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A magazine for GNU/Linux newbies
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 25 Apr '05

25 Apr '05

---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sun, 24 Apr 2005 23:58:35 CST From: "TUX magazine" <carlie(a)ssc.com> Subject: A magazine for Linux newbies TUX, www.tuxmagazine.com, is the first and only magazine for the new Linux user. Within each digital edition of TUX, we explore every facet of the modern Linux desktop, providing a new breed of Linux user with the tools and information to make their Linux desktop experience complete. Subscriptions are FREE! Sign up today, http://www.tuxmagazine.com/subscribe . TUX, published monthly as an easy to read PDF, provides informative user columns with rich, graphical content and covers everything for home, work, and play. TUX provides Linux users with easy to understand tutorials, insightful hardware and software reviews, enlightened opinion, useful tips and tricks, and in-depth exploration of the tools computer users need every day. Our style is hands-on, welcoming and non-threatening, speaking in a jargon-free style that everybody can understand. TUX recognizes that a new breed of Linux user is emerging, the Linux consumer, whose needs are an opportunity waiting to be addressed, further recognizing that this new Linux user is a powerful and rapidly growing economic force. The new Linux user is a well educated computer user and technology enthusiast who uses computers every day and in nearly every facet of their everyday life. Life with computers doesn't stop at the office. They see their systems as communication centers, productivity tools, game machines, planners and personal digital assistants, learning mechanisms and more. TUX understands that as a desktop user at both home and work, these new Linux users write letters with their word processor, calculate budgets in a spreadsheet, talk to their co-workers, clients, and friends around the world using email, instant messaging, and video conferencing. They listen to music and watch videos. They rip songs and burn CDs to listen to in their cars. They play games of all kinds. They balance their checkbooks, surf the web, organize photographs, make home movies, doodle, send pictures to relatives... or to put it another way, this new Linux user does everything with their computers that computers can do. Tux is dedicated to fulfilling the needs of this new Linux user, the Linux consumer. If you're interested in learning more about TUX's editorial mission, submitting a product for review, advertising, learning more about writing for the digital magazine, or simply would like further information, please e-mail us at info(a)tuxmagazine.com. TUX magazine is published by SSC (www.ssc.com), publishers of Linux Journal. ########################################################################## # 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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IT@SCHOOLS
by M.Balakrishna Pillai 23 Apr '05

23 Apr '05

News in Malayala Manoram Daily (April 24, 2005) page 6 IT from STD 5 to B.Ed. Are they using Free Softwares ? With regards M.Balakrishna Pillai

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No More Free BitKeeper
by Praveen A 22 Apr '05

22 Apr '05

<quote>BitKeeper was first utilized by a Linux project in December of 1999, when it was employed by the Linux PowerPC <http://penguinppc.org/kernel/>project. Then in February of 2002, Linux creator Linus Torvalds decided that BitKeeper was "*the best tool for the job*" and started using it to manage the mainline kernel, an event that received much attention in the free and open source communities [story <http://kerneltrap.org/node/444>], and beyond. BitMover <http://bitmover.com/>, the company behind BitKeeper, was founded by its current CEO, Larry McVoy [interview<http://kerneltrap.org/node/222>], who originally conceived of BitKeeper as a tool to keep Linus from getting burnt out by the growing task of managing the Linux Kernel. Since Linus began using the tool three years ago, the pace of Linux kernel development has doubled </quote> Read full feature at http://kerneltrap.org/node/4966 -- "GNU is the system, and Linux is the kernel." A proud GNU user http://www.gnu.org My Weblog at http://www.pravi.co.nr Rediscover the web ! Get firefox at http://www.getfirefox.com Please avoid sending me Word or PowerPoint attachments See http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html

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Ubuntu GNU/Linux
by Anand Babu 22 Apr '05

22 Apr '05

,----[ Ramanraj K <ramanraj.k(a)gmail.com> ] | [ Re: Workshop on TRIPS Treaty and Computer Programs at UoM ] | participants may be people totally new to free software. We have | received about 100 Ubuntu CD sets, which we will distribute to the | participants to introduce them to free software. `---- Though Ubuntu team did a very nice job, they call their distribution (operating system) as Linux and not as GNU/Linux. It concerns me to promote them. -- Anand Babu GPG Key ID: 0x62E15A31 Personal Blog [http://freedom.freeshell.org] The GNU Operating System [http://www.gnu.org]

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MPlayer and the patents
by Dilip V 21 Apr '05

21 Apr '05

Hola, The end draws near for the sucessful floss project MPlayer.. I just visited the site of MPlayer for downloaded the 1.0 pre7 source. Then I found the following in their website./ MPlayer is seriously threatened by software patents due to the numerous patented multimedia techniques. Also threatened are the many programs built upon MPlayer and the other free software multimedia players, like xine, VLC, avifile, gstreamer and especially FFmpeg, which provides the framework all of the above players use. Read more .. http://www.mplayerhq.hu/homepage/index.html - - Dilip V, http://www.dilpu.net/

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Expectation from fresh graduates
by H S Rai 20 Apr '05

20 Apr '05

http://punjabinfotech.org/ is organising workshop on "Northern Gateway to Software Industry - Expectations of Industry from fresh technical graduates" on 23rd April 2005 in Shivalik View Sector 17, Chandigarh. There, interaction is expected between Industry expert, expert from Engg. colleges and Technical University, and students. I am not sure about the representatives from non-proprietary software industry. If they will not be there, then there may be only expert from proprietary firms and that mat have impact on policy in Computer Education. I suggest, if any one want to convey his/her view regarding expectation of non-proprietary softwar or FLOSS industry, then please mail to: md(a)punjabinfotech.org or nskalsi(a)punjabinfotech.org -- H.S.Rai : ####[ GNU/Linux One Stanza Tip (LOST) ]####################### Sub : Troubled by spam ? LOST #124 If you are troubled by spam [http://combat.uxn.com] may be of interest to you ... ####[bish (at) nde.vsnl.net.in]############################### :

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IT@school in Maharashtra
by Sameer N I 20 Apr '05

20 Apr '05

Hi, I was wondering if there is any movement in Maharashtra regarding use of Free Software in school IT education? Does anyone here have any ideas regarding this? Sameer.

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OpenOffice
by Ankit Malik 19 Apr '05

19 Apr '05

OpenOffice is often touted as the completely free office suite [correct me if i am wrong]. But isn't OO based on JAVA? And Java is not free by FSF standards. So what abt OO??? -- _______________________ Ankit Malik http://scribbler.tk

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<incom> FW: [A2k] India's Statement at WIPO (fwd)
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 15 Apr '05

15 Apr '05

---------- Forwarded message ---------- -----Original Message----- From: a2k-admin(a)lists.essential.org [mailto:a2k-admin@lists.essential.org] On Behalf Of Karsten Gerloff Sent: April 15, 2005 10:55 AM To: a2k(a)lists.essential.org Subject: [A2k] India's Statement at WIPO -- Hi all, here's India's statement at the WIPO IIM/1. Since it is extremely clearly phrased in summing up the Friends of Development proposal, it made quite a splash on Tuesday. Best regards Karsten Statement by India at the Inter-Sessional Intergovernmental Meeting on a Development Agenda For WIPO, April 11-13, 2005 Mr. Chairman, Let me congratulate you on your election to Chair this very important meeting. This is, indeed, a special day for the organization. It is the first time that a Development Agenda has been taken up for consideration in WIPO. We have high expectations that the outcome of this session of the IIM and its subsequent sessions will lead to mainnstreaming the development dimension into all areas of WIPO's work and activities. We are confident that under your able guidance, we will be able to achieve agreement on the realisation of this very important objective - an objective shared by all member states of WIPO, developed or developing. You can count on our delegation's full support in reaching this goal. I also take this opportunity to congratulate the Group of Friends of Development for introducing the proposal for a Development Agenda, first during the General Assemblies meeting in Semptember 2004 and now on a further elaboration of the issues in the Document WO/GA/31/14. We fully support the porposal, in particular, the establishment of a WIPO Evaluation and Research Office (WERO). We note that the issues discussed in their proposal are not exhaustive. They, however, cover the most important areas relating to WIPO's mandate and governance, norm setting, technical cooperation and transfer of technology. The Elaboration of Issues paper of the Group constitutes an excellent starting point for establishing a "development agenda" in WIPO. This would strengthen the organisation and ensure that its governance structure is more inclusive, transparent, and democratic, and, most important, that it is truly a member-driven organisation. As pointed out in the two documents presented by the Group of Friends of Development, we agree that much more needs to be done in WIPO to reach the effective results that meet the challenges of development. "Development", in WIPO's terminology means increasing a developing country's capacity to provide protection to the owners of intellectual property rights. This is quite a the opposite of what developing countries understand when they refer to the 'development dimension'. The document presented by the Group of Friends of Development corrects this misconception - that development dimension means technical assistance. The real "development" imperative is ensuring that the interest of Intellectual Property owners is not secured at the expense of the users of IP, of consumers at large, and of public policy in general. The proposal therefore seeks to incorporate int international IP law and practice, what developing countries have been demanding since TRIPS was forced on them in 1994. The primary rationale for Intellectual Property protection is, first and foremost, to promote societal development by encouraging technological innovation. The legal monopoly granted to IP owners is an exceptional departure from the general principle of competitive markets as the best guarantee for securing the interest of society. The rationale for the exception is not that extraction of monopoly profits by the innovator is, of and in itself, good for society and so needs to be promoted. Rather, that properly controlled, such a monopoly, by providing an incentive for innovation, might produce sufficient benefits for society to compensate for the immediate loss to consumers as a result of the existence of a monopoly market instead of a competitive market. Monopoly rights, then, granted to IP holders is a special incentive that needs to be carefully calibrated by each country, in the light of its own circumstances, taking into account the overall costs and benefits of such protection. Should the rationale for a monopoly be absent, as in the case of cross-border rights involving developed and developing countries, the only justification for the grant of a monopoly is a contractual obligation, such as the TRIPS agreement, and nothing more. In such a situation it makes little sense for one party, especially the weaker party, to agree to assume greater obligations than he is contractually bound to accept. This, in short, is what the developed countries have sought to do so far in the context of WIPO. The message of the Development Agenda is clear: no longer are developing countries prepared to accept this approach, or continuation of the status quo. Even in a developed country, where the monopoly profits of the domestic IP rights holders are recycled through the economy and so benefit the public in varying degrees, there is continuing debate on the equity and fairness of such protection, with some even questioning its claimed social benefits. Given the total absence of any mandatory cross-border resource transfers or welfare payments, and the absence of any significant domestic recycling of the monopoly profits of foreign IP rights holders, the case for strong IP protection in developing countries is without any economic basis. Harmonization of IP laws across countries with asymmetric distribution of IP assets is, clearly, intended to serve the interest of rent seekers in developed countries rather than that of the public in developing countries. Neither intellectual property protection, nor the harmonization of intellectual property laws leading to higher protection standards in all countries irrespective of their level of development, can be an end in itself. For developing countries to benefit from providing IP protection to rights holders based in developed countries, there has to be some obligation on the part of developed countries to transfer and disseminate technologies to developing countries. Even though the intended beneficiary of IP protection is the public at large, the immediate beneficiaries are the IP rights holders, the vast majority if whom are in developed countries. Absent an obligation on technology transfer, asymmetric IP rent flows would become a permanent feature, and the benefits of IP protection would forever elude consumers in developing countries. As pointed out in the proposal by the Group of Friends of Development, technology transfer should be a fundamental objective of the global intellectual property system. WIPO is recognised as a specialised agency with the responsibility for taking appropriate measures for undertaking this and we expect the "development agenda" to address this issue. Technical assistance should be primarily directed towards impact assessment and enabling the developing countries, including LDCs to utilize the space within the prevailing arrangements in multilateral IP treaties and conventions. The current emphasis of Technical Assistance on implementation and enforcement issues is misplaced. IP Law enforcement is embedded in the framework of all law enforcement in the individual countries. It is unrealistic, and even undesirable to expect that the enforcement of IP laws will be privileged over the enforcement of other laws in the country. Society faces a considerable challenge to effectively protect, and resolve disputes over, physical property. To expect that the police, the lawyers and the courts should dedicate a sizable part of society's enforcement resources for protecting intangible intellectual property, is unrealistic. Therefore, WIPO's current focus of Technical Assistance should be shifted to other areas such as development impact assessment. This would, inter alia, inspire civil society and others to play a supportive role, if the impact is seen to be favourable to the community. In conclusion, it is important that developed countries and WIPO acknowledge that IP protection is an important policy instrument for developing countries, one that needs to be used carefully. While the claimed benefits of strong IP protection for developing countries are a matter of debate - and nearly always in the distant future - such protection invariably entails substatial real an immediate costs for these countries. In formulating its IP policy, therefore, each country needs to have sufficient flexibility so that the cost of IP protection does not outweigh the benefits. It is clearly in the interest of developing countries that WIPO recognizes this and formulates its work program accordingly - including its 'technical assistance' - and not limit its activities, as it currently does, to the blind promotion of increasingly higher levels of IP protection. This is where WIPO, as a specialized UN agency, can make a major impact - by truly incorporating the development dimension into its mission - in letter and in spirit, so that it is appropriately reflected in all its instruments. Certainly it will result in a revitalisation of WIPO as an organisation sensitive to integrating the development concerns of developing countries into all areas of its work. -- Join the Fellowship and protect your Freedom! <www.fsfe.org> Weblog: <www.fsfe.org/Members/gerloff/blog/> === -- [ Content of type application/pgp-signature deleted ] _______________________________________________ A2k mailing list A2k(a)lists.essential.org http://lists.essential.org/mailman/listinfo/a2k _______________________________________________ incom-l mailing list incom-l(a)incommunicado.info http://mail.kein.org/mailman/listinfo/incom-l

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COMMENT: India's amazing statement on IP and international development (fwd)
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 15 Apr '05

15 Apr '05

---------- Forwarded message ---------- http://www.boingboing.net/2005/04/15/indias_amazing_state.html Friday, April 15, 2005 India's amazing statement on IP and international development Earlier this week at the UN World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), there was a meeting to talk about how to reform the org to make it into a humanitarian agency that promotes development, not monopoly rights for publishing and pharmaceutical companies. India's statement from the floor was so good it should be taught in universities. Check it out: The real "development" imperative is ensuring that the interest of Intellectual Property owners is not secured at the expense of the users of IP, of consumers at large, and of public policy in general. The proposal therefore seeks to incorporate int international IP law and practice, what developing countries have been demanding since TRIPS was forced on them in 1994. The primary rationale for Intellectual Property protection is, first and foremost, to promote societal development by encouraging technological innovation. The legal monopoly granted to IP owners is an exceptional departure from the general principle of competitive markets as the best guarantee for securing the interest of society. The rationale for the exception is not that extraction of monopoly profits by the innovator is, of and in itself, good for society and so needs to be promoted. Rather, that properly controlled, such a monopoly, by providing an incentive for innovation, might produce sufficient benefits for society to compensate for the immediate loss to consumers as a result of the existence of a monopoly market instead of a competitive market. Monopoly rights, then, granted to IP holders is a special incentive that needs to be carefully calibrated by each country, in the light of its own circumstances, taking into account the overall costs and benefits of such protection. Link posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:52:49 AM permalink | Other blogs commenting on this post [Thanks to Sandip B for pointing this out on the India-GII list earlier.]

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Reg. kopete
by Joe Steeve 14 Apr '05

14 Apr '05

I had earlier posted a announcement (a forward from lug-goa) about the patent infringement of Kopete. The announcement sounded like the Kopete project was getting sued. At the time of posting it to the list., I was offline and so was unable to verify the facts. Sorry about the mis-interpretations. The correct news is that., the developer team of Kopete, a KDE based IM client., have decided to close down the site www.kopete.org in order to make the users from EU to talk to their local EU representatives and make them vote against the bill approving `software patents` in the EU. They have not been threatened by anybody (till now). They have mentioned the IM patents that they infringe just to make the readers realize how silly and stupid software patents could be. However.. software patents do suck., and to hell with them. -- .O. A proud GNU user ..O http://www.joesteeve.tk/ OOO http://joe.bsdnerds.org/

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Three cheers to Kerala...
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 13 Apr '05

13 Apr '05

Three cheers to the Kerala text books, which are attempting to offer vendor-independent education in IT, as is evident from this extract below, Chapter III, Std X text book (available for free download): http://mission.akshaya.net/dpi/ * Spread sheets are the software which helps to calculate quickly and easily. * Different spreadsheets are used in the Operating system(s) such as Windows and GNU/Linux. * Microsoft Excel is the widely used spreadsheet in Windows. * Open Office Calc is the spread sheet used in GNU/Linux.... _____ _/ ____\____ Frederick Noronha * Freelance Journalist * Goa \ __\/ \ India T +91.832.2409490 M +919822 122436 | | | | \ http://fn.swiki.net http://goabooks.swiki.net |__| |___| / http://www.bytesforall.net http://www.bytesforall.org \/ ----------------------------------------------------- Sign up for low-volume, high-quality news summaries and updates from Goa at http://newsfromgoa.swiki.net * It's free and volunteer-driven.

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Re: [Fsf-friends] [Fwd: Re: [Fsf-tn] Kopete is closed for patent infringement]
by Kanti Jadia 13 Apr '05

13 Apr '05

Further to this,can somebody clarify the following points. 1. Can we get kopete hosted in India 2. Is it legal in India to reverse engineer software ( for learning or creating a compatible system ) Regards Kanti On Wed, 13 Apr 2005 Ramanraj K wrote : > -------- Original Message -------- >Subject: Re: [Fsf-tn] Kopete is closed for patent infringement >Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 06:42:15 +0530 > From: Ramanraj K <ramanraj.k(a)gmail.com> >To: Joe Steeve <joe_steeve(a)gmx.net> >CC: GLUG Madurai <glug-madurai-discuss(a)lists.sourceforge.net>, GLUGOT <glugot(a)tce.edu>, SREC LUG <srec-lug(a)yahoogroups.com>, KEC Linux User Group <klug(a)mail.kongu.edu>, FSF Tamil Nadu <fsf-tn(a)gnu.org.in>, SonaLUG <sonalug(a)yahoogroups.com> >References: <8764yr8y15.fsf(a)deck8.enterprise> > >Joe Steeve wrote: > >>THIS IS JUST A BEGINNING! >> >>Kopete, the famous KDE messenger is closed for patent >>infringement. >>The patents that affect Kopete are: >>(0) Patent 6449344, granted to ICQ. The patent covers >>anything resembling a network that lets multiple IM >>users see when other people are present and the >>communicate with them >>(1) iKimbo (www.ikimbo.com) received a patent on a >>method for inviting people to join "communities" which >>include chat or instant messaging systems. >>(2) Microsoft received a patent on "Activity >>Monitoring" for Instant Messaging systems. This patent >>would seem to cover the MSN Messenger messages that >>say: "Sally is typing now..." >> >>See http://www.kopete.org/ >It is time India filed a complaint in the WTO against the illegitimate and illegal practice of "software patents" that impose trade barriers in contravention and violation of TRIPs Agreement, seeking the issue of directions to US, Japan and others to update their laws in accordance with TRIPs. The inhuman, humiliating and dastardly harassment of software developers through patent infringement suits is condemnable, and this should halt. The means of criminal prosecution of those who practice "software patents" should also be explored. Computing rights are a fundamental right, where each exercise is well protected by copyright, and any unreasonable restriction through "software patents" is a serious violation of human rights, and probably people who are responsible for the practice should be strictly dealt with in accordance with international law, the same way "war criminals" are dealt with. > > > > >_______________________________________________ >Fsf-friends mailing list >Fsf-friends(a)mm.gnu.org.in >http://mm.gnu.org.in/mailman/listinfo/fsf-friends ----------------------------------------- Enjoy your Freedom,use GNU/Linux. http://www.gnu.org/gnu/why-gnu-linux.html -----------------------------------------

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Re: Ubuntu GNU/Linux
by Ramanraj K 13 Apr '05

13 Apr '05

Daniel Stone wrote: >Ubuntu is just Ubuntu. It is neither Ubuntu Linux nor Ubuntu GNU/Linux. > >Hope that helps, > Free software gives you that freedom, but I am sure it is not very difficult to give credit to the GNU Project by calling Ubuntu a GNU/Linux distribution. FSF India cannot promote any distro that does not give due credit to the GNU Project, and I hope you could appreciate this concern, and do the needful in this regard. -Ramanraj.

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FLOSS takes to the cricket pitch! (fwd)
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 13 Apr '05

13 Apr '05

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: "suchenchodankar" <suchenchodankar(a)yahoo.com> Add Address Date: 2005/04/13 Wed PM 06:37:20 IST To: ilug-goa(a)yahoogroups.com Subject: we have built a fantasy cricket game, visit www.superteam05.cjb.net and register Hello, I am a Suchen G. Chodankar(from Durbhat, Ponda) student of final year I.T. Engineering course at Goa College of Engineering, Farmagudi. Me and my class-mate Sagar Arlekar(from Calangute) has designed a web based fantasy cricket game. This game is similar to superselector on espnstar.com . The game is built using open source and free software. Apache- web server PHP- scripting language MySql- database We are thankful to the open source community. This game was started as a semester project in Jan 2004, at that time the project had 7 members all students of I.T. Engineering course, Goa College of Engineering. In Jan 2005 we restarted the project work, added new features to it and made it fully functional and put it online. You can register at www.superteam05.cjb.net. We already have about 60 users registered. The game is free to use, open to all and easy to understand. You just have to select a cricket team of 11 players that includes 5 batsmen, 4 bowlers, 1 allrounder and 1 wicket keeper. Your team will gain points as the players selected by you score/perform in real matches. You compete against other users. The game closes at the end of the month. We have a message board on the site to gain your feedback. Enjoy playing superteam. Thank You Suchen G. Chodankar END OF FORWARDED MESSAGE _____ _/ ____\____ Frederick Noronha * Freelance Journalist * Goa \ __\/ \ India T +91.832.2409490 M +919822 122436 | | | | \ http://fn.swiki.net http://goabooks.swiki.net |__| |___| / http://www.bytesforall.net http://www.bytesforall.org \/ ----------------------------------------------------- Sign up for low-volume, high-quality news summaries and updates from Goa at http://newsfromgoa.swiki.net * It's free and volunteer-driven.

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Re: [Fsf-friends] Re: [ILUG-BOM] Tally and GNU/Linux
by kunal bharati 13 Apr '05

13 Apr '05

Hello Friends, Magnet Webpublishing (www.magnet-i.com) was planning to develop Tally clone for GNU/Linux. Me and my friends planned to do it as our final year project of Bsc. Computer Science. But according to Mumbai University we have to do projects using proprietary software only !!! We cant even use GTK or QT. Anyways, Magnet wanted us to use Mono. But the project was called off because of rules made by Mumbai University and we are not working on it. Cant tell what kind of licenses they are going to use. Kunal __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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[Fwd: Re: [Fsf-tn] Kopete is closed for patent infringement]
by Ramanraj K 13 Apr '05

13 Apr '05

-------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re: [Fsf-tn] Kopete is closed for patent infringement Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 06:42:15 +0530 From: Ramanraj K <ramanraj.k(a)gmail.com> To: Joe Steeve <joe_steeve(a)gmx.net> CC: GLUG Madurai <glug-madurai-discuss(a)lists.sourceforge.net>, GLUGOT <glugot(a)tce.edu>, SREC LUG <srec-lug(a)yahoogroups.com>, KEC Linux User Group <klug(a)mail.kongu.edu>, FSF Tamil Nadu <fsf-tn(a)gnu.org.in>, SonaLUG <sonalug(a)yahoogroups.com> References: <8764yr8y15.fsf(a)deck8.enterprise> Joe Steeve wrote: >THIS IS JUST A BEGINNING! > >Kopete, the famous KDE messenger is closed for patent >infringement. > >The patents that affect Kopete are: >(0) Patent 6449344, granted to ICQ. The patent covers >anything resembling a network that lets multiple IM >users see when other people are present and the >communicate with them >(1) iKimbo (www.ikimbo.com) received a patent on a >method for inviting people to join "communities" which >include chat or instant messaging systems. >(2) Microsoft received a patent on "Activity >Monitoring" for Instant Messaging systems. This patent >would seem to cover the MSN Messenger messages that >say: "Sally is typing now..." > >See http://www.kopete.org/ > It is time India filed a complaint in the WTO against the illegitimate and illegal practice of "software patents" that impose trade barriers in contravention and violation of TRIPs Agreement, seeking the issue of directions to US, Japan and others to update their laws in accordance with TRIPs. The inhuman, humiliating and dastardly harassment of software developers through patent infringement suits is condemnable, and this should halt. The means of criminal prosecution of those who practice "software patents" should also be explored. Computing rights are a fundamental right, where each exercise is well protected by copyright, and any unreasonable restriction through "software patents" is a serious violation of human rights, and probably people who are responsible for the practice should be strictly dealt with in accordance with international law, the same way "war criminals" are dealt with.

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[Fwd: Summary of the Workshop at UoM on TRIPS Treaty and Computer Programs]
by Ramanraj K 13 Apr '05

13 Apr '05

-------- Original Message -------- Subject: Summary of the Workshop at UoM on TRIPS Treaty and Computer Programs Date: Sun, 10 Apr 2005 22:06:48 +0530 From: Ramanraj K <ramanraj.k(a)gmail.com> To: ilugc(a)ae.iitm.ac.in Brief highlights of the Workshop on "TRIPS Treaty and Computer Programs at the Dept. of Legal Studies, UoM on 8th April 2005: The presentation slides are available at: http://wiki.ffii.org/Madras050408En Sivasankar started the discussion with the difficulties involved in testing "program equivalence", giving two short programs, based on the Goldbach conjecture, calling one as the goldbach (about 7 lines) and the other the ghost_of_goldbach (about 3 lines that always returns true). Testing program equivalence is at the heart of any "software patent" infringement suit, and Shiv proved that it is well impossible to scientifically research and conclude that two given programs are equivalent. There are not even any standard rules for scientifically testing and concluding "program equivalence". Sivasankar holds a B.Tech. from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, and has done M.E. in Computer Science, at IISc., Bangalore. He has worked for IBM, USA., and has presented several papers on computer science, and software development. Well, he is a typical expert who may be called to testify in a "software patent" infringement suit, to "prove" that a given computer program infringes upon a given "software patent". From what I understood, no expert can assert on oath that two programs are "equivalent" or that one is a copy of the other, except when the two are exact copies. Murali discussed the various business models used by software entities to do business. I basically summarised the recent events touching upon patentability of software patents under TRIPS that has mostly been discussed to death in our various mailing lists; and to enliven the proceedings; took the audience through the recent decision pronounced in Eolas v. Microsoft, to explain how the system works in the US, and that we should explore and research the steps that could be taken against the illegitimate practice of "software patents" which are a barrier against free trade. I would like to thank Raman who gave a demo, and all the participants from ilugc. Please post your comments/opinions to jur-parl mailing list at http://lists.ffii.org/mailman/listinfo/jur-parl Thanks, Ramanraj.

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Fwd: [nagarjun@gnowledge.org: [ILUG-BOM] Tally and GNU/Linux]
by Nagarjuna G. 12 Apr '05

12 Apr '05

The forwarded mail may be of interest to all. ----- Forwarded message from "Nagarjuna G." <nagarjun(a)gnowledge.org> ----- > Date: Tue, 12 Apr 2005 14:45:14 +0530 > From: "Nagarjuna G." <nagarjun(a)gnowledge.org> > Subject: [ILUG-BOM] Tally and GNU/Linux > To: linuxers(a)mm.ilug-bom.org.in > Reply-To: nagarjun(a)gnowledge.org, "GNU/Linux Users Group, Mumbai, > India" <linuxers(a)mm.ilug-bom.org.in> > Organization: gnowledge.org > User-Agent: KMail/1.7.2 > > > I have been seeing that off and on this list keeps > talking about Tally and how to run this on GNU/Linux? > Tally is not a free software, and I dont see why users > should discuss this on this list. > > On the other hand availability of accounting packages > is a big problem and several hackers are addressing > this issue, including some of our own list members. We > should discuss those issues. > > This list is not for discussing propreitary software, > but free software. In fact we should be discussing the > issue of how to boycott the distributions that ship > propreitary software and have explicit tieups with such > agencies. This clearly shows that these distribution > companies do not have any interest other than being in > business. > > BTW, those of you who have some knowledge of this > application, can you do some research about how the > data is stored in Tally? Is this encoding a standard? > Does this application support Export of data to any > other standards? What freedom users have? Are > the users locked in? etc. > > Nagarjuna > > > -- > http://mm.ilug-bom.org.in/mailman/listinfo/linuxers ----- End forwarded message -----

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Re: [ILUG-BOM] Tally and GNU/Linux
by Nagarjuna G. 12 Apr '05

12 Apr '05

On Tue, Apr 12, 2005 at 03:28:51PM +0530, Philip Tellis wrote: > Sometime Today, NG cobbled together some glyphs to say: > > Finally, I don't believe in boycotting distros that provide non-free > software. That would be just as fascist as boycotting all free software > as viral. Each person is intelligent enough to make their own choice. > Our job as free software advocates is to educate people and not to force > them to do our bidding. If someone chooses to make the wrong choices, > we have to think about whether we want him on our side or not. > when we ask someone to boycott, we dont force with a gun point. we inform them of the dangers and campaign. Ultimately, it left to the users. When Mahatma called for boycotting British goods, it was an expression of protest. If free software community doesnt protest, freedom is never possible. This is a relentless job, because there is always someone who wants to take away our freedom. A protest will make the distribution company think twice before signing agreements with proprietary companies. My worry with Tally is that unlike even the proprietary databases like Oracle, (where the data is always available for you to take out of it, since the data is encoded in a standard), the data in Tally is entirely in a private form. I think that no country should let any company do business if export to an openstandard is not possible. This is a very serious issue. Who else will take notice of this and alert the users if not lists of this kind? Just informing people is not enough, we need to generate public opinion. Protest is one form of doing this. Nagarjuna

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IT@School
by Arun M 10 Apr '05

10 Apr '05

Dear all, We need contact in formation for free software activist from following districts of Kerala. Kollam, Idukki, Kottayam, Alappuza Palakkadu. Please mail me off list if you think you can help. regards, arun.

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Re IT@School
by doxa＠sancharnet.in 09 Apr '05

09 Apr '05

Arun, If the Curriculum is not yet finalised (or can be re-worked) we should also incorporate views on Copyrights/Patents alongwith it. IT education should also contain at least the legal issues that are emerging now, which can be incorporated without controversies. To have a better picture there should also be some kind of impact studies - on the politics of digital divide etc - emergence of a "pay per view society" at a time when the diffusion of Internet is gaining strength (An excellent link for researchers is at http://www.fepproject.org/policyreports/copyright2dexsum.html)- the rate of obsolesence of hardware & software technology - the role of the Planning institutions in India to promote diffusion of IT, the role of State Govts in promoting software /hardware through Govt policies - all these combined could be an effective curriculum for knowing about Information Technology - rather than forcing lakhs of students and a few thousand teachers to run after learning how to learn using Office tools. Institutions of higher engineering education are still pursuing (funded) courses like Software Engineering - that looks at the software development industries through the eyes of a proprietary software establishment - there are hardly any literature available that deals with Free Software software service components (resembling Cathedral-Bazaar ones). One of the arguments of the teachers here was whether it would not be appropriate to teach proprietary software. How can one go against the very philosophy of proprietary software establishments - to remain closed - by trying to open the knot of proprietariness through education. This would be very absurd, since it is paradoxical - on the one side, proprietary establishments want to have all the details of their products/services closed - and on the other side, they want us to learn their techniques. This is a dilemma that proprietary establishments need to overcome. The educational institutions cannot be part of their paradoxical dilemma. (One also needs to be aware of the cases if the patent rights of proprietary software are trampled upon or tampered with - the new global legislations arriving through GATS/TRIPS/WTO tries to put the onus of proving innocence on the accused - akin to our POTA/TADA legislations - Why should the educational teaching community in Kerala push our 25 lakh student community to such a risk ? The second argument that teachers forwarded had been on whether their community can ignore the "market share figures" for desktop OS. What relevance is there for such figures if there is a drastic shift in emergence of technologies - ferrying through waters will continue only as long as the bridge arrives - I suppose our issue should be on can we be one step ahead while designing the curriculum. After all Information Technology is Techne-o-logy of Information - where techne - stands of "arts and crafts of society" - not just dealing with craft - but "arts" as well, where the injustice (or distribution of justice) of "crafts" gets exposed in due course. CK Raju, Thrissur PS : This could have been taken to Kerala-IT-discuss forum, but wouldn't it be better to get some views on these issues ?

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Economic times - News
by Sarath Lakshman 08 Apr '05

08 Apr '05

Dear friends, Please look at the news heading in economic times newspaper on wednesday April 6th. --------------------------------------------------------- 'Linux, Windows have similar maintenance cost' Most US business say there is very little difference between the cost of maintaining a Windows versus a Linux-based corporate computing environment........news follows.... --------------------------------------------------------- Collect the Economic Times of 6th April to know abt this news report. Regards.. SarathLakshman __________________________________ Yahoo! Messenger Show us what our next emoticon should look like. Join the fun. http://www.advision.webevents.yahoo.com/emoticontest

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Re: [Fsf-friends] Economic times - News
by Krishna Pagadala 08 Apr '05

08 Apr '05

1) Free Software movement is not interested in TCO. We value freedom higher than anything else. 2) The whole issue has been dealth with by Rishab Aiyer Ghosh in his essay "License fees and GDP per capita: The case for open source in developing countries" http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue8_12/ghosh/index.html Please look at the section "Total cost of ownership and low labour costs" Sarath, Can you please look write a letter to "Economic Times" making use of the above information, and any other information that you have. Thanks, Krishna --- Sarath Lakshman <sarathlakshman(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > Dear friends, > > Please look at the news heading in economic times > newspaper on wednesday April 6th. > > --------------------------------------------------------- > 'Linux, Windows have similar maintenance cost' > > Most US business say there is very little difference > between the cost of maintaining a Windows versus a > Linux-based corporate computing > environment........news follows.... > > --------------------------------------------------------- > Collect the Economic Times of 6th April to know abt > this news report. > > > Regards.. > > SarathLakshman > > > > > > > > __________________________________ > Yahoo! Messenger > Show us what our next emoticon should look like. > Join the fun. > http://www.advision.webevents.yahoo.com/emoticontest > > _______________________________________________ > Fsf-friends mailing list > Fsf-friends(a)mm.gnu.org.in > http://mm.gnu.org.in/mailman/listinfo/fsf-friends > ===================================== To Reflect, to Inspire and to Empower http://www.employees.org/~krishnap/ The great moral question of the twenty-first century is: If all knowledge, all culture, all art, all useful information, can be costlessly given to everyone at the same price that it is given to anyone -- if everyone can have everything, everywhere, all the time, why is it ever moral to exclude anyone from anything? -Eben Moglen __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Make Yahoo! your home page http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

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Stallman on the state of GNU/Linux
by Vivek Varghese Cherian 07 Apr '05

07 Apr '05

Excerpt from an interview RMS had with OFB's Timothy R. Butler recently OFB: What GNU/Linux distribution do you presently recommend if someone comes up to you and asks how to get started with Free Software? Is there one that meets the FSF's criteria completely? RMS: Yes, there is. It is called UTUTO, and it is developed by committed free software activists in Argentina. The existence of this distribution is a big step forward for the free software movement. For many years there was literally no GNU/Linux distribution that I could ethically recommend to the general public. Most distributions contained non-free software; the few exceptions distributed non-free software from their sites. Read the complete interview at http://www.ofb.biz/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=353 -- Vivek Varghese Cherian Free as in Freedom <www.gnu.org>

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Invitation to Eggheads
by Ramanraj K 07 Apr '05

07 Apr '05

If you are a highly qualified and experienced egghead, please consider yourself invited to the mailing list at http://lists.ffii.org/mailman/listinfo/jur-parl The mailing list has been created "to collect and provide expertise on legal questions, as they become relevant for the work of FFII." To the totally uninitiated, "egghead" means a "very studious person". All Eggheads are honoured at the WTO site with an image that symbolises their position in society ! Please visit http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/trips_e/trips_e.htm to get a view of the time honoured egghead image, and if you also find the documents there worthy of your time, to investigate ways to help to remove the thorn of "software patents" from the flesh of software developers, please subscribe to the jur-parl list and share your opinions. Thanks, Ramanraj.

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OpenSource Windows ?
by Praveen A 04 Apr '05

04 Apr '05

> > "For many years now I have realized that having a great deal of wealth is > a curse, and not a blessing. I would like to go back in time and do it all > again, but this time make Windows open source. And, with my experiences in > the last twenty five years, I believe I am well positioned to get the kind > of girls then that I could never get, well, then." --Bill Gates http://www6.tomshardware.com/column/20050401/index.html Note: Scroll down till the end to see this quote -- "There is no system but GNU, and Linux is one of its kernels." A proud GNU user http://www.gnu.org http://www.edathanattukara.com My Weblog at http://www.livejournal.com/users/pravi Visit me at http://www.pravi.tk Rediscover the web ! Get firefox at http://www.getfirefox.com Please avoid sending me Word or PowerPoint attachments See http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html

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Kerala free software meeting
by Arun M 04 Apr '05

04 Apr '05

Dear Friends, Two days back members of free software movement and Teacher community in kerala came together and discussed how to take free softwares to schools across the state. Around 50 people participated in discussions happened. We had representations from 12 districts of the state (14 in total). >From free software community we had representation from Ernakulam, Trivandrum, Kannur, and Malappuram. We hope that situation will improve when district level meetings are held. I request members from Kerala to join fsf-kerala(a)gnu.org.in so that Kerala specific discussions can happen there. In coming days we can expect more members from teachers community to join that list. regards, arun.

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[FSFE PR][EN] How to make Microsoft respect European Authorities - FSFE recommends permanent monitoring (fwd)
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 03 Apr '05

03 Apr '05

---------- Forwarded message ---------- The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) and the Samba Team have presented terms explaining how Microsoft could be brought into compliance with the decision of the European Court of First Instance of December 2004. "In order to write interoperable software, developers use so-called Interface Definition Language Files (IDL). These are currently held secret by Microsoft, so no one else can write interoperable software. In order to comply with its obligations, Microsoft should have to make these available, along with a description of the encryption methods they have employed, under a license enabling them to be implemented in Free Software. This is the only way to make sure the Samba Team is given a real chance to compete and interoperate with Microsoft," Georg Greve, president of FSFE explains. He continues: "Given past experiences, we also recommend to the Commission that it set a strict delivery date for these specifications." Last December, the European Court decided that Microsoft should not be granted more time to expand its monopoly by withholding interoperability information from competitors, requesting that the antitrust decision of the European Commission be put into immediate effect. "Microsoft can no longer hide behind bland statements such as 'we will comply', FSFE attorney Carlo Piana pointed out. "Now it is time to see how committed they are to compliance. Our proposal is very balanced and does not request more than the Samba Team could achieve by 'network analysis', but it forces the disclosure of the protocols in a timely manner. We have asked the Commission to submit our proposal to a reliable independent expert". In the recent proposal from the FSFE [1], Samba developer Jeremy Allison pointed out that : "IDL definitions are purely a way to describe an interface - they describe a protocol." In order to develop interoperable products is it necessary to have access to these specifications. "It is similar to needing to know the grammar and spelling rules in order to write in a language", Allison concludes. Regarding encryption, Allison says: "Encryption of network traffic is a well established practice and is not a Microsoft innovation. But to successfully interoperate it is necessary to know what kind of encryption is used, under what circumstances, and with what kind of keys." Regarding any compensation Microsoft feels it is entitled to, Carlo Piana said: "The information we request is not secret because it is valuable, it is valuable because it is secret. Additionally, we are convinced that Microsoft has been over-compensated many times by its monopoly position. Their extraordinary large operating profit demonstrates that. Such profits have been made possible because of the effects of and technological lock-ins and tying together of clients and servers." The only reasonable compensation that would not entirely defeat the purpose of the European Commission decision would be a one-off fee for obtaining a copy of the protocol documentation. A reasonable benchmark for this fee might be the cost developers pay to get access to the Microsoft Developers Network (MSDN), which contains much similar information. As with the MSDN terms and conditions, it would not be unreasonable to also charge developers for updated and revised versions of the protocol documents. However, these would have to be supplied in a complete and timely fashion, the FSFE and the Samba Team emphasized. "The Free Software world has once again shown how it is capable of providing high-quality work even under adverse circumstances," Georg Greve summarizes. "With the input of FSFE and the Samba Team to the European Commission, they now hold in their hands what is needed to make their decision have consequences. Taking into account how Microsoft struggled to 'comply' with the decision, however, we recommend that they constantly monitor Microsoft's behaviour." Background: The FSFE has been involved as third party in the original investigation and also the European Court case. It was originally admitted to the court to defend the interests of the Samba Team and is now permitted to bring up any aspect relevant to Free Software. The Samba Team and FSFE worked as one team during the entire proceedings and Samba representative Jeremy Allison spoke on behalf of FSFE at the European Court. [1] http://www.avvocatinteam.com/repository/request.tar.gz About the Free Software Foundation Europe: The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a charitable non-governmental organisation dedicated to all aspects of Free Software in Europe. Access to software determines who may participate in a digital society. Therefore the Freedoms to use, copy, modify and redistribute software - as described in the Free Software definition- allow equal participation in the information age. Creating awareness for these issues, securing Free Software politically and legally, and giving people Freedom by supporting development of Free Software are central issues of the FSFE. The FSFE was founded in 2001 as the European sister organisation of the Free Software Foundation in the United States. Further information: http://www.fsfeurope.org If you would like to receive our press releases regularly please subscribe to our mailinglist at http://mail.fsfeurope.org/mailman/listinfo/press-release. Thank you very much for your interest. -- Joachim Jakobs <jj(a)office.fsfeurope.org> Press Speaker - FSF Europe (http://fsfeurope.org) Heinrich-Heine-Str. 3, 67134 Birkenheide (Tel: +49-179-6919565) Join the Fellowship and protect your freedom! (http://www.fsfe.org) _______________________________________________ Press-release mailing list Press-release(a)fsfeurope.org https://mail.fsfeurope.org/mailman/listinfo/press-release

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[Fsf-friends] (OT) News.individual.net gone paid! Any good news servers around?
by Srikanth NS 03 Apr '05

03 Apr '05

Hi All, I was using news.individual.net news server (previously news.cis.dfn.de). It has gone into paid subscription mode from April 1 onwards. Is there any other reliable free news server which hosts a good number of linux newsgroups like news.indivdual.net? About 2,3 years back , news.vsnl.net.in news server was there , now it seems to be dead. Any other good, free, reliable news server please? Srikanth

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Ubuntu vs other Distributions
by Dilip V 02 Apr '05

02 Apr '05

Hi, I have just gone through the http://distrowatch.com/ where I could find that Ubuntu is second only to Mandrake in the distribution popularity, and the gap is narrowing fast. So I am sure that Ubuntu will reach the top of the ladder with in days.. Regards, - - Dilip V, My Life : http://www.dilpu.net/

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Workshop on TRIPS Treaty and Computer Programs at UoM
by Ramanraj K 01 Apr '05

01 Apr '05

Workshop on "TRIPS Treaty and Computer Programs" on 8th April, 2005 (Friday) at Hall No: S23, First Floor, Department of Legal Studies, University of Madras, Chepauk, Chennai - 600 005 Talks: Sivasankar Chander, B.Tech. (IIT), M.E. (IISc), Chief Architect, Qryptix Topic for Talk : Introduction to Computer Programs M. Murali, Business Practices Division, AU-KBC Research Centre, MIT, Chrompet. Topic for Talk : Business and Trading in Computer Programs Rohit Rai, Manager - Enterprise Sales, RedHat India. Topic for Talk : Legal Framework for Free and Open Source Software K. Ramanraj, M.L., Advocate, High Court, Madras Topic for Talk : TRIPS Treaty and Computer Programs Other Speakers: Dr. David Ambrose, Professor, Department of Legal Studies. Na. Vijayashankar, Cyber Law Solutions Ltd. S. Ravichandran, Advocate, (Surana & Surana), High Court, Madras Schedule: 9.30 AM - 10.00 AM : Tea and Registration 10.00 AM - 10.15 AM : Inauguration 10.15 AM - 1.00 PM : Talks by Experts 1.00 PM - 2.00 PM : Lunch 2.00 PM - 3.00 PM : Talks by Experts 3.00 PM - 3.45 PM : Open House & Discussion 3.45 PM - 4.30 PM : Valedictory About the Workshop: Recently, the Patents (Amendments) Ordinance, 2004, introduced patentability for "embedded software", but the change was dropped while passing the Patents (Amendments) Bill, 2005. This is an out reach programme for Software Professionals. The legal aspects of Computer Programs are governed by the TRIPS Treaty. Today, globalisation, governance, and almost every human activity hinges upon effective use of Computer Programs and its legal setting. The workshop will discuss the true nature of computer programs, and the character of rights surrounding them, in the light of the TRIPS Treaty, and the relevant Indian Law applicable to Computer Programs. The harm caused by mis-application of patent law to cover Computer Programs in some member states of the TRIPS Treaty, notably US and Japan, impeding free trade, and the possible remedies against such practices, would also be critically discussed. Participation: All participants would be presented with a Certificate of Attendance. Registration may be done at the Venue, or in advance at the Department of Legal Studies. More information at: http://www.chennailug.org/wiki/TRIPS_Treaty_and_Computer_Programs All are Welcome ===============

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Introducing: IndiaCyberMedi -- now on Mailman
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 31 Mar '05

31 Mar '05

--------- Forwarded message ---------- Welcome to the Indiacybermed(a)mailman.srv.ualberta.ca mailing list! Welcome to Indiacybermed! This E-mail discussion group is devoted to enhancing health uses of the Internet across all areas of medicine in India. An early aim of the group is the creation of an offshoot of the existing http://www.cyber-medicine.org site, which would be specifically devoted to sharing innovations among Indian Health web sites, thereby enhancing the quality of information presented across all disciplines. We anticipate that discussion will be focused on evaluation of current medical Internet resources in India and ways in which innovations and good ideas can be shared amongst these to increase the overall quality of medical Internet resources in India and encourage greater physician participation in Internet communications. Currently many Indian physicians have computers and Email addresses but fewer than 1% use them actively. One of our main purposes is to try to greatly increase that percentage, thus enhancing the quality of Indian health care. Although there are limitations of the use of the Internet and Email in our daily lives due to the infrastructure available, the benefits of the use are unlimited. These benefits frequently go unrecognized because of lack of utilization which then becomes a vicious cycle. We need to combine efforts to break this negative cycle and to make optimum use of technology in our day to day practice. The establishment of this group was an interesting partnership between two individuals who have never met face to face, Dr. Kim Solez in Edmonton, Canada, who directs the worldwide NKF cybernephrology initiative, the Informatics Commission of the International Society of Nephrology, and the cyberMedicine.org web site, and Naina Pandita who is a medical information specialist heading the Indian MEDLARS Centre at the National Informatics Centre in New Delhi, India. Our initiative was specifically stimulated by Dr. Aniket Joshi, an Indian internist with an interest in nephrology and informatics, who challenged us to create something like http://www.cyber-medicine.org specifically for India. The three of us expect that this group will evolve quite considerably over the years and we urge subscribers to play an active role in making this happen. The end result should be a substantial improvement in the quality of health web sites in India as well as greater awareness of the resources available and a substantial increase in physician participation in the use of Internet resources and E-mail communication for the betterment of the overall health of the Indian population. There are no limitations on membership to this group. Any interested party can play an active role in our discussions. We expect that further rules for participation will be developed as the size of the group grows. The technical details of the group are given below. We invite your active participation! Kim Solez, M.D. Kim.Solez(a)UAlberta.CA Naina Pandita naina(a)medlar0.delhi.nic.in Moderators - INDIACYBERMED To post to this list, send your email to: indiacybermed(a)mailman.srv.ualberta.ca General information about the mailing list is at: http://www.mailman.srv.ualberta.ca/mailman/listinfo/indiacybermed If you ever want to unsubscribe or change your options (eg, switch to or from digest mode, change your password, etc.), visit your subscription page at: http://www.mailman.srv.ualberta.ca/mailman/options/indiacybermed/fred%40byt… You can also make such adjustments via email by sending a message to: Indiacybermed-request(a)mailman.srv.ualberta.ca with the word `help' in the subject or body (don't include the quotes), and you will get back a message with instructions. You must know your password to change your options (including changing the password, itself) or to unsubscribe. It is: apsaeg Normally, Mailman will remind you of your mailman.srv.ualberta.ca mailing list passwords once every month, although you can disable this if you prefer. This reminder will also include instructions on how to unsubscribe or change your account options. There is also a button on your options page that will email your current password to you.

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Re: Free Software, Free Society
by balachandran c 31 Mar '05

31 Mar '05

Will it be possible to listen to the audio tracks (in May)? regards, bala.

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Free Software, Free Society
by Arun M 30 Mar '05

30 Mar '05

Dear Friends, FSF India along with Hipatia and SPACE, is organising an international conference on free software and related movements. Event supported by IT Dept, Govt of Kerala will be held from 28th - 30th May 2005. Expected speakers for the conference include: Minister Gilberto Gil - Minister for Culture, Brazil Prof Lawrence Lessig - Chairman, Creative Commons Prof Felipe Perez Marti - Prof of Economics and Former minister of Venezuela. Delegations are expected from Italy, Brazil and Venezuela. PDVSA, venezuela oil company is expected to send a business delegation to form linkages with free software support and service companies in India. Details of the conference will be posted at http://hipatia.info/fsfs/ Regards, arun.

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Meaning of Life
by Ramanraj K 30 Mar '05

30 Mar '05

A long post; for a very long term plan :) The following is a quote from the "Meaning of Life" by John Walker[1] <quote> The meaning of life is to live. To live is to expand the scope of life itself, by replicating, by adapting, by modifying the environment, and by evolving into other forms of life. We are the inheritors of more than three billion years of ceaseless global molecular experimentation, of competition among individuals and species, of a relentless expansion of life into new environments and emergence of new capabilities. How can we have the arrogance to believe, so recently evolved ourselves to a stage that we can truly be said to think, that we are unique--that no other intelligent beings see our Sun as a star in their sky and, as arrogantly, consider themselves unique? ... "If they existed, they would be here", says Fermi. So where are they? Nowhere in evidence. Intelligent beings with technologies millions of years beyond our own, spread to the far ends of the galaxy, should not be difficult to detect. We already possess the means to detect even primitive technological civilisations like our own at a distance of hundreds of light years. If they existed, they--the first intelligent species to expand outward among the stars--would be here. And since we look around and see nobody but ourselves, then it is only reasonable to conclude, "We are here, so we are them." We evolved here and we have not yet begun to sow the seeds of life among the stars, but surely we will. Three billion years ago, one planet, the Home Planet, came to life. Slowly life spread across the Home Planet, gaining complexity and diversity until it could think of going yet further. In a short time on the cosmic scale, beings throughout the galaxy will gaze at the friendly stars in their skies. They will look upward and see, not a hostile and lifeless galaxy, but one teeming with life--the legacy of the planet that came to life and then brought life to a galaxy. They will not be human, no more than we are australopithecus or fish or bacteria, yet they, in their number and diversity trillions of times beyond the scope of life on Earth, will be our children, heritors of our coming to understand the meaning of life and the rôle humans are to play in its grand pageant. I am sure there are many others who have the same views as above, but now, with free software, super computers, globalisation and our other resources, it is time to think seriously on the above lines. Cosmology is central to Indian traditions and many of our Gods are also symbols for the whole Cosmos, and having a "darshan/view" of the whole Cosmos is often the highest blessing. To have a rich experience of the cosmos is very fundamental to probably many cultures, and a very worthwhile goal. We do not seriously get started until the vision enters into the preambles of the constitutions of many key countries of the world, starting with US, Russia, China, UK, France, Germany, Brazil, India, etc. and the majority of the people at a global scale. Many of the present day constitutions have very narrower objectives: For eg, the US Constition begins this way: "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America" These are certainly very ambitious goals for the 1780's but, today, they could be taken for granted, and need to be updated to setting goals that make the meaning of life more relevant. That would result in resources being spent on a global scale to build better space ships instead of wasting them on F-16's and a lot of other crap. The same equally applies to India: we too have a constitution that extolls justice, liberty, equality and fraternity. Now that the world has become a single global village, means to unify all the ambitious goals should take us closer to the true meaning of life. The free software movement, is a truly global organisation, that has already made life a lot more easier with free software, and is probably the only movement that could firmly lead in giving life more meaning, so that the tools that have been produced are productively and constructively used with optimum efficiency towards achieving the highest goal that we could ever dream and achieve. If the leader of the free software movement does get to lead US, probably "software patents" would be the first debris in this long quest for space :) Regards, Ramanraj. [1] The Home Planet Help file, available at http://fourmilab.ch HPLANET.HLP is a Windows help file, but it could be viewed using winhelpcgi=>http://www.herdsoft.com/ftp/winhelpcgi_1.0rc3-1.tar.gz that is available at http://www.herdsoft.com/ftp/downloads.html

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Open Source/Free Software: Political science
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 29 Mar '05

29 Mar '05

There's this course on FLOSS (Free/Libre and Open Source Software) that is just getting underway in Sweden. See https://winner.informatik.gu.se/moodle/course/category.php?id=2 Its self-description: "The course will study the development of politics, policy and law in relation to the role of software in society. Subjects which will be treated in depth are the role of free software/open source in relation to property theory, the politics of technology, community governance and the economic foundations for the assessment of free software/open source development." It might be of interest to note that the course is pretty much 'open' and 'free'. In the many senses of those words. Students from across the globe can (maybe 'could', since the cut-off date for joining might be passed) join the course with just a simple email application. Best of all: no fees! It's also running on a FLOSS-based e-education platform called Moodle. Haven't used Moodle myself, but here's the self-description: OPENQUOTE: http://moodle.org/ Moodle is a course Moodle is a course management system (CMS) - a software package designed to help educators create quality online courses. Such e-learning systems are sometimes also called Learning Management Systems (LMS) or Virtual Learning Environments (VLE). One of the main advantages of Moodle over other systems is a strong grounding in social constructionist pedagogy. Moodle is Open Source software, which means you are free to download it, use it, modify it and even distribute it (under the terms of the GNU General Public License). Moodle runs without modification on Unix, Linux, Windows, Mac OS X, Netware and any other system that supports PHP, including most webhost providers. Data is stored in a single database: MySQL and PostgreSQL are best supported, but it can also be used with Oracle, Access, Interbase, ODBC and others. Moodle has 50 language packs, including: Arabic, Catalan, Chinese (simplified and traditional), Czech, Danish, Dutch, English (UK and US versions), Finnish, French (France and Canada versions), German, Greek, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Maori, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Portugal and Brazil), Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Thai and Turkish. To find out more, see the features demo, try the demonstration courses on this site, or see the growing number of Moodle sites around the world. To meet other Moodle users, join us in the Using Moodle course. ENDQUOTE FN _____ _/ ____\____ Frederick Noronha * Freelance Journalist * Goa \ __\/ \ India T +91.832.2409490 M +919822 122436 | | | | \ http://fn.swiki.net http://goabooks.swiki.net |__| |___| / http://www.bytesforall.net http://www.bytesforall.org \/ ----------------------------------------------------- Sign up for low-volume, high-quality news summaries and updates from Goa at http://newsfromgoa.swiki.net * It's free and volunteer-driven.

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Free Software & Schools of Kerala
by Arun M 28 Mar '05

28 Mar '05

Dear Friends, Many of you would be aware of controversies relating to use of proprietary softwares in schools of Kerala. Teachers unions, free software community and political leaders in Kerala worked against government policies favoring proprietary software companies like MS in School IT Education. We saw public debates on initiatives like Microsoft Project Shiksha. Here in Kerala, Free software is no longer an issue of Software Developers and Users. Today Kerala Government seems to have decided not to provide training on proprietary software(with its resources). IT@School has started efforts to provide teacher training on GNU/Linux (IT@School is a small wing under Dept of Education, Govt of Kerala which is looking after IT Education in schools). First batch training is expected to start by 31st of this month. While IT@School is going forwards with their formal channels of operations in providing teacher training and support , we feel that it is necessary to have an informal network which will complement official efforts. This kind of formal and informal system is in tune with culture of free software movement. (GNU is a social project -- RMS) To establish informal network we are organising a state level meeting on 2nd of April in Cochin. Teachers and free software community volunteers from every district of Kerala are expected to participate in the meeting. District level action groups will be formed in the meeting. We would also like to chart out action plans to migrate all schools in Kerala to free software in next couple of years. Starting with 8th Standard this year. I would like to request all free software activists from Kerala to make yourself available for this meeting and contribute to the initiative. Thanking You, Arun. Venue: Shikshak Sadan, near Ernakulam South Railway station. Time : 10 am - 3.30 pm Please mail me offlist if you would like to join or need more information.

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[Fsf-friends] Patents (Amendments) Bill, 2005, passed in the Parliament
by Ramanraj K 28 Mar '05

28 Mar '05

The Patents (Amendments) Bill was passed in the Parliament, after dropping clauses 3(k) and 3(ka) relating to computer programs, restoring the status quo. Computer programs are outside the purview of patentability. http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=8096 <quote> It is proposed to omit the clarification relating to patenting of software related inventions introduced by the Ordinance as Section 3(k) and 3 (ka). The clarification was objected to on the ground that this may give rise to monopoly of multinationals. </quote> FSF India lead an active campaign against the Patents (Amendments) Ordinance that introduced patentability for embedded software, under the leadership of Richard Stallman, Nagarjuna, Arun and others here. Holger Blasum, Christian Beauprez, and others at ffii.org made a big difference in strengthening the campaign. It was finally the Left that saved the day! Our thanks are due the Members of Parliament for restoring the status quo in respect of computer programs.

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e-voting: secret ballot vs. open ballot
by Ramanraj K 28 Mar '05

28 Mar '05

There may be a need to keep a careful watch over the activities of the Election Commission that is planning to bring in e-voting. Already, the electronic voting machines have "security" through "obscurity". Those who developed the EVMs claim that the device is very secure, but we have to take their word for granted, and there has been no public disclosure about the technical aspects of its security. Internet based e-voting is more dangerous given the element of secrecy ingrained in the political process. The paper ballot is the only secure, workable and verifiable solution for a secret ballot. If people seriously desire to use Internet or other electronic devices for counting votes, then they should reform the electoral process so that the element of "secrecy" in voting is taken away, introducing the open ballot system. There is nothing wrong in voting openly. What does the voting electorate have to fear: that goons will wait over their shoulders and victimise if they don't vote in their favour? That cannot be a reason because political parties, and their agents openly declare their idealogies, and seem to be doing well in our country, and don't seem to be suffering any such dangers. Getting open about our voting preferences is needed to enable voting accountable though electronic means that work better with openness. The minute the voter declares his vote openly at the booth, the agents can count, and supervise the electronic registers. It will also do away with "invalid votes". Open ballot alone can bring in accountability for electronic voting methods - evm's, internet or anything else that cannot possibly leave a "secure" trail behind. If bringing in openness in voting is not liked, then there is point in using evms or internet to count votes. BTW, "e-vot-ing" in Tamil, means chasing away e's (flies :) in jobless idling, and e-voting is sure to be a pointless idle exercise in frustration, with none knowing how it helps. e-voting sometimes has a close connection with "e-mailing" also :)

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WinXp Vs Linux
by Raj Shaz 27 Mar '05

27 Mar '05

Im submiting papers to my admin authority for usage of FLOSS.To start the battle , i want to convince them to use GNU/Linux instead of WinXP. Can someone through light on cost estimate for single machine using WinXP + Office and another using GNU/Linux WinXP cost somewhere around Rs 6000 single machine licensing ( im not sure ) .Can someone point to some relevant data. Google dint helped me much... any other points for paper is most welcomed Raj

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Re: [Fsf-friends] WinXp Vs Linux
by Kanti Jadia 27 Mar '05

27 Mar '05

Hi Raj, Price is not what you look for.You look for freedom. You may get RHEL for use as well or some other distro. You could use debian ( the distribution which went on a space ship ). And remember with all Free Software you get the freedom to use software the way you need.Get changes done ( or if you are skilled , do them yourself ).a lot lot more. Definiton of Free Software http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html Regards Kanti On Sat, 26 Mar 2005 Raj Shaz wrote : >Im submiting papers to my admin authority for usage of FLOSS.To start >the battle , i want to convince them to use GNU/Linux instead of >WinXP. Can someone through light on cost estimate for single machine >using >WinXP + Office >and another using >GNU/Linux > >WinXP cost somewhere around Rs 6000 single machine licensing ( im not sure >) .Can someone point to some relevant data. >Google dint helped me much... > > >any other points for paper is most welcomed > >Raj > >_______________________________________________ >Fsf-friends mailing list >Fsf-friends(a)mm.gnu.org.in >http://mm.gnu.org.in/mailman/listinfo/fsf-friends ----------------------------------------- Enjoy your Freedom,use GNU/Linux. http://www.gnu.org/gnu/why-gnu-linux.html -----------------------------------------

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A Dismal Report in the Hindu
by Ramanraj K 27 Mar '05

27 Mar '05

The Hindu dated March 26, 2005, Chennai edition, has published an article titled "Patents Bill: a setback to innovative software developers" written by Shanthi Kannan. The report has totally missed the fact that under Article 10(1) of the TRIPS Treaty, "Computer programs, whether in source or object code, shall be protected as literary works under the Berne Convention (1971)", which India has complied with even by 2000, by bringing in amendments to the Copyright Act, 1957. The mis-application of patent law to cover computer programs would have been a serious violation of our international obligations and India could have been arraigned before the WTO for breach. The illegitimate practice of granting patents for computer programs is notably present in US, Japan and a few European countries. India should complain to the WTO and obtain a ruling asking these countries to comply with the TRIPS treaty and update their laws. The only good about the report is that it carries the opinions of the "Chennai based cyber expert and trademark attorney A. Mohan", who has largely spoken on the lines of the representations made by FSF India against the introduction of patentability for embedded software. Nasscom is reported to be saying that embeded software needs "protection" as though it would have helped innovative small and medium companies in the IT sector. Nothing could be further from the truth: it is the mega transanational corporations that have abused patent law in countries like the US and obtained a large number of "software patents" to extract "royalties" from small and medium sized companies, and indulge in all kinds of "cross licensing" that neither promote innovation, nor help the software field apart from being a drain on revenue. The Hindu, has revealed a shameful fact about India's software industry: "India has a very few software products - the industry supplies "bodies" (body shopping) to develop software for global giants". It is clear that those thirsting for "innovation" would hardly be engaged in such a trade, that is as despicable as slavery, and its practitioners could possibly have no interest other than making profits. The Free Software Foundation of India campaigned strongly against the change, and not surprisingly, the most innovative contributions are made by free software developers. The article completely glosses over the fact that GNU/Linux is extensively used to write "embedded software", and there is no cause to imagine that the dropping of the amendment is a "setback to innovative software developers". The most innovative developers, including the FSF, OSI, Oracle corporation, and many others have publicly condemned the practice of "software patents". The truth is that the timely intervention of the Left Parties has saved and protected the software industry from falling into a disastrous pit of doubt, darkness and doom. I have sent my comments to the Editor, Hindu, at letters(a)thehindu.co.in Please share your opinion too :)

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Navy R&D project looks to open-source use
by Raj Shaz 26 Mar '05

26 Mar '05

Navy R&D project looks to open-source use The three-year program involves Red Hat and other vendors The three-year program, which will explore the use of open-source software within the Naval Oceanographic Office's Web services, scientific computing and enterprise architecture systems, was unveiled late last month. Full story :http://www.computerworld.com/governmenttopics/government/itgovernment/story/0,10801,100648,00.html?from=story%5Fkc http://oss-institute.org ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stop the earth , I wanna get down ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Raj Shastrakar

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Re: Dismal Record
by Ramanraj K 26 Mar '05

26 Mar '05

PILCH Hartmut wrote: >>largely spoken on the lines of the representations made by FSF India >>against the introduction of patentability for embedded software. >> >> > >This talk of "patentability for embedded software" is propaganda from >patent camp. There is no distinction between embedded and other >software in the proposed law or in the recent INPTO practise. > Initially the patents ordinance used the expression "a computer programme per se other than its technical application to industry or a combination with hardware" and its literal interpretation only produced the absurd meaning that "all computer programs" are patentable, that plainly goes the former part of the clause, which could never be deemed to be the intention. In such an event, it is legitimate to look into the objects and reasons for the amendment, and the Minister's Statement at http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=6074 was the only one available then and it clarified that it was introduced for patentability for embedded software. Thanks to the Left and the campaign against it, all that nonsense is now past us. BTW, the Hindu report is available online at: http://www.hindu.com/2005/03/26/stories/2005032605431600.htm More seriously, we should reject the illegitimate expression "software patents" as a propaganda term from the patent camp. The expression is devoid of any legal content under TRIPS Treaty, and in many countries like India. Please avoid using the expression "software patents" that give needless credibility to the illegal practice in a few countries. Please talk about "Computer Programs", "Software", "Copyrights", "Mis-application of patent law to cover Computer Programs", and please use any other suitable expressions that are consistent with the TRIPS Treaty. We could infact make a list of countries where computer programs are protected by copyrights as required by the TRIPS Treaty, and encourage the others to follow suit to avoid issues in this regard.

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What is MS' Plan?
by Laxminarayan Kamath 26 Mar '05

26 Mar '05

[ http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1059475.cms The article appeared in today's Times Of India , Page 4 ] BANGALORE: Microsoft Corporation India has opened a Microsoft Technology Centre at Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) in Karnataka. The centre has been launched as a part of the 'academic developer programme', introduced by the world's biggest software company in end 2002. The technology centre will function as a one-stop shop; a research lab for faculty and students, a training centre for faculty, and an e-learning resource centre. VTU is also introducing a 4-semester M. Tech. programme in Microsoft's .NET technologies — a set of Microsoft technologies for connecting information, people, systems and devices The programme will kick off in the next academic year, and will be available to students in 118 VTU-affiliated colleges across the state. The centre will include hardware and software support and will impart training to faculty and students on a range topics including .NET. Independents Software Vendors (ISVs) can also avail the facilities of the centre to test their applications. Commenting on the alliance, Mr T N Chaturvedi, governor of Karnataka and chancellor of Visvervaraya Technological University said, "In line with our mission to become an outstanding university by producing world-class engineers, we strive to offer our students and faculty with the cutting-edge technology. We realise that the next computing wave will be that of web services. This partnership will help students and aspiring developers leverage the immense opportunity in building web services-based applications." -- Laxminarayan Kamath Ammembal (+91) 9845 061385 kamathln(a)gmail.com www.geocities.com/kamathln

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[Fsf-friends] Workshop on "TRIPS Treaty and Computer Programs" at UoM
by Ramanraj K 25 Mar '05

25 Mar '05

Workshop on "TRIPS Treaty and Computer Programs"at UoM The Department of Legal Studies, University of Madras, is organising a workshop on "TRIPS Treaty and Computer Programs", that is tentatively scheduled for 8th April, 2005 (Friday). The one day workshop is intended as an "out-reach programme" for software professionals and students specialising in international law. The legal aspects of Computer Programs are governed by the TRIPS Treaty. Globalisation, governance, and almost every human activity hinges upon Computer Programs and its legal setting. The workshop will discuss the true nature of computer programs, and the character of rights surrounding them. The harm caused by mis-application of patent law to cover computer programs in some member states of the TRIPS Treaty, notably US and Japan, and the possible remedies against such practices, will also be analysed threadbare. If you would be interested in participating in the workshop, could make a sponsorship, or have suggestions to make, please write about it to ramanraj.k(a)gmail.com and ambrose(a)unom.ac.in

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[Fsf-friends] Fwd: [Indlinux-group] online meet on Monday, 28th - 3pm - 6pm] (fwd)
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 25 Mar '05

25 Mar '05

---------- Forwarded message ---------- -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [Indlinux-group] online meet on Monday, 28th - 3pm - 6pm Date: Thu, 24 Mar 2005 14:54:40 +0530 From: Guntupalli Karunakar <karunakar(a)indlinux.org> Reply-To: indlinux-group(a)lists.sourceforge.net Organization: IndLinux.org To: Indlinux group <indlinux-group(a)lists.sourceforge.net> Hi all, Online IRC Meet on Monday, 28th March - 3pm - 6pm Agenda - Translation review process & user demo workshops NB: BOTs will be kicked out Over the coming month we plan to do a exhaustive review of Hindi translations ( KDE , GNOME, XFCE ...etc ), part of the effort will be to make a community call for volunteers to participate in review process. Basically people can pick up an application , start it in Hindi and just go through the interface, make a log of the translation errors and send back the feedback. So in this meet would discuss how to define a review process & in what ways to collect & collate the feedback. At the end of this exercise a translation review workshop will be organized & hosted by Sarai, Delhi, where we would have the current translators, some volunteers who took part in review process , language experts & linguists. This maybe a 3day event or maybe stretch longer upto a week. Dates for this not discussed, but maybe towards April end or May 1st week. We can also discuss on how to go about doing small user workshops, oriented to fimilarising newbies to a Indic Linux. Typically will have to identify some local institution ( school/college or other) to host it & try get a sample user set to use it or it maybe a roadshow kind of thing. Also I would be making some field trips in April - one to Punjab (interacting with Punlinux team there), and MP (not planned but maybe trips to Bhopal, Indore ), idea is to do some user demo sessions, find out target organizations which maybe interested in using Hindi on Linux & find some local linux community who can support users there. Regards, Karunakar -- >From Untruth, lead me to the Truth, >From Darkness, Lead me towards the Light, >From Death, Lead me to Life Eternal. _______________________________________________ Flosstoday mailing list Flosstoday(a)sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/flosstoday

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LUGs/GLUGs/FSUGs survey
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 24 Mar '05

24 Mar '05

---------- Forwarded message ---------- >From "opensourceresearch" <opensourceresearch(a)IIMB.ERNET.IN> This is with respect to a large-scale, global research study about LUGs and their strategic importance in the open source ecosystem supported by the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore and University of Washington. Your cooperation and support is highly appreciated. This survey contains 10 questions and takes less than 10 minutes. Please use the reply button to post your response. Question 1. When was your LUG formed? Question 2. What was the number of members at the time of its formation? Question 3. What is the current number of members in your LUG? Question 4. What was the highest number of members in your LUG's history? Question 5. What percent of your current members are active in your LUG? Question 6. How often does your LUG meet in a year? Question 7. When was the last meeting of your LUG held? Question 8. Indicate the percentage of your LUG members in these categories (total needs to add up to 100%). End-users (Users with low technical knowledge): Independent Consultants (Software profit-minded professionals): Company Representatives (Members from private or public corporations): Government Employees (Local, State or Federal): Educational Members (Includes Professors, Students and Staff): Others (please specify here____________________): Question 9. Indicate the success of your LUG with respect to its stated objectives (1=unsuccessful, 3= neither successful nor unsuccessful, 5=highly successful) Question 10. Would you like to receive a soft copy of the results? (Yes/No) We thank you for your participation. All responses will be held confidential and will be used for academic purposes only. T R Madanmohan & Rahul De Sandeep Krishnamurthy & Arvind Tripathi Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore University of Washington _____ _/ ____\____ Frederick Noronha * Freelance Journalist * Goa \ __\/ \ India T +91.832.2409490 M +919822 122436 | | | | \ http://fn.swiki.net http://goabooks.swiki.net |__| |___| / http://www.bytesforall.net http://www.bytesforall.org \/ ----------------------------------------------------- Sign up for low-volume, high-quality news summaries and updates from Goa at http://newsfromgoa.swiki.net * It's free and volunteer-driven.

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Yet another shameless day in India
by Ramanraj K 23 Mar '05

23 Mar '05

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/000200503222001.htm <quote> Lok Sabha passes Patents Bill ...The Bill provides for product patents in drugs, agri-products and embedded software... </quote>

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