy to deploy network solutions for data exchange, also some research on handwriting recognition, add to that my inner desire to build systems which would be so easy to use that they were almost intuitive. I was also disgruntled with the fact that Windows was spreading around faster than a virus. It became obvious that the path Windows was taking would demand an upgrade to hardware almost every year. That would mean the prices of hardware almost never going down, only the power offered would be a lot more for that same cost. That was a situation not conducive to bringing computing to the general masses (that idea of bringing computing to the masses arose out of the fact that I couldn't afford a computer till I had started working) I wanted the upcoming generation to grow up with computers, be as at ease with them as my generation was with VCRs. But, I also wanted to them to be technologically sound and work in an environment which would let them focus on their job (invisibility of technology). So one fine morning, during the bus ride to my office I popped up a question to start a brain storming session with my friend Rajeev Warrier (now at PW-C). The idea was to build an information appliance which would be hooked on to vast network of data (based on the Internet, but running parallel to the WWW) allowing the user access to information at the touch of a button. The appliance would have to be small, rugged, affordable and simple to use. (Personally, I wanted to base it on the LCARS system aboard the Star Trek Enterprise in the Next Generation series.) We figured, we would need a minimalistic OS, its sole data would be to start the hardware, get on the Internet and send queries and receive and display data. To avoid problems we wanted to eliminate the concept of a floppy disk drive or a CD drive (for that we thought we would make an OS which would be non-failing). And to keep costs low, we wanted to use the television as output, and provide a keyboard with built-in pointer controller (our terminology for mouse/trackball/ peticular switch) with a long cable (wireless would be too expensive). The biggest impediment would be the network. I envisaged a network based on the standard LAN (the benefit of having worked in a corporate environment) theme, only, we would call it SN (Society Network). This network would have to be the death bell of the irritating cable television network, since I wanted to provide 'Video on Demand'. We (Rajeev and me) would discuss it in detail every morning, sometimes during lunch, in the evening bus ride. We came up with an idea of creating separate smart disks which would be plug and play to the appliance hence providing external storage space (if required). Our biggest impediment was cost, the hardware cost just would go down (especially due to the TV output interface). That problem got solved one morning when I read an article in 'PC Quest' about a new MediaGX-based motherboard, created by a company in Bangalore 'Bharati Electronics'. We were euphoric. It infused a new life to our brain-storming sessions. I went ballistic, somehow, it seemed -- the force was with us -- that things were going our way, I met up with a guy at one of my regular Linux Users meets. He was a hardware assembler. I talked about the motherboard, he said he had heard about it. I talked him into lending me one of those boards. I told him, "If this succeeds, you get a cut and you will be rolling in money. If it fails, what's there to lose? You just assemble a PC with the board and sell it off." He agreed, he contacted the BE (Bharati Electronics) office in Bombay, got hold of a board and put the whole thing in an old casing and gave it to me. I toyed around with it for a couple of weeks, showed him a demo (which was pathetic). He was not happy, and started pushing to give back the system. In the meanwhile, I had been talking with an old colleague of mine -- Deepak Sharma, who had left L&T -- about my ideas. He was working for Fore Systems which got bought out by Marconi Telecom, UK and I figured I would need his help to execute my idea of establishing SNs. He talked to me at length about my concepts, and said it was a workable idea. We had discussed it for long, and I even showed him a demo. When the assembler pressurized me too much, I had to return the machine, but that wasn't before I had taken a trip to Bangalore and shown a demo to a company, via Deepak's contacts. The company offered me a job to bring that concept to reality. I jumped as I had already got frustrated with all the ridicule at L&T. Perhaps people out there just couldn't get it, being too closed minded. I reached Bangalore, and after that things happened in a sort of fast forward. What I had imagined the company to be -- based on Deepak's information -- was not what it really was. The company was dying, and I was supposed to be their saviour. Add to that I had to do it without any support (neither people to work with, nor sufficient equipment). I worked long and hard, worked nights at end, but things were proceeding too slow, with only me working on both, the hardware specification and software development. I fell ill with Typhoid, almost scrapped death, and had to come back to Bombay for treatment. In the meanwhile, I was made into a scapegoat for the failures of that company. The company got shutdown. Luckily I escaped with the bare minimum of injuries. Back in Bombay, broken physically and emotionally, I moved around aimlessly for quite some time, till one fine day I sat and thought things out. I figured, 'I am young, haven't got much to lose and that I giving it one more shot would be the best alternative.' I started afresh, dug up old contacts, built new, spoke with a couple of developers -- Erle was one of them -- and asked around for funds. No one was investing. One of my associates had heard about my plight. He also knew that I toying around with the idea about introducing a StrongARM (processor)-based computing device. One of his business contacts had one StrongARM evaluation board which he could not use. He got us both together. The owner of the board suggested that I collaborate with his company to develop a set-top-box for his markets in the Far East. It was the turning point, though due to my inexperience I faced a lot of hardships. Though after a prolonged skirmish (and a pending case against them) the collaboration fell through, I managed to salvage around Rs 450,000 (under $10,000) from the deal as fees towards consultation and miscellaneous expenses. Using that as capital, I took a trip to Taiwan, got oriented with the workings of the place -- very amusing, those guys work with hardware like we work with software, quick.... Built a dependable base in four working days, and a prototype, came back... That was the period of the 'crash of twin towers', the market had collapsed along with them. This was the time when I figured it would be better to start improving the Operating System and develop a contact base in India. We worked on Nevy OS (then called Indy). I moved all around the place (including Bangalore, where I met a person called Fred) and showed him one of our prototypes. We did an _alpha_ release on Jan 26, 2002, and approximately 6 months from then we have now down a preview release... A Poem attributed to the people at Tisya: Here's to the crazy ones... The Misfits, The Rebels, The Troublemakers, The Round pegs in the Square Holes, The Ones who see things Differently, They're not fond of rules and have no respect for the status quo, You can quote them, Disagree with them, Glorify or Vilify them, About the only thing you can't do is ignore them, Because they change things, They push the human race forward, And while some may see them as the crazy ones, We see genius, Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, Are the ones who do

2 1

FEATURE: In Pakistan, the government looks to the Linux users' group
by Frederick Noronha 19 Jul '02

19 Jul '02

IN PAKISTAN, THE GOVERNMENT LOOKS TO THE LINUX USERS' GROUP

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Can anyone help?
by Frederick Noronha 19 Jul '02

19 Jul '02

---------- Forwarded message ---------- Dear group, We have a pilot project in the HealthCare Industry and are looking for someone suitable from the group to take the initiative to help with the Implementation. Technical Environment is Linux/MySQL/Apache Web Server. Application is currently operational in this environment on PCs. Require assistance to make this work on a Simputer. Work involves GUI design to have new screen layouts appropriate for the Simputer screen size and testing of database, webserver functionality. We will provide Developer Toolkit and support on the same. Looking forward to your response. Kind regards, Paul Soetmulder Handphone: +65 - 9733.1870 Emailid.: huiswerk345(a)yahoo.com __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Autos - Get free new car price quotes http://autos.yahoo.com ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Save on REALTOR Fees http://us.click.yahoo.com/Xw80LD/h1ZEAA/Ey.GAA/CFFolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: simputer-unsubscribe(a)egroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

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[OFFTOPIC] Digital Partners' Social Enterprise Laboratory Call for Applications
by Frederick Noronha 18 Jul '02

18 Jul '02

Could something in GNU/Linux take support of projects like this? FN ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Digital Partners' Social Enterprise Laboratory (SEL) Call for Applications Please forward the following opportunity to anyone that you think may be interested in applying or any appropriate listserves you may be aware of. We have attached a copy of the announcement as well. Digital Partners, a United States-based non-profit organization, invites for-profit and non-profit social entrepreneurs and organizations serving disenfranchised communities in developing countries to submit a proposal for entry into this year�s Social Enterprise Laboratory (SEL). Entries are due by midnight, September 1, 2002. SEL is a new model of collaborative social-problem solving. The entries selected as the �Most Promising Social Enterprises� will be matched with a team of Digital Partners Brain Trust members and graduate students to help the social entrepreneurs maximize the potential of the idea. The Brain Trust is composed of IT professionals, business leaders, venture capitalists, and other professionals in their fields. The students are selected from prestigious graduate schools in business, public policy, and IT. After an assessment of the project�s needs for success, the team works with the leadership to identify funding sources, make strategic introductions, effectively incorporate information and communication technologies and market mechanisms into the enterprise, develop implementation strategies, and transform proposals into sustainable business plans. The most promising projects are eligible for up to $100,000 in grants, loans, or equity investments from Digital Partners. SEL is a yearlong collaboration to support the design, development, and deployment of projects or businesses that incorporate the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) to address the needs of disenfranchised communities. Supported projects can be undertaken by any combination of businesses, non-profits, governments, or individuals seeking to develop sustainable, ICT-enhanced mechanisms to serve markets at the bottom of the economic pyramid. Preference is given to projects that are grass-roots/bottom-up, market-based forsustainability, collaborative for community building, scalable, replicable, and catalytic in terms of systemic social and/or market change. If you intend to apply for SEL, please send an email message to dfeige(a)digitalpartners.org with "Applying for SEL" as the subject. You need not include anything in the body of the email. This will allow us to keep you updated on new developments. For more details please refer to http://www.digitalpartners.org/sel.html. Applications are available on the website.

1 0

FEATURE: The promise of an operating system...
by Frederick Noronha 17 Jul '02

17 Jul '02

************************************************************************** NEVY OS -- THE PROMISE OF AN OPERATING SYSTEM: LINUX KERNEL PLUS WIMP Or, why working on hardware is a hard job in India -------------------------------------------------------------------------- BRIEfnCOUNTERS: BY FREDERICK NORONHA fred at bytesforall dot org ************************************************************************** We were leaving Bangalore by the sleeper-bus (yes, Goa has this strange mode of long-distance transport) when someone can rushing in to meet me. It was twentish-something Mayuresh Kathe <mayuresh(a)mac.com>, with a small hardware device in hand. That was the best part of a year ago. We were supposed to talk to each other via e-mail. But that never happened; mostly due to this writer's fault. Each time we exchanged mail, one ended up feeling that there were still more inputs needed before the 'story' could get done. Maybe because the story itself was a rather difficult one to comprehend. Putting Kathe in touch with a journo friend in Mumbai didn't quite work out. Fighting the odds in the hardware and software world, Kathe was obviously getting increasingly irritated with having to struggle to get a hearing from the media. Writing on software which is easy to describe or understand despite the distance is one thing. Hardware and operating systems prove to be an uphill task -- specially if you're the kind of a writer who background is journalism, rather than hard-core technology. How much of an innovation is this innovation? Is it an approach that makes sense? We're still not sure... So what better than let Kathe describe his work in his own words... We invite readers' reactions to Kathe's ideas, expressed in the form of a Q&A that he sent in recently: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- What is Nevy OS? ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nevy OS is a new name of the 'Indy' operating system, the first operating system from Tisya Microsystems Pvt. Ltd., and probably the first Operating System from the Indian sub-continent. Nevy OS is being created and constantly improved to work for the upcoming computing device from Tisya, called 'Nevy'. Nevy could be a computing device which will break away from most traditional theories, and twist certain beliefs to create the real people's computer. At this point, we would prefer not to talk about Nevy, because we want to maintain an element of surprise. But, just to keep you interested, let us tell you that it's going to be a portable *not a hand-held* and will be the culmination of over four years of research and development. Nevy OS is being built on the Linux kernel with a state of the art graphical environment which is zippy yet featureful. It is based on the 'WIMP' (Windows Icons Menus Pointers) paradigm that originated at Xerox and best implemented by Apple Computers and most abused by Microsoft ;^) Nevy in its current release has a menuing system; web browser jotpad; application game of snake network configurator. This is a Preview Release 1. It is being done to let people get a feel of what is coming their way. We will be releasing updated, improvised and application rich PRs regularly. Please keep your browsers tuned in to http://www.tisya.co.in/downloads/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Why is it called Nevy? ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 'Nevy' and the 'Nevy OS' get their names as a tribute to the person who has touched my heart. That person was the prime cause for bringing me out of the dumps, for making me fight back and infuse a renewed sense of purpose in life. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Why is it not called 'Indy' anymore? ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Because an awesome company (SGI) in Silicon Valley makes computers by the same name. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Who were the people involved in the project directly/indirectly? ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lots of them... But primarily, the most important people were: besides myself as the driving force and investor behind the idea, Erle Pereira, who has been one of the closest buddies and persons to support me the longest. He's also the one to be in a constant state of confusion, because of the various strategies laid out and executed by that terrible guy called Mayuresh. There's Amit Kucheria, one of the most amazing and enthusiastic brains, who have been providing constant moral support from afar (as far away as the US of A). Alan Kay, though he hasn't supported directly, but has always been the kind of person who would suddenly appear out of nowhere and tell you things which would make certain pieces of the big puzzle fit in. Mr. Jef Raskin again though not a direct supporter has been a constant guide and the force to make me think out of the box. (He also manages to give a kick on the #$%^ to wake you out of the dream world) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- When did it start, where and how? ------------------------------------------------------------------------- It started sometime around the year 1997-98 when I was getting bored of all the routine development work as part of his duties at Larsen & Toubro, Mumbai. I wanted something more challenging, something which would allow me to tap into my latent potential and do something significant. I was doing quite some amount of research on easy to deploy network solutions for data exchange, also some research on handwriting recognition, add to that my inner desire to build systems which would be so easy to use that they were almost intuitive. I was also disgruntled with the fact that Windows was spreading around faster than a virus. It became obvious that the path Windows was taking would demand an upgrade to hardware almost every year. That would mean the prices of hardware almost never going down, only the power offered would be a lot more for that same cost. That was a situation not conducive to bringing computing to the general masses (that idea of bringing computing to the masses arose out of the fact that I couldn't afford a computer till I had started working) I wanted the upcoming generation to grow up with computers, be as at ease with them as my generation was with VCRs. But, I also wanted to them to be technologically sound and work in an environment which would let them focus on their job (invisibility of technology). So one fine morning, during the bus ride to my office I popped up a question to start a brain storming session with my friend Rajeev Warrier (now at PW-C). The idea was to build an information appliance which would be hooked on to vast network of data (based on the Internet, but running parallel to the WWW) allowing the user access to information at the touch of a button. The appliance would have to be small, rugged, affordable and simple to use. (Personally, I wanted to base it on the LCARS system aboard the Star Trek Enterprise in the Next Generation series.) We figured, we would need a minimalistic OS, its sole data would be to start the hardware, get on the Internet and send queries and receive and display data. To avoid problems we wanted to eliminate the concept of a floppy disk drive or a CD drive (for that we thought we would make an OS which would be non-failing). And to keep costs low, we wanted to use the television as output, and provide a keyboard with built-in pointer controller (our terminology for mouse/trackball/ peticular switch) with a long cable (wireless would be too expensive). The biggest impediment would be the network. I envisaged a network based on the standard LAN (the benefit of having worked in a corporate environment) theme, only, we would call it SN (Society Network). This network would have to be the death bell of the irritating cable television network, since I wanted to provide 'Video on Demand'. We (Rajeev and me) would discuss it in detail every morning, sometimes during lunch, in the evening bus ride. We came up with an idea of creating separate smart disks which would be plug and play to the appliance hence providing external storage space (if required). Our biggest impediment was cost, the hardware cost just would go down (especially due to the TV output interface). That problem got solved one morning when I read an article in 'PC Quest' about a new MediaGX-based motherboard, created by a company in Bangalore 'Bharati Electronics'. We were euphoric. It infused a new life to our brain-storming sessions. I went ballistic, somehow, it seemed -- the force was with us -- that things were going our way, I met up with a guy at one of my regular Linux Users meets. He was a hardware assembler. I talked about the motherboard, he said he had heard about it. I talked him into lending me one of those boards. I told him, "If this succeeds, you get a cut and you will be rolling in money. If it fails, what's there to lose? You just assemble a PC with the board and sell it off." He agreed, he contacted the BE (Bharati Electronics) office in Bombay, got hold of a board and put the whole thing in an old casing and gave it to me. I toyed around with it for a couple of weeks, showed him a demo (which was pathetic). He was not happy, and started pushing to give back the system. In the meanwhile, I had been talking with an old colleague of mine -- Deepak Sharma, who had left L&T -- about my ideas. He was working for Fore Systems which got bought out by Marconi Telecom, UK and I figured I would need his help to execute my idea of establishing SNs. He talked to me at length about my concepts, and said it was a workable idea. We had discussed it for long, and I even showed him a demo. When the assembler pressurized me too much, I had to return the machine, but that wasn't before I had taken a trip to Bangalore and shown a demo to a company, via Deepak's contacts. The company offered me a job to bring that concept to reality. I jumped as I had already got frustrated with all the ridicule at L&T. Perhaps people out there just couldn't get it, being too closed minded. I reached Bangalore, and after that things happened in a sort of fast forward. What I had imagined the company to be -- based on Deepak's information -- was not what it really was. The company was dying, and I was supposed to be their saviour. Add to that I had to do it without any support (neither people to work with, nor sufficient equipment). I worked long and hard, worked nights at end, but things were proceeding too slow, with only me working on both, the hardware specification and software development. I fell ill with Typhoid, almost scrapped death, and had to come back to Bombay for treatment. In the meanwhile, I was made into a scapegoat for the failures of that company. The company got shutdown. Luckily I escaped with the bare minimum of injuries. Back in Bombay, broken physically and emotionally, I moved around aimlessly for quite some time, till one fine day I sat and thought things out. I figured, 'I am young, haven't got much to lose and that I giving it one more shot would be the best alternative.' I started afresh, dug up old contacts, built new, spoke with a couple of developers -- Erle was one of them -- and asked around for funds. No one was investing. One of my associates had heard about my plight. He also knew that I toying around with the idea about introducing a StrongARM (processor)-based computing device. One of his business contacts had one StrongARM evaluation board which he could not use. He got us both together. The owner of the board suggested that I collaborate with his company to develop a set-top-box for his markets in the Far East. It was the turning point, though due to my inexperience I faced a lot of hardships. Though after a prolonged skirmish (and a pending case against them) the collaboration fell through, I managed to salvage around Rs 450,000 (under $10,000) from the deal as fees towards consultation and miscellaneous expenses. Using that as capital, I took a trip to Taiwan, got oriented with the workings of the place -- very amusing, those guys work with hardware like we work with software, quick.... Built a dependable base in four working days, and a prototype, came back... That was the period of the 'crash of twin towers', the market had collapsed along with them. This was the time when I figured it would be better to start improving the Operating System and develop a contact base in India. We worked on Nevy OS (then called Indy). I moved all around the place (including Bangalore, where I met a person called Fred) and showed him one of our prototypes. We did an _alpha_ release on Jan 26, 2002, and approximately 6 months from then we have now down a preview release... A Poem attributed to the people at Tisya: Here's to the crazy ones... The Misfits, The Rebels, The Troublemakers, The Round pegs in the Square Holes, The Ones who see things Differently, They're not fond of rules and have no respect for the status quo, You can quote them, Disagree with them, Glorify or Vilify them, About the only thing you can't do is ignore them, Because they change things, They push the human race forward, And while some may see them as the crazy ones, We see genius, Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, Are the ones who do

1 0

LinuxInIndia#3 [July 16,2002] (fwd)
by Frederick Noronha 16 Jul '02

16 Jul '02

---------- Forwarded message ---------- _ _ _____ _____ http://linuxinindia.pitas.com | | (_) |_ _| |_ _| | |_ | | _ _ __ _ ___ __ | | _ __ | | _ __ __| (_) ___ | | | | '_ \| | | \ \/ / | | | '_ \ | | | '_ \ / _` | |/ _ \ | |____| | | | | |_| |> < _| |_| | | |_| |_| | | | (_| | | (_) | |______|_|_| |_|\__,_/_/\_\_____|_| |_|_____|_| |_|\__,_|_|\__,_| CopyLeft2002 GNU/GPL v2 OR LATER * ISSUE03 * JULY16, 2002 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Co-edited by Frederick Noronha and Parag Mehta <pm at linuxindia dot org> * +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ In this issue o Linux... and the (Indian) languages (Yudit, Indianisation document, linguistic info) o Reports from the regions (Calicut-Kozhikode, Mumbai, Pune, Delhi) o Ingenuity from India (GNU software for libraries, qmailtheeasyway, Newbie's Guide to Linux, ElxLinux, suggesting for Indian accounting, thinclients at Goa, NevyOS, GLUE, mailinglist for PHP, MP3player, etc o Events (Lineo, Exocore training in Bangalore July 2002) o Linux goes to school (updates from Delhi, Goa...) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ****************** LINUX...AND THE (INDIAN) LANGUAGES ******************** ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ YUDIT... GOES MALAYALAM, KANNADA, TELUGU: Gaspar Sinai <gsinai(a)yudit.org> announced recently that Yudit 2.5.4 has been released. As Raj Mathur noted: "The current version of Yudit has complete support for Malayalam and other indic languages. It can also use Opentype layout tables of Malayalam fonts. I think Yudit is the first application that can use opentype tables for Malayalam, as MS is yet to release it's engine for Malayalam." ~ Yudit 2.5.4 can be downloaded from: http://www.yudit.org/download.html Changes: o Malayalam, Kannada and Telugu support o Software glyph-mirroring o iso-8859-15, iso-8859-16, koi8-c, koi8-u, ncr and rovas converters etc ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ GNU/LINUX'S FUTURE... IN INDIANISATION: Ankur <terminus(a)vsnl.net> mentioned some weeks back about work on Indianisation of GNU/Linux This is the link to that Indianisation document: http://www.geocities.com/ratheeshvadhyar/ratheesh-thesis.pdf And, a few relevant exchanges on the Linux Kernel mailing list: http://www.uwsg.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/0012.0/0297.html Says he: "One thing especially that I am not very clear about is, what should be the priority for Indianisation: Transliteration(for people who can think in English) or pure ground up IndiX type of effort so as to replace English as the language of the system." ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ INDIC-COMPUTING WORKSHOP, STILL AT PLANNING STAGE: This is an early announcement from Tapan Parikh <tap2k(a)yahoo.com> Please check with him for final details, dates could change due to the early nature of these plans. The Indic-Computing workshop is being planned for its core contributers of the Indic-Computing Project at sourceforge.net at the end of August, either August 24-25 or 31st - Sept. 1st. It will be held in Bangalore in association with Hewlett Packard. The main purpose of this workshop is to bring together young and energetic developers working in the space of developing local language development tools, applications, and content. It would be a small and informal workshop, with 20-25 core participants, including a lot of free discussion intended to spur creative and passionate thought about the future of local language computing technologies. The agenda would be two days in length. There would be a few presentations on each day to seed discussion, but these would still allow ample time for discussion, consensus building and group interaction. At the end of the meeting, organisers hope to have assembled a community of technically informed and motivated people to organize and lead the indic-computing development effort into the future. The leadership of this community should be individual driven, technically motivated, and entrenched with youth, vitality and a progressive vision. By building a community of practitioners, developers, linguistic experts and organizers, they hope to share ideas and experiences, facilitate broad discussion about the issues involved and discuss future directions for the field. "We also hope that this broad coalition would play in faciltatory role in helping local language groups interact more effectively with international standards processes and forums, such as the Unicode Consortium and W3C," say the organisers. "By the end of the meeting we will also talk about the future of the indic-computing project, how we can broaden it's impact and membership, and how it can be sustained, developed and expanded in the future," a concept note says. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ LINGUISTIC INFO FOR INDIAN LANGUAGES: Tapan S. Parikh <tap2k(a)yahoo.com> says he is working with Koshy to pull together some linguistic info for Indian languages, document that and post it to the handbook on their web page. Says he: "Basically the idea now is to put these guidelines out there and solicit a lot of feedback on this info from the general community for each language, from which we can collate the best results and publish in the handbook. So we dont want so many questions that people will be overwhelmed, and we should accept partial responses and the collate the best answers to each area on our side, but we still want to be comprehensive." Contact Parikh for more information. Email tap2k(a)yahoo.com http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/tapan/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ *********************REPORTS... FROM THE REGIONS************************** ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ MAILING LIST FROM DOWN SOUTH: Baiju M <malayalamlinux(a)yahoo.com> tells us about the the Calicut (Kerala) mailing list, which welcomes all useful GNU/Linux related information. Self-description: "Free Software User Group - Calicut has one mailing list to discuss various topics related to free softwares and freedom of users and devlopers. We are promoting free software use." To subscribe mailto fsug-calicut-request(a)freelists.org with a subject of 'subscribe' Website http://www.freelists.org/website/fsug-calicut ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ MAILING LIST FROM MUMBAI: Check the Linuxers mailing list on the ilug-bom.org.in server. Send Linuxers mailing list submissions to linuxers(a)mm.ilug-bom.org.in To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://mm.ilug-bom.org.in/mailman/listinfo/linuxers or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to linuxers-request(a)mm.ilug-bom.org.in You can reach the person managing the list at linuxers-admin(a)mm.ilug-bom.org.in ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ INITIATIVE IN PUNE: Ignatius Nayan D'Rozario <inigo(a)vsnl.com> who has been associated with the ILUG Kolkata Chapter from the time it was formed in St Xavier's Kolkata, is currently in Pune. He's student Sys Admin of Symbiosis Institute of Mass Communication. He is in the process of setting up an intranet and linking up their website www.simc.edu as a central portal where all the students and staff can log into the institution. He hopes to cash-in on his earlier experience with GNU/Linux. Says he: "I have been reading a few scattered articles on how Red Hat has partnered with Goan educational institutions in the propagation of the Open Source movement. I was hoping that association with a major like RedHat would strengthen my case when I present my proposal for setting up the intranet. Also I would need info on any Indian successes both corporate and if anything like this is up and running based on a Linux server anywhere in India, especially in the West so that the "see-and feel-factor" would be nice...." ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ILUG-DELHI, KEEPING IN TOUCH: To subscribe, send email to ilugd-request(a)wpaa.org with subscribe in subject header. To unsubscribe, send email to ilugd-request(a)wpaa.org with unsubscribe in subject header Archives are available at http://www.mail-archive.com/ilugd%40wpaa.org ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ***********************INGENUITY... FROM INDIA**************************** ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ GNU/LINUX SOFTWARE FOR LIBRARIES: Check out the software package for library automation created by three young men when they were engineering students in Goa. Sharmad Naik <sharmad(a)goatelecom.com> says the software is available for download from http://sourceforge.net/projects/glibs ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ QMAIL, THE EASY WAY... COURTESY TREVOR: Trevor Warren <trevorwarren(a)yahoo.com> of Mumbai is behind the project called www.qmailtheeasyway.com, which is "within the top 200 projects" in the Free Software world on Freshmeat.net. Says he modestly: "Of course, the major success of the project goes to DJB on whom my software is based." Warren is the Project Manager for Linux/Unix at ZCL, Zenith Computers Limited and works out of Mumbai. http://www.qmailtheeasyway.com ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ GUIDE... FROM INDIA... ON GNU/LINUX: Check the "Newbie's Guide to Linux" http://db.ilug-bom.org.in/Documentation/NGL/ Also the SGML sources are available at the following location http://db.ilug-bom.org.in/lug-authors/sameerds/ It comes to us from Sameer D. Sahasrabuddhe <sam_buddhe(a)yahoo.com> of the Reconfigurable Computing Lab, KReSIT, IIT-Bombay. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ FEEDBACK ON ELX-LINUX (HYDERABAD): Delhi-based journalist Jal Khambata <jalnews(a)spectranet.com>, an old-time friend, writes in to say that he has been using elx-linux "by a Hyderabad team" for quite some time and "find it very well configured to easily work in the network environment". As he puts it, his friends and colleagues "still refuse to migrate from Microsoft and I can now network to them through Samba on elx." ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ WHAT ABOUT INDIAN ACCOUNTING? Saswata Banerjee <scrap(a)saswatabanerjee.com>, who heads a cost accounting firm, recently had this to say on ILUG-BOM: "I think if you want to do things to make Linux more popular with corporate users, we will need more of common office use software. If you wish to add an "accounting software" to your list of projects, I will be willing to put in time to coordinate it (of course, someone here will have to tell me how this coordinating is done)." ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ THIN-CLIENTS, PALMTOPS... AT GOA: Arvind Clemente of Controlnet, Goa <arvind(a)controlnet.co.in> has announced plans for a live demo of thin clients to be given by Yunus Shaikh, who was working on this type of an environment in Norway and Goa. This will be demoed at the next Margao ILUG-Goa meeting on Saturday, July 20, at Adarsh Vidyalaya High School, Margao, South Goa at 4 pm. Arvind will himself also show a demo of how to connect your Palm OS based PDA to a standard D-Link 56K modem and configure the same for dialup to ISP and get mail/browse the Internet. To join ILUG-Goa send a blank email to ilug-goa-subscribe(a)eGroups.com ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ NEVYOS: Check out Mayuresh Kathe's site and work on the NevyOS http://www.tisya.co.in/nevyos/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ GLUE, A USEFUL COMPILIATION OF LINUX IN EDUCATION: baiju m <malayalamlinux(a)yahoo.com> comments on the GLUE CD compiliation <http://ele.gec.ac.in/~msr/glue/> "I think this GLUE CD will be useful for all category of students especially Engineering. I am a Civil Engg. student. I had an experiance during my 7th semester, our B.Tech project requires on Project Management software. The commercial non-free softwares like Primavera was very costly. At last we only got a demo version of MS Project and Primavera. Later I found that there are some free softwares available for this, but those projects were in the initial stages only. "Now MrProject, a free Project Management Software is available with GNOME office. Redhat 7.3 has included this package. If this utility is not included in GLUE; include this one in the next version. link: http://mrproject.codefactory.se "Recently, one of my junior asked whether there is any Visualization toolkit available along with GNU/Linux, for his project work. Mayavi is a good choice for this. It is a Data Visualizer from an Indian hacker. Link: http://mayavi.sourceforge.net/ " ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ TRAINING FOR STUDENTS IN PHP, A MAILING LIST ON PHP: Dr Tarique Sani <tarique(a)sanisoft.com> the medico-turned-GNU/Linux guru from Nagpur, says his firm SANIsoft is "going thru what has happened to good companies which were left after the dotcom bust -- we are busy with our commercial projects...." But if this trend continues, he hopes to hire more programmers and put in at least "thirty per cent of total man-hours" into Open Source-related work. Says he: "Yes my *free* PHP courses are continuing -- every month for three weeks, six days a week for 90 minutes each day I teach a batch of six choosen students about PHP". Keep up the good work Dr Sani! Check out: PHP Applications for E-Biz: http://www.sanisoft.com Indian PHP User Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/in-phpug ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SIMPUTER APPS... ARE YOU INTERESTED? Simputer (www.simputer.org) prototypes are ready and this GNU/Linux project is expected to go in for commercial production shortly. One suggestion that came up recently was for the need of a volunteer team to help build Simputer-applications, that would make this 'commonman's computer' even more useful. Sandra Morgan of GraffitiWorkz, Inc. says they already have an active website under development and are partnering with both Encore and PicoPeta on the manifacture and distribution of the Simputer. Says she: "We will certainly be happy to supply space and the development of the portal under discussion." Vivek K S <ksvivek(a)picopeta.com> of Picopeta says: "I already have a Simputer project registered at Source forge; If there is a basic idea about what one wants to do; I can create a module under that name and give CVS access for the same. There should be one person who will take personal responsibility for the module; I can help in initial coordination; till the person can completely handle the module by himself. Also all developer discussions should be made on the simputer-devel mailing list; to ensure that non-technical subscribers of this mailing list are not affected." Check PicoPeta Simputers Pvt. Ltd., for interesting updates on the GNU/Linux-based Simputer http://www.picopeta.com To subscribe from the Simputer group, send an email to: simputer-subscribe(a)egroups.com ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ WHAT IS IMLI: IMLI is a browser created by the Simputer Trust, and it uses the IML markup language. It is designed for easy creation of Indian language content and is integrated with the text to speech Engine. It is a choice for the implementors of the Simputer, to decide whether the IMLI browser is included in a standard distribution or not.... The HTML browser on the Simputer will always support HTML browsing irrespective of the presence of IMLI. IMLI can be indepently installed on any Simputer, irrespective of any existing framework. The PicoPeta Simputer comes pre-installed with IMLI, however, IMLI can also be downloaded and installed independently on any Simputer. Transferring data to the Simputer can be achieved via serial, USB, IR or modem. More information from <ksvivek(a)picopeta.com> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SPECS OF THE (ENCORE) SIMPUTER: The Simputer uses a built-in modem to dial into an ISP and then browse the net.... For connectivity you need access to a telephone line. The modem is built-in. You also need an account with an ISP. You do not normally use GPS. But is a GPS Receiver is incorporated, your positional information can be recorded. This information could then be used in conjunction with GIS maps of the region where you might be travelling. "Considerable progress" has been made in the development of a new version of the Simputer which has several interesting features that help in product expansion and connectivity. Encore has added a CompactFlash socket, through an optional Docking-Cradle, that could be used for CF-II compliant cards such as a Flash card or a Wireless LAN (Wi-Fi) interface. They also offer a choice of Colour or Monochrome LCD displays. Their new Simputer will now be available in "atleast four" different standard configurations described in the attached specification-sheet. Encore's current plan calls for launching 200 Simputer Evaluation Kits by the 1st week of August, and a subsequent launch of 1000 Simputers, before large scale production starts. "We are now accepting orders for the new Simputer Evaluation Kits, with delivery within 10 weeks of receipt of orders," says Encore. The following 4 standard models of the evaluation kit are planned: ESKIT-3216M Monochrome, 32 MB RAM, 16 MB Flash ESKIT-3216C Colour, 32 MB RAM, 16 MB Flash ESKIT-6432M Monochrome, 64 MB RAM, 32 MB Flash ESKIT-6432C Colour, 64 MB RAM, 32 MB Flash Further technical and pricing details from Shashank Garg VP - Product Development Encore Software Limited 6F Leo Complex 44 Residency Cross Road Bangalore - 560025 [India] Tel: +91-80-5593182, 5593174 Fax: +91-80-5587690 shanks(a)ncoretech.com www.ncoretech.com ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ WHAT IS ANJUTA? Anjuta is a nice IDE (integrated development environment) which combines the power of GLADE (a tool which creates the graphical front-ends for your GTK programmes) to create excellent iterfaces and its own code editing abilities to give the user a power-packed tool for creating apps on the fly. It has Glade integrated within it such that Glade creates the interface and Anjuta edits the code and builds the projects. Check the article in the July 2002 issue of DeveloperIQ (www.developeriq.com) by Ishan Chattopadhyaya, a Class XI student of St Joseph's College in Allahabad. For the past year, he has been engaged in Anjuta and Glade's documentation. He is also responsible for the creation of the easy-to-install wGLADE and winGTK ports of GTK and Glade to the windows environment. "Although they are in testing stage, they work quite well," comments DeveloperIQ. Anjuta is a creation of Delhi-based Naba Kumar (23), who hails from Manipur. He named this software after his girlfriend! Explains Naba Kumar: "(Anjuta) is an integrated development environment. Or, in short, an IDE. It's a platform where one gets all the tools for developing software. You could call it a factory to develop and distribute software." ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ PROJECT FOR A MP3 PLAYER ON LINUX: Siddharth Desai <engico83_2k(a)rediffmail.com> tells us details of a recent project: The MP3 player that we made was based on a P166/200 MMX with an addon that we made that connects to the parallel port. No keyboard, mouse or monitor needed. Hard disk could be used to speed up the system and store MP3's else CD-ROM drive for MP3s. Floppy drive (or hdd) to boot. OS + program fits on a floppy. Program reads parallel port and runs mpg123 which plays MP3s. Also modified the power supply to run of a car battery. The keypad (connects to parallel port) has 5 keys -- play/pause , next track, previous track, eject and one key which selected between songs 0-99 or 100-199 (since the LED display on the keypad could show only 2 digits). We entered the contest in the software section at the CIIILP exhibition of technical projects." ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ BHARAT MEDIRATTA, GALLERY PROJECT ON SOURCEFORGE: Anyone trying to track Indians contributing to GNU/Linux globally have a tough task. Are these names from India? Could they be from the subcontinent outside of India (e.g. Sri Lanka)? Are they part of the Indian diaspora that settled in countries like Malaysia or Guyana generations ago? Ravi Rao <ravi(a)bothan.net> draws our attention to Bharat Mediratta, one of the creators of the Gallery project on sourceforge -- http://gallery.sf.net/ "I'm wondering if he's Indian," said Rao. Hari Nair <Hari.Nair(a)jpl.nasa.gov> who's name is prominently mentioned on xplanets, writes in to say: "My family is from Kerala, but I was born and raised in the US." See also http://nagendra.com/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ WORK FROM GAURAV VAISH: Check out some work from Gaurav Vaish: - http://home.iitk.ac.in/student/gvaish/ - http://mastergaurav.virtualave.net/ - http://home.iitk.ac.in/student/gvaish/pg.shtml ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ *****************EVENTS, EVENTS, EVENTS, EVENTS, EVENTS******************* ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ LINEO, EMBEDDING LINUX TRAINING IN BANGALORE: Two-day technical training workshop on Lineo Embedix SDK will be held on July 22-23 at the Leela Palace, Airport Road, Bangalore from 9.30 am to 5.30 pm. This is the first Workshop on Lineo Embedix SDK in India to provide in depth complete training. This two-day intensive course promises theory as well as hands-on training. It will makr the launch of Embedix SDK. Lineo India will host the workshop by Lineo USA personnel. Embedix SDK operating system configuration tool is a powerful development environment for configuring, customizing and deploying Linux embedded software solutions. Embedix SDK 2.4 is a comprehensive solution that leads developers through the key steps of the application development and deployment process, including target configuration, user application development, automated deployment, debugging, software license review, and integration of new software and patches. Rs 6500 per head. Registration via email to lineo(a)gtcdrom.com. Or, register online www.gtcdrom.com/lineo.html ajay.kapoor(a)lineo.com ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ EXOCORE PROGRAMME FOR LIN-ADMINS IN BANGALORE: The Exocore Professional Linux Administrator Workshop is being held on July 18-19 at Hotel Le Meridien, Bangalore It will take participants from ground-up (installation and configuration of Linux) through network services (deployment and managing of Linux based services) to management (securing and maintaining Linux), according to its promoters. It also covers the deployment of Linux based desktops. This workshop is not a "What is Linux" kind of seminar -- it is aimed at practical deployment of Linux in a corporate environment, drawing on the years of experience that Exocore Consulting has in this field, says its promoters. "The course is conducted by Exocore Consulting - the people behind the well known PCQuest Linux Initiative, which has over the past 6 years been responsible for thousands of people across India successfully deploying Linux in their organisations," says the team organising it. This course is designed by Atul Chitnis and Gopi Garge. Supported by Shankar Balan, Vaibhav Sharma, Sony Philip and Ramakrishna K. Course Fees Rs.9,500 per participant. http://www.exocore.com/events ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ***************LINUX GOES TO SCHOOL... AND COLLEGE************************ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DISCUSSING GNU/LINUX IN SCHOOLS< COLLEGES AND VARSITIES: LIFE is the Mumbai-based mailing lists that looks at GNU/Linux in education issues. It is run by Nagarjuna G <nagarjun(a)hbcse.tifr.res.in> More details about him from from his website http://www.hbcse.tifr.res.in/gn/ About LIFE: LIFE is a mailing list for discussing and posting information related to the use of GNU/Linux and other Free software solutions to education in schools, colleges and universities. LIFE(a)mm.hbcse.tifr.res.in http://mm.hbcse.tifr.res.in/mailman/listinfo/life ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SINGLE CD ON ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS: One of Nagarjuna's recent ideas: "I am presently planning a single CD distribution containing the applications and goodies requiered for a regular engineering college student. I would like to keep in mind the syllabus and projects students do. Can some of you tell us what kind of applications are used/needed by students? We can build the list and sit on one sunday and make the distro. Debian GNU/Linux has special scripts to make custom CDs from their original master distribution. I am planning to use this." --Nagarjuna http://mm.ilug-bom.org.in/mailman/search/college-distro/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ LINUX TERMINAL SERVER SYSTEM, SOLUTION FOR SCHOOLS? Ajith in New Delhi <ajith(a)nsc.ernet.in> recent wrote in to say that he is trying to propose the GNU Linux Terminal Server System as a solution to schools and colleges. He's doing so after testing it at Nuclear Science Centre "for nearly one year on around 100 terminals". Writes Ajith: "(There are now) several GNU/Linux Terminal Server Installations. At University of Calicut, CEDT, IHRD computer training centre and some other places. The Skill Development Centre at district panchayat office, Calicut, also has one with 10 terminals and giving training on Linux based office automation packages." He argues that the cost of a good color terminal (diskless) will not exceed Rs.13,000/- . You can also configure an old P1 or 486 as a graphics terminal. (The GLUE CD he recently put together contains the software and instructions to setup a system.) This, he calculates, a 20 terminal system + server + network will cost less than Rs 350,000 (approx US$ 7000). The Free Software User Group, Calicut, has a group of volunteers trained in setting up Terminal Server System and offering help." ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ REDHAT... IN ONE CD: Supreet <supreet(a)linux-delhi.org> who's working on the GNU/Linux-for-schools project in Delhi says in mid-July: "I have modified the redhat 7.3 distro and it ships in one CD. Installs kde desktop, grub, timezone by default asia/calcutta. Has mozilla 1.0, openoffice 1.0. If anybody is interested in testing the CD can contact me. There could be a 10-20 minute demo of the CD in next meet." He also needs to add basic and logo packages because he could not find stable release of bwbasic or ucblogo. "I am also looking at packages like xbasic and yabasic. If anybody has prior experience in compiling and running any of these packages should inform me with details," says he. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ GNU/LINUX IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS TOO?: Linux in schools... what next? Linux in primary school? Lawrie <lawrie(a)goatelecom.com> has been working on a plan with a primary school to shift over to Linux. He hopes to guide the school and train the teachers too... Adds his sig-line: "The one who says it cannot be done should never interrupt the one who is doing it." ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ LINUX ACCESS PROJECT IN DELHI: Sarai <www.sarai.net>, in association with Linux Users Group, Delhi, recently initiated the Linux Access Project. This project attempts to generate awareness and use of Free Software in schools in Delhi. As a first step the Free Software team at Sarai is creating a Red Hat-based distribution network that will be easily available on a CD. A few schools willing to start using Linux-based systems have been identified and a series of workshops are planned through the year to introduce and familarise students to Free Software programs. The Free Software Kit prepared by Supreet Sethi and Pankaj Kaushal at Sarai will be distributed. Members of the project will also extend technical support.Details from: dak(a)sarai.net ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DELHI PARCELS OUT RESPONSIBILITIES FOR SCHOOLS PROJECT: Prateek Khanna <prateek(a)linux-delhi.org> lists the responsibilites being parcelled out to various individuals to take the Linux-In-Schools project ahead in Delhi: * Proposal to be prepared for IDG for mutual dealing (Tripta) * Syllabus: what is the current class XI-XII CBSE syllabus (prateek khanna to arrange a copy); is the syllabus and texts OS-neutral; if not good enough make courseware which is relevant; analysis of questions papers. * Issues on CVS to be dealt with by Sandip, Karan, Pai and Supreet. Not a matter of much concern for the time being * Quizes on linux and talks on open source to be held in the Software competitions organised by the schools. * The talks with the schools should not just be on pragmatic points. They should talk about freedom of software; open source; the fact that you can learn more from free source... the implementation of what they study as a part of programming * No commercial organisation be brought into picture as far as possible. Red Hat will be the favoured distribution. Still, an evaluation is being done for a better alternative for schools. * Mailing list has been set up. * Key responsibilities: Project management (Sudheer Gandotra), presentation (Prateek/Tripta), Write ups and manual (Dhurv/Supreet), Distribution (Raj Mathur), Tickets (Raj Mathur), CVS (Raj Mathur), Central Support (Sarai), Machine for testing (Tripta), Software List (Leo Fernandez), Syllabus (Prateek). There's a new mailing list for the Linux for Schools project initiated by ILUG-Delhi. Please send subscribe in the Subject header to mailto:school-request@linux-delhi.org?subject=subscribe to subscribe; send mail to mailto:school@linux-delhi.org to post to it. Non-member posts are disabled by default. If you wish to post without subscribing, please send the mail to raju(a)kandalaya.org and he'll forward it. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ GLUE, GETTING LOT OF UNADULTERATED ENTHUSIASM (ALREADY): Ajith Kumar <ajith(a)nsc.ernet.in> put together GLUE, what some are already callling an "excellent resource" of GNU/Linux resources for education. Says Prof Rayudu of the Goa Engineering College: "First let me congratulate all of you involved in compiling the CD. The CD is an excellent resource." ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ NOTHING OF MINE, SAYS KUMAR MODESTLY: When asked for permission to post it on a site, Kumar says modestly: "There is nothing much of mine in it, except a little bit in the physics, php and device driver sections. You can do anything with that internally. External hosting we cannot do with things like StarOffice 5.2 that is included in it. it is not much of an issue since we are not selling it. Try to utilize it any manner you find suitable. Try to distribute copies to anyone interested. Print the file gluecover.ps to make a paper cover for the CD if you like." ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ FOR DISKLESS TERMINALS: "(For diskless terminals) the CD contains most of the stuff needed, I hope. LTSP is very significant for us. NSC is using it on a large number of machines," says Kumar. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS OF GETTING GNU/LINUX INTO GOA SCHOOLS: Tom Fernandes, working amidst trying and difficult circumstances with others like Ashley Delaney and a few other volunteers, for the Goa Schools Computers Project, has something to report. Recently GSCP opted to install GNU/Linux in schools, with some support from Red Hat. Says Tom: "There is a project in Goa /India (www.goasudharop.org/gscp - sorry not much usefull information YET) where we distributed around 350 machines (Pentium 1) to schools all over Goa. Around 100 were sent out configured with LTSP.... We used RH 7.2. Servers are 166-200 MHZ with 96-128 MB of Edo RAM. Clients are 66-166MHZ, 16-32 MB of RAM." They're using Gnome and additionally windomaker. To make things easier, they customized the installation procedure and are writing some script to automize some things. The problems so far: * A lot of hardware probs (old buggy, hardware in a very tropical country (as Tom, who's of German-Indian origins, puts it: "At the moment my t-shirts are rotting.") * Gnome crashes sometimes (the server is just too slow, but what to do -- six slots for edo ram only and edo ram is not easily available or cheap * People mess up the settings (panel mostly) -- need some recovering scripts for the teachers to refresh some configs or create user-accounts anew * Not too much educational software (that might be your second biggest problem - support is your biggest... In addition, some other issues faced: * Many programs don't run in 640x480 proper and some teachers insist on it... on the 14" to 15" monitors * Some of the programs being used are gnumeric (sometimes buggy and limited-functionality), abiword (teachers are okay with that but now complain about missing tables), xpaint (ugly, but nothing better's available... couldn't get gpaint running yet), opera (ad-version), xwc ("llllighter than bloody Nautilus"). They still need to keep Mozilla (for helpfiles, etc) and Nautilus as it's backend for Gnome). Eager to replace it with gmc; suggestions for how to do so would be appreciated, as Nautilus is too slow for the machines being used. Mail software was still be searched for (something not heavy on resources). "The only time the (school) teachers have to use the console is to mount... will try to integrate supermount, which doesn't seem to be too easy and use the scripts we built," says Tom. In Goa, Arvind Yadav <arvind(a)opspl.com> customized RedHat 7.2, to create a CD that would allow for easy install on the school computers. There are about 15-20 volunteers to support some 20 schools. But something more is needed, suggests Tom. Much depends on the teachers and their attitude. Says he: "If you want to spread linux widely in schools (and want the teachers to really use the systems and not leave them getting dusted) you have to teach them proper (not only linux BUT WHY linux) . Here we told the schools: we can give you six slower systems where six kids can learn at the same time or we could have given you one new fast system where you can have linux (we paid 40$ for each system -- shipped and packed from the US to Goa -- all non profit organisations involved)." "Perhaps somebody should open a website www.reasons_for_linux_in_schools.org :-)," says Tom. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ **********************NOTEWORTHY DEVELOPMENTS***************************** ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ CDC LINUX, CSIR SIGN PACT: This report appeared in the BusinessLine commercial daily dated April 17, 2002 - the Bangalore-based CDC Linux has been signed on by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to develop portable software for bio-informatics on the GNU/Linux platform and the establishment of high performance supercomputing infrastrucutre for research organisations in bio-informatics, according to the company. The company will be an industry partner, under the CSIR's New Millennium Indian Technology Leadership Initiative. As part of the project, CDC-Linux will be collaborating with the Centre for Biochemical Technology on the development of software applications in the area of comparative genomics and proteomics. The products developed by CBT and fine-tuned by CDC Linux include the Genedecoder, a gene prediction tool, the Proteome Calculator, a comparative protein sequence analyser, and the See-Path, an intelligent protein classifer, according to CDC Linux. These products would be available for the international market, according to a press release. ENDS ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ WHAT'S NEW -- ASIA'S FIRST LINUX CD-ROM MAGAZINE: Linux Magazine on CD has just been announced by IQ Techmedia Pvt Ltd. The monthly CD-ROM magazine will focus on GNU/Linux, Free Software and the Open Source world. It is scheduled to be available as a five CD starter-kit on the stands "across the country" from June 16, 2002. The retail price of the kit is Rs 1500. DeveloperIQ will provide a CD-ROM of all updates and upgrades of more than 70 popular products in Open Source every month, for one year. That means 17 CDs in a year plus a bonus CD, almost 10 GB of researched content in a year. For the equivalent of US$30 (within India). Also round-the-clock six-days-a-week email support from Deep Root Linux Private Ltd. The starter-kit will contain RedHat 7.2 (2 CDs), applications (Openoffice 1.0, Galeon 1.2.1, KDE 3.0, Mozilla Internet suite 1.0rc2, Netscape 6.2.1, Acrobat reader 4.05, Gimp 1.2.3, Ximian Gnome 1.4, Kmail 1.0.29.2, gqmpeg 0.12.0, Etherape 0.8.2, Kyahoo 0.7, Image viewer 0.1.9, Qcad 1.4.7, Blender 2.12, Cross Artist 1.1, sfront 0.70 and more... a number of development tools, and an entertainment CD with over two dozen programmes. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ For GNU/Linux and BSD CDs check out http://www.linuxcampus.net This note came to us courtesy Prakash Adnani ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ WROX... ROCKS?: Shivanand Nadkarni <shivanandn(a)wrox.com> informs that Wrox India has set up a full-fledged editorial office in Mumbai. "Wrox India will emphasize on open source technologies. Till now Wrox India has produced books on PostgreSQL, MySQL and PHP4," says he. Great news... Wrox is also very much interested in Indian talent pool. They are trying to seek as many Indian authors and reviewers. Recently, they were on a look out for technical reviewers for Apache 2.0. Contact details Shivanand Nadkarni Technical Editor, Wrox Press Ltd http://www.wrox.com or http://www.p2p.wrox.com ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ NEWS FROM THE UNDP IN KUALA LUMPUR: Shahid Akhtar <shahid(a)apdip.net> of the Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme, a programme of the United National Development Programme, says APDIP is thinking seriously about organizing some kind of a consultation on open source/linux. Says Akhtar, who's headquartered in Kuala Lumpur: "We want to see how we can further this cause in the region. What would you say are the most important questions and issues that are require discussion? Who are some of the key players (institutions and individuals)in this arena in the region? What are some of the things that can be done at a practical level to get the open source research and development moving in the region? Who can do this best? Are there any present seminal studies, reports, efforts in the region that should be taken into account before one develops a plan of action in this area? Are there any other bodies out there who might wish to partner with APDIP-UNDP in this area?" Anyone with suggestions, please contact Akhtar. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ OPEN SOFTWARE: "Open Standards and Open Software in South Africa", discussion paper. In January, South Africa's National Advisory Council on Innovation (NACI) published a discussion document called "Open Standards and Open Software in South Africa: A Critical Issue for Addressing the Digital Divide". It "discusses the nature and impact of Open Software and recommendations for South Africa to take full advantage of this rapidly growing phenomenon in IT." The document is licensed Open Content, and there is a space on the NACI web site for public comment. http://www.naci.org.za [in English] ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ OPEN PUBLICATION LICENCES, A NEW LICENSE: A new public license -- the Open Publication License -- promises to bring the power of the open-source software movement to video, audio, and text while still preserving authors' rights to profit from the calluses of their creative hands. http://www.wired.com/news/news/politics/story/20276.html ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ GNU/LINUX... IN THE TRIBUNE OF CHANDIGARH: One recent article on GNU/Linux in the Third World, carried in Chandigarh's The Tribune: http://www.tribuneindia.com/2002/20020603/login/main1.htm ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SHROFF GETS THE BOOKS ACROSS: From Mumbai Vikas Kasalkar (91 22) 763 4290, 768 9126 - ext. 120/121 or e-mail at kasalkar(a)shroffpublishers.com announces popular GNU/Linux books that are released. Some of the books he listed recently included Bill McCarty's 'A Guide to Red Hat Linux for New Users' Rs 450; Building Linux Clusters Rs 350; Linux Device Drivers Rs 375; Linux in a Nutshell 3/e Rs 300; Linux Network Adminstrator's Guide Rs 350; Running Linux Rs 500; and Understanding the Linux Kernel Rs 450. These books are between 376 pages to 824 pages thick. Some come with CDs. Good value for money, at affordable Indian prices, it seems! Details from spdorders(a)shroffpublishers.com ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ HAVE YOUR SAY ON THIS FORUM FOR GNU ISSUES: Please check http://forum.gnu.org.in which is a forum to discuss GNU issues. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ LINUX ON IDGNET: Journalist John Ribeiro <ribeiro(a)vsnl.com> has put out an interesting article recently, linked to GNU/Linux and India. Check http://www.idgnet.com/ic_829012_4394_1-3921.html Ribeiro is based in Ashok Nagar, Bangalore. P; 91-80-5533341 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ LINUX DOC PROJECT TURNS 10 THIS YEAR: From: Sayamindu Dasgupta <unmadindu(a)Softhome.net> spares a thought to remember that the Linux Documentation Project turns 10 this year. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ YOU CAN POST YOUR GNU/LINUX ARTICLES HERE: Please visit http://opennews.indianissues.org. Our dream is to make this a modest site reporting on GNULinux issues in India. For posting GNU/Linux information in this e-zine, contact fred(a)bytesforall.org and send the details in plain-text format. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ * FOOTNOTE: Frederick Noronha <fred at bytesforall dot org> is a Goa-based freelance journalist, who writes on IT-for-development and GNU/Linux themes regularly. He is currently working on a print-media fellowship from www.sarai.net to study the Indian contribution to GNU/Linux and is cofounder of BytesForAll <www.bytesforall.org>. Parag Mehta <pm at linuxindia dot org> is webmaster for Linux India, listadmin for Ilug-bom, Country Manager of India for Linux Counters. Visit his personal site at: http://pmehta.org ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

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seeking free software contact for database project in Gujarat, India
by Arun M 05 Jul '02

05 Jul '02

Hi Mr Karl requires help of a database/web developer from Gujarat. Its for an organisation working on discrimination against the Dalits. > DBA Preferred skillset: > > _____________________________ > > > > + Is socio-politically conscientious > > + Is willing to work on the social issue > > + Familiar with local demographic concepts and challenges > > + Intuitively understands the value of collecting this database > > + Able to help turn paper-form data into digital data > > + Able to use, and committed to, Free Software > > + DBA skills include MySQL, and possibly PHP/HTML > > + Creative thinker If you can help contact karl(a)tux.org. Arun.

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seeking free software contact for database project in Gujarat, India
by Arun M 05 Jul '02

05 Jul '02

Hi Mr Karl requires help of a database/web developer from Gujarat. Its for an organisation working on discrimination against the Dalits. > DBA Preferred skillset: > > _____________________________ > > > > + Is socio-politically conscientious > > + Is willing to work on the social issue > > + Familiar with local demographic concepts and challenges > > + Intuitively understands the value of collecting this database > > + Able to help turn paper-form data into digital data > > + Able to use, and committed to, Free Software > > + DBA skills include MySQL, and possibly PHP/HTML > > + Creative thinker If you can help contact karl(a)tux.org. Arun.

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CDC Linux, CSIR sign pact
by Frederick Noronha 03 Jul '02

03 Jul '02

Does anyone have more information on this report, from the BusinessLine of April 17, 2002: CDC LINUX, CSIR SIGN PACT Bangalore: The Bangalore-based CDC Linux has been signed on by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to develop portable software for bio-informatics on the GNU/Linux platform and the establishment of high performance supercomputing infrastrucutre for research organisations in bio-informatics, according to the company. The company will be an industry partner, under the CSIR's New Millennium Indian Technology Leadership Initiative. As part of the project, CDC-Linux will be collaborating with the Centre for Biochemical Technology on the development of software applications in the area of comparative genomics and proteomics. The products developed by CBT and fine-tuned by CDC Linux include the Genedecoder, a gene prediction tool, the Proteome Calculator, a comparative protein sequence analyser, and the See-Path, an intelligent protein classifer, according to CDC Linux. These products would be available for the international market, according to a press release. ENDS

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Free Software User Group - Calicut mailing list
by baiju m 02 Jul '02

02 Jul '02

Hi all, Free Software User Group - Calicut has one mailing list to discuss various topics related to free softwares and freedom of users and devlopers. We are promoting free software use . To join the list send a mail to : fsug-calicut-request(a)freelists.org with subject as 'subscribe' You will receive a confirmation mail, just reply that mail without any changes to confirm your subscription. Then you can post your messages to fsug-calicut(a)freelists.org . Visit our wesite : http://www.freelists.org/webpage/fsug-calicut for more information about us. If you have any question about the group, please contact me. Regards, Baiju M __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Sign up for SBC Yahoo! Dial - First Month Free http://sbc.yahoo.com

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[solaris]A Business Case Study of Open Source Software (fwd)
by Frederick Noronha 02 Jul '02

02 Jul '02

---------- Forwarded message ---------- This is something I came across recently which I thought was useful for the open source community. It provides a good case for applying Linux and other open source software in business applications building on a military business case. Fred, maybe you can take the trouble to forward it to the Linux/open source oriented mailing lists. - Ashish ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- A Business Case Study of Open Source Software Carolyn A. Kenwood, The MITRE Corporation ABSTRACT This paper was prepared as part of The MITRE Corporation�s FY00 Mission-Oriented Investigation and Experimentation (MOIE) research project "Open Source Software in Military Systems.. This paper analyzes the business case of open source software. It is intended to help Program Managers evaluate whether open source software and development methodologies are applicable to their technology programs. In the Executive Summary, the paper explains open source, describes its significance, compares open source to traditional commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products, presents the military business case, shows the applicability of Linux to the military business case, analyzes the use of Linux, discusses anomalies, and provides considerations for military Program Managers. The paper also provides a history of Unix and Linux, presents a business case model, and analyzes the commercial business case of Linux. KEYWORDS: Linux, Open Source, Open Source Software, OSS, Software. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- For the complete text please download the portable document format (PDF) of this article. (http://www.mitre.org/support/papers/tech_papers_01/kenwood_software/kenwood _software.pdf). Warm regards, Ashish =============================================== Ashish Kotamkar (ashish(a)mithi.com) Mithi Software Technologies Pvt. Ltd. 302, Mayfair Court, Dr. Pai Marg, Baner Road, Pune 411 045. India. Tel: +91-20-729 3259/58 Fax: +91-20-729 3260 Web: http://www.mithi.com ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Communicate in your own language. Log onto www.mailjol.com. =============================================== solaris--independant forum for IT & development issues un/sub info: solaris-request(a)mail.sarai.net with the word "help" in the subject line or in the body of the message. URL: http://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/solaris/ archive: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/solaris/

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COMMENT: Left looks at free software only very slowly....
by Frederick Noronha 01 Jul '02

01 Jul '02

Would someone send this across to the CPI(M) government in West Bengal that seems to prefer Microsoft? FN >From ravis(a)sarai.net Mon Jun 17 01:23:20 2002 The issue of free software seems to have strangely passed the left in this country by.. This review came out in New Left Review (it was also posted in nettime), what was strange (but not surprising) was that NLR took so long to come to terms with such issues. For a long time the aging and (old-new) Left in the West looked at free software advocates as either as muddled libertarians, or confused anarchists. In that context this review of a biography of Richard Stallman is a welcome departure. Stallman, as some Delhi-based list readers will remember, spoke at Sarai on February of this year. New Left Review 15, May-June 2002 URL: http://www.newleftreview.net/NLR24907.shtml JULIAN STALLABRASS DIGITAL COMMONS The following passage appears very rarely in the copyright notice of a printed book: Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation Licence, Version 1.1 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation. It is to be found on the opening page of a new biography of the free-software programmer and activist, Richard Stallman, and (as the epilogue recounts) the unusual arrangement under which it is published is due to his stern insistence. The notice means what it says: anyone is free to copy, change and disseminate the book, provided they obey a set of rules, of which the most important are (a) that they must reproduce invariant portions of the text, protecting the recognition of its author, and (b) that any modified or copied text be subject to the same GFD licence. Furthermore, from June 2002, Sam Williams plans to publish the biography on the web site www.faifzilla.org, where readers can help to improve the work, or create a personalized version . . . We realize there are many technical details in this story that may benefit from additional or refined information. As this book is released under the GFDL, we are accepting patches just like we would with any free software program. Accepted changes will be posted electronically and will eventually be incorporated into future printed versions of this work. As the book makes plain, Stallman is an extraordinary figure -- a programmer of surpassing skill, capable of matching the output of entire commercial teams with his spare, elegant code; and a tireless, principled and uncompromising activist who initiated and fostered the notion of a data commons. Stallman not only developed the conceptual details of what has become known as 'copyleft' (it is sometimes indicated with a reversed (c) symbol), creating public-ownership licences that cover software and documents, but he also laboured to produce the fundamental elements of a free-software operating system a no-cost alternative to Windows, Mac OS and the rest, which anyone could download and improve. It was Stallman who, in the eighties, initiated and led work on a free-software version of Unix, which he dubbed GNU (a typically recursive programmer's joke, this, the initials standing for GNU's Not Unix). The extraordinary ambition to realize such a system was finally achieved using elements of GNU alongside a kernel written as a stop-gap, originally by Linus Torvalds, and developed into the Linux system; which, thanks to the efforts of thousands of collaborators internationally, has become a threat to Microsoft's monopoly. With his waist-length hair, flowing beard, brown polyester trousers and ill-matched T-shirts, Stallman himself is quite a contrast to Seattle's Digital Godfather. Born in 1953 he was, according to his mother, devouring calculus textbooks by the age of seven. Educated in New York's state schools, supplemented by Saturday sessions at the Columbia Honours' Programme, he initially led the isolated existence of a mathematical wunderkind, reading science fiction and MAD magazine, alienated from the 1960s protest movements. Studying mathematics at Harvard, he found his way to the Artificial Intelligence laboratory at MIT, and moved there for his postgraduate work. (Though officially independent of the Institute now, Stallman still operates out of 545 Tech Square.) It was at the AI lab that Stallman came into his own. There he found a tight-knit, highly collaborative group of dedicated hackers who exchanged information freely, working within egalitarian and informal structures. Openness was central to their ethos, and was defended vigorously and practicallyby breaking into offices where terminals had been left idle behind locked doors, for instance. Stallman even fought against the use of passwords. In the 1970s these programmers would freely exchange and tailor pre-compiled source codes, improving and customizing them to suit their requirements. From the turn of the 1980s, as the use of computers spread and software became a valuable commodity, companies copyrighted their programs and withdrew the source codes from the public domain. For programmers like Stallman, this was an assault on what they most cared about, as material that they had worked on for years was snatched from their graspan act analogous to the enclosure of common land. Stallman swiftly arrived at a strong position opposing this development: he would not use software that he was not allowed to alter or give to others. Computer codes were not scarce in the way that material goods were. Stallman likened them to recipes: to prevent people from swapping them, or tinkering with them to suit their tastes, was authoritarian, morally wrong, and a pollution of once open and collaborative social relations. Stallman argues that while companies address the issue of software control only from the point of view of maximizing profits, the community of hackers has a quite different perspective: "What kind of rules make possible a good -- society that is good for the people in it?". The idea of free software is not that programmers should make no money from their efforts indeed, fortunes have been made but that it is wrong that the commercial software market is set up solely to make as much money as possible for the companies that employ them. Free software has a number of advantages. It allows communities of users to alter code so that it evolves to become economical and bugless, and adapts to rapidly changing technologies. It allows those with specialist needs to restructure codes to meet their requirements. Given that programs have to run in conjunction with each other, it is important for those who work on them to be able to examine existing code, particularly that of operating systems indeed, many think that one of the ways in which Microsoft has maintained its dominance has been because its programmers working on, say, Office have privileged access to Windows code. Above all, free software allows access on the basis of need rather than ability to pay. These considerations, together with a revulsion at the greed and cynicism of the software giants, have attracted many people to the project. Effective communities offering advice and information have grown up to support users and programmers. The free exchange of software has led some commentators to compare the online gift economy with the ceremony of potlatch, in which people bestow extravagant presents, or even sacrifice goods, to raise their prestige. Yet there is a fundamental distinction between the two, since the copying and distribution of software is almost cost-free at least if one excludes the large initial outlay for a computer and networking facilities. If a programmer gives away the program that they have written, the expenditure involved is the time taken to write it any number of people can have a copy without the inventor being materially poorer. An ideological tussle has broken out in this field between idealists, represented by Stallman, who want software to be really free, and the pragmatists, who would rather not frighten the corporations. The term 'free', Eric Raymond argues in his book The Cathedral and the Bazaar, is associated with hostility to intellectual property rights even with communism. Instead, he prefers the "open source" approach, which would replace such sour thoughts with "pragmatic tales, sweet to managers' and investors=92 ears, of higher reliability and lower cost and better features". For Raymond, the system in which open-source software such as Linux is produced approximates to the ideal free-market condition, in which selfish agents maximize their own utility and thereby create a spontaneous, self-correcting order: programmers compete to make the most efficient code, and "the social milieu selects ruthlessly for competence". While programmers may appear to be selflessly offering the gift of their work, their altruism masks the self-interested pursuit of prestige in the hacker community. In complete contrast, others have extolled the "communism" of such an arrangement. Although free software is not explicitly mentioned, it does seem to be behind the argument of Hardt and Negri's Empire that the new mode of computer-mediated production makes "cooperation completely immanent to the labour activity itself". People need each other to create value, but these others are no longer necessarily provided by capital and its organizational powers. Rather, it is communities that produce and, as they do so, reproduce and redefine themselves; the outcome is no less than "the potential for a kind of spontaneous and elementary communism". As Richard Barbrook pointed out in his controversial nettime posting, 'Cyber Communism', the situation is certainly one that Marx would have found familiar: the forces of production have come into conflict with the existing relations of production. The free-software economy combines elements associated with both communism and the free market, for goods are free, communities of developers altruistically support users, and openness and collaboration are essential to the continued functioning of the system. Money can be made but need not be, and the whole is protected and sustained by a hacked capitalist legal tool copyright. The result is a widening digital commons: Stallman's General Public Licence uses copyright or left to lock software into communal ownership. Since all derivative versions must themselves be 'copylefted' (even those that carry only a tiny fragment of the original code) the commons grows, and free software spreads like a virus or, in the comment of a rattled Microsoft executive, like cancer. Elsewhere, a Microsoft vice-president has complained that the introduction of GPLs "fundamentally undermines the independent commercial-software sector because it effectively makes it impossible to distribute software on a basis where recipients pay for the product rather than just the distribution costs". Asked about his wider political convictions, Stallman replies: I hesitate to exaggerate the importance of this little puddle of freedom ... Because the more well-known and conventional areas of working for freedom and a better society are tremendously important. I wouldn't say that free software is as important as they are. It's the responsibility I undertook, because it dropped in my lap and I saw a way I could do something about it. But, for example, to end police brutality, to end the war on drugs, to end the kinds of racism we still have, to help everyone have a comfortable life, to protect the rights of people who do abortions, to protect us from theocracy, these are tremendously important issues, far more important than what I do. I just wish I knew how to do something about them." In fact, a look at Stallman's homepage, www.stallman.org, shows that he is trying to mobilize public opinion over a wide range of political issues. Beyond the "puddle", though, Stallman's ideas do have wider resonance. As music, films, images and texts have become digitized, lifted from their material substrata of plastic or paper, many of the considerations that apply to free software come to bear on them. The issue again is not just about copying but altering. In NLR 13, Sven Letticken eloquently described the advantages of intellectual 'theft'. Online, the challenges to copyright are considerable, as people swap files using peer-to-peer programs that sidestep centralized surveillance and control. This free exchange of cultural goods is pursued not simply for consumption but to provide material for active alteration most clearly so in music, where the sampling and mixing of diverse sources is common, but also in video, with "fan cuts" of TV shows and films. Sometimes such appropriations are undertaken with subversive intent for instance, in the copying of official websites for satirical purposes, such as those sponsored by the group RTMark, at www.rtmark.com. In the world of on-line art, attempts to claim exclusive ownership of works or sites have often been met with the practical political act of hacking and illicit copying. Stallman himself distinguishes between what he calls functional works (software tools, manuals and reference guides, for example), scientific and historical works, and works of art; in his view, all should be freely copied and distributed, but the latter two should only be modifiable if their authors assent. Stallman, whose defence of free software is in essence a moral one, has no doubt that free distribution should apply equally to cultural goods: "The number of people who find Napster useful ... tells me that the right to distribute copies not only on a neighbour-to-neighbour basis, but to the public at large, is essential and therefore may not be taken away". In a now well-known formulation, Stallman says of free software: "Don't think free as in free beer; think free as in free speech." Yet in fact much free software is actually costless, or very nearly so; likewise, swapped files containing music, pictures or video are extremely cheap to download. While to do so is often illegal under current copyright law, it is unclear whether the law could actually be enforced any more successfully in this area than it was over copying music to cassette tapes. Many of the advantages that work in favour of free software also apply to other goods particularly, but not solely, those in digital form. The argument about the efficiency that results from rapid peer review is of considerable importance. At www.foresight.org, K. Eric Drexler's pioneering essay on the potential of hypertext points up the fact that conversation on paper develops slowly (certainly in academic circles), due to the time needed for review, resubmission, publication and distribution, and the same is true of any riposte that may be published. What is more, the final result remains unchangeable, and isolated from the comments it has provoked. Hypertext allows for rapid revision, collapses the time-scale involved in getting a response and can link all related texts together. Free copying, linking and alteration are essential to this process. With cultural works, the right to alter is a free speech issue, as becomes clear when artists are sued for tampering with images of Barbie, using company logos or even invoking company names. Corporations not only want to give their brands and images powerful cultural currency, but also to control their further use. To be unable to play with the image of Mickey Mouse or Ronald McDonald due to the threat of litigation is a fundamental form of cultural censorship. Equally, the copying and alteration of online art works by other artists has been very important to the development of much Net art theft being seen as a form of flattery. The "copyleft" issue has major implications for the Left itself. Consider the example of NLR. Its on-line policy is to make all current political interventions, and a selection of articles from each issue, freely available at www.newleftreview.org, while electronic access to the entire contents of the journal is available only to subscribers. At the same time, the journal is protected by copyright and raises the money that it needs to be published at all from subscriptions, bookshop sales and reprint rights. Under the copyleft agreement, distribution of NLR material would be freely granted to all those who had a desire or need for it. Those who could afford the convenient and attractive packaging of the material that the physical magazine offers would still buy it, but those who needed the material without being able to afford the packaging would not be denied. Furthermore, documents could be annotated, updated, and placed alongside critiques (this can take place with convenience and speed on the Web, but need not be confined to the virtual sphere). As with free software, the ambition would be to foster a widening commons of writing and other cultural material, a sphere in which access is determined primarily by need and not price. In cases like this, would not the gamble offered by copyleft be that widening access, and the goodwill that it creates, increases rather than reduces income? Until nanobots labour over physical manufactured goods, free beer will not be on offer - though the artist and programmer Joshua Portway has remarked that Christ's miracle with the loaves and fishes produced the first open-source sandwich. Yet free speech and a free culture protected by the very mechanisms put in place to restrict ownership and maximize profits can be. The 'left' in copyleft should be taken seriously, as a matter of expediency and principle. In this way, Stallman's small puddle of freedom may become connected to an ocean _________________________________________ reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. Critiques & Collaborations To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request(a)sarai.net with subscribe in the subject header. List archive: <http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/>

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glibs: installation problem
by r_sreekumar 25 Jun '02

25 Jun '02

hello thanks for the information about the glibs package. I downloaded it and tried to install. but on login i am getting an error message - it is given below. if somebody is using it please give me some solution the error message i gt when i tried to login as Administrator was ----------------------------------------------- Warning: Cannot add header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/pro/public_html/processing.php:5) in /home/pro/public_html/common.php on line 75 Warning: Cannot add header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/pro/public_html/processing.php:5) in /home/pro/public_html/common.php on line 76 Warning: Cannot add header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/pro/public_html/processing.php:5) in /home/pro/public_html/common.php on line 77 Warning: Cannot add header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/pro/public_html/processing.php:5) in /home/pro/public_html/processing.php on line 27 Warning: Cannot add header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/pro/public_html/processing.php:5) in /home/pro/public_html/processing.php on line 42 ------------------------------------------------------ I have tried with all versions available in sourceforge.net sreekumar _________________________________________________________ There is always a better job for you at Monsterindia.com. Go now http://monsterindia.com/rediffin/

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correcting mailman of fsf-friends
by Raghavendra Bhat 25 Jun '02

25 Jun '02

List Admin/s: Please note that the sender of a post/mail is not getting a copy of the post from the Mailing List. This option should be set to on, so that the poster gets a copy too. Hope this gets corrected.... -- ragOO, VU2RGU<->http://gnuhead.dyndns.org/<->GPG: 1024D/F1624A6E Helping to keep the Air-Waves FREE Amateur Radio Helping to keep your Software FREE the GNU Project Helping to keep the W W W FREE Debian GNU/${kernel}

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free library software
by r_sreekumar 25 Jun '02

25 Jun '02

hello we are looking for a library software (GPL) for my college library. plese inform if anybody have any information. sreekumar _________________________________________________________ There is always a better job for you at Monsterindia.com. Go now http://monsterindia.com/rediffin/

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Article on Relevance of Free Software
by CK Raju 24 Jun '02

24 Jun '02

Friends, I would be grateful if someone could comment on the paper at http://business.vsnl.com/kalapila/socialrelevance.pdf . Regards, CK Raju

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MORE: Opening the open-source debate
by Frederick Noronha 24 Jun '02

24 Jun '02

URL : http://www.linux.org/news/opinion/skoll.html "Opening the Open-Source Debate" David F. Skoll, Roaring Penguin Software The [24]Alexis de Tocqueville Institution (AdTI) has finally published its [25]white paper entitled "Opening the Open Source Debate". My [26]earlier comments were based on media reports and e-mail correspondence with the paper's author. This document was written after I read the actual white paper. (The original link seems not to work; I managed to grab a copy of the paper before AdTI pulled it. [27]This link may work.) The AdTI's very weak and poorly-researched paper opens no debate. It simply confirms that Microsoft paid AdTI to come up with something---anything---to stem the growing adoption of open-source (especially GPL'd) software by business and government. Let's take a look at the paper in detail. I. In the Beginning Section I, "In the Beginning", gives an overview of proprietary vs. free software. It's reasonably accurate, although the author is given to rather ludicrous depictions of source code as a "secret formula" and a "map to a buried treasure." II. GPL Open Source: The Gift That Keeps Taking Section II is where Microsoft vents its anger. Take a look at this gem: The GPL is one of the most uniquely restrictive product agreements in the technology industry. Why does Microsoft... excuse me, the AdTI... say that? They say that because: The GPL requires that if its source code is used in any type of software product (commercial or non-commercial) for any reason, then the entire new product (also known as the derivative) becomes subject to terms of the GPL open source agreement. This is not quite true; if you do not distribute your derived product, then you do not need to distribute the source code. But for the most part, the statement is accurate. But so what? Suppose you derive a product from Microsoft Windows or some other proprietary code. Then you are breaking all kinds of license agreements. Furthermore, proprietary vendors would demand and get the rights to your derived product, leaving you with nothing. The GPL is no more restrictive than the most liberal of proprietary licenses, and a good deal less restrictive than most. So Microsoft's... excuse me, the AdTI's... complaints are groundless. Another quote: David Wheeler, publisher and expert in Washington on open source and proprietary source comments, without licensing the source code in a multi-license format, (referring to other more permissive licenses), it is impossible for GPL to work for a proprietary business model. Perhaps the AdTI misses the point. GPL advocates do not care if GPL'd software can be made to work in a proprietary business model. It's not our problem. There's no God-given right for proprietary software vendors to make money; they have to compete. And if the rules of the marketplace suddenly change and make it difficult for them, well---tough. Adapt or die. Don't moan. III. The Myth of a Public Software Community Section III attempts to debunk the "myth" of a public software community. The AdTI hints that open-source advocates abandon their principles when they smell money: Widespread support for GPL open source lies in the IT community's frustration with competitive, closed proprietary software. But in fact, it is quite common that programmers experiment with open source until they see an opportunity to capitalize on an idea, then embrace proprietary standards. One could joke that open source has been a bridesmaid but never a bride. The story of the web browser is an example of this reality. AdTI uses the story of Netscape "killing" the open-source Mosaic. Well, Mosaic was never GPL'd. If it had been, Netscape would have been unable to kill it. Furthermore, AdTI says of Mosaic: Through a commercial partner, Spyglass, NCSA began widely licensing Mosaic to computer companies including IBM, DEC, AT&T, and NEC. Conspicuously absent from AdTI's list is another licensee: Microsoft. Yes, Spyglass's browser formed the basis for Internet Explorer. And revealed here is Microsoft's reason to fear the GPL: It cannot make use of the work of thousands of dedicated programmers for free, locking the work up in a proprietary product. It did that with early versions of its TCP/IP stack, derived from the Berkeley stack. But as more free software is GPL'd, Microsoft's cherry-picking opportunities diminish. Isn't it sad? The AdTI never quite gets around to saying why the open-source community is a "myth". Apparently, the hundreds of collaborators who gave the world the Linux kernel are mythical. Perhaps the outstanding KDE desktop environment was written by unicorns. And one supposes that GNOME, another outstanding desktop environment, was produced by, well, gnomes. Apache---it's a myth. PHP---doesn't exist. Mozilla---pshaw. Even in my own modest software development, I've had contributions from dozens of people around the world to my software packages. I've had suggestions, fixes, enhancements and pieces of wisdom donated to me which would never have happened in a proprietary development environment. IV. The Government and the GPL This is where politicking gets into high gear. However, the use of the GPL has the potential to radically alter a very successful model for partnership, particularly when most large commercial entities do not readily embrace the GPL. Once again, the white paper is worried about "large commercial entities." Well, some large commercial entities like HP/Compaq, IBM, Dell and Sun are quite willing to use, produce and/or distribute GPL'd software. To those large commercial entities who wish to stop GPL'd software, I say:"Tough. Adapt or die." Needless to say, the government could not depend on patches for software glitches to wander in from the public. Likewise, the government could only use open source code that it could independently service in case of an emergency. Agencies without extensive staff to maintain its internal operations cannot afford to use hapless and untested software without accountability, warranties or liability. This is a complete red herring. Patches don't "wander in" from the public for open-source products. Rather, they come straight from the authors, or sometimes from distributors such as Red Hat. Furthermore, they tend to come in with a lot more alacrity than fixes from commercial vendors. With open-source, the government at least has an option to be able to "independently service" the software in case of emergency. With proprietary software, the government does not even have this choice. Therefore, the AdTI's objections on this ground are spurious. Another consideration for the U.S. government is that all source code developed under the GPL could have mirrored availability to the public. This poses unlimited security issues. AdTI loves this refrain, but has yet to prove it. In my [28]other article, I debunked the myth that source code availability necessarily introduces security issues, and demonstrated that in fact, it can often enhance security. I was interviewed by AdTI for my opinions on the matter; they neglected to include my comments in the paper. For example, if the Federal Aviation Agency were to develop an application (derived from open source) which controlled 747 flight patterns, a number of issues easily become national security questions such as: Would it be prudent for the FAA to use software that thousands of unknown programmers have intimate knowledge of for something this critical? Could the FAA take the chance that these unknown programmers have not shared the source code accidentally with the wrong parties? Would the FAA's decision to use software in the public domain invite computer hackers more readily than proprietary products? Again, a ludicrous example. No-one simply sits down and "develops" such an application by starting with free software. Even if the FAA did develop an open-source flight-control application, AdTI has not demonstrated at all that it would have significantly-different security issues than a closed-source one. Sure, AdTI asks a bunch of rhetorical questions. But that's not how one conducts a logical argument. So let's answer the rhetorical questions with some of our own: Would it be prudent for the FAA to use software that thousands of unknown programmers have intimate knowledge of for something this critical? Is it prudent for any federal agency to use Microsoft software, given that it is a matter of [29]public record that Russian hackers illegally broke into Microsoft's network and had access to source code? Is it prudent for any federal agency to use software which is not freely-available for peer review? Is it prudent for any federal agency to take the word of a proprietary vendor that its software is secure, given that the vendor is attempting to make a sale? Could the FAA take the chance that these unknown programmers have not shared the source code accidentally with the wrong parties? Will the FAA ban the use of Microsoft software, given that it is a certainty that Microsoft source code has been shared "accidentally with the wrong parties"? Would the FAA's decision to use software in the public domain invite computer hackers more readily than proprietary products? Will the AdTI comment on why proprietary Web servers seem to be cracked [30]far more often than open-source ones, even though they have smaller market share? Reverse Engineering Experts differ on whether the primary focus for security should source code or binary code. Andrew Sibre, a programmer with over twenty years of experiences insists, "Having a license for binaries only gives you a black box : you don't know what it's doing, or how, unless you want to go insane trying to reverse-engineer it with a debugger (illegal under the term of most licenses)" Having the source lets you see what it's doing, how it does it, and permits you to modify it to meet your particular requirements (including security related ones). To this extent, government officials should be concerned that threat may not just be an adversary cracking their system, but inadvertently educating adversaries about their security systems. Sibre continues, "Depending on code without the source is quite similar to depending on a complex mechanical or electronic system without the benefit of shop and parts manuals." Naturally, having access to source code eases reverse-engineering. However, the vast majority of security exploits are found without access to the source code. As I wrote to Ken Brown, the author of the report: The entire premise of computer security and encryption is as follows: A security system must be resistant to attack *even if* the attacker has all the details about how it works. I refer you to: "Applied Cryptography", Bruce Schneier, John Wiley and Sons, Inc, page 3: "All of the security in these algorithms is based on the key (or keys); none is based in the details of the algorithm. This means that the algorithm can be published and analyzed. Products using the algorithm can be mass-produced. It doesn't matter if an eavesdropper knows your algorithm; if she doesn't know your particular key, she can't read your messages." I refer you also to: "Practical UNIX and Internet Security", Simson Garfinkel and Gene Spafford, O'Reilly and Associates, pages 40-45: "... This is especially true if you should find yourself basing your security on the fact that something technical is unknown to your attackers. This concept can even hurt your security." I refer you to an Internet draft on security through obscurity: [31]http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ymbk-obscurity-00.txt A few more links on why security through obscurity does not work: [32]http://www.zdnet.com.au/developer/standards/story/0,2000011499,202 65619,00.htm [33]http://www.treachery.net/~jdyson/toorcon2001/ [34]http://www.counterpane.com/crypto-gram-0205.html [35]http://online.securityfocus.com/columnists/80 [36]http://www.vnunet.com/Analysis/1126488 Is Reverse-Engineering That Hard? Before I started Roaring Penguin Software Inc., I worked at [37]Chipworks, a company which does reverse-engineering for a living. From first-hand experience, I know that hardware and software security can be broken more easily than most vendors believe, and much more cheaply, too. Back-Doors Ken Brown raises the old back-door bogeyman: Another security concern is that the primary distribution channel for GPL open source is the Internet. As opposed to proprietary vendors, open source is freely downloaded. However, software in the public domain could contain a critical problem, a backdoor or worse, a dangerous virus. The following material is taken straight from my other article, where I already covered the back-door issue: In fact, there have been some trojans placed in open-source software. They have usually been discovered and neutralized very quickly. By contrast, closed-source products have a sad history of [38]spyware, [39]"Easter eggs", and [40]questionable material, placed by people who have (presumably) been "screened." In fact, one of Microsoft's own security updates was [41]infected with a virus, something which (to my knowledge) has never happened in the open-source world. An interesting back-door was one in Borland's closed-source [42]Interbase product. This back-door lay undetected for years, but was revealed within weeks of the product being open-sourced. And another interesting little "easter egg" is on the AdTI's [43]very own Web site. [44]Questionable material in Microsoft software may have helped spur a Peruvian bill to promote free software in government. The author of the bill [45]says that open-source software provides a better guarantee of "security of the State and citizens" than proprietary software, an analysis which is 180 degrees out of phase with the AdTI Study. The real "victims" of the GPL The government's productive alliance with private enterprise is also relevant particularly when its decision to use GPL source code would inherently turn away many of its traditional partners. Security, as well as other impracticalities make GPL open source very unattractive to companies concerned about intellectual property rights. In effect, the government's use of GPL source code could inevitably shut out the intellectual property based sector. The Government must choose software to maximize national security and minimize government expenditure. It owes absolutely nothing to the "IP-based sector" or any other corporation. What was it I said before? Oh, yes: "Tough. Adapt or die." This has a number of ramifications. Immediately, it would limit the number of qualified vendors to choose from to deliver products. Tough. Adapt or die. The GPL's wording also prevents the equal use of software by members of the IP community and the GPL open source community. This is a lie. If the "IP community" (whatever that is) respects the terms and conditions of the GPL, it's as free as anyone else to use and distribute GPL'd software. If it doesn't like the terms of the GPL, that's the "IP community's" problem, not the GPL's problem. A worse consideration is that use of GPL could inadvertently create legal problems. IP community members could argue that the government's choice of open source is restrictive and excludes taxpaying firms from taxpayer-funded projects. Adverse impact would include a discontinued flow of technology transfer from government-funded research to the technology sector. Without value, it becomes highly likely that government funding for research would slow as well. Here, AdTI is delivering a veiled threat on behalf of Microsoft. First of all, if "IP community members" could argue that, they already would have. They have not made the argument because they know it is specious. In fact, there's a very good argument for requiring the fruits of government-funded research to be GPL'd so that all citizens can benefit. Furthermore, the "IP community members" have benefited from government research as much as (or more than) government has benefited from private research. So to pull out of government partnerships out of pique over software licensing would only hurt proprietary vendors and no-one else. V. Intellectual Property Left This is a rewording of "Free Software is Communism" and merits about the same amount of serious attention. U.S. intellectual property (IP) statutes have been a beacon for inventors around the world. The U.S. model for motivating, compensating and protecting innovators has been successful for almost 200 years. GPL source code directly competes with the intellectual property restrictions, thus it is vital to analyze its impact. The GPL does not in any way "compete" with U.S. copyright law. It uses U.S. copyright law in a perfectly legitimate and reasonable way. There are two groups of programmers that contribute to the open source community. The first group consists of professionally hired programmers by day, who freely contribute code. The second group consists of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) that are hiring open source programmers for their products. However, open source principally perpetuates itself because there is an avid pool of experts and enthusiasts willing to spend their spare time to provide fixes and modifications to open-source software. This volunteer system works well as an academic model, but not as a business one. Who cares about business models? We have Linux, Apache, Mozilla, Gnome, KDE, Perl, Python, PHP, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD, and so on in spite of the supposed lack of a business model. What we see here is more whining from proprietary vendors about how free software is hurting their business model. Let's hear the refrain: "Tough. Adapt or die." As mentioned earlier, open source code is not guaranteed nor does it come with a warranty. Neither does most proprietary software, so this is a red herring. If you want a warranty, most open-source vendors will be happy to provide one if you pay for it. Open source products are often distributed without manuals, instructions or technical information. While a commercial developer is obligated to produce manuals, diagrams and information detailing the functionality of their products, open source programmers are not. In addition, open source developers cannot be expected to create software manuals with the vigor of private firms that are obligated to produce them. Producing technical specifications (in soft or hard copy format) is time-intensive and expensive. But this is not just a customer service issue. Some open-source software comes with poor documentation, just like some proprietary software. Other free software comes with excellent documentation. It's a matter of customer choice: Choose software that has what you need. All of my free software products come with complete manual pages. Most serious developers do not consider software finished until the manuals are finished. Innumerable questions surround the distribution of technical information in the copyleft environment, particularly because the Free Software Foundation has a copyleft license for its documentation as well. Issues include: Who should have the right to alter software manuals? Who is the final editor or is there one? How should changes be regulated? Are manuals copyright protected documents? What is the process for making changes? What body regulates these changes? How can organizations guarantee that information in manuals is always accurate? More rhetorical questions. With proprietary software, if the manuals are inaccurate, you're out of luck. With free software, you at least have a chance to correct them. Again, we see the unease of the proprietary vendors who want bodies to "regulate" changes. They are unable to wrap their minds around the new reality of free software. Rather than changing their ways, they dig in their heels. They may need another reminder: Tough. Adapt or die. Today, software impacts a firm's financial health in an intimate fashion. It becomes unrealistic for a firm to depend too much on the trust of an anonymous community that does not have anything at stake financially to keep important technical documents current. On the contrary, it is imperative that businesses rely solely on free software for access to critical information. Only in this way can they guarantee access to their data, and not be held hostage by proprietary file formats and proprietary vendors. To quote Dr. Edgar David Villanueva Nunez, a Peruvian legislator: To guarantee the free access of citizens to public information, it is indispensable that the encoding of data is not tied to a single provider. The use of standard and open formats gives a guarantee of this free access, if necessary through the creation of compatible free software. To guarantee the permanence of public data, it is necessary that the usability and maintenance of the software does not depend on the goodwill of the suppliers, or on the monopoly conditions imposed by them. For this reason the State needs systems the development of which can be guaranteed due to the availability of the source code. To guarantee national security or the security of the State, it is indispensable to be able to rely on systems without elements which allow control from a distance or the undesired transmission of information to third parties. Systems with source code freely accessible to the public are required to allow their inspection by the State itself, by the citizens, and by a large number of independent experts throughout the world. Our proposal brings further security, since the knowledge of the source code will eliminate the growing number of programs with *spy code*. In the same way, our proposal strengthens the security of the citizens, both in their role as legitimate owners of information managed by the state, and in their role as consumers. In this second case, by allowing the growth of a widespread availability of free software not containing *spy code* able to put at risk privacy and individual freedoms. In fact, Villanueva's [46]eloquent and well-written letter handily demolishes most of AdTI's premises and conclusions; it's well worth a read. More on Reverse Engineering The reliance on reverse engineering is probably one of the biggest conflicts between the IP and the GPL open source community. To keep GPL products relevant and up to date, GPL enthusiasts must perpetually reverse engineer intellectual property. Reverse-engineering is required only if hardware manufacturers keep the details of their software/hardware interfaces secret. The vast majority of hardware manufacturers do not keep them secret. Some which do keep them secret provide (binary-only) drivers for free software systems. Reverse-engineering is necessary only for the small minority of hardware devices which are secret. Reverse engineering has a number of implications. It harbors very close to IP infringement because and has staggering economic implications. Reverse-engineering is perfectly legal. In fact, the European Union has a law guaranteeing the legality of reverse-engineering for the purpose of creating compatible software or devices. AdTI implies that reverse-engineering is "close to IP infringement", but they never say why (and their sentence doesn't even parse.) If software is freely re-engineered, it will inevitably impact the value of software on the market. If the price of software is adversely impacted, salaries and inevitably employment of software programmers would be negatively affected as well. This is correct. If software is freely re-engineered, it destroys monopolies and brings back a sense of free market to the industry. Yes, software prices go down. And yes, consumers benefit. The whole paragraph is simply a thinly-hidden Microsoft lament about the success of products like Samba which enable companies to run Microsoft-compatible file sharing without exorbitant Microsoft licensing fees. VI. Is the GPL Cost-Beneficial? This is a restatement of the tired old "TCO" straw-man. Discussing the economic implications of open source, Andre Carter, President of Irimi Corporation, a technology consulting firm in Washington comments, "The question of open source code is about whether the software developer wants to make available to the world the blueprint of what they built or simply the benefits of what they built. The notion of open source software has nothing to do with free software. The purchase price of computer software is only a fraction of the total cost of ownership. So even if the price tag reads free , it can end up being more expensive than software you buy. This is especially true for the typical consumer. If it requires technical know-how to operate, doesn't offer built-in support, and demands constant attention, it won't feel free for very long." Lot's of "if's" and weasel-words in there. If it requires technical know-how to operate, etc, etc. Nowhere does Carter say that free software does in fact require any more technical know-how than proprietary software. Furthermore, proprietary software often has [47]hidden costs which can come back later to haunt you. The success of an A-Z open source environment would expectedly impact the software sector as a viable entity. If software is freely available, but PC s, servers and hardware maintain their value, we can only predict that the value of software companies will plummet. Hardware will come with more and more free software. Second, we can only expect that the revenues and value of the software sector will transfer to the hardware sector. Although the software sector has seen growth almost every year, it is questionable whether the GPL model will enable the software industry to continue its exceptional growth particularly when the growth in the software sector is tied to proprietary products, something the GPL is anxious to eliminate. In the 1800's, black-smithing was a pretty good profession. In the 1960's and 1970's, 8-track tapes did a pretty good business. The fact is that the black-smith industry and the 8-track tape industry failed to heed the iron rule of the market: Adapt or die. If free software means the death of proprietary software vendors, it will be on those vendors heads who fail to adapt. Businesses must be concerned about the perception of the GPL. For example, experts assess the value of intellectual property when completing valuations of firms. Because GPL open source literally erases the proprietary and trade secret value of software, it can be expected that firms concerned about valuations will be very concerned about using GPL open source. This is only of concern to firms producing software. The vast majority of firms consume software, and for them, in-house software production is a cost, not a revenue source. For the vast majority of firms, free software will save them lots of money. For those few firms planning on building a business model around proprietary software, I offer my old refrain: Adapt or die. What's good for proprietary software vendors is not necessarily good for the citizen. There are all types of consumers with ranges of needs and abilities. The guys in the lab at MIT don't need install wizards, plug and play drivers, voice based technical support and big picture manuals as part of their software. However, the elderly couple e-mailing their grandkids or the mother of two managing accounts on a PC in the kitchen does. Carter clearly has a stereotyped view of consumers. My elderly parents, who enjoy e-mailing their grandkids, use only free software. They are quite happy to use Linux and Netscape. Furthermore, the choice of free software eases my support burden: If my parents need help, I can SSH into their machine and fix it remotely. With all of Microsoft's "wizards" and other gimmicks, they still do not provide a convenient means for remote administration on their consumer-level systems. People believe free software is hard to use because they've never used it. Just as the AdTI showed that people who've actually worked with MCSE's have a higher opinion of them than people who haven't, people who've actually bothered to use free software have a higher opinion of it than people who haven't. VII. GPL Open Source and the Courts Once GPL code is combined with another type of source code, the entire product is GPL. Subsequently, this change could occur deliberately, but it could also occur accidentally. There are unlimited scenarios for accidents to occur, the license could be lost in the source code's distribution, or maybe unreadable due to a glitch in its electronic distribution. Another potentially litigious issue is whether the use of GPL tools used to manipulate code subject software to the GPL. Theoretically, a GPL tool could subject new software to GPL restrictions. This too will have to be interpreted by a judge. Regardless, unknowing users of GPL might have one intention for use of the license and find out later that it inadvertently infringed upon copyright protected work. Legal questions relevant to such an event intersect the legal arenas of intellectual property rights, contract law and liability. AdTI is very good at offering up red herrings. Let's suppose you "accidentally" included part of Microsoft Windows in a product. Do you suppose Microsoft would be easier on you than copyright holders of a GPL'd product? The fact is that any software license has terms and conditions which must be obeyed. The GPL is no different; if you do not like its terms, don't use GPL'd software. Microsoft's agenda is transparent here. The proprietary software industry entreats you to diligently track licenses, and offers [48]harsh retribution against those who violate their licenses. Most GPL violations are settled amicably, and those which result from an accident are usually settled merely by removing the offending code from distribution. The rest of Section VII is simply speculation and not even worth commenting on. VIII Conclusion Open source as a development model is helpful to the software industry. For example, software distributed under the BSD license is very popular. The BSD license (see Appendix 9) enables companies, independent developers and the academic community to fluidly exchange software source code. English translation: The BSD license is good because it allows corporations to benefit from other people's work without offering them any compensation, and without having to allow third parties to benefit from derived work. The GPL's resistance to commonplace exchange of open source and proprietary has the potential to negatively impact the research and development budgets of companies. English translation: The GPL doesn't let corporations benefit for free from others' work. The GPL has many risks, but the greatest is its threat to the cooperation between different parties who collaborate and create new technologies. Today, government, commercial enterprise, academicians, etc. have a system to converge. Conversely, the GPL represents divergence; proposing to remove the current infrastructure of intellectual property rights, enforceable protection and economic incentive. English translation: The GPL threatens Microsoft's business model. You know my response by now: Tough. Adapt or die. While GPL advocates are quite active in their promotion of copyleft, few would disagree that its widespread adoption would present a radical change to an industry sector responsible for almost 350 billion dollars in sales annually worldwide (see Appendix 10). Few would disagree that the automobile all but wiped out blacksmithing as a profession. Few could argue that cassettes didn't decimate the 8-track market. Few would be surprised at my response: Tough. Adapt or die. AdTI's Numbered Points and my Counterpoints 1- Engineering software has become considerably complicated and rigorous. It is not unusual for software to include millions of lines of source code. If the incentive to develop software is changed, we can subsequently expect the quality and efficiency of software to change. Yes, with luck, we'd expect the quality to improve. The security records of systems like OpenBSD, Linux, and FreeBSD are vastly superior to that of Windows. While there is no real cause-and-effect relationship, empirical evidence suggests that open-source software is more reliable and of higher quality than most commercial-grade proprietary software. 2- There remains considerable differences within the GPL open source community. It is questionable whether these groups will continue to be proponents of the GPL in its current form or opt for changes in the immediate future. Even if true, this point is irrelevant. Once software has been licensed under the GPL, the license cannot be retracted. Your rights cannot be withdrawn retroactively (unless you violate the license), unlike some proprietary software licenses. 3- Open source has successfully been used in proprietary software. In addition, academic and government projects have been successful particularly because of commercial interest. Private enterprise offers unique efficiencies for the success of government funded research. Simply another attack on the GPL. Nothing worth reading; let's move on. 4- Open source GPL use by government agencies could easily become a national security concern. Government use of software in the public domain is exceptionally risky. A bold assertion, and totally unproven. This assertion is contradicted by empirical evidence. Also, the NSA seems quite [49]comfortable with the security of GPL'd software. 5- Reverse engineering, perpetuated by GPL proponents, threatens not only the owners of intellectual property, but also the software industry itself. This is an out-and-out lie. Reverse-engineering is critical for the continuation of a healthy software industry. Without legitimate reverse-engineering, there would be no market forces to oppose the development and maintenance of monopolies, and the software market would become even more unfair than it is today. Attempts to ban reverse-engineering are simply money-grabs by greedy monopolies who wish to hang on to their power. 6- Use of GPL open source creates a number of economic concerns for firms. For example, the valuation of a software company could be significantly effected if it uses source code licensed under the GPL for the development of its products. If that is of concern (and it is not for the vast majority of corporations), then the corporation is perfectly free not to use GPL'd software. Using proprietary software for development of products can also significantly lower a company's valuation, especially if the owner of the original proprietary software demands royalties or part-ownership of the resulting IP. 7- The courts have yet to weigh in on the General Public License. Without legal interpretation, the use of the GPL could be perilous to users in a number of scenarios. If corporations have concerns about legal interpretations of the GPL, they should consult qualified lawyers. IBM, for example, has a massive and top-notch legal team, and they seem to have no qualms about using, creating and distributing GPL'd software. If the AdTI would give us concrete examples of legal concerns, we could discuss them, but as it is, all we are given is conjecture, hand-waving and supposition. Roaring Penguin's Conclusions The AdTI claimed that the GPL is "acquisitive", yet fails to note that even the most liberal of proprietary licenses is far more restrictive and places far more encumbrances on derived products than the GPL (if, in fact, it even permits derived products in the first place.) The AdTI says that the free software community is a "myth", but fails to explain the tens of millions of lines of high-quality code produced by this mythical community. The AdTI promised to show how using GPL'd software could threaten security, but failed to deliver. Rather, Microsoft's own Jim Allchin admitted under oath that flaws in Microsoft software, if disclosed, could [50]endanger national security. The AdTI claims that free software damages members of the "IP community" (by which it means proprietary software vendors), but then fails to show how such damage occurs. Even if free software does damage proprietary software vendors, AdTI fails to show why that is a bad thing for citizens in general. AdTI raises the hoary old "Total Cost of Ownership" issue, but does not demonstrate that proprietary software is more cost effective. AdTI ignores studies like the one from [51]CyberSource or even Roaring Penguin's own case studies in [52]Free Software in the Real World. The entire AdTI study is a commercial funded by Microsoft, whose sole aim is to counter the growing adoption of GPL'd software. The report contains nothing constructive or useful. It is a sham. _________________________________________________________________ Other press, commentary and related links: * [53]MS-funded think tank propagates open-source lies, The Register. * [54]Dispelling Myths About the GPL and Free Software by John Viega and Bob Fleck. A somewhat more dispassionate rebuttal of the AdTI paper. * [55]A Business Case Study of Open Source Software by Carolyn Kenwood, The Mitre Corporation. * [56]Analysis: Microsoft vs. open source battle gets political, InfoWorld. * [57]Windows NT Cripples US Navy Cruiser, INFOsec.com _________________________________________________________________ Article Copyright � 2002 David F. Skoll The original article can be found at Roaring Penguin's website: [58]"http://www.roaringpenguin.com/adti2.php3 --------------- Maintained by: [59]Webmaster, Linux Online Inc. Last modified: 13-Jun-2002 08:10AM. Views since 16-Aug-2000: 2646. Material copyright [60]Linux Online Inc. Design and compilation copyright �1994-2002 [61]Linux Online Inc. All rights reserved. References Visible links 1. http://www.linux.org/index.html 2. http://www.linux.org/perl-bin/invoke?obj=BOVINE32&stamp=403D6492271606FE0F1… 3. http://www.linux.org/services/directory.html 4. http://www.linux.org/user/signup.html 5. http://www.linux.org/apps/index.html 6. http://www.linux.org/docs/index.html 7. http://www.linux.org/dist/index.html 8. http://www.linux.org/dist/download_info.html 9. http://www.linux.org/hardware/index.html 10. http://www.linux.org/info/index.html 11. http://www.linux.org/lessons/ 12. http://www.linux.org/projects/index.html 13. http://www.linux.org/news/index.html 14. http://www.linux.org/perl-bin/invoke?obj=AMAZON26&stamp=403D2292271699FE0F1… 15. http://www.linux.org/books/index.html 16. http://www.linux.org/people/index.html 17. http://www.linux.org/groups/index.html 18. http://www.linux.org/vendors/index.html 19. http://www.linux.org/perl-bin/invoke?obj=PENGAFF03A&stamp=403D5492271656FE0… 20. http://www.linux.org/events/index.html 21. http://www.linux.org/about/index.html 22. http://www.linux.org/index.html 23. http://www.linux.org/books/FEATURE_0201719347.html 24. http://www.linux.org/redir.php3?http://www.adti.net/ 25. http://www.adti.net/html_files/defense/opensource_whitepaper.pdf 26. http://www.linux.org/news/opinion/adti.php3 27. http://www.adti.net/html_files/defense/old_opensource_whitepaper.pdf 28. http://www.linux.org/news/opinion/adti.php3 29. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/business/newsid_993000/993933.stm 30. http://defaced.alldas.org/?archives=os 31. http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ymbk-obscurity-00.txt 32. http://www.zdnet.com.au/developer/standards/story/0,2000011499,20265619,00.… 33. http://www.treachery.net/~jdyson/toorcon2001/ 34. http://www.counterpane.com/crypto-gram-0205.html 35. http://online.securityfocus.com/columnists/80 36. http://www.vnunet.com/Analysis/1126488 37. http://www.chipworks.com/ 38. http://www.accs-net.com/smallfish/advw.htm 39. http://www.eeggs.com/tree/153.html 40. http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/review/crh062.htm 41. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/8/18516.html 42. http://www.cert.org/advisories/CA-2001-01.html 43. http://www.adti.net/html_files/defense/samir_dec_23_2001/pages/ 44. http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/displayStory.pl?99093.enbackdoor2.htm 45. http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2002-05-06-012-26-OS-SM-LL 46. http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2002-05-06-012-26-OS-SM-LL 47. http://stay-legal.org/ 48. http://stay-legal.org/ 49. http://www.nsa.gov/selinux/ 50. http://www.eweek.com/article/0,3658,s%253D701%2526a%253D26875,00.asp 51. http://www.cyber.com.au/cyber/about/linux_vs_windows_tco_comparison.pdf 52. http://www.linux.org/news/opinion/slides/innovatech.pdf 53. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/25656.html 54. http://www.zork.org/rebuttal.pdf 55. http://www.mitre.org/support/papers/tech_papers_01/kenwood_software/index.s… 56. http://www.infoworld.com/articles/hn/xml/02/06/10/020610hnopensource.xml 57. http://www.info-sec.com/OSsec/OSsec_080498g_j.shtml 58. http://www.roaringpenguin.com/adti2.php3 59. mailto:webmaster@linux.org 60. http://www.linux.org/about/copyright.html 61. http://www.linux.org/about/copyright.html Hidden links: 62. mailto:trapper@linux.org?subject=DONOTSENDEMAILHERE

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Open source software may offer target to terrorists
by Frederick Noronha 24 Jun '02

24 Jun '02

'Terrorists', the latest mantra for anybody who doesn't like anybody else? See the rebuttal to this paper which follows separately. FN http://www.adti.net/html_files/defense/opensource_pressrelease_05_30_2002.h… Navigation Bar Purchase the AdTI white paper, [1]Opening the Open Source Debate Thursday May 30, 12:29 pm Eastern Time Press Release SOURCE: Alexis de Tocqueville Institution Open Source Software May Offer Target for Terrorists, According to Study by Alexis de Tocqueville Institution's Committee for the Common Defense WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 30, 2002--Terrorists trying to hack or disrupt U.S. computer networks might find it easier if the federal government attempts to switch to "open source" as some groups propose. "Opening the Open Source Debate", a soon to be released white paper by Alexis de Tocqueville Institution details the complex issues surrounding open source, particularly if federal agencies such as the Department of Defense or the Federal Aviation Administration use software that inherently requires that its blueprints, source code and architecture is made widely available to any person interested - without discretion. In a paper to be released next week, the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution outlines how open source might facilitate efforts to disrupt or sabotage electronic commerce, air traffic control or even sensitive surveillance systems. Unlike proprietary software, open source software does not make the underlying code of a software confidential. "Computer systems are the backbone of U.S. national security", says Fossedal, chairman of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution and its Committee for the Common Defense, which will release the study. "Before the Pentagon and other federal agencies make uninformed decision to alter the very foundation of computer security, they should study the potential consequences carefully." Contact: Alexis de Tocqueville Institution Ken Brown, 202/548-0006 [2]kenbrown(a)adti.net [3]www.adti.net Purchase the AdTI white paper, [4]Opening the Open Source Debate [5]Home | [6]Search | [7]Opportunity Africa | [8]Archive | [9]Democracy China | [10]Communications | [11]Cuba | [12]Defense | [13]Education Reform | [14]Environment | [15]Immigration | [16]Intellectual Property | [17]Publications | [18]International Monetary Fund | [19]Democracy Switzerland | [20]Taxes and Regulation | [21]Technology | [22]United Nations | References 1. http://www.adti.net/cgi-local/SoftCart.100.exe/online-store/scstore/p-brown… 2. mailto:kenbrown@adti.net 3. http://www.adti.net/ 4. http://www.adti.net/cgi-local/SoftCart.100.exe/online-store/scstore/p-brown… 5. http://www.adti.net/html_files/defense/../../../index.html 6. http://www.adti.net/html_files/defense/../../../searchadti.html 7. http://www.adti.net/html_files/defense/../../../gw-africa.html 8. http://www.adti.net/html_files/defense/../../gw-archive.html 9. http://www.adti.net/html_files/defense/../../../gw-china.html 10. http://www.adti.net/html_files/defense/../../gw-telecom.html 11. http://www.adti.net/html_files/defense/../../../gw-cuba2.html 12. http://www.adti.net/html_files/defense/../../../gw-defense.html 13. http://www.adti.net/html_files/defense/../../../gw-education.html 14. http://www.adti.net/html_files/defense/../../../gw-environment.html 15. http://www.adti.net/html_files/defense/../../../gw-immigration.html 16. http://www.adti.net/html_files/defense/../../../gw-intellprop.html 17. http://www.adti.net/html_files/defense/../../shopping_cart/publications.html 18. http://www.adti.net/html_files/defense/../../../gw-intmonfund.html 19. http://www.adti.net/html_files/defense/../../../gw-demswiss.html 20. http://www.adti.net/html_files/defense/../../../gw-taxreg.html 21. http://www.adti.net/html_files/defense/../../../gw-technology.html 22. http://www.adti.net/html_files/defense/../../gw-unitednations.html

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Re: Library software...
by Frederick Noronha 23 Jun '02

23 Jun '02

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FEATURE: Simputer close to finish-line, looksout for right software
by Frederick Noronha 23 Jun '02

23 Jun '02

Simputer gets close to finish-line, on lookout for the right software By Frederick Noronha PANAJI (Goa), June 24: Indian computer scientists and technologists are close to the finish-line for completing an ambitious project of making a "commonman's computer". But much of their chances for success depend on being able to find sufficient buyers and create useful applications. Called the 'Simputer', this low-priced but versatile computing device is to be priced at between Rs 10,500 to Rs 23,000 -- depending on the computing power made available in different models. "We expect (Goa-based modem and motherboard manufacturer) D-Link to produce Simputers in quantity in a few months time," announced Encore Software chairman and CEO Vinay L Deshpande, speaking to businessmen and software enthusiasts at a Goa Chambers of Commerce and Industry, here. This was followed by an interaction with the local LUG, or Linux Users' Group. The Simputer has caught the attention of the nation, and many overseas too, because it promises to take computing to the commonman. Not just because of its lower price but also because of its promise to be usable even by an illiterate using its text-to-speech conversion capabilities. In the year 2001, the Simputer project raced past products like Apple's slick new IPAC computers and Windows XP to be selected as the New York Times' technology selections. "We have so far focussed on getting the Simputer into people's hands. Now we have the Simputer software development toolkit ready," says Deshpande. On the ncoretech.com site, a small under 200-kilobytes package enables any software developer with the skills to launch into developing their own 'apps' (or applications) to make the Simputer an even more powerful tool. Many of the current Simputer applications -- particularly the PIMs (personal information-manager software) -- are not as feature-loaded as could have been. These are basically to demonstrate the capabilities of the Simputer, admits Deshpande. Mass-production, though some months behind deadline, is possibly shortly and prototypes are already doing the rounds. Much now depends on whether there are sufficient numbers of buyers to reduce the cost of the product. Simputer is finding itself a number of different application, ranging from sending e-mail to playing MP3 music files and video clippings, billing applications, rural banking, Indian language solutions, e-education, e-governance, small business accounting, insurance policy advisor, etc. "Simputer could also be adapted to high-end uses, like FedEx-type document tracking (e-logistics), sales automation or as a tool for the visually impaired in combination with a low-cost video camera and optical character recognition software. We got a suggestion for this from Italy," says Deshpande. Using the GNU/Linux model of software developing, the 'specs' (specifications) are thrown up, and anyone interested can create software required. This could either be put out for free for all users, or priced. One text-to-speech software (that converts the written-word into speech, helping illiterates) is a priced product. But it is an improvement on the earlier design, and allows the 'text' to be read out in a man's voice, or a woman's or child's. One could even adapt the pitch of the voice. "Currently we have about 100-150 Simputers in operation. By August, there should be 1000-1500. This would help further development (of software). Several hundred software developers have also downloaded the toolkit," says Deshpande. Being a GNU/Linux based project -- modeled on a non-proprietorial form of 'free' software production -- this product too depends a lot on volunteers lending their skills to develop applications. 'Free' software does not mean that all come without a price; some could be free, others could be priced. But the prices of the software are expected to be reasonable. "Since this is a Rs 10,000 product, you can't expect to sell software at Rs 5,000. We expect most applications would cost between Rs 25 to 100 each (with a few more comprehensive ones costlier). Money would be made on the volumes sold," said Deshpande. This product uses a GTK-based toolkit, and Java could also be used for programming. Deshpande says large software conglomerates like Microsoft had shown a keen interest in porting the Simputer to their products, but this had been "so far resisted" as the project is based on the 'open source' software model of volunteers collaboratively building solutions. Interestingly, even the Simputer's hardware design is 'open source'. Anyone can download this from the Internet, and implement it for 'personal use'. But anyone wanting to go in for 'commercial' production and sale of the Simputers has to pay a one-time licence fee of US$25,000 for the developing world and ten times that sum for the developed world. There is an unusual twist to this too -- anyone innovating on the Simputer design gets a monopoly over that improved design for a year of commercial production, after which the innovation has to itself be put out in public domain. This rewards innovation and also keeps the door open for further design-improvements evolving. This is perhaps the first product internationally that has gone in for an 'open' design model, which has so far been mainly used in the software world, quite successfully. Deshpande said interest was being evinced in the Simputer from countries as far apart as Morocco, Singapore, Nigeria, Brazil and elsewhere. (ENDS) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- SIMPUTER LINKS ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Simputer www.simputer.org Simputer Mailing List www.groups.yahoo.com/group/simputer/ PicoPeta www.picopeta.com Swami Manohar manohar(a)picopeta.com Vinay L Deshpande vinay(a)ncoretech.com NCoreTech www.ncoretech.com (Simputer developer kit here) ----------------------------------------------------------------------

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Library software...
by Frederick Noronha 23 Jun '02

23 Jun '02

Below is something I had written some time back. Unfortunately, like many good projects, the young men involved seem to have got busy with their working lives, after finishing college. Perhaps it would help if, after putting in so much work, such initiatives could be taken up in the spirit of free-software/open-source. Unless efforts are made to involve bigger teams of people... it won't happen. FN On Sat, 22 Jun 2002 fsf-friends-request(a)mm.gnu.org.in wrote: > From: "r_sreekumar " <r_sreekumar(a)rediffmail.com> > hello > we are looking for a library software (GPL) for my college > library. plese inform if anybody have any information. > sreekumar LIBRARIANS GET HELP FROM UNEXPECTED QUARTERS, AS STUDENTS WRITE USEFUL SOFTWARE By Frederick Noronha GOA, May 27, 2001 -- Librarians could get the smile back on their faces, thanks to the initiative of three young engineering students from Goa who have put together a software package that takes the monotony out of managing thousands of books that cross their counter. Gaurav Priyolkar, Sharmad Naik and Hiren Lodhiya (all 21) of the Verna-based Padre Conceisao College of Engineering have put together the library management software, which they hope will soon be utilised in their own institution. What's more, since the package is based on the 'Open Source' Linux-based approach to writing software, it will be freely distributed to anyone else wanting to use it. In contrast commercially-produced software products doing similar tasks costs lakhs of rupees. Gaurav, Sharmad and Hiren are all final year computer engineering students, and undertook this challenge as part of their project. "This software will be kept in Open Source (its 'source code' will be available to anyone wanting to implement or improve the product). It could be utilised by anyone who needs it or finds it useful," Gaurav told this correspondent. Unlike other available software, this still-unnamed product is capable of handling library-member records, fines collected, invoices and even report generation. Books and libraries being at the heart of the information-collecting process, if found useful, it could play a useful role in helping libraries be more professionally run. Librarians would now perhaps not have an excuse that a suitable software is not available for the computerisation of their operations. This software means there are no bulky paper card-catalogues, fines don't have to be laboriously calculated, you don't need thick books or files containing records of all members, and you can get 'reports' of various library operations in a matter of seconds. Hiren -- who along with his two other colleagues first encountered the alternate Open Source GNU-Linux operating system barely a year back -- says: "When we started, we never thought we would reach this far." His colleague Sharmad has been making frequent trips to the nearby Indian software Mecca of Bangalore, to get a better grasp of Linux-related concepts. Smiling, he says: "Some projects of other students shrunk along the way. Ours grew vastly (and became even more ambitious)." The trio spent two months putting together what ended up as a fairly big project. "Any database with 20 tables is an impressive size for a project. Our has some 84 tables," says Hiren. Linux, an Open Source means of writing software which implies collaborative functioning and the free sharing of knowledge by those working on such projects, is gaining popularity among young Indian developers. These young engineers say they gained immsense help from international mailing-lists that proved very helpful in sorting out their difficulties, via the Internet. "We were very happy when one day, we noticed a bug in PHP," says Hiren, explaining how the collaborative style of writing Open Source software helps all to gain from the shared knowledge. "Now our hearts are into this project," says Hiren. They expect their own Goa-based college to implement the software in its library probably. "We want to keep the source-code open so that any future batch can continue to work on improvements and enhance the potential of this software further," says Hiren. "Any other library can also get the benefit of using it." In writing the project, they sought help from libraries at the Goa-based National Institute of Oceanography and the Goa University. Gaurav explains that the software allows any library-user to log-in either as a member of the general public, a library member, or a staff-member. Each one using the software has certain priviledges, depending on his or her category. Library members, for instance, can search for books or make a request that a book be reserved for them. Library-staff, on the other hand, can look after the issue, return or renewal of books. Some staff are entitled to add new members or 'change their profile'. Other staffers -- like the acquisition clerk -- can place orders for new books, make invoices, or physically locate the books on the shelves upon their arrival. On the other hand, the 'administrator' gets overall charge, and can get a number of useful statistics on pressing a button. He can find out the daily inflow of readers, fines collected, or the members defaulting on the return of their books. "If a book you want is not available, you are asked if you want to reserve it. One major problem is that some people keep renewing books and hogging it for themselves. Under this computerised system, it will not be allowed once there is a reservation pending," explains Gaurav. In addition, all transactions (books borrowed, etc) will be intimated to members by an automatically-generated e-mail message. The young engineers who worked on this project say equivalent commercial softwares cost between Rs 5 to 10 lakh. They were all praise for Goa University's computer science department head Prof Gurunandan Bhat, an Open Source and Linux enthusiast, who encouraged them to undertake this potentially-useful project. Its running platform is Linux, it uses a Postgres database, the webserver is Apache, its scripting languages are PHP and Perl, and its front-end can be any web-browser, making it easy for any end-user. (ENDS) **************************************************************************

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Query about Karnataka...
by Frederick Noronha 18 Jun '02

18 Jun '02

Would anyone know of any links to find out more about this story? Pls send a copy of your reply also to Graham Seaman <graham(a)seul.org> Thank you very much, FN (Frederick Noronha) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Topic - Open Source - - By Jack Bryar - Over the past few weeks, a new type of trade war has been brewing in a number of smaller, poorer countries around the world. Country after country has begun to evaluate whether to mandate Open Source software for government agencies and schools. Microsoft has fought back with its own form of free programs. However, countries comparing Open Source to Microsoft programs are considering a lot of other factors completely unrelated to the technical merits of the two platforms. It has been said that if Linux and Open Source were going to triumph anywhere, the first big successes would happen in the Third World. Cash-strapped countries looking for ways to declare their technical independence would be deeply tempted by the price point and technical promise of Open Source software. In recent weeks, NewsForge reporters have mentioned the growing interest in Linux by government agencies in places such as Peru and Argentina. This week, the Indian state of Karnataka announced it was looking at mandating Open Source in its public sector. Microsoft has been fighting back. In a number of countries, it has rapidly expanded giveaway programs, especially to schools in the poorest parts of Africa and Asia. This week, Microsoft announced it had signed an agreement with the South African government to give all the schools in that country free access to a selection of the company's software. It was a controversial decision in that country, but not necessarily because of any technical considerations. Increasingly, as cash-strapped public agencies in other Third World countries struggle to determine the best choice, they may find their decision process has become complicated by a variety of political and ideological issues. Both South Africa and India's Karnataka state are good examples of other considerations overwhelming the technical issues. South Africa's decision involved a mix of financial, technical and, above all else, political decisions. On the face of it, the decision was fairly straightforward. According to South Africa's Finance Minister Kader Asmal, an agreement this week gave South Africa's schools free access to a variety of Microsoft's essential programs, including Windows 2000 Server, Office, Visual Studio, and Encarta among others. The deal represented potential savings exceeding $100 million, according to the deal's defenders. However, critics have charged that the deal was little more than a tactic to kill the Open Source software movement in the country. When South African President Thabo Mbeki first announced Microsoft's offer, it appeared to short-circuit several regional initiatives. By far the most important of these local programs was a provincial pilot program called Gauteng Online. This program was an ambitious, public/private program that proposed to equip each of that province's 2,500 schools with a minimum of 25 computers each. The program expected to do more than simply provide an inexpensive tool for students to surf the Internet, however. Among its objectives was teaching programming skills and developing the province as an IT center. Prior to Mbeki's announcement, the program was evaluating a mix of Linux and Microsoft platforms. When Education Minister Kader Asmal signed the agreement with Microsoft, Open Source critics charged he was killing off any chance for South Africa to develop an independent software industry in exchange for a three-year software license. They pointed out that the agreement flew in the face of a recommendation by the government's National Advisory Committee to deploy Open Source products in all state organizations. The Mbeki government and Microsoft have asserted that they "expect" that the license will be renewed without any costs three years from now, and that this arrangement may continue indefinitely, although there is no hard agreement to this effect. Is the agreement worth it? Local defenders claim that not all alternatives to Microsoft were practical alternatives. For one thing, government officials have learned that Open Source is not necessarily "free," an important distinction in countries where resources are extremely scarce. Further, defenders claim that products and services advertised as Open Source don't always seem to be that open, either. For example, a messaging and collaboration alternative to Microsoft Exchange called WeMeeting turned out to be "Open Source" only in the sense that source code was available to purchasers of seats in blocks of 100 and at a price of close to $40,000 per block. However, local observers in the South African press suggest that technical considerations played only a small part in the decision process. Just as significant is South Africa's emerging role as a local power, and as a financial center in the continent. South Africa has one of the most dynamic financial sectors on the continent, and one of the most advanced. Nearly 30% of the country's banking customers bank via the Internet. It is also a financial conduit for outside investors looking for investment opportunities on the continent. These observers suggest that Microsoft has acted as a corporate "good citizen" in many African countries. They argue that the company has been seen as an important corporate advocate on behalf of emerging African countries trying to shake off reputations for corruption and instability as they attempt to attract foreign capital. Microsoft has been particularly active in a program called the New Partnership for Africa's Development. Nicknamed NEPAD, the program has been the centerpiece of Southern Africa's campaign to attract massive investment and technical resources for that country and its neighbors. Such advocacy, combined with the no-cost software, made it hard for the Mbeki government to turn down Microsoft's offer. Meanwhile, the decision by Karnataka to explore Open Source appears to be just as political. While located within the Third World, Karnataka is no backwater. It is home to the tech hub city of Bangalore. It contains a population roughly the size of France, and it features a profitable electronics and I.T. industry. Its National Informatics Center is among the most influential organizations in the state. In fact, Karnataka may be the only state government anywhere in the world with its own Ministry of I.T. and Biotechnology. The head of that ministry, Professor B.K. Chandrashekar, is leading the initiative that would mandate Open Source as part of Kanataka's "e-Governance" initiative. Again, the decision to support Open Source can be, and has been, defended on technical grounds, but political and ideological concerns are definitely part of the mix here as well. Defenders of the Linux initiative suggest that the state is simply trying to reduce costs and support local initiatives such as the "Simputer" a primitive PDA/"Community Digital Assistant" made in Bangalore and regarded as Linux based. However, other observers point out that the Simputer might not qualify as under Chandrashekar's definition of "open," because the device employs a mix of Linux and proprietary software. Further, they suggest that Karnataka's growing dependence on pharmaceuticals and biotechnology make it an awkward place to argue against intellectual property rights, as some in the Free Software movement do. Critics suggest that Karnataka is a stronghold of the India's opposition Congress party, which has a long history of economic nationalism and which has been skeptical of Western business interests. Chandrashekar recently stated that apart from any financial or technical considerations, he saw Linux as a means to overcome "the international digital divide." He added that "you need radical political appreciation" to fully understand the appeal of Open Source software. Chandrashekar has also proposed that local Indian states should both adopt Linux and coordinate their Open Source development programs with the neighboring People's Republic of China. Open Source advocates may celebrate the adoption of Open Source in one location and condemn its rejection in another, but the issues that are driving these decisions seem very far removed from the discussions Open Source advocates and critics are used to having.

2 1

MobiliX wins against Obelix
by Frederick Noronha 15 Jun '02

15 Jun '02

From: Werner Heuser <Werner.Heuser(a)web.de> Subject: Trademark Trouble: MobiliX wins Against Obelix Date: Thu, 13 Jun 2002 16:28:27 CST Reply-To: Werner Heuser <wehe(a)mobilix.org> In the hearing from June 12th the court has rejected the arguments of "L�s Editions Albert Ren�". The court says the words "MobiliX" and "Obelix" can hardly be mixed up with each other. Also the work of MobiliX is dedicated to another audience. This is a great success for the Free Software Community. MobiliX is a very wellknown site dedicated to Linux and BSD on mobile devices (like laptops, PDAs, cell phones and more). In November 2001 Werner Heuser, owner of the Open Source project MobiliX - UniX on Mobile Computers (http://mobilix.org) was charged by "L�s Editions Albert Ren�", which is owner of the trademark "Obelix". In their opinion the names Obelix and MobiliX are very similar. The charge aimed on a deletion of the trademark "MobiliX" and a compensation fee. The charge has been discussed in many newsgroups and mailing lists. It seems to be a very important case for the Free Software Community, because there are many projects, which names are also ending on "iX". Some other projects have even silently withdrawn there names, because the financial risk of loosing a trademark case is high. The documentation of the case is available online (http://mobilix.org/de/mobilix_asterix.html). It includes the letters from MobiliX lawerys Jaschinski Biere Brexl - JBB (http://www.jbb.de). -- |=| Werner Heuser = Keplerstr. 11A = D-10589 Berlin = Germany |=| <wehe((a))mobilix.org> T. 0049 - (0)30 - 349 53 86 |=| http://MobiliX.org Linux and BSD on Mobile Computers |=| http://Xtops.DE Laptops+PDAs pre-installed with UniX |*| This is no time for phony rhetoric -- Lou Reed ########################################################################## # Send submissions for comp.os.linux.announce to: cola(a)stump.algebra.com # # PLEASE remember a short description of the software and the LOCATION. # # This group is archived at http://stump.algebra.com/~cola/ # ########################################################################## ------------------------------ ** FOR YOUR REFERENCE ** The service address, to which questions about the list itself and requests to be added to or deleted from it should be directed, is: Internet: Linux-Announce-Request(a)NEWS-DIGESTS.MIT.EDU You can submit announcements to be moderated via: Internet: linux-announce(a)NEWS.ORNL.GOV Linux may be obtained via one of these FTP sites: ftp.funet.fi pub/Linux tsx-11.mit.edu pub/linux sunsite.unc.edu pub/Linux End of Linux-Announce Digest ******************************

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Link to the FSF site...
by Frederick Noronha 24 May '02

24 May '02

Could someone give me the current link to the FSF site pls? FN Pls send a copy of your reply also to dheimann(a)comminit.com ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Dear Fred - We have uploaded the article "Linking a Diverse Country: Mailing Lists in India" - http://www.comminit.com/ctrends2002/sld-4779.html - and have found some errors in trying to link to a couple of lists. 3) FSF-India Free Software Foundation-India <http://mm.gnu.org.in/mailman/options/fsf-india/>

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[NEWS] Software of Malayalam font to be developed
by baiju m 23 May '02

23 May '02

Software of Malayalam font to be developed Visit : http://www.newindpress.com/news.asp?id=IE320020521230925 (news below) -------------- THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A project for development of free software of Malayalam font has been undertaken by the Kerala Bureau of Industrial Promotion (K-BIP) in association with the Asia Pacific Development Information Programme (APDIP) of UNDP, Malaysia. The development of the fonts, tool kits, localisation of applications and documentation will be done through free software foundation, an official release said on Tuesday. The project proposes to create free software with Malayalam support in accordance with the established international standards, so that new it applications can be made available at low cost. Further, the developed tools are proposed to be made available on the internet so that people can not only freely use it but 'also develop new applications. A memorandum of agreement will be signed in this regard in the presence of Kerala Industries Minister P k Kunhalikutty by Ajay Kumar, State Industries Secretary, and Dr E Krishnan, project director of Free Software Foundation, here on Wednesday Regards, Baiju M __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? LAUNCH - Your Yahoo! Music Experience http://launch.yahoo.com

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