- Fsf-friends - lists.fsci.in

RMS in Kolkata
by Sayamindu Dasgupta 09 Jan '03

09 Jan '03

RMS will probably be coming to Kolkata as a guest of Jadavpur University. He will be staying from January 17th-19th. You can refer to http://www.ilug-cal.org/node.php?id=66 for more details -regds- sdg -- Sayamindu Dasgupta [ http://www.peacefulaction.org/sayamindu/ ] * GNU is Not Unix * .... Towards World Liberation .... http://www.gnu.org She sells cshs by the cshore.

1 0

Test, ignore pls...
by Frederick Noronha 08 Jan '03

08 Jan '03

On Thu, 2 Jan 2003, Nagarjuna G. wrote: > There is a temporary domain problem, which is more or less fixed with > ncst. the domain will begin working soon. If you have problems > please add cc4.tifr.res.in to the mail domain, e.g., > fsf-friends(a)cc4.tifr.res.in. > > Sorry for the trouble. > > Nagarjuna > > > On Thu, Jan 02, 2003 at 05:42:59PM +0530, Frederick Noronha wrote: > > Am getting a 'host not found' message from this address. FN > > > > > > The original message was received at Wed, 1 Jan 2003 17:17:28 +0530 (IST) > > from IDENT:root@dialup-74-238.goatelecom.com [61.1.74.238] > > > > <fsf-friends(a)gnu.org.in> > > (reason: 550 Host unknown) > > > > 550 5.1.2 <fsf-friends(a)gnu.org.in>... Host unknown (Name server: gnu.org.in: host not found) > > > Reporting-MTA: dns; goatelecom.com > > Received-From-MTA: DNS; dialup-74-238.goatelecom.com > > Arrival-Date: Wed, 1 Jan 2003 17:17:28 +0530 (IST) > > > > Final-Recipient: RFC822; fsf-friends(a)gnu.org.in > > Action: failed > > Status: 5.1.2 > > Remote-MTA: DNS; gnu.org.in > > Diagnostic-Code: SMTP; 550 Host unknown > > Last-Attempt-Date: Wed, 1 Jan 2003 17:19:54 +0530 (IST) > > > Date: Wed, 1 Jan 2003 17:04:05 +0530 (IST) > > From: Frederick Noronha <fred(a)bytesforall.org> > > Subject: Re: Likely problem... > > To: Sukrit D <sd_root(a)yahoo.com> > > cc: p_lug(a)yahoogroups.com, fsf-friends(a)gnu.org.in, > > linux-india-general(a)lists.sourceforge.net > > > > Sukrit, forwarding your mail to LIG, since the debate came up > > there. Also to the Free Software Foundation-India mailing list, where > > another set of views prevail. > > > > Personally, my view is (i) we nee to give credit where credit is > > due, and since many of the tools are from GNU, it would be unfair to call > > the whole Operating System just after the kernel (though the media keeps > > doing this repeatedly; the media also terms 'crackers' as > > 'hackers'...) (ii) personally, one thing that appears important to me > > is the issue of freedom (not just freedom of choice placed before a > > consumer, but the freedom that empowers you to run a program for any > > purpose, study how it works, redistribute copies and improve the > > program.... this is what GNU emphasises on (iii) the Open Source movement > > was launched in 1998, and strategically aimed at garnering acceptance for > > "Linux" from the business world... while this is important, one would > > maintain that we should not lose sight of our other perspectives while > > doing so. > > > > Re the Bangalore LUG, every group (or individual, or set of > > individuals) has or have its/their own set of perspectives on this > > issue. If you follow the postings of mailing lists in Chennai, Kolkata, > > Mumbai, Delhi and the large number of smaller LUGs/GLUGs across the > > country, you will see that each has differing policies. > > > > This is fine. Ultimately it is for each one to decide, and opt for what > > one feels is important. Some would also argue that the Free Software > > and the Open Source are two different movements, the first born in the > > early 'eighties and the latter in the late 'nineties. Interestingly, it > > was Indian expat Rishab Aiyer Ghosh (based in Netherlands) who used the > > term FLOSS (Free/Libre and Open Source Software) to have an inclusive term > > that includes all segments. > > > > So, given differing priorities and principles, how do we work together? In > > Goa, different members have their own perspectives, and we do coexist. One > > of our LUGs, in Margao, changed their name (GLUG) and their website's name > > after the recent visit to Richard M Stallman to Goa. > > > > There are many more issues than appear at first sight. If you want to look > > at more angles, you could read the biography of Stallman, written by Sam > > Williams (Free as in Freedom-Richard Stallman's Crusade for Free Software, > > 2001, O'Reilly). It is put out under the GFDL License (anyone can copy > > it... maybe even print an Indian edition). Some parts of the book are > > fairly critical of Stallman, but on the whole IMHO, it presents an > > interesting introduction to the entire debate and related issues. > > > > Incidentally, things have changed a lot and continue to change, in a short > > period of time. When Linux-India was started some years back, the idea was > > to name all groups as ILUG-CityName. We half-seriously wanted to name ours > > GLUG (Goa Linux Users' Group). But this was shot down in the interest of > > uniformity. Since then, the earlier attempts at working on parallel tracks > > seem to be diminishing. (Tried writing in to 'Thaths' Chandrashekharan > > recently, but he must be away in Africa, and mail to his address doesn't > > go through.) > > > > Anyway, in conclusion, we need to perhaps keep two things in > > mind. (i) Issues are more complex than they first seem (ii) It would be > > nice if Linux-India (under whatever name) or any other organisation could > > help to coordinate between different LUGs/GLUGs, and network among the > > different smaller groups as used to happen earlier. > > > > Just a few of my thoughts... I wouldn't say 'musings', since that's the > > word currently in fashion... from Goa. --FN > > > > On Wed, 1 Jan 2003, Sukrit D wrote: > > > > > guys, im the guy who sorta started plug. i wana hear > > > wat u guys hav to say abt it. jus keep out the > > > unhealthy stuff. as important as gnu is to me (iv > > > mentioned it all over the site) i think its being > > > given a little too much importance nowadays. frankly > > > im into linux coz i get the kick out of it. to me its > > > probably the hippy movement of the 21st century. as > > > important as gnu is, one can't go about sying "gnoo > > > linux" all the time. its jus too damn long. gnu is > > > like the middle name. one jus dosnt use it all the > > > time. > > > > > > also, plug sounds much better than pglug. besides, has > > > anyone mentioned anythin similar abt blug? bangalore > > > linux users group???? not to my knowledge. > > > > > > SD. > > > PS: btw gnu or no gnu, we'v achieved somethin to be > > > proud of. we'v got over 2000 hits in 4 days of being > > > online. thanks, fred for more publicity...

2 1

ASF Hydrabad.
by Arun M 03 Jan '03

03 Jan '03

Hi, FSF India along with AIPSN will be organising a workshop on 6th at Asia Social Forum, Hydrabad. Regards, Arun.

1 0

Domain issue
by Arun M 03 Jan '03

03 Jan '03

Hi, FSF India domains are not available now. gnu.org.in has expired and NCST is taking a lot of time to reactivate domains. They are saying request is being processed. But not telling when it will be completed. Till be domain comes back you may use the cc4.tifr.res.in for posting mails to FSF India list. Sorry for the inconvenience caused. Regards, Arun.

1 0

Linux, GNU/Linux... etc
by Frederick Noronha 29 Dec '02

29 Dec '02

After getting to understand the issues involved, it seemed to me that using the term GNU/Linux is a nice way of giving credit where credit is due -- to both the Free Software ideal and the kernel developers' work. But I got a bit peeved by what almost comes across as attempts to act as if the Free Software campaign didn't exist, and that Linux (I mean the kernel) evolved in a vacuum. Maybe as a knee-jerk response, I just changed the name of the irregular ezine put out below. Well, I guess what you see depends on where you stand. Some interesting feedback came in. Let me share it with you on this list. Perhaps persons who prefer to drop the term 'GNU' from GNU/Linux, might end up responding angrily if the term 'Linux' is used in a smaller typesize. Ideally it would be nice if we could all work together, and give each other credit where credit is due. Your comments -- brickbats too -- are welcome. FN ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 2 Date: Fri, 27 Dec 2002 18:37:51 +0530 (IST) From: Frederick Noronha <fred(a)bytesforall.org> Subject: NEWSLETTER: GNU/LinuxIndia Dec 27, 2002 e88~~\ 888b | 888 | / 888 888 ,e, d888 |Y88b | 888 | L 888 888-~88e e88~\888 " /~~~8e 8888 __ | Y88b | 888 | I 888 888 888 d888 888 888 88b 8888 | | Y88b | 888 | N 888 888 888 8888 888 888 e88~-888 Y888 | | Y88b| Y88 | U 888 888 888 Y888 888 888 C888 888 "88__/ | Y888 "8__/ X 888 888 888 "88_/888 888 "88_-888 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Formerly LinuxInIndia * Compiled by: Frederick Noronha * Dec 27,2002 -------------------------------------------------------------------- ... ... ... ... SOME FEEDBACK TO GNU/LinuxINDIA NEWSLETTER: From: Arun Sharma <arun(a)sharma-home.net> I understand that you can't fit an ASCII art logo mentioning "GNU/Linux India" in 80 columns, and hence had to abbreviate "Linux" part a little bit. But given all the controversy about the term "GNU/Linux", I find the above logo in bad taste -- it almost seems like you're posting about "GNU India", when in fact, the message is about what I'd normally call "Linux". I'm sure you could design a logo that displays "Linux" more prominently.-Arun From amish_munshi(a)sify.com Fri Dec 27 17:07:26 2002 Can you change this artwork, it is not readable. I am very bad at art work, so I can not provide any artwork, sorry. Overall, it is the best newsletter I have ever got, very well made. Keep it up. How regularly will I be getting such rich content? From paivakil(a)vsnl.net Fri Dec 27 17:08:37 2002 Wow!!!! What a beautiful logo!!! -- Mahesh T. Pai. ... ... ... ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 3 Date: Fri, 27 Dec 2002 22:24:46 +0530 From: Nikhil Shanker <nikhil(a)ilug-hyd.org.in> Subject: Re: NEWSLETTER: GNU/LinuxIndia Dec 27, 2002 On Fri, Dec 27, 2002 at 06:37:51PM +0530, Frederick Noronha wrote: > > e88~~\ 888b | 888 | / 888 888 ,e, > d888 |Y88b | 888 | L 888 888-~88e e88~\888 " /~~~8e > 8888 __ | Y88b | 888 | I 888 888 888 d888 888 888 88b > 8888 | | Y88b | 888 | N 888 888 888 8888 888 888 e88~-888 > Y888 | | Y88b| Y88 | U 888 888 888 Y888 888 888 C888 888 > "88__/ | Y888 "8__/ X 888 888 888 "88_/888 888 "88_-888 > -------------------------------------------------------------------- > Formerly LinuxInIndia * Compiled by: Frederick Noronha * Dec 27,2002 > -------------------------------------------------------------------- I share the same opinions as Arun Sharma on LIG. The logo reduces "Linux" to a single column. GNU/Linux is acceptable since it caters to some individuals' sentiments, but this looks like an overkill. I think RMS must be show the logo with "LINUX" replaced with "HURD" with the same one column layout. I bet, he'd be satisfied with: e88~~\ 888b | 888 | 888 888 888 | 88888b 888 / d888 |Y88b | 888 | 888 888 888 | 888 88 e88~\888 I 8888 __ | Y88b | 888 | 88888888 888 | 888ee88 d888 888 N 8888 | | Y88b | 888 | 88888888 888 | 88888b 8888 888 D Y888 | | Y88b| Y88 | 888 888 Y88 | 888 88b Y888 888 I "88__/ | Y888 "8__/ 888 888 "8__/ 888 88b "88_/888 A bah! > > SPEECH SYNTHESIS: Rohit Kumar of the Speech Processing Lab, LTRC at > IIIT Hyderabad points to a speech synthesis demo at > http://196.12.44.11/~speech/index.htm Says he: "I look forward to > your responses both about the speech quality and the ease of use and > understandability of the web interface. PS: For all [GNU/]/Linux > enthusiasts the speech synthesizer is currently built on Red Hat > Linux 7.2 and we have tested it with RHL 8.0." This is insane too. You're quoting a post here, and you GNU-hijack it within the quotes. This very prominent and noticable GNU-hijacking makes the newsletter more unreadable. Although the content is commendable, the we-will-serve-you-oh-RMS-my-l0rd attitude hides the real juice. Maybe even this comment will only be listed in the "Comments" section of the next version of the newsletter just like Arun's was. But I've been looking at this newletter everytime and seeing more GNU than actual information is really disheartening. The best part is it gets posted to LI and LUGs. Please note that these its not GLI and GLUGs. I imply no disrespect to the poster. Its just an opinion. Nikhil. -- Nikhil Shankar (nikhil.shanker at acm.org) Slackware Linux http://www.slackware.com/ I guess that's why people care: Simplicity is Divine. ________________________________________________________________________

1 0

Fwd: [sajith@symonds.net: JFS translator for the Hurd]
by Raghavendra Bhat 29 Dec '02

29 Dec '02

----- Forwarded message from Sajith T S <sajith(a)symonds.net> ----- >>Date: Tue, 24 Dec 2002 11:36:10 +0530 >>From: Sajith T S <sajith(a)symonds.net> >>Subject: [fsug-kochi-discuss] JFS translator for the Hurd >>To: Free Software User Group - Kochi <fsug-kochi-discuss(a)symonds.net> >> >>Hello, >> >>Any Hurd users around? Christmas gift for you! >> >>Here's a JFS translator for the Hurd - the "first industrial-strength >>journaling filesystem for the Hurd" :^) >> >> http://www.symonds.net/~sajith/hurd/ >> >>It's a readonly translator, so no journaling for now :-) I don't have >>access to a recent Hurd release, so I'm not sure if it'd work or even >>compile on them. Mine is installed from old, pre-libio Debian G1 CDs. >> >>More on JFS here: >> >> http://oss.software.ibm.com/jfs/ >> >>Bug reports aren't welcome. There ain't a bug :-/ >> >>Regards, Sajith. ----- End forwarded message ----- -- ragOO, Freedom of the Air Waves, GNU Radio The GNU Project :: http://www.gnu.org/ Free Software is not `free masala dosa' Free Software is about computing freedom.

1 0

Asian Social Forum...
by Frederick Noronha 28 Dec '02

28 Dec '02

Asian Social Forum meet in Hyderabad (1) BANGALORE, DEC. 26. The Asian Social Forum (ASF) will meet between January 2 and 7 at the Nizam College, Basheerbagh, Hyderabad. The forum will host eight conferences in addition to scores of seminars, workshops, testimonies, cultural events, panel discussions, and a youth camp. Around 10,000 delegates from over 300 organisations are ex^Fpected to attend the pro^Fgramme. These delegates will be from social movements, NGOs, research institutions, trade unions, Dalit organisations and women's organisations. (Hindu 27.12.02) XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

1 0

Re: : Re: [Fsf-friends] NEWSLETTER: GNU/LinuxIndia Dec 22, 2002
by Frederick Noronha 26 Dec '02

26 Dec '02

This is a response from the team that's working to bring out the 'LinuxForYou' newsletter in India. FN On Thu, 26 Dec 2002, efylinux1 wrote: > I am a strong supproter of GNU and what it stands for.Although i would > have idealy liked the name that you have proposed but there are few > things which you must also know. > GNU itself is a shortform and hence could not be registered. > secondly we would like to communicate with the common masses and since > Linux is the name which he identifies .also linux is a representative of > the open source community in a way . > > regards > Abhishek Kumar > Sr Correspondent > efylinux1(a)electronicsforu.com > > Strength is life,weakness is death.

2 1

Re: LINKS: In the ICT4D network...
by Frederick Noronha 26 Dec '02

26 Dec '02

Hi Sreekumar, I'm having a bit of health-related problems at home, so might find it difficult to make it. Friends from the FSF-India (Free Software Foundation-India) may possibly be there. FN PS: Dr Sreekumar is an Indian researcher studying IT and related issues. He's based in Hong Kong. On Thu, 26 Dec 2002, T T Sreekumar wrote: > Dear Fred, > > Thanks. It is more or less confirmed that I would attend ASF, Hbd on 6th > Jan. I'll be arriving on 5th to make it. What is your schedule like? Would > you be around during the final days? > Belated X'mas wishes and best wishes for a meaningful new year!! > Sreekumar

1 0

Other 'freedom' issues... from the GII mailing list
by Frederick Noronha 25 Dec '02

25 Dec '02

Other 'freedom' issues coming up in the world beyond software? Thanks to Raju Mathur of Delhi for forwarding this. FN From: Meredith Tupper <meredith(a)pintsize.com> To: isp-webhosting(a)isp-webhosting.com Subject: [isp-webhosting] thing.net shut down by Verio Date: Tue, 24 Dec 2002 17:58:48 -0400 December 23, 2002 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thing.net assistance page: https://secure.thing.net/backbone/ Contact: mailto:thing-group@rtmark.com ACTIVIST NETWORK IN NY EVICTED FROM INTERNET BY DOW, VERIO Bowing to pressure from the Dow Chemical Corporation, the internet company Verio has booted the activist-oriented Thing.net from the Web. Internet service provider Thing.net has been the primary service provider for activist and artist organizations in the New York area for 10 years. On December 3, activists used a server housed by Thing.net to post a parody Dow press release on the eighteenth anniversary of the disaster in which 20,000 people died as a result of an accident at a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India. (Union Carbide is now owned by Dow.) The deadpan statement, which many people took as real, explained that Dow could not accept responsibility for the disaster due to its primary allegiance to its shareholders and to its bottom line. Dow was not amused, and sent a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) complaint to Verio, which immediately cut Thing.net off the internet for fifteen hours. A few days later, Verio announced that Thing.net had 60 days to move to another provider before being shut down permanently, unilaterally terminating Thing.net's 7-year-old contract. Affected organizations include PS1/MOMA, Artforum, Nettime, Tenant.net (which assists renters facing eviction), and hundreds more. "Verio's actions are nothing short of outrageous," said Wolfgang Staehle, Thing.net Executive Director. "They could have resolved the matter with the Dow parodists directly; instead they chose to shut down our entire network. This self-appointed enforcement of the DMCA could have a serious chilling effect on free speech, and has already damaged our business." RTMark, which publicizes corporate abuses of democracy, is housed on Thing.net. Please visit https://secure.thing.net/backbone/ to help Thing.net survive Dow's and Verio's actions, and to develop a plan to avoid such problems in the future. # 30 # ------------------------------ End of this Digest ****************** -- Raju Mathur raju(a)kandalaya.org http://kandalaya.org/ It is the mind that moves --__--__-- Message: 2 Date: Tue, 24 Dec 2002 03:59:17 -0800 (PST) From: sabrina syed <sabrina_syed2002(a)yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [india-gii] [OT] (fwd) thing.net shut down by Verio To: india-gii(a)lists.cpsr.org Hi, In its defense, Dow is saying, "...Thing.net have been evicted from the web, we firmly believe that those who violate the right to Corporate Free Speech have no place on a commercial network like the internet. " http://www.dowethics.com/r/environment/freedom.html ...."commercial network like the internet"???Does it mean purely commercial? what abt non-commercial interests? Can any one throw light on last line of Dow's claims tht, internet is purely commercial? If this claim goes unquestionable, then who owns internet? Internet has potential to advance commercial interests. That doesn't mean non-commercial interests,should give way to freedom of speech of those who propagate their commercial interests. Does this precedent mean organisations running, .orgs and governments running, .govs and .infos and .nets have less freedom of speech than those who invest money in suing others on the claims of image erosion or defamation? What happens if thing.net counter sues Dow /Verio for defamation and intervention into it's own freedom of speech? Can't thing.net get an "asylum" on some other non-us based server? What are the stakes involved if it does tht? Regards, Sabrina. ___________________________ Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR) is the oldest non-profit, mass membership organization working on social impacts of computer technology. To learn more, go to http://www.cpsr.org To join, visit: http://cpsr.org/join.html _______________________________________________________ india-gii mailing list india-gii(a)lists.cpsr.org https://ssl.cpsr.org/mailman/listinfo/india-gii

1 0

Re: Microsoft to share ...
by CK Raju 25 Dec '02

25 Dec '02

Satish, > the issue is not just about property rights. the issue is about .. > itself. i am not responding to just one feature of the debate. it... > all. if a hypothesis cannot stand the weakest test, how strong wou.. You appear to be putting forth crucial issues. FS movement is definite to prove a point here, when it finally brings down one such 'goliath' within the 'core'. While 'progress' that you mentioned is working in favour of this 'core' or 'centre' through manipulative moves, this movement now stands a good chance of claiming victory by organising the 'periphery' towards a common goal. The movement, by then would have acquired a huge proposition with a lot of workforce behind it, from where the next important 'reproduction of inequality' can be addressed. Perhaps, it would be for this reason, that 'technology' would be remembered for generations, in achieving, what has so far eluded most philosophers, towards, suggesting a safe way out. Since most of them in their own areas, have already created necessary 'backups', recreating glory and prosperity may not be all that difficult. Moreover these issues are not just confined to inner circles of philosophers,of late, they have been projected even by the CIA, for instance, the growing 'inequality and power divide' has been identified as the most 'possible' cause behind the unrest, that the developed nations are currently worried about. This should not idle us from going ahead, as the 'core' needs to be scared, for it to get 'adjusted' to being 'less violent', in order for our 'governments' to acquire some amount of confidence, to be real 'alternatives' and not just 'alternations'. CK Raju -------------------------------------------------------

1 0

"Intellectual Property"
by vsasi＠vsnl.com 25 Dec '02

25 Dec '02

agreed about the right to believe. agreed also about the fact that the majority is not always right. but you seem to have overlooked a lot of things i had written before that. please do give that also a thought. regards v. sasi kumar sjha(a)vsnl.com wrote all members of parliament can get more votes than sunil. therefore going by your logic should i entrust them with the task of writing the basic tenets of philosophy of science? just because someone is an infectious speaker does not make them right. no, what he is saying is his belief system and he has a right to have that and you have as much right to believe in something that i consider wrong or questionable. thanks much ________________________________ satish jha cmd, james martin & co www.jmcin.com president, digital partners india n-103, panchsheel park, new delhi - 110 017 v: 649 9384/5; 649 4384/5 f: 649 4380 ----- Original Message ----- From: "V. Sasi Kumar" <vsasi(a)vsnl.com> To: "satish jha" <sjha(a)vsnl.com> Sent: Tuesday, December 17, 2002 10:28 AM Subject: Re: [Fsf-friends] Re: [bytesforall_readers] Microsoft to shareWindows code withIndia > On Tue, 2002-12-17 at 01:03, satish jha wrote: > > sunil: > > > > thanks much. went to the recommended site. i don't think you need ti oversimplify it. it is oversimplified in itself though it could do with a bit of editing. > > > > having seen it, read it i am persuaded that its propounders live in a world of their own and have a right to do so. > > Thanks. > > i believe that without intellectual property rights there may have been some ideas. innovation, technolgy development and progres would have taken another path altogether and it can be shown that at least in terms of economics as we know it, it would be a sub-optimal model compared to what we have known. > > You forget that a large part of development took place without what you > call "intellectual property rights". Those who claim rights for > "intellectual property" forget that they have made ample use of similar > "intellectual property" that others could have laid claim to. Would they > be willing to share their "property rights" with everyone who has > contributed towards its generation, right from the people who invented > the wheel? Remember, even Isaac Newton, one of the greatest scientists > ever, said that "If I have seen further, it is because I have stood on > the shoulders of giants". > > In India we have a model of knowledge that has been of tremendous value > to humanity, which grew, and continues to grow, without the benefit of > "intellectual property rights" - I refer to Ayurveda. But I tend to > agree with you when you say that there may have been a different path > of progress if "intellectual property rights" - that path would have led > to a more equitable society, something that is much more valuable to > people like us in this list than what goes by the word "progress" today. > > i do not wish to debate it on this forum for a variety of reasons and would think while the debate has a place on this forum, it may not be the right place for allocating majority of its time to free software etc. > > I think if you had no desire to debate this on this forum, then you > should not have raised the question here. > > > you are an infectious speaker and will always sway people your way. that will not persuade me to go along with the substance of it though. > > What you are essentially saying is that you admit that what Sunil said > is true, but you are not willing to admit it. That is really good. > > > > > thanks much > > ________________________________ > > satish jha > > cmd, james martin & co > > www.jmcin.com > > president, digital partners india > > n-103, panchsheel park, > > new delhi - 110 017 > > v: 649 9384/5; 649 4384/5 > > f: 649 4380 > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: sunil > > To: bytesforall_readers(a)yahoogroups.com > > Cc: linux-india-general(a)lists.sourceforge.net ; fsf-friends(a)gnu.org.in > > Sent: Monday, December 16, 2002 5:21 PM > > Subject: Re: [bytesforall_readers] Microsoft to share Windows code withIndia > > > > > > Dear Satish, > > > > Free Software is not Open Source Software. Access to code is not the main > > issue. Free License implies Ownership and Control. It is not the recipe of > > coke but the ownership of coke. > > > > Copyrighting is the root cause of the digital divide... here is an > > oversimplification so that you can understand.. > > ------------------------------------------------------ > > Before the concept of Private Property: > > No Economic Divide > > After the concept of Private Property: > > Land Owners > > Landless > > Economic Divide > > ------------------------------------------------------ > > Before the concept of Intellectual Property:- > > No Digital Divide > > After the concept of Intellectual Property: > > Those with Knowledge > > Those without Knowledge > > Digital Divide > > ------------------------------------------------------ > > > > You will notice this trend in all forms of privatization:- water, phrases, > > gestures, ideas, products etc. > > > > General Public License transfers ownership of digital assets to the poor. > > To use a Marxist phrase - the means of production in the knowledge economy > > will be transfered to the poor. This is a 'critical' component of any > > digital divide intervention.Without this type of systemic intervention all > > other ICT is merely technology band-aid. > > > > Please see my IIM-B presentation for more details: > > http://www.mahiti.org/events/Event.2002-12-16.3025/view > > > > Thanks, > > > > Sunil > > Thanks, > > > > Sunil > > > > ===== > > Sunil Abraham [MAHITI] > > 314/1, 7th Cross, Domlur > > Bangalore - 560 071 Karnataka, INDIA > > Ph/Fax: +91 80 5352003. Pager: 9624 279519 > > sunil(a)mahiti.org http://www.mahiti.org > > > > > > > > To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: > > bytesforall_readers-unsubscribe(a)yahoogroups.com > > > > > > > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. > > > > >

1 0

Re: [bytesforall_readers] Microsoft to share Windows code with India
by sunil 24 Dec '02

24 Dec '02

Dear Satish, Free Software is not Open Source Software. Access to code is not the main issue. Free License implies Ownership and Control. It is not the recipe of coke but the ownership of coke. Copyrighting is the root cause of the digital divide... here is an oversimplification so that you can understand.. ------------------------------------------------------ Before the concept of Private Property: No Economic Divide After the concept of Private Property: Land Owners Landless Economic Divide ------------------------------------------------------ Before the concept of Intellectual Property:- No Digital Divide After the concept of Intellectual Property: Those with Knowledge Those without Knowledge Digital Divide ------------------------------------------------------ You will notice this trend in all forms of privatization:- water, phrases, gestures, ideas, products etc. General Public License transfers ownership of digital assets to the poor. To use a Marxist phrase - the means of production in the knowledge economy will be transfered to the poor. This is a 'critical' component of any digital divide intervention.Without this type of systemic intervention all other ICT is merely technology band-aid. Please see my IIM-B presentation for more details: http://www.mahiti.org/events/Event.2002-12-16.3025/view Thanks, Sunil Thanks, Sunil ===== Sunil Abraham [MAHITI] 314/1, 7th Cross, Domlur Bangalore - 560 071 Karnataka, INDIA Ph/Fax: +91 80 5352003. Pager: 9624 279519 sunil(a)mahiti.org http://www.mahiti.org

4 5

What is Knoppix... and more
by Frederick Noronha 23 Dec '02

23 Dec '02

http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html KNOPPIX 3.1 Released Version 3.1 of KNOPPIX with KDE 3.0.4 and many other new features (see [23]CHANGELOG and [24]packages.txt) has been gone from internal tests to a public Betatest release, and is now available on the public [25]mirrors. The information on this webpage has been modified accordingly. New: Starting from Release 29-08-2002, KNOPPIX is capable of booting remotely via PXE from a server already running KNOPPIX. This is especially useful for clients that have no CD-rom drive, but a Linux-supported bootable network card. _________________________________________________________________ What is KNOPPIX�? KNOPPIX is a bootable CD with a collection of [30]GNU/Linux software, automatic hardware detection, and support for many graphics cards, sound cards, SCSI and USB devices and other peripherals. KNOPPIX can be used as a Linux demo, educational CD, rescue system, or adapted and used as a platform for commercial software product demos. It is not necessary to install anything on a hard disk. Due to on-the-fly decompression, the CD can have up to 2 GB of executable software installed on it. * [31]Slides for the Knoppix presentation at the Chemnitzer Linux-Tagen 2002 (PDF, German) * [32]Slides for the cloop presentation at the Chemnitzer Linux-Tagen 2002 (PDF, German) * [33]Paper for the Annual Linux Showcase 2000 (HTML, English) * [34]Paper for the Annual Linux Showcase 2000 (PDF, English) * [35]Slides for the presentation at the Annual Linux Showcase 2000 (PDF, English) * Slide updates for the presentations at the IFA 2001 (English) [36][Postscript] [37][PDF] * [38]Sources for the special components of the KNOPPIX-CD How is KNOPPIX started? To start the CD, set up the BIOS of your computer to boot off the CD, put the CD in the drive, and power up the computer. If your computer doesn't support this option, you have to use a boot disk. You can create this disk from the image in KNOPPIX/boot.img on the CD. Is there a mailing list, a forum or a newsletter for KNOPPIX? New: A [142]web-based Knoppix-Forum is now present at [143]http://www.linuxtag.org/forum/. Interested beta testers can fill out [144]the web form to be included in the newsletter for beta testers. They can find out about new versions and planned features, or make suggestions for future versions. Developers and people interested in technical discussions can subscribe to the Knoppix developers' list at [145]debian-knoppix at linuxtag.org. ______________________________________________________________________ � Klaus Knopper [150]<knoppix(a)knopper.net>

1 0

Mentoring students !!
by Tarun Gaur 23 Dec '02

23 Dec '02

Hi Richard, Free software will follow. All of us will need each other's help to pull it off with students community in india. I am already working on making students aware of the movement. Now there seems to be a small issue here. I am unaware of who is formally handling the indian wing of GNU and on your advice, have been repeatedly mailing them from my informal and fomal mail ids but honestly, you (after handling GNU world over) respond faster than them. I am yet to hear from them. I suppose i have sent you the copies of the mails that i have sent to them too. I am not blaming anyone, but we have to act fast. The movement and free software! Richard, it will take time, but once it picks up in india, we'll rejoice on the results. Someone has to sow to reap the fruits later. As for the movement, what Suraj and others are doing is quite encouraging. Regards, Tarun Gaur From: Suraj Kumar <suraj(a)symonds.net> To: Richard Stallman <rms(a)gnu.org> CC: raamanp(a)yahoo.co.in, gaur_tarun(a)hotmail.com, fsf-friends(a)mm.gnu.org.in Subject: Re: [Fsf-friends] Mentoring students !! Date: Sat, 21 Dec 2002 08:26:19 +0530 Richard Stallman wrote on Fri, Dec 20, 2002 at 12:12:11PM -0500: ,---- | ,---- | | We at Chennai have a movement for imparting ideals of | | Free Sofware to students, with aim of getting future | | developers. You can look at | | www.gpasokan.com/demo-schools | `---- | | | Have you managed to develop a useful free software package yet? `---- No. We have the following course of action: 1. Teach Free Software to school kids 2. Pilot a software development project - by students, for students, of students 3. Take this software to other schools; repeat through step 1 but in step 2 make students improve / fix bugs (thereby telling them the importance of sharing) We are also writing free books for use with a formal Free Software syllabus. There has been an overwhelming response from the community. We found a good deal of books. We will also be using a few books from gnupress.org and trim it down to fit a typical school student's mind. Our FAQ: http://gpasokan.com/demo-schools/faq.php -Suraj -- +-------------------------------------------------<suraj(a)symonds.net>--+ | Evils dare not touch families of high tradition, | | and succession free from blemishes | | (wealth of children - 2), Thirukkural | +--<http://symonds.net/~suraj/>----------------------------------------+ _________________________________________________________________ MSN 8: advanced junk mail protection and 3 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail&xAPID=42&PS=47575&PI=7324&DI=74… http://www.hotmail.msn.com/cgi-bin/getmsg&HL=1216hotmailtaglines_advancedjm…

2 1

Demo@School project
by Arun M 23 Dec '02

23 Dec '02

FSUG Chennai new affiliate of FSF India, will undertake activities of FSF India locally, in Tamilnadu. FSUG Chennai will also be coordinate the demo@schools program which tries to bring Free Software to schools. For more information contact demo-schools(a)gpasokan.com. Also, read a recent brief on demo@schools and what it does on Freedom Matters. More information on demo@schools site is available here http://gpasokan.com/demo-schools/. For FSF India.

1 0

Re: [Fsf-friends] Mentoring students !!
by Richard Stallman 22 Dec '02

22 Dec '02

We are also writing free books for use with a formal Free Software syllabus. That is a very important project. Can you show me one of them, whichever you think is best?

1 0

Re: Sent Hurd, Connectiva
by Frederick Noronha 22 Dec '02

22 Dec '02

This is what a friend of mine from Belgaum says about Hurd. It seems to be true...FN On Sun, 22 Dec 2002, Ashutosh Naik wrote: > Hi Fred, > Rohan just sent u Connectiva and Hurd yesterday.. > Hope it reaches u soon.. I am also sending a copy of > Hurd to Supreet in Pondy... And all the > techies,interested in Hurd are too busy developing > Hurd, rather than popularising it.... > Something needs to be done abt it.. > The new versions Knoppix, and Mandrake > r the most popular out here

1 0

[OT] DRM battles
by Raju Mathur 22 Dec '02

22 Dec '02

[Beware: cross-posted] The DRM players are battling it out, and MS seems to be in a vulnerable position: http://www.fortune.com/fortune/print/0%2c15935%2c400412%2c00.html INTERTRUST Can Victor Shear Bring Down Microsoft? Maybe not. But his company's patent suit is the biggest legal threat to Microsoft since the antitrust case. FORTUNE Tuesday, December 17, 2002 By Roger Parloff A small Santa Clara, Calif., company called InterTrust Technologies maintains that it is, in fact, that company. Though there are those who dispute this claim, InterTrust has some awfully big players convinced, including consumer electronics giants Sony and Philips. Indeed, in November, the two companies offered to buy InterTrust for $453 million in cash; as FORTUNE goes to press, they are in the process of trying to close the acquisition. In its current incarnation, InterTrust consists of 39 employees and a patent portfolio: 26 issued patents and about 85 more pending, all in the fields of DRM and trusted systems. InterTrust also has one other asset of note: a suit against Microsoft that appears to be the highest-stakes patent litigation in history. The suit's charges give a good feel for the scope and breadth of InterTrust's patents, at least as InterTrust sees it. The company says its patents are being infringed every time Microsoft ships its Windows XP operating system; Office XP suite; Word 2002 word processor; Excel 2002 spreadsheet; Outlook 2002 e-mail client; PowerPoint 2002 slide presentation software; Windows Media Player; Xbox videogame console; Microsoft software for servers, mobile phones, pocket computers, and consumer electronics devices; and many of the components and tool kits that Microsoft now markets in connection with its most cutting-edge "bet the company" initiative: the networked computing and web-services platform known as .NET. Understand what that means: InterTrust is seeking an injunction barring distribution of about 85% of Microsoft's product line. (Though the DRM and trusted systems technologies form only a piece of each product, they have been, in Microsoft's trademark fashion, tightly integrated into these larger programs.) InterTrust seeks damages too--which could be trebled if Microsoft were shown to have acted willfully. Polaroid's spectacular 1976 patent suit against Kodak--which eventually forced Kodak to scrap its $2 billion foray into instant photography and pay $900 million in damages--is dwarfed by the scope of the InterTrust-Microsoft litigation. [snip] -- Raju Mathur raju(a)kandalaya.org http://kandalaya.org/ It is the mind that moves

1 0

NEWSLETTER: GNU/LinuxIndia Dec 22, 2002
by Frederick Noronha 21 Dec '02

21 Dec '02

e88~~\ 888b | 888 | L 888 888 ,e, d888 |Y88b | 888 | I 888 888-~88e e88~\888 " /~~~8e 8888 __ | Y88b | 888 | N 888 888 888 d888 888 888 88b 8888 | | Y88b | 888 | U 888 888 888 8888 888 888 e88~-888 Y888 | | Y88b| Y88 | X 888 888 888 Y888 888 888 C888 888 "88__/ | Y888 "8__/ / 888 888 888 "88_/888 888 "88_-888 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Formerly LinuxInIndia * Compiled by: Frederick Noronha * Dec 22,2002 -------------------------------------------------------------------- o GNU/LINUX UTILITIES FOR EDUCATION... GLUE: Ajith Kumar <ajith(a)nsc.ernet.in> deserves credit for his work on this front. Recently, Ajith announced that his product -- the "GNU Linux Utilities for Education" CD is now hosted at "ftp.seul.org". This is a bootable CD that will install a GNU/Linux system with OpenOffice, several educational software packages and the Terminal Server Software "within 10 minutes", as he puts it. Ajith needs help in testing. You can download the ISO image from ftp://ftp.seul.org/pub/glue/ Bowse the contents of it at ftp://ftp.seul.org/pub/glue/GLUE/index.html Recently, Ajith was demoing the CD to the Press. Says he: "It takes only 10 minutes to setup the lab. Method is extreamly simple. Create a RedHat (or any other) installation and all other required software. Make a tarball of it. A bootable CD with a small script plants it to another computer. "Kudzu" does a good job in detecting new hardware." Free Software campaigners in the Southern State of Kerala are convinced that the local government is "wasting their money" if they sign a MoU (memorandum of understanding) for costly proprietorial software to be implemented in their IT@School Project. o MAKING FREE SOFTWARE/OPEN SOURCE A 'HOUSEHOLD NAME': Abhishek <efylinux1(a)electronicsforu.com> of ElectronicsForYou magazine writes in to announce the planned launch of a new Indian mag, devoted entirely to Free Software and Open Source. Some key facts, as promised by this publishing group, are as follows. Launch date: mid January 2003. Pages: 100 plus. Cover price: Rs 50, or about US$1 (including a CD). This mag is likely to be called 'Linux For You'. It is being published by the same group that brings out 'Electronics For You' and the 'i.t.' magazines. Ideas, suggestions, doubts and inputs for editorial content invited. o LINUX-INDIA GENERAL: This is the list which still is working to play the role of networking different Free/Libre and Open Source Software initiatives across India. See the Linux-India General list at https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/linux-india-general o LITTLE LEAGUE: The idea is to help smaller LUGs around India to network and share resources and ideas to grow and survive. If you belong to this category, contact Sukrit D of Pondicherry <sd_root(a)yahoo.com>. There's also an offer to help you get inexpensive (maybe even zero-cost) CDs of useful distros... provided you undertake to share the same widely in your area. o BELGAUM LUG: Belgaum is a city of c. 300,000 in North Karnataka and home to one of the youngest GNU/Linux user groups in India. This was recently launched with most members being students of the Gogte College of Engineering there. If you'd like to get in touch contact Ashutosh Naik <a7ash(a)yahoo.com> and Rohan Kangralkar <rohankangralkar(a)hotmail.com>. See also their list at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ilug-belgaum All the best to them. o LINKING STUDENTS, PROJECTS, MENTORS: Mumbai/Bombay-based Trevor Warren <trevorwarren(a)yahoo.com> or <trevor.w(a)media.mit.edu>, while still in his early twenties, has come up with this idea of a Project Resource Centre. The goal? To link students wanting socially-useful and challenging projects with techies willing to play the role of mentors. Any volunteers? Says Warren: "As of now...we are looking forwards to having a decent site dissimanating information to the FSF/OS community on the following aspects. --> What is the objective of the PRC. --> List of projects for (students) to take up --> List of mentors with their skill sets (based on a Wiki-like tool) --> List of projects students/community wants to propose --> Section for commercial projects that the industry wants to offer --> Collabration tool for all. Tripta <tripta(a)sarai.net> from Delhi, another young lady behind a lot of interesting work, volunteered to list some of the people who have already signed up at the PRC as mentors, some possible projects, and who's coming forward to work on the same. For more details, sign on or check out the archives at the site http://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/prc -------------------------------------------------------------------------- SiteWatch RANDOMLY-SELECTED INDIAN GNU/LINUX SITES: -------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://ilugmvgr.sourceforge.net Hi all, this is MVGR college linux user group website. In this website we will chat and explore to Linux as well as Linux applications. This website has lots of information as well as good links to visit on LINUX. Every one is invited to join us, we are well supported by OSDN (open source development network), SOURCEFORGE (world's biggest open source arena) as well as lots of Linux lovers.... We will discuss all Linux issues and help each other. Members can also write application programs for Linux but under GNU (the General Public License). http://groups.yahoo.com/group/in-phpug A group for PHP users and developers in India. Anyone and everyone who is interested in PHP, the world's most popular scripting language, is invited to join the Indian PHP User Group. Share your code, your problem, search for solutions, create fantastic new projects. And most importantly *enjoy*. Founded Dec 2001. Members 103. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- YOUR INPUTS to this newsletter are welcome. Volunteers more than welcome. Contact us at fred at bytesforall dot org --COPYLEFT 2002, GPL. May be freely circulated provided entire text is retained. FN --------------------------------------------------------------------------

1 0

Mentoring students !!
by Tarun Gaur 20 Dec '02

20 Dec '02

Hi Richard, The genius that started it all cant be left out. My apologies for calling it "open source". Let me correct it and call it 'free software movement" as i myself firmly believe in the ideology. Thanks again for correcting me. Now, on students, Richard i dont agree with your and Gopal's view that the mainstream students cant contribute and will not contribute. i agree your assumptions are based on your experience in US and are for sure backed by statistics, but with India it is a bit different. There is a massive educational setup that india can boast of in IT, especially when IT is generating such a huge revenues for a developing country, the country is for sure interested in upping the tempo in this promising field. The manpower is in abundance, making India a powerhouse for future global software development alongside US (No. of MNCs setting up dev. centres in India is a witness). This manpower is of two kinds, one in the industry and one waiting to be churned out. My experience with the students says; if this community is guided and pushed a bit, they come out with amazing results. The environment is very conducive for FSF, as gopal said, universities dont claim ownership of the work ... Its good, it can be Free. Universities in India will be more than willing to associate with FSF for the sake of students. FSF should be willing too. If it does not give us free software, atleast it will push the ideology to a larger base of future professionals. But with my experience with students in india; i firmly believe they can contribute a lot. Believe me every single student in IT in india has the desire to catch up with the global level. Stakes are higher here for a student than his counterpart in US, my indian friends can understand. FSF on one hand is a window for them to peep into good quality s/w and on the other hand become a forum for this community to channalize their innovations. the students are not contributing today on their own because i am sure the majority (in india) is oblivious of our existance or the kind of work being done at FSF or the ideology. We need to push the ideology and i am sure they will push free software back at us. [to Gopal] Gopal, if you and me can do it at our individual levels, then lets not leave this community out. If we are able to get 50 wonderful developers per year from this massive community making free software, i dont see it as a failure; alongwith we will sure get a big community supporting the ideology. [to Richard] Richard, i can vouch for Indian students, they can give you amazing results. Believe me they can rock the base of all the business initiatives and tactics being employed by the properietry world. lets make them understand what free s/w is; the way you have done it for us. leave you with this thought, regards, tarun gaur >From: Richard Stallman <rms(a)gnu.org> >Reply-To: rms(a)gnu.org >To: gaur_tarun(a)hotmail.com >CC: fsf-friends(a)mm.gnu.org.in, abhas(a)deeproot.co.in >Subject: Re: Mentoring students !! >Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 13:51:41 -0500 > > I have lately been discussing the fact with RMS that how majority of >the > students are being left out of open source initiative (FSF/GNU). > >Our discussion was about the free software movement, not "open >source". "Open source" is the slogan of another movement in our >community, one that rejects our idealism. The Open Source Initiative >makes me feel "left out", and I am glad if some others feel the same >way. > >When people with those views contribute to free software, we recognize >their contribution to the community. But we in the FSF never work on >"open source" activities. We want it to be clear that what we are >doing is "free software". > > I have myself been interacting with students on various projects and >have > been amazed at their ability to push things through. > >This is very different from my experience in the US and Europe. >Occasionally a student who becomes a free software developer and does >important work acting on his own, but students *in the academic >context* hardly ever contribute anything that works. > >Have you found it is different in India? I would be glad to learn >that Indian students are more effective. If so, it could be worth >some effort to try to reach out to them. _________________________________________________________________ The new MSN 8: advanced junk mail protection and 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail

3 3

Fwd: [update@publiclibraryofscience.org: News from Public Library of Science]
by NAGARJUNA G. 20 Dec '02

20 Dec '02

Public Library movement is picking up. This I think is the way GNU ideals are percolating to other domains of life. Way to go! Nagarjuna

1 0

[Commons-Law] IPL Workshop Schedule (fwd)
by Frederick Noronha 19 Dec '02

19 Dec '02

1 0

[bytesforall_readers] FW: [GKD] Microsoft to Share Windows Code with India (fwd)
by Frederick Noronha 19 Dec '02

19 Dec '02

Posted by Ashish Kotamkar, initially on the BytesForAll list. FN ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Interesting observation about Microsoft "sharing" its source code by Philippe Bechamp on the GKD list. Ashish -----Original Message----- From: Philippe Bechamp Dear GKD Members, The offer by Microsoft to share it's source code with the Indian government may seem like a surprise and a positive move but it is actually nothing new. Microsoft, in response to the Open Source phenomenon, has been running this "Shared Source Initiative" for quite some time. This policy in no way changes anything fundamental in Microsoft's way of doing business. It merely gives you a one year license to look at Microsoft's code, without changing, modifying, redistributing their source <http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/sharedsource/government.asp>. This part of Microsoft's long standing campaign and strategy against Open Source, as initially defined by "The Halloween Documents" (for which a search will yield many results). India could have asked for this program a long time ago. This is just an opportunistic announcement, part of a larger strategy. Microsoft seems very afraid of Open Source. It is not responding to market or government needs, but to a market threat, and responding very weakly. Microsoft's shared source program in no way competes with Open Source licensing. With Open source, you have source code, with Microsoft you might, if you are big and rich enough. But the similarity stops there. With OSS, you can modify the source code and possibly get integrated back in the main code base. MS prohibits this, even just modifying for internal use. With OSS, there are no licensing costs, with MS, very large ones on restrictive terms. With OSS, you can resell what you modify, give it away even pay people to use it. With MS, none of this. The list goes on. Microsoft's policies are about restricting your freedom. OSS is about expanding it. Please expect to see more of these types of 'news' in the future. It is the second time in a month that I run across misleading Microsoft informations on my development related lists. The largest software company in the world is on the path to diminish OSS as much as possible. It can wine and dine people, it can spew press releases but, fundamentally, nothing has changed. Best regards, Philippe -- Philippe Bechamp bechamp(a)web.net Margaret Grieco <Msgrieco(a)aol.com> wrote: > That microsoft is willing to share source code with India governmental > agencies as a measure to stem the development of Linux competition is > important news. > > Microsoft has understood the importance of policy and governance markets > as opposed to private consumer and commercial markets ahead of the > development institutions. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Get 128 Bit SSL Encryption! http://us.click.yahoo.com/CBxunD/vN2EAA/xGHJAA/C7EolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: bytesforall_readers-unsubscribe(a)yahoogroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

1 0

Forwarded from the Hyderabad mailing list...
by Frederick Noronha 18 Dec '02

18 Dec '02

---------- Forwarded message ---------- Linux-Announce Digest #262, Volume #4 Wed, 18 Dec 2002 15:13:02 EST Contents: NEWS: Book release in Hyderabad (forwarded) (Frederick Noronha) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Frederick Noronha <fred(a)bytesforall.org> Subject: NEWS: Book release in Hyderabad (forwarded) Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 13:25:49 CST ________________________________________________________________________ Date: Tue, 17 Dec 2002 17:10:24 +0530 From: "Dr. Atul Negi" <atulcs(a)uohyd.ernet.in> Subject: Towards Free Software A book Release No Sir, No Monopoly Free Software: A Perspective ---Richard Stallman A book Published by Prajasakti Book House Date Friday 20-12-02 Venue Sundarayya Vignana Kendram Bagh Lingam Palli Hyderabad. Time 6-00pm Presided by Ashhar Fahran IETF Free Software Developer. Inauguration by J A Chowdary President Managing Director for Indian Operations Portal Player Guest Speaker Dr. Atul Negi, Student Activities Chair IEEE Hyderabad Section Reader, ( Associate Professor) Dept of Computer and Information Sciences University of Hyderabad This book is a collection of writings by Richard Stallman, espousing the cause of free software, its philosophy and perspective. The book explains the basic ideas of Free Software Movement, and the GNU operating system that was developed so that people could use computers in freedom. The struggle against imperialist globalization is waged on several fronts. As the present age is called computer age this struggle for free software assumes all the more significance. Not only the people in general but even many computer professionals themselves may not be aware of the strangle hold of Multinationals, Microsoft in particular. Stallman in these articles lucidly explains the paradoxes and perplexities of the issue. While most of the software licenses take away the right to copy, study, distribute and modify the software. The software developed by the free software programmers is also distributed in the original 'source' form. That means, any programmer can study, enhance and change the software for their purpose without having to pay any royalty to anybody. A developing country like India needs to constantly strive for cost effective solutions. Richard Stallman is the founder of the GNU project, launched in 1984 to develop the free operating system GNU. He is the principle author of the GCC designed to support diverse architectures and multiple languages which now supports over 30 different architectures and 7 programming languages. Stallman also wrote the symbolic Debugger(GDB), GNU emacs, and various other GNU programs. ________________________________________________________________________ ########################################################################## # 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 ******************************

1 0

Mentoring students !!
by Tarun Gaur 18 Dec '02

18 Dec '02

Hi Friends, It is really exciting to know that someone is picking up the roots of not only linux but intelligence as well. I have lately been discussing the fact with RMS that how majority of the students are being left out of open source initiative (FSF/GNU). Abhas is very right when he says that students carry enormous potential when guided and manouvered in the right direction. The freshness of approach is the key to innovation and this coupled with experienced guidance takes the shape of a juggernaut. I have myself been interacting with students on various projects and have been amazed at their ability to push things through. I have found students of being very receptive on taking up challanges and abhas is again right when he says that sometime we have to co-op up with their state of stagnancy. But then most of the Genius are known lazy fellows. But believe me, when they are on a roll, thats when guys like bill and larry spend some sleepless nights, on knowing what these aliens are upto. In his recent visit to india, bill gates did mention "I SEE SOME INNOVATIVE PRODUCT COMPANIES COMING UP FROM INDIA" and believe me he understands the power of these small creatures (students) of our IT world, he knows there are lot of seeds being sown in garages all around the world. Indian garages have an edge. A large student base is ready to scratch their heads and another thing that Devang Mehta(late NASSCOM honcho) likes to identify with India - THE INDIAN JUGAAD is always handy. We need a unified effort to gather this scattered force and what could be a better forum than FSF/GNU. Make the Students follow the FSF Ideology and see the results: These creatures invade the industry every year with dreams and ambitions. They will eat up the properietry world. We need to make them believe that they are "THE ONE"; especially in India. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- leave you with this thought, Regards, tarun gaur _________________________________________________________________ STOP MORE SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail

3 2

Replying to one of Orlando's queries...
by Frederick Noronha 18 Dec '02

18 Dec '02

On Sat, 14 Dec 2002, Orlando Fernandes wrote: > btw can anyone tell me how Richard make his money, did he always have it? > did he have to work for it? or did he get it fre 'cause he gave all his code > away for free? > Orlando This is from Sam Willians' book *Free as in Freedom*, the biography of RMS (aka Richard M. Stallman). Look at the amazing way in which sharing begets further sharing: "In 1990, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation certified Stallman's genius status when it granted Stallman a MacArthur fellowship, thereby making him a recipient for the organisation's so-called "genuis grant". The grant, a $240,000 (sorry for getting this figure wrong earlier-FN) reward for launching the GNU Project and giving voice to the free software philosophy, relieved a number of short-term concerns. First and foremost, it gave Stallman, a non-salaried employee of the FSF who had been supporting himself through consulting contracts, the ability to devote more time to writing GNU code. "Ironically, the award also made it possible for Stallman to vote. Months before the award, a fire in Stallman's apartment house had consumed his few earthly possessions. By the time of the award, Stallman was listing himself a 'squatter' at 545 Technology Square. "[The registrar of voters] didn't want to accept that as my address," Stallman would later recall. "A newspaper article about the MacArthur grant said that and then they let me register." "Most important, the MacArthur money gave Stallman more freedom. Already dedicated to the issue of software freedom, Stallman chose to use the additional freedom to increase his travels in support of the GNU Project mission. "Interestingly, the ultimate success of the GNU Project and the free software movement in general would stem from one of these trips. In 1990, Stallman paid a visit to the Polytechnic University in Helsinki, Finland. Among the audience members was 21-year-old Linux Torvalds, future developer of the Linux kernel -- the free software kernel destined to fill the GNU Project's most sizeable gap." Read this book if you can. Ironically, it's freely copyable under the GNU Free Documentation License. Maybe our FSF-India friends could think of getting some publisher publishing a low-cost (or possibly updated) version of it for India. I know some young programmers who swear that their views on programming were drastically changed after reading this book. FN

1 0

Microsoft to share Windows code with India
by Tarun Gaur 18 Dec '02

18 Dec '02

Hi Mr. Satish, You are very right when you say the recipe of coke cant do much on itself. But lets for a moment think on what the availability of recipe of coke can do when it is free to one and all. - Maybe someone would have innovated and creted a new recipe, that would have been better than coke. Then we could have drank the wonderful coke++ rather than coke. - maybe that coke++ would have costed a lot less. - maybe we could have made it at home ? - maybe we could have altered the taste to suit our tastebuds. - further, this new innovation would have been available to one and all, so no drinking (digital) divide. A flip side could be an uncontrollable mess. This is being taken care of. - Now regulating/benchmarking/standardizing/ the new inventions is exctly what GNU is doing. satish> what is important and critical is to understand how to satish> envision, architect,design, develop, test,...and implement satish> integrated systems in as much as is feasible with an satish> understanding both of the needs and the technology and in that satish> order. yes, you are right. We are catching up fast with the properietry world, and in some spheres we are infact better. More than half of the internet that supports us all is the result of this and similar visions and integrations. Mr. Satish, be sure in near future you will see a lot coming out of GNU and elswhere that will take care of your concerns. maybe your concern is not understood, correct me if i am wrong. You indend to say that open source is a minor piece of the puzzle. There are a lot more concerns to be handled alongwith. [ to other friends:] friends, Mr. Satish does not seem to be opposing OS idea or Freedom, maybe what he intends to say is Open source is there to stay, now we have it and more and more is available by the tick, we need to look at the concerns beyond open source (that i think we are now doing). He seems to say: for an organisation : An integrated free system is far more important than the source code of that system. (but having the source code is great anyways). [to Mr. Satish] Sir, open source is the key to freedom and innovation. We stand a better chance of achieving integrated systems that are the best when thousands of envanglists are working on your concerns and remember the OPEN RECIPE of coke triggered it all. In near future you wont have to shell out money cause of weird licensing schemes. MICROSOFT is pretending to share code. What and how much has become a well circulated joke. Mr. Bill gates must have or soon will realize that Indians carry far more commonsense than he thinks they do. They lined up to take money from him, not give it to him. what microsoft is undertaking is a well guided tactical move to undermine linux. Dont worry, commonsense will prevail. We know by now, how he thinks. Anyways, future will not be decided by Microsoft or GNU sharing codes. It will be decided by what kind of integrated systems come up at both the ends. leave you with this thought ... Regards, tarun gaur _________________________________________________________________ Help STOP SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail

1 0

Re: [Fsf-friends] Re: [bytesforall_readers] Microsoft to share Windows code withIndia
by V. Sasi Kumar 17 Dec '02

17 Dec '02

On Tue, 2002-12-17 at 01:03, satish jha wrote: > sunil: > > thanks much. went to the recommended site. i don't think you need ti oversimplify it. it is oversimplified in itself though it could do with a bit of editing. > > having seen it, read it i am persuaded that its propounders live in a world of their own and have a right to do so. Thanks. i believe that without intellectual property rights there may have been some ideas. innovation, technolgy development and progres would have taken another path altogether and it can be shown that at least in terms of economics as we know it, it would be a sub-optimal model compared to what we have known. You forget that a large part of development took place without what you call "intellectual property rights". Those who claim rights for "intellectual property" forget that they have made ample use of similar "intellectual property" that others could have laid claim to. Would they be willing to share their "property rights" with everyone who has contributed towards its generation, right from the people who invented the wheel? Remember, even Isaac Newton, one of the greatest scientists ever, said that "If I have seen further, it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants". In India we have a model of knowledge that has been of tremendous value to humanity, which grew, and continues to grow, without the benefit of "intellectual property rights" - I refer to Ayurveda. But I tend to agree with you when you say that there may have been a different path of progress if "intellectual property rights" - that path would have led to a more equitable society, something that is much more valuable to people like us in this list than what goes by the word "progress" today. i do not wish to debate it on this forum for a variety of reasons and would think while the debate has a place on this forum, it may not be the right place for allocating majority of its time to free software etc. I think if you had no desire to debate this on this forum, then you should not have raised the question here. > you are an infectious speaker and will always sway people your way. that will not persuade me to go along with the substance of it though. What you are essentially saying is that you admit that what Sunil said is true, but you are not willing to admit it. That is really good. > > thanks much > ________________________________ > satish jha > cmd, james martin & co > www.jmcin.com > president, digital partners india > n-103, panchsheel park, > new delhi - 110 017 > v: 649 9384/5; 649 4384/5 > f: 649 4380 > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: sunil > To: bytesforall_readers(a)yahoogroups.com > Cc: linux-india-general(a)lists.sourceforge.net ; fsf-friends(a)gnu.org.in > Sent: Monday, December 16, 2002 5:21 PM > Subject: Re: [bytesforall_readers] Microsoft to share Windows code withIndia > > > Dear Satish, > > Free Software is not Open Source Software. Access to code is not the main > issue. Free License implies Ownership and Control. It is not the recipe of > coke but the ownership of coke. > > Copyrighting is the root cause of the digital divide... here is an > oversimplification so that you can understand.. > ------------------------------------------------------ > Before the concept of Private Property: > No Economic Divide > After the concept of Private Property: > Land Owners > Landless > Economic Divide > ------------------------------------------------------ > Before the concept of Intellectual Property:- > No Digital Divide > After the concept of Intellectual Property: > Those with Knowledge > Those without Knowledge > Digital Divide > ------------------------------------------------------ > > You will notice this trend in all forms of privatization:- water, phrases, > gestures, ideas, products etc. > > General Public License transfers ownership of digital assets to the poor. > To use a Marxist phrase - the means of production in the knowledge economy > will be transfered to the poor. This is a 'critical' component of any > digital divide intervention.Without this type of systemic intervention all > other ICT is merely technology band-aid. > > Please see my IIM-B presentation for more details: > http://www.mahiti.org/events/Event.2002-12-16.3025/view > > Thanks, > > Sunil

1 0

Article in Peoples Democracy
by Nagarjuna G. 16 Dec '02

16 Dec '02

See this article in the CPM's weekly Peoples Decomocracy http://pd.cpim.org/2002/dec15/12152002_snd.htm Nagarjuna

3 2

Re: [bytesforall_readers] Microsoft to share Windows code with India
by Frederick Noronha 16 Dec '02

16 Dec '02

Is this another way of saying that India was out in the cold till all this time? Below is something I had written for LinuxJournal recently. If so, would someone clarify why India was treated as untrustworthy till recently, and what has since changed? FN -------------------------------------------- From an article published in early December in www.linuxjournal.com: Microsoft has argued that its 'Shared Source Initiative' is "a balanced approach to broadly licensing source code while preserving the intellectual property (IP) rights needed to sustain a strong software business". Interestingly, Microsoft's source code is "made available" only in some countries worldwide, depending, the company says, on "national laws, practices, enforcement policies and attitudes towards IP protection". The Windows CE, Windows CE Academic Curriculum, and C#/JScript/CLI Implementations Shared Source Licensing Programs are available worldwide. But enterprise, systems integrator, government and OEM source licensing programs are not available in India, according to Microsoft's official website accessed November 30. Neither is the Microsoft Research Source Licensing Program. "I tried digging the m$ site on Shared Source," responded Mahesh T. Pai, one of those discussing the issue with strong views in the commons of the Indian cyberspace. Complained Pai: "I digged and digged and digged and digged and clicked on a link and clicked on another link which said 'more info' and clicked on link which said 'more info' and clicked on link which said 'more info' and ... there was more and more and more and more and more and more and more on 'benefits' of Shared Source; they told that you will get the access to the source code if you 'agree' but the license was not available to read." "Shared source is another way of saying 'my code is my code; your code is our code'," Pai argued. ------------------------------------------- On Fri, 13 Dec 2002, Ashish Kotamkar wrote: > Microsoft to share Windows code with India > The Economic Times, India DECEMBER 13, 2002 > http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/comp/articleshow?artid=3110 > 2968 > > Microsoft is virtually doing the unthinkable in India � it is planning to > share the Windows source code. Not with one and all, as Linux does, but with > a specific government body which, in turn, will share it with others for the > purposes of e-governance and education. > > Microsoft has already made a proposal to the ministry of information > technology for sharing the Windows source code with one government body. The > nature of the body has not been spelt out; it will presumably be worked out > after discussions between the company and the government officials. > Interestingly, the offer comes at a time when state governments are showing > interest in rival Linux operating system as the latter's source code is free > and downloadable from the internet..... > > When contacted by ET, Microsoft India president Rajiv Nair was somewhat > cagey. Although he didn't deny the move, he merely said, "We are evaluating > the idea (of sharing the source code)." However, sources in the company said > that MS is already in talks with the government to work out the modalities > of sharing the source code. It's learnt that MS worldwide program manager > for shared source program, Jason Matusow, was recently in India to work out > the modalities. > > Microsoft is exceedingly secretive about its Windows source code � the > company has so far shared it with only a few big clients and developers. In > Asia. MS has shared the Windows source code with select clients in Japan, > Korea and Singapore. What appears to have persuaded it to extend the same > privilege to the Indian government is the growing attraction here for the > Linux OS, which is seen by some state governments as a cheaper alternative > to Windows. > > Microsoft officials are, of course, playing down the Linux threat. They > insisted that Linux wasn't a big issue while selling to the governments in > India. Says Peter Hayes, industry vice-president, Microsoft Government: "OS > software is merely 1-3% of the total cost of an IT project, and studies have > shown that total cost can be lower with Microsoft technologies compared to > Linux." The open source software has been grabbing headlines recently asthe > debate on open versus proprietary software has gained momentum in government > circles here. > > Says MS boss for shared source program, Jason Matusow, "There has been a lot > of hype about open source code in the software industry as well as in the > media. Linux might grab headlines, but being able to look at source code > doesn't bring any benefits to an average end-user, though it might increase > the trust level.� > > The basic idea behind open source is very simple. When programmers can read, > redistribute, and modify the source code for a piece of software, the > software evolves. People improve it, people adapt it, people fix bugs. While > open source community believes that this process produces better software > than the traditional closed model, proponents of proprietary software argue > that this model can't work in the commercial world. > > =========================================================== > Ashish Kotamkar (ashish(a)mithi.com) > Mithi Software Technologies Pvt. Ltd. (www.mithi.com) > Communicate in your own language. Log onto www.mailjol.com. > ===========================================================

4 3

[OT] Picasso's GNU
by Suraj Kumar 15 Dec '02

15 Dec '02

this is totally irrelevant but this just got me so excited. I'm already looking for scrap bicycle parts to have a GNU head in my drawing hall... :) http://www.bridgew.edu/depts/art/hausrath/cub/images/37.%20Picasso%20-%20Bu… -Suraj -- +-------------------------------------------------<suraj(a)symonds.net>--+ | The bright jeweled belle thrills me in tender sulk; | | O peaceful night! I plead with thee to prolong | | (the delight of boudiere - 9), Thirukkural | +--<http://symonds.net/~suraj/>----------------------------------------+

1 0

Libranet 2.7 - Debian Made Easy
by Tarun Gaur 15 Dec '02

15 Dec '02

hi friends, Cool article ---------------- Libranet GNU/Linux, a commercial Linux distribution based on Debian, has been given increasingly positive coverage in Linux media. Its recipe for success is simple - it attempts to remedy some of the often cited shortcomings of Debian proper, by providing a simple installer, user-friendly system configuration tools and up-to-date selection of software packages. Combine that with a friendly user community and you have a winner. Let us investigate what Libranet is about and why you should give it a serious thought when choosing your Linux distribution. The Great Divide - APT vs. RPM One of the greatest strengths - and also one of the greatest weaknesses - of GNU/Linux is the way that numerous developers have taken the OS and molded it the way they like it. Occasionally this produces a "fork" - two (or more) camps of devout users, both vehemently insisting that their way of doing things is best. The most prominent example of this is probably the great GUI debate (Is KDE or Gnome better?). Another equally important divide exists over the seemingly mundane issue of package management. The two biggest contenders are the Red Hat package manager (RPM, as it is popularly known) and Debian's Advanced Package Tool (APT, or apt-get) system. Until late 2002, it seemed as if the debate was all but over - RPM was winning by a landslide. All the major Linux distros - including but not limited to Red Hat, Mandrake, SuSE, Caldera, and Conectiva - were RPM based. Furthermore, the LSB (Linux Standard Base) project endorsed RPM. To add insult to injury, the big-three Debian-based commercial distros failed in the marketplace - Stormix, Corel and Progeny. Debian users had their loyalty tested when Linux kernel 2.4 was released in January, 2000. Within four months of the release, all the major RPM-based distros produced sets of nicely packaged CDs based on the new kernel. But for Debian users, the process of migrating to the new kernel took more than two years. During this interval, Debian was falling seriously behind the other well-known distros in terms of features. Of course, one could argue that by constantly downloading the "testing" and "unstable" packages, Debian users could in fact enjoy the latest and greatest that the RPM-based competition had to offer. But "testing" and "unstable" are just what the names imply. Whether they wished to admit it or not, Debian's loyal fans were pining for the day when the new stable release would hit the ftp servers. Debian 3.0 (code-named "Woody") was released on July 19, 2002. It was an occasion for much rejoicing - at last, Debian users had an up-to-date stable distro. Or did they? Stable, yes, but up-to-date was debatable. Linux development moves at nearly the speed of light, and by the time Woody was released, RPM-based distros were offering new features that Debian still relegated to the testing branch (now code-named "Sarge"), or the unstable branch (known as "Sid"). Furthermore, Debian continues to suffer from a relatively difficult-to-use installer, mediocre hardware detection, and somewhat complicated system administration. None of the above should be taken as a fatal flaw of Debian - indeed, Debian's slowness to market might even be considered a "feature". The Debian philosophy has always been "release when ready". As a result, Debian has bragging rights as one of the most stable distros around. Furthermore, Debian also can boast about being the largest Linux distro in existence - Woody includes 8710 packages. Creating and testing thousands of packages is no mean feat, and made more difficult by the fact that Debian is a non-commercial product, created by volunteers who also need to work day jobs to pay the bills. This is in sharp contrast to commercial distros such as Red Hat, where full-time programmers are employed. Obviously, Debian's fortunes would be improved if commercial developers decided to produce their own Debian-based distros with cutting-edge features. And rather suddenly, this has happened. Following fast on the heels of Woody, there were milestone releases of new Debian-based distros - Lindows 3.0, Xandros 1.0, Knoppix 3.1, and Libranet 2.7. Lindows and Xandros are both commercial distros, notable for their ease-of-use that will help Windows users make an almost painless transition to Linux. Knoppix is a different animal - a unique non-commercial distro that runs entirely off a CD-ROM. And then there is Libranet. Libranet is Debian made easy. The product of Jon and Tal Danzig - two programmers based in Vancouver, Canada - Libranet is a commercial Debian-based distro "that just works". Almost overnight, Libranet seems to have leaped out of obscurity and is now getting serious attention as a potential major contender in the distro wars. ----------- regards tarun gaur __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com

2 1

Open Forum on GPL'd Software
by eiid 15 Dec '02

15 Dec '02

It is to inform all of you that there will be an Open forum organaised by Open Softwre Solutions Industrial Co-op Society, in Connection with Kerala Summit of World Social Forum at Thiruvananthapuram. The summit will be conducted on 26-29 Dec 2002. Exact time of Open forum will be announced later. The subject of open forum will be "The GPL'd Software, Its relevence and utilation". Dr. Achuth Sankar of CDiT, Thiruvananthapuram, Mr. Arun M of FSF-India, Mr. P. Rajeev of Democratic Youth Federation of India, Mr Joseph Thomas of Appropriate Technology Promotion Society (ATPS-Kochi) will be pesenting the subject. ATPS-Kochi will be coducting a workshop on E-governance at 2.30 PM on 27th Dec 2002. in connection with Kerala Summit. This workshop will emphasis the need of GPL'd Software for E-governance. ATPC-Kochi is publishing a occassional publication to propagate the use of GPL'd Software. This publication is named "Vivara vicharam" and will published in Malayalam. Its first issue will be released in next week. Regards, Anil kumar K V.

1 0

Free, Non-Free, Commercial, Gratis
by Suraj Kumar 15 Dec '02

15 Dec '02

After a talk with the Madras Christian College I realise they are very confused with commercial free software and gratis non-free software. I made this image for explaining things more clearly in the future. I thought this might help FS advocates here: http://gpasokan.com/demo-schools/images/free-and-commercial.png -Suraj -- +-------------------------------------------------<suraj(a)symonds.net>--+ | He is free from faults, yet my beloveds separation | | is mystic; his feigned sulk has undefined pleasure | | (the delight of boudiere - 5), Thirukkural | +--<http://symonds.net/~suraj/>----------------------------------------+

1 0

Dr Anil Seth on RMS...
by Frederick Noronha 14 Dec '02

14 Dec '02

For those of you reading this in Goa, don't miss Dr Anil Seth's article in Gomantak Times (Goa, 13 Dec 2002 Page 5) titled 'Learning from an alternative role model'. Quote: It was very inspiring to listen to Richard M Stallman (RMS) at Goa Engineering College recently.... We may not be able to emulate RMS, we can still do a lot for free software. Free software is extremely important for India given the low usage of software technology in our country. Not to mention, we can change the rules from "how much money has been lost by the software industry by sharing" to "how much money society has saved by sharing software". For people not convinced by that idea, I would like them to think about water. We see a lot of ads of mineral water. The mineral water industry pays a lot of taxes and provides a lot of employment. The more our municipalities are unable to provide safe clean water, the more the mineral water industry flourishes. Hence, it is economically undesirable to have free, safe drinking water flowing from our taps! Are the municipalities actually helping the society by not providing drinking water? There is nothing wrong about selling mineral water, though most of us would agree that it is unethical to bottle tap water and lable it as mineral water.... This article is interesting. It should be circulated in full. Dr Seth, could you please send me the plain-text version? Thanks. For those who don't know him (if you're reading this outside Goa), Dr Seth is a veteran member of our GNU/Linux group in Goa, and a US-educated scientist of an early generation which went there in the 'sixties and 'seventies and then returned to work out of India. Dr Seth, could you also agree to join our Project Resource Centre network, a list that aims to link up young programmers and students with technical gurus who can guide them to take up challenging and socially-useful IT projects? It is at: _______________________________________________ prc mailing list http://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/prc FN

2 1

The Linux Desktop Needs To Be Easier
by Tarun Gaur 14 Dec '02

14 Dec '02

Hi Friends, An Article in OSOpinion.com .... ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The Linux Desktop Needs To Be Easier Send this Article Print this Article Talkback Related Stories Contributed by James Maguire osOpinion.com December 12, 2002 Installing a new program, or the OS itself, proves cumbersome for some users. Creating a home network or developing individualized settings can be confusing or frustrating. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I was talking with a friend recently, a truly techie-geeky kind of fellow, and he told me a familiar story. He talked about a recent experience of his, working on a Linux desktop system. No matter what he did -- and he did quite a bit -- he could not get the system to connect to the Internet. He switched over to a nearby Windows system, and -- bingo -- he was connected. His experience points to a problem that may be reality or merely perception. But either way, it's a widespread attitude: The Linux desktop just ain't easy to use. A Pocketful of Promise Clearly, Linux has the potential to devour the desktop market. It is dirt cheap in comparison to Windows. And that's not counting those pricey Windows upgrades that are called for on a regular basis (ouch!). With Linux, you can install the OS on all your machines without feeling like a fugitive. And if you're lucky enough to have a geeky friend, he or she can get underneath the hood and modify your software, customizing it for your needs (try doing that with Microsoft). Perhaps the biggest advantage of the Linux desktop is that many Linux packages are fully equipped with not only an OS, but also a full suite of programs. For example, the Lindows 3.0 release bundles the core OS with access to a library of free software. Compare this with Windows' a la carte "each program costs more," which gets expensive fast. Add it all up, and Linux's potential is bigger than Bill Gates' bank account. (Well, maybe not that big, but you get the idea.) So, What's the Deal? With all these advantages, why does Linux have a tiny 2 percent share of the desktop market, with Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) commanding a mammoth 93 percent share? Part of this disparity stems from Microsoft's marketing muscle. It's hard to beat an effort with that many ad dollars behind it. However, it is also undeniable that Linux is not easy to use for the average desktop user. Installing a new program, or the OS itself, proves cumbersome for some users. Creating a home network or developing individualized settings can be confusing or frustrating. Developers' Efforts Linux' reputation for being difficult to use is "a [negative] rap that's going to take it a while to live down," Yankee Group analyst Laura DiDio told NewsFactor. However, she said, "I think we're getting closer." The open source system's biggest problem in gaining desktop share is simple lack of familiarity, she said. "Linux hasn't been a desktop phenomenon until recently, in the last 12 to 15 months. "Clearly, Red Hat (Nasdaq: RHAT) , SCO, the Lindows people -- they are all aware of the fact that you have to make this stuff easy or nobody will use it," she added, pointing to the Lindows OS as a "major step forward" in terms of ease of use. Incentive Exists Although Microsoft essentially owns the OS desktop market at this point, there is ample incentive for Linux developers to create distributions whose ease of use makes the open source OS compelling. As DiDio pointed out, the market is not just U.S.-based, but global. And whereas the U.S. PC market is mature, the global market is in its infancy. "As you see Linux gaining market share, it's not that people will defect from Windows, it's that new users are going to Linux on the desktop," she said, explaining that European and South American users, among others, welcome open source alternatives. "The pie is not finite." --------------------------------------------------------------------- regards,, tarun gaur _________________________________________________________________ MSN 8 with e-mail virus protection service: 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus

1 0

The pros and cons of open source computing
by Tarun Gaur 14 Dec '02

14 Dec '02

Hi Friends, An Article in Linux Today .... ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The pros and cons of open source computing 12/5/2002 3:23:26 PM - by Liam Lahey The great misconception about open source computing is it doesn't truly exist in the IT industry, according to Russell McOrmand, an Ottawa-based Internet and Linux consultant. McOrmand is a member of GOSLING (Getting Open Source Logic Into Governments), a software lobby group that aims to change how Canadian governments purchase and use proprietary software. "Linux is often seen as the open source poster child, which is ironic, since it's not the most visible in its domain," McOrmand says, adding that government should take a leadership position on open standards. McOrmand also takes issue with the Canadian Alliance Against Software Theft (CAAST) and its annual studies on North American software piracy. McOrmand says the methodology employed by CAAST and its international partner the Business Software Alliance (BSA) to determine the rate of software theft in Canada is critically flawed. For one thing, he says, CAAST's methodology does not make any allowance that systems shipped without CAAST-member software could be using open source software instead. "CAAST is wanting open source to disappear," says McOrmand. "Its studies are based on the premise that open source doesn't exist," McOrmand says. McOrmand says users that switch to Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) are not differentiated from illegal copying of CAAST member software. He says a computer that is shipped without any CAAST or BSA member software could be equipped by the home or business user with a full set of FLOSS tools. Free software encourages a more direct, customer needs-driven relationship, McOrmand contends, treating software as a service rather than a "one-size-fits-all" product. Jackie Famulak, spokesperson and a member of the board of directors for CAAST, says McOrmand makes some interesting points with regard to software. However, she says CAAST's studies are intended to track its members' software only and the studies don't include following operating system distribution or non-member company software proliferation. "First, a large percentage of free, open source software out there is Linux-based; it's not products such as a photo management software suites," Famulak says. "If you look at the users of software, there's not a lot of people out there that are ready to begin programming their own software. Companies don't always have the resources (to develop software) and they can't afford the downtime or provide the necessary support that a manufacturer can give them 24/7. When you consider it in that regard, we already are providing a service." Many established industry players have set sail into open source waters over the last few years. IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Oracle, SAP and many others support Linux. In mid-November, Sun Microsystems Inc. announced a new Linux strategy in conjunction with its 32-bit LX50 server. Sun is giving its customers what they're asking for, says one Sun manager. "If we go back to why Linux is evolving, people want to take the benefit of industry-standard hardware," says Robert ffoulkes, strategy group manager, volume systems products for Sun. "The open source mechanism is also really important as it enables the focusing of a huge amount of software development. Therefore it accelerates the development of things." But questions arose from developers and industry analysts during the LX50 press conference in Toronto about how Sun would support Linux. "We have a lot of our own technology that we're putting into the open source community," ffoulkes says. "The limitation we see with open source is not with the development process or with participation. But if you want to have systems you can guarantee you're going to run a business on, somebody has to do quality assurance." Sun, says ffoulkes, sees itself in this quality assurance role, having the muscle, as a long-established industry player, to bring Linux into the mainstream. "If things work well, as Linux proliferates and becomes more of a mainstream environment in business, the development of a software ecosystem will happen much more quickly," says ffoulkes. Dan Kusnetzky, vice-president, system software for IDC Corp. in Framingham, Mass., says Sun's attitude may result in a backlash from customers. "Sun is basically saying to these people, 'we are not going to make our supported software available to you. You will have to buy a machine to get that software'. That . . . will upset the people who are otherwise loyal Sun buyers," he says. --------------------------------------------------------------------- regards,, tarun gaur _________________________________________________________________ The new MSN 8: smart spam protection and 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail

1 0

Brazilian Citizen Petitions President-elect for Free Software
by Tarun Gaur 14 Dec '02

14 Dec '02

Hi Friends, An Article in Linux Today .... ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Brazilian Citizen Petitions President-elect for Free Software Dec 14, 2002, 04 :00 UTC (0 Talkback[s]) (78 reads) A Brazilian citizen has started up his own online petition to persuade Brazillan President-elect Luis Inacio Lula da Silva to end government funding of foreign proprietary software firms and instead turn government software spending towards free and open-source software. The petition, which is being hosted at PetitionsOnline.com, is a brief missive to President-elect Lula urging him to divert funding from purchasing software from companies such as Microsoft and use the savings to facilitate the transition to free software. The arguments made by the petition are relatively straightforward: shifting the government to using only free software would not only save funds right off the top, but ideally would seed citizen's use of similar technology. This is a familiar argument, having been used in Israel and other nations to promote the use of government free software use. The petition specifically highlights the Brazilian government's relationship with Microsoft--a government the petition cites as providing 80 percent of all of Microsoft's sales in Brazil. The author of the survey is Renato Siqueira, who describes himself as "a Brazilian how cares how the public administration and people spend money in my country." Siqueira plans to have the petition online until it has acquired 500,000 signatures. While not a member of any free software of Linux group, Siqueira, a self-proclaimed "GNU/Linux lover" would certainly weclome assistance from "any free software group wants to help me with marketing or training in GNU/Linux..." The petition is only valid to Brazilian citizens, though Siqueira indicated that any comments on his efforts would be welcomed and most likely posted on his own personal weblog. How President-elect Lula would react to this petition should be interesting, particularly is the requistite half million signatures are gathered. As a member of the Workers' Party in Brazil, Lula has in the past been very left on the political spectrum. Some have described him as socialist. Even though he turned to more centrist views during this current successful presidential campaign, Lula has always maintained very strong ties with Brazilian labor groups. Not surprising given his backgound of 20 years as a labor negotiator. Given his leanings away from big business, Lula may be a powerful ally in shifting government software use towards a free or open source environment. With Brazil currently having the eighth largest economy in the world, that will mean big stakes for proprietary software vendors. --------------------------------------------------------------------- regards,, tarun gaur _________________________________________________________________ Tired of spam? Get advanced junk mail protection with MSN 8. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail

1 0

Some Good Work !
by Tarun Gaur 13 Dec '02

13 Dec '02

Hi Friends, Some good work ... http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2002-12-13-004-26-RV-SW-DV http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2002-12-13-002-26-NW-HE-SV Free software for the brave GNU World. regads, tarun gaur _________________________________________________________________ MSN 8 helps eliminate e-mail viruses. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus

1 0

Mentoring students... from a friend in Bangalore
by Frederick Noronha 13 Dec '02

13 Dec '02

Abhas is a friend in Bangalore who is doing some good work in mentoring youngsters. I'd like to introduce his work to this list. It came up on the Project Resource Centre list earlier. FN ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Hi Fred and others... On (11/12/02 23:33), Frederick Noronha wrote: > Hi Rajeev, Great to hear from you. I already know Abhas and have long > admired his work. DeepRoot's mentoring plans in PES IT need to be > replicated by the Free Software and Open Source communities elsewhere. > > Permit me to share this note with friends on the PRC mailing list. > > Maybe you could share with us some of your experiences in mentoring > youngsters. What is the help that they need most? At which point do > bottlenecks come up? What could *really* make a difference to their > achievements? > > Thanks again for getting in touch, FN Here are my views on this issue... Actually we have been working with students for more than a year and a half before we started our PESIT lab. Working with students has taught us a lot about project management and most importantly, about how to work with students. In fact, today we continue to get project requests from students all over India - Pune, Calcutta, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Srinagar, Bangalore, lots of colleges in Karanataka and a whole lot of cities in Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. So at any point of time, there has always been an exciting group of students working with us - either at our development center or remotely over email. Genearlly, we've met three types of students: a. Those who have a good knowledge of Linux and are prepared to start off working on projects right away. Here again they are some who have a some specific interests and want to work in a specific field and those who are not yet focused into something specific. b. Those who are just starters getting initiated into Linux through friends, books and Internet c. Those who have are looking at Linux as a way of expressing some of their ideas. Their ideas are not Linux specific but then they somehow understand that working on them in Linux could be the best way to do it. We have different approaches to handling each type of student. Whenever a group of students approach us we try to guage a couple of things about them: a. Their seriousness for the project b. The amount of passion they have for their work/project c. Things they know and have worked with and which are not a part of their curriculum d. The amount and work they are willing to put into their project e. Their motivations and drive Its really important for us to guage this as this will tell us if its worthwhile for us to spend productive time guiding them on their projects. Guiding them on projects can be an enormous sag in our energy and time if the students can't contribute equally in terms of what they are supposed to be doing. Most of the times, we give them something in which we have more than an academic or passing interest. Giving out practical projects that can help achieve something specific is a part of our committment to anyone who applies to us for projects. We then go about analysing what sort of project the students could do. Our project lists is divided into three parts: * A research and testing list * A development and programming list * A documentation list Most projects go through all these three types of tasks. Students first spend time research and test some software and understand basic technology concepts. Then some of them go on to use this knowledge to program while others use this basic knowledge to design and setup more advanced systems and setups which are then tested for things such as stability, performance and so on depending upon what the project is about. We always make it a point to explain that you can't start programming from day one. And that you have to spend some time experimenting with different things so that you can use them later on to program. At, PESIT since we were working in a more formal setting and with a larger number students (around 60 now), we held formal introductory classes for them. These started at the usual discources about Free Software, Softwar Freedom, GNU/GPL, Linux, history and other such elements and went on to make them capable enough to install, configure and manage their own desktops and computers. Our approach was to use very basic and bare-bones utilities (no GUIs or abstraction layers here) to explain how the system boots up and how networking and other stuff work on Linux. Debian GNU/Linux is the distribution of choice in our Lab at PESIT and all students have to do their own installations and configurations. Anyway, there are a couple of things we have learnt about leading students on these projects: * Students don't want a formal setting at all (which is why we are very friendly with them with specific limits) - formality would limit their exploration and growth * Students are mostly very capable and hard-working - their energies just need to be drawn in the correct direction. * Moulding them in any way is up to the people guiding them - you can get them to write ground-breaking software if you could motive and guide them enough. * They just need guidance - we've found that most of them can find their own way around technology. We just show them the basic tools and how to use them (Internet, Mailing lists). * Its important to have an atmosphere congenial to information sharing - all of us share more than information; we also share code and experience. These values of sharing have to be imbibed in students as well otherwise there is no growth at all! * They need to understand the larger picture about what they are doing - so that they know what they are aiming at with their project. Which is why it is important to give out practical projects that can achieve something in the short run as well. (They have 3-6 months for their project work.) * They need to be introduced to FLOSS traditions - that is the only way they will ever remain active developers in the Linux community contributing a lot over the period of many years to come. Another thing we have understood is that sometimes it is difficult to hold them accountable. So there are times when you can't do anything because a student chooses not to do some work on time. At least, this is important for us if we give them a project on which we are also depending upon. Well - these are somethings that came to my mind and I thought that I should write them down. They are a lot more things of course... All I'd like to add is that students can be very powerful force if they can be guided properly and professionally. Now its all up to all of us! cheers, abhas. PS. Please mark a copy of your replies to me as I am not subscribed to the PRC mailing list. -- ------------------------------------------------------------------- Abhas Abhinav | Free Software at its product-ive best. CEO, DeepRoot Linux http://www.deeproot.co.in ---- Server Appliances ---- Ph: +91 (80) 856 5624 ---- Linux Support and Services ---- ------------------------------------------------------------------- Knowlege is power... share it equitably! _______________________________________________ prc mailing list prc(a)mail.sarai.net http://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/prc

1 0

Gunify ... from Pune
by Frederick Noronha 13 Dec '02

13 Dec '02

URL : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gnunify/ Description Category: [11]Computer Science [GNUnify.jpg?grLDu.9Ac4EPunI9] Unify is the annual fest of SICSR, which has various cultural and academic activities. This year we are introducing an all India Free Software Festival - GNUnify, our own way of contributing to the upcoming use of FREE SOFTWARES &; LINUX. Here we establish a footage for future IT students of the country to be aware of the advantages and use of free softwares. The future of our country pirates or programmers lies in our own hands!! So today, we stand up for ourselves and for all the others who are not even aware of what might be a big leap for the professionals and the whole education system of our country. The event thus organized is devoted to a united effort to promote the use &; knowledge of free softwares among the budding coders. Various academic institutes from across the country are invited to be a part of this first ever event being held. It includes various contests and paper-presentations. More to come sooooon Most Recent Messages Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 2002 22 Group Email Addresses For more information: [12]http://www.symbiosiscomputers.com Post message: gnunify(a)yahoogroups.com Subscribe: gnunify-subscribe(a)yahoogroups.com Unsubscribe: gnunify-unsubscribe(a)yahoogroups.com List owner: gnunify-owner(a)yahoogroups.com Group Info Members: 21 Founded: Dec 7, 2002 Language: English

1 0

Big Blue counters Gates' offer for Indian software
by Soundara Rajan N.S. 13 Dec '02

13 Dec '02

Big Blue counters Gates' offer for Indian software IANS Thursday, December 12, 2002 BANGALORE: After Microsoft chairman Bill Gates' lavish offerings for health, education and proprietary software, his company's biggest competitor IBM has offered to transform India into a software industry hub if it adopts the open source standard. The world's second largest software company that is also known as the Big Blue is offering to build "enablement centres" for India to shift from being a mere software services powerhouse to a full-fledged software industry hub. "We are willing to invest heavily in the enablement centres based on what decision the government takes. It should standardise on open source and we will create centres for the software industry to flourish," Amuj Goyal, vice president, solutions and strategy, IBM software group, told IANS. Source: siliconindia.com ================================================================= N.S. Soundara Rajan, freelance IT journalist and Knowledge networker, based at Mysore, India ...connecting people to people, and people to knowledge

1 0

Anyone knows more about the Akshaya project (Kerala)?
by Frederick Noronha 12 Dec '02

12 Dec '02

'Akshaya' project ----------------- Reports in the mainstream press say India's 'Akshaya' project plans to set up some 9,000 community information centres across Kerala as part of a campaign to bridge the digital divide. These centres are to be established through private initiative, with the objective of having one centre within two km of each household. The project would commence in Malappuram and Thiruvananthapuram in January 2003 and the entire State is proposed to be covered by May 2004. http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2002/11/17/stories/2002111704810400.htm

1 0

LINK: GNU/Linux in Indian languages ...
by Frederick Noronha 12 Dec '02

12 Dec '02

[Note, please read GNU/Linux instead of Linux below... since this refers to more than just the kernel. -FN] ---------- Forwarded message ---------- GNU/LINUX IN INDIAN LANGUAGES * Call for participation We are a group of people who passionately believe that the benefits of information technology must be widely and freely available to the Indian masses. Our group consists of people who combine skills in written scripts, free/open source technologies, language experts and technology journalism to make this happen. Why Indian languages ? Today, almost all software and operating systems and websites in India are in the English language. Since English is a language spoken by less than 10 percent of India's population (generally considered to be the language of the affluent) language is a significant barrier for the other 90 percent of India. This is creating a new class of people who live in what can be called as "Information Poverty" even as technology becomes cheaper and cheaper. To destroy this barrier we need to create a national-level, collaborative effort to localise Linux to Indian languages. Why Linux ? The openness of Linux allows local linguistic groups to customise user interfaces in ways that are far more culturally sensitive than any centrally controlled approach. Linguistic groups that may be considered too small a market by vendors can also take their destiny in their own hands by customising the Linux interface to their own needs. We therefore believe that Linux is a very attractive long-term solution to India's computing needs. We believe that information technology in India in general and Linux in particular has been confined to the 3 % of the Indian population who feel comfortable reading, speaking and writing English. Given that there are 1 billion Indian citizens, this is a scandal. Linux and its ecology encompass almost all areas of computing today from small embedded devices and clusters with thousands of nodes. We believe that Linux technology should be accessible to all Indians, regardless of linguistic background. How can I participate ? Localising the user interface of Linux to all the 18 official Indian languages will involve changing the menus and help-text to Indian languages and creating a whole stack of applications and tools (word processors, browsers, spell-checkers etc.) to enable computing in Indian languages. To achieve this goal we are looking for people with either of the two skills (if you have both these skills, that's fantastic!): Technical skills: The project needs a variety of technical skills in variety of programming languages (C/C++/Java/Perl) and platforms such as X-Windows GNOME,KDE, font development, application development , locale support etc. Language skills: You must be fluent with the script of at least one Indian language and be willing to contribute to the task of Indianising the menus and help text of Linux. We request linguistic user groups and patriotic individuals to come forward and help us in this task. Join in at www.indlinux.org - - - - - - - - - - Ongoing Indianisation Projects Indian Linux Project , IndLinux.org - http://www.indlinux.org Project page on SourceForge - http://www.sf.net/projects/indlinux Main Focus : Complete language enablement at all levels, building a fully Indian language supported Linux distribution ( http://www.indlinux.org/distro ). Indic Computing Project - http://indic-computing.sourceforge.net Project page at SF - http://www.sf.net/projects/indic-computing The Indic-Computing project is a central resource for the Indian language developer community, featuring information on Indian language computing issues and providing a forum where standards can be discussed and evolved. The project intends to serve the community by collecting information on the various aspects of Indian language text processing in one place, and publishing this in the form of a freely accessible handbook. http://indic-computing.sf.net/handbook/index.html Linux Localisation Initiative - http://lli.linux-bangalore.org Project page of SF - http://www.sf.net/projects/lli Main Focus : Translation of LDP documentation , esp HOWTOs in all Indian languages Language Teams Bengali http://www.bengalinux.org Gujarati http://www.indlinux.org/gujarati Hindi http://www.indlinux.org/hindi Kannada http://kannada.sourceforge.net/ Malayalam https://savannah.nongnu.org/projects/smc Marathi http://www.indlinux.org/marathi Oriya http://www.indlinux.org/oriya Punjabi http://punjabi-linux.sf.net/, http://www.indlinux.org/punjabi/ Tamil http://www.tamillinux.org/ Telugu http://www.indlinux.org/telugu Others (add you mother tongue) http://www.indlinux.org/otherlang.php Other Projects NCST Indix http://rohini.ncst.ernet.in/indix BharateeyaOO - OpenOffice in Indian Languages http://www.ncb.ernet.in/bharateeyaoo IITM IndLinux http://www.tenet.res.in/Donlab/Indlinux/ [If you know anyone who can be a potential contributor, please pass on this message.]

1 0

NEWS-BANGALORE: Big Blue counters Gates' offer for Indian software
by Frederick Noronha 12 Dec '02

12 Dec '02

Big Blue counters Gates' offer for Indian software By Imran Qureshi, Indo-Asian News Service Bangalore, Dec 12 (IANS) After Microsoft chairman Bill Gates' lavish offerings for health, education and proprietary software, his company's biggest competitor IBM has offered to transform India into a software industry hub if it adopts the open source standard. The world's second largest software company that is also known as the Big Blue is offering to build "enablement centres" for India to shift from being a mere software services powerhouse to a full-fledged software industry hub. "We are willing to invest heavily in the enablement centres based on what decision the government takes. It should standardise on open source and we will create centres for the software industry to flourish," Amuj Goyal, vice president, solutions and strategy, IBM software group, told IANS. "Innovation on the Microsoft platform has moved out. VCs (venture capitalists) are not investing any more on the MSN platform. Gates' visit was only to carry the message of proprietary software that will not benefit the customers," he said. Goyal, the highest ranking Indian in IBM worldwide, has helped drive the growth of the hardware leader's foray into the software business and made it a $13 billion group in just seven years, displacing Oracle from the position of the world's number two software company. "IBM was on proprietary technology in the early 1990s. We could not see outside that. We were trying to look after ourselves, not the customers, until we started the software business in 1995. Today Microsoft is on the wrong side," said Goyal, an alumni of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur. "We will put up enablement centres (like e-governance or e-business centres) for software centres. Our strategy is different. Customers need to have control and that can come only through open standards. Microsoft's strategy is to get in their proprietary technology. That's a big trap," he added. "Today you can use database from IBM or any other vendor on open standard. The reason why customers like us is because our systems are robust and scalable and for support services. If you are caught in the proprietary trap, the software business cannot be built. Those are hooks and lures he (Gates) is investing in. Customers don't want that," Goyal said. He quoted examples of the governments of Britain, Germany and Singapore that have adopted open source standards. "India does not have a software business. We want to build the future SAP or a BEA in India by focusing on open standards." IBM is leveraging India not only for its "tremendous skills in software and services" but also because it sees the country as an important market. It has set up five software research and development centres and a solution partnership centre in India. The company has committed $100 million until 2003 for the India software laboratory in Bangalore, which is being scaled up from a headcount of 500 to about 600. "But the skills in India can be applied far beyond the Indian market, primarily the English-speaking countries in the Asia-Pacific unlike China or Japan, which are country-focussed labs," Goyal said. So, was the shift in focus from hardware to software during the downturn coincidental? "No, it was not coincidental. We have been on this strategy for the last 10 years. We have recorded growth for 21 consecutive quarters," Goyal said. The software group drives about 30 percent of IBM's profits. It is the largest supplier of Internet infrastructure software, called middleware, which accounts for about 80 percent of IBM's software revenue of over $10 billion. "We are young -- just seven years old -- and growing, and we will continue to grow. Given the current economic situation, if an opportunity exists, we will go in for acquisition, as we did with Rational Software (the world's leading supplier of software tools for $2.1 billion). It makes sense because it is open standard. We have completed seven acquisitions in 18 months." --Indo-Asian News Service

1 0

The Open CD... what's it about really?
by Frederick Noronha 12 Dec '02

12 Dec '02

URL : http://www.theopencd.org/about.php The OpenCD is a collection of high-quality Open Source Software. All of the programs on the disc run under Windows; the disc is intended to be an Open Source showcase. New users can try out Open Source software in the comfort of their own, familiar operating system, rather than having to take the drastic step of reformatting their hard drive to install Linux. Currently, the disc is aimed solidly at non-techies. The primary audience is expected to consist mostly of people who use computers regularly for their work, but are not power users. This might be, for example, Jane from Accounting, who spends a lot of time working on spreadsheets and checking her email. She can find her way around the computer without too much trouble, but wouldn't know a kernel from a TCP/IP stack. By showing the benefits of Open Source Software to users such as these, we hope to encourage its adoption -- in the workplace, in schools, and by individuals. The OpenCD features a CD browser application that allows for easy browsing of the programs on the CD. It also includes a selection of essays about Open Source philosophy, and links to other programs that might be of interest. The OpenCD The following programs are on the OpenCD. Click a program name to see a full description, with screenshots and a link to the program's own home page. * [1]OpenOffice.org 1.0.1 * [2]DictInstall 0.9.3.2 * [3]AbiWord 1.0.1 * [4]Beonex Communicator 0.8.1 * [5]FileZilla 2.1.1 * [6]Putty 0.52 * [7]WinVNC 3.3.3r9 * [8]XChat 1.8.10a * [9]Audacity 1.0 * [10]CDex 1.40 * [11]7-Zip 2.24 * [12]NetTime 2.0b6 * [13]Win Privacy Tray 0.5.5 * [14]Sokoban YASC 1.53 * [15]Celestia 1.2.4 * [16]More OSS Programs These are candidate programs, most of which are not currently on the CD. http://www.theopencd.org/programs/MorePrograms.html

1 0

The OpenCD : (URL - http://www.theopencd.org/)
by Frederick Noronha 11 Dec '02

11 Dec '02

URL : http://www.theopencd.org/ The OpenCD [2]What is TheOpenCD? [3]The Programs [4]Download [5]CD Covers [6]Getting Help Project [7]Forum [8]FAQ [9]Nominate a Program [10]Contact Us Links [11]The FSF [12]The FSF - Europe [13]OpenSource.org [14]Knoppix [15]GNUWinII [blueline.gif] Update, 3 December 2002. We are proud to announce the release of the OpenCD's first edition! [16]Download and enjoy! "TheOpenCD" is a trademark of Henrik Nilsen Omma. References 1. http://www.theopencd.org/ 2. http://www.theopencd.org/about.php 3. http://www.theopencd.org/programs/index.html 4. http://www.theopencd.org/mirrors.php 5. http://www.theopencd.org/covers.php 6. http://www.theopencd.org/help.php 7. http://www.theopencd.org/forum/ 8. http://www.theopencd.org/faq.php 9. http://www.theopencd.org/nomination.php 10. http://www.theopencd.org/contact.php 11. http://www.fsf.org/ 12. http://fsfeurope.org/ 13. http://www.opensource.org/ 14. http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html 15. http://gnuwin.org/index.html 16. http://www.theopencd.org/mirrors.php

1 0

How to make Motorola SM56 internal modem work ?
by R. Sreekumar 11 Dec '02

11 Dec '02

Hello if fact I am using SM56 speaker phone modem and is working(with RH7.1). But the problem is that it will not work with RH versions higher than 7.2. The kernal will not support. I reccoment to use "Connexant modem". As they provide source code we can use for any disto , any version. this should be popularised sreekumar On Sun, 08 Dec 2002 Mahesh T. Pai wrote : >N S Srikanth wrote: >>But to make internal modem work, it was no way. I installed >>sm56 rpm, > > >If you use Motorola's SM 56 SpeakerPhone modem, there is no way >it will work with GNU/Linux. > >I have tried, and resigned. > >SM 56 data/fax and data only modems may work, not the SM56 speakerphone modems. > >With much sympathies, > >Regards, >Mahesh T. Pai. > > >_______________________________________________ >Fsf-friends mailing list >Fsf-friends(a)mm.gnu.org.in >http://mm.gnu.org.in/mailman/listinfo/fsf-friends

4 3

Living without Microsoft
by KG Kumar 11 Dec '02

11 Dec '02

Check out www.livingwithoutmicrosoft.org

1 0

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

Fsf-friends