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Microsoft will offer Linux software, predicts META
by Soundara Rajan N.S. 11 Dec '02

11 Dec '02

Microsoft will offer Linux software, predicts META REUTERS[ TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2002 10:01:45 AM ] SEATTLE: In a major strategy shift, Microsoft will introduce software based on the Linux open source operating system in 2004 for Web services and server software, market researcher META Group predicted on Monday. Microsoft, which denied that it had any plans to develop software for Linux, is facing a growing threat from the open source software standard as it gains share in the corporate server market used to manage networks and data. META Group predicted that Linux will be used on nearly half of new servers by 2007, up from its current share of 15 to 20 per cent, making it difficult for Microsoft to ignore Linux as a platform for its database, Web hosting and e-mail server applications. "We believe that, beginning in late 2004, Microsoft (and its partners) will begin moving some of its (to-date) proprietary application enablers (eg, .Net components) to the Linux environment; this will gradually include the major Microsoft back-office products, such as SQL Server, IIS, and Exchange," META Group said. In a further shift, META Group said that Microsoft will also re-price or separate its Windows server operating system "so that it can be favourably compared against 'free' Linux." "I'm unaware of any efforts at this time to move any products onto Linux," said Peter Houston, senior director at Microsoft's server group, adding that there were no plans to detach or re-price its Windows server operating system. "We have made a bet on Windows, and we believe that customers are getting value from the bet we made," said Houston, "and we're going to continue doing what we've been doing for customers." Linux advocates argue that Linux offers better security, flexibility and innovation because its underlying code, or blueprint, for programs remains open to evaluation and scrutiny. Microsoft, which has grown into the world's largest software maker by selling proprietary software that cannot be copied or modified freely, said it is not opposed to open-source software, and points out that its source code is available to approved partners and educational institutions on a limited basis. Cost A Non-Issue Microsoft faced a similar situation a decade ago when its nascent server software was competing head-to-head with market leader Sun Microsystems, but Microsoft did not choose at the time to write software for Sun's proprietary version of Unix. Now Linux, essentially a free version of Unix, is eating away at Sun's share of the business server market. Sun, a hardware and software maker, is now selling computers running Linux, a strategy that was also embraced by International Business Machines. Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft has toned down its criticism of Linux recently, after an internal strategy document said that some of its arguments against open source software has "backfired." Instead, Microsoft has stressed that its software is more affordable when considering the total cost of using Linux, including ongoing personnel and administration costs. A recent Microsoft-sponsored study by researcher IDC concluded that servers based on Microsoft's Windows 2000 were cheaper to own and operate when used for networking, storing and sharing files, printing and security, while Linux servers were cheaper to operate when used for Web hosting. "The IDC study shows that the upfront cost is a small part of the total cost to the customer," said Microsoft's Houston. META Group's report also came to the same conclusion, saying that Linux's total costs of ownership were likely to be higher for mainstream server applications. "IT organisations must evaluate platform costs from a total-cost-of-ownership perspective," META Group's report said. Source: "Economic Times" dt 10th Dec '02 ================================================================= N.S. Soundara Rajan, freelance IT journalist and Knowledge networker, based at Mysore, India ...connecting people to people, and people to knowledge

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How to make Motorola SM56 internal modem work ?
by N S Srikanth 10 Dec '02

10 Dec '02

Hi Listers I am trying to install GNU/Linux on some of my friends' PC's here at Trivandrum. The trouble is that all of them have only internal modems. They would very much like to try Any distro. Having heard that it works with PCQ Linux 7.1, I installed it at a friend's PC (dual boot). But to make internal modem work, it was no way. I installed sm56 rpm, set it up and ran it . Setup was okay , but the modem will not work. Either " it is unable to find the modem" or " modem is busy"(I made the sym link, changed the device pointer /dev/modem, /dev/ttyS01, 02 etc ., "n" number of times). But no way. I posted this query earlier. I am at my wits end. Now apart from RH7.3, I have MDK9.0, Slackware 8.1 and Debian Woody (3 CD set) with me. Will the internal modem (Motorola SM 56) work in any of these distros without any hassle ?At least 5 of my friends have internal modem only. I would like to install GNU/Linux in as many PC's here in Trivandrum, but only if this problem is resolved . Any pointers or hints to help solve this problem ? N S Srikanth Trivandrum

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Re: [ilug-goa] My thoughts on the IP and Software
by Frederick Noronha 10 Dec '02

10 Dec '02

A young friend from Goa has circulated his views. If you have any comments, please free to send them to him. Thanks, FN On Sat, 7 Dec 2002, Sanil Talaulikar wrote: > Dear ilugers, > There have been a no. of arguments put forth and back > on the issue of IP and its implications.My > understanding of these issues is very limited.This is > a humble attempt by me to improve my understanding of > these issues.What actually happened was i was trying > to study for my exams when all these thoughts occured > to me and the only way i could clear my mind of them > was to type them down. > > Feel free to comment/critisize the various points i > have raised because thats the only way i can further > improve my understanding of these complex > topics.(invitation to crucify me ;-) ) > > regards, > Sanil > > My thoughts on the IP and Software > > > > The question i feel should be asked is not whether > knowledge should be proprietory or free > but whether the possesion of that knowledge puts that > person in a position to exploit society. > > I see nothing wrong in a person making money out of > intellectual property that he has created as the > person who creates IP is creating value which did not > exist before.The idea is similar to a farmer who uses > land and freely available rain and sunlight to grow > new crops. > > The real issue here is whether the possession of IP > puts the person in a position to exploit others. > For example,An Operating System such as Windows makes > a computer usable,It is a driver for productivity in > the modern world.computer knowledge is becoming almost > a necessity and something one cannot almost do > without.Thus by selling proprietory windows(and > restricting freedoms) at a price which people of > developing countries cannot afford The gap between the > haves and havenot's further increases > > This the society should not allow to happen.The GPL is > a great way to prevent this exploitation.The great > thing about GPL(GNU Public Lisence) > is that it assures contributing members that their > contributions remain protected.People will only > contribute freely when they feel that their > contributions will not be commercially exploited.I > consider GPL an ingenious tool in the hands of the > society to prevent its exploitation(and its creator a > genius). > > But i dont subscribe to the extreme view that all > software should be GPl'ed.This is because the only way > a person can make money from GPl'ed software is by > 1)training people to use it and > 2) distributing it . > As regards to 1), according to me software should be > so easy to use that it should not require training at > all.If i want to make money out of GPL'ed software i > have to make my software > difficult to use so that i can earn from it.This again > puts the creator and contributors of Gpl'ed software > in a unique position to exploit user's by charging a > high fee. > > Ideally GNU/Linux should be so easy to use that it > empowers people so that more and more people can take > part in the digital revolution and contribute to > it(and we are getting there). > > > As regards to 2) How much money can you actually make > by distributing GPL'ed software?The problem is that it > costs nothing for a person who has obtained the > software directly through me to make one copy of it or > a million copies of it or distribute it on the > Internet. This is a crucial point on which software > differs from other products.If have bought a car or > any other tangible product i need to own the means to > produce/modify it before i can think of reproducing > it.Even then i will incurr a cost on every item i > produce. > > > The only way the software creator can earn from his > creation is by restricting certain freedoms The Open > source licensces allow this. > > According to me even creating proprietory software is > not bad as long as the creator does'nt intend to > exploit users or divide society.for example,i need not > provide the source code for software i developed for a > commercial store because the owner of commercial store > is unlikely to be interested in it as long as it > increases his productivity.In fact, the commercial > store is in > a position to exploit me if i provide provide him with > freedoms to distribute, copy and modify the software > and its source. > > One may point out,if i have bought a car i am not > forced to go to the car manufacturer for service or > modifications, i have the freedom to choose to who > services or modifies my car. > But again it is the nature of software that forces its > creator to put these restrictions.When i go to a > service station i dont provide the blueprint of the > car to him.Even if he has the blueprint he still does > not have means to reproduce it. > > Finally it all comes down to what purpose the software > is being used and the intentions of its creator. > > > > __________________________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. > http://mailplus.yahoo.com > > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> > Get 128 Bit SSL Encryption! > http://us.click.yahoo.com/CBxunD/vN2EAA/xGHJAA/0XFolB/TM > ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> > > To Post a message, send it to: ilug-goa(a)yahoogroups.com > To Unsubscribe, send a blank message to: ilug-goa-unsubscribe(a)yahoogroups.com > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > >

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Web server cries @ Linux Localisation Initiative @ india !!!!!!
by manjush_menon＠rediffmail.com 10 Dec '02

10 Dec '02

hey guys check out this link http://www.vaibhavsharma.com/lli/ <Mj>

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Fwd: Waikato Indian CommunityCentre
by klak＠giasbm01.vsnl.net.in 10 Dec '02

10 Dec '02

-- Khuzaima A. Lakdawala

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Non-free software is wrong says Stallman
by Soundara Rajan N.S. 08 Dec '02

08 Dec '02

Non-free software is wrong says Stallman By Mark Ward Every time you buy software from companies such as Microsoft, IBM, Sun and Adobe you hand over much more than just money, you also give up basic freedoms and human rights. So says Richard Stallman, president of the Free Software Foundation, and long-time campaigner against the proprietary programs produced and owned by many software companies. The assumed ownership of software by Microsoft and many others irks Mr Stallman and is something he wants stopped. "Non-free software is wrong and we do not want it in our lives," he told BBC News Online. Fighting force He has been campaigning since 1984 for the end of proprietary software. As an alternative the Free Software Foundation he heads is developing an operating system, called Gnu, that can be used without restriction. A whole generation has grown up with the idea that it is normal for them to have no freedom Richard Stallman His tireless campaigning has inspired the open source movement which gives people more freedom to tinker with software, albeit not as much as Mr Stallman would like. For him the FSF is the "militant wing" and open source advocates "spineless" because they forget that using software is a matter of ethics. The Open Source movement owes a huge creative debt to Mr Stallman. How much do you know about Gnu/Linux? Take the quiz Linux, the operating system many people associate with Open Source, should properly be called Gnu/Linux to properly reflect its heritage. Patent games The Free Software Foundation stands in opposition to forces of software ownership. The sense of "free" it believes in does not mean that people cannot charge for their work to produce programs. Instead "free" means the liberty to tinker with software, find out how it works and share it with other people without restriction. Unlike many other countries the US has laws permitting the patenting of features in software. As a result, says Mr Stallman, the freedom that programmers have to tinker, experiment and innovate is gradually shrinking. Often, he says, patents are used to protect markets software companies dominate and shut out competition. So far almost 100,000 software patents have been granted in the US, he points out. Patents protect Microsoft's ASF streaming file format and others protect colour separation techniques, widely used image and music formats and many other features and programming techniques. Ethical effects But the problem with proprietary software does not stop with its stunting of innovation or with helping maintain monopolies, says Mr Stallman. If I cannot share it then I will not install it. If it requires me to mistreat others I would say no to it Richard Stallman The larger point, he believes, is that these companies trample over basic human freedoms and force people to trade cherished autonomy for convenience. "Proprietary software is not designed to serve you but it is designed to control you," he says. "It is designed to serve someone else." And it is not just software companies that are trying to limit rights to tinker and copy. Record companies and film makers are joining in and stopping people freely copying music and movies. "A whole generation has grown up with the idea that it is normal for them to have no freedom," says Mr Stallman. "We should destroy the record companies and put an end to institutions that are this arrogant and trying to take away our freedom," he says. All that musicians get from signing up with a record company is publicity, believes Mr Stallman. While agreeing that record companies are effective marketers of music, he says the social costs of this are very high. "It's better if we have a little bit less effective publicity and freedom to share with each other," he says. "The end point is that all published software should be free, you should always have the freedom to study, change and share software," he says. "These should be inalienable rights." "If I cannot share it then I will not install it," he says, "if it requires me to mistreat others I would say no to it." _______________________________________________________________________________ Posted by N.S. Soundara Rajan, freelance IT journalist and Knowledge networker, based at Mysore, India ...connecting people to people, and people to knowledge

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Posters on Free Sofware
by Arun M 08 Dec '02

08 Dec '02

Hi, We need to prepare some posters on Free Software. If there is any good ideas please mail. regards arun.

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IP, Software, Solutions and Services
by Tarun Gaur 08 Dec '02

08 Dec '02

Hi Sanil, Its an interesting discussion that you have initiated. In my view, Open source movement gives a whole new meaning to IP and software. Yes, i agree with you that there is no need to GPL all the software of the world, but it really helps to have good quality software available that can be moulded and modified to meet your solutions. Computer industry is still in its first phase of evolution along with internet. What the industry has been creating is operating systems, graphics capabilities, communications, open standards, multimedia, data storage, network architectures etc etc. Now, all these tools are basic ingredients to provide solutions to the connected world. my point of view is that all these basic capabilities and tools should be GPLed. now you can pick up these tools, modify them to your requirements and provide SOLUTIONS. If these basic tools are properietary, then you are not in a position to match the might/muscle and money power or the megacorps riding high by charging (rather duping people for basic tools) heavy amounts for these tools. Look at what GPLed software has given to you. Tools as good as properietary tools (if there is something left, we all are closing in fast), now you are free to create your solutions and charge for the services. Thats how it should be: carpenter does not charge for his tools, he charges for the solutions he gives you. doctors dont charge for a stethoscope but for what they do with it. Time is not far away when we will have very easy to use tools at hand that can be taken for granted, then the focus is bound to shift to SERVICES and SOLUTIONS. For the above to be true we need to have a distinction between SOFTWARE and SOLUTIONS. It is anybody's guess. Believe me, today because of what i have learnt from open Source software has enabled me to dream of outwitting the megacorps with GPLed software. GPLed software also helps us move ahead fast. We cant sit on the IP that we have created, we have to innovate else our work is rendered obsolete by another genius from the brave GNU world. IT LEADS TO AN ENVIRONMENT OF CONSTANT INNOVATION. And innovation is good for the world. I would close with this: ALL THE SOFTWARE SHOULD BE GPLed, ALL THE SOLUTIONS MAY OR MAY NOT BE, ALL THE SERVICES SHOULD BE CHARGED FOR. leave you with this thought, regards, tarun gaur In support of Sanil's view !! _________________________________________________________________ STOP MORE SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail

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[Fwd: Linux in Government list]
by KG Kumar 07 Dec '02

07 Dec '02

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Query: Free font for Malayalam...
by Frederick Noronha 07 Dec '02

07 Dec '02

Any reports on how this is progressing? FN http://www.apdip.net/news/malayalam/index.htm Free Font For Malayalam Abstract The role of Information Communication Technologies (ICT) in common man^�s life is increasing. However, only a small fraction of people are able to utilize the benefits. A major barrier in the promotion of computer usage in a country like India is largely due to the fact that there are hardly any software in any of the Indian scripts. In a country where nearly one third of the population lives below $1/day, the cost of ICT applications is still prohibitively expensive. The cost of ICT applications is primarily due to two costs; the hardware cost and the software costs. While hardware costs have been coming down and are inevitable to a certain extent, software costs have not acted as a major constraint in applying ICT applications in developing countries. The free software movement has been addressing the issue of making available information to all as a basic right. While some basic software are today available in free downloadable forms over the Internet, these software do not cater to the fonts in Malayalam, which is the language of 30 million Keralites in Kerala and at least 10 million outside. The project proposes to create free software with local language (Malayalam) support in accordance with the established standards so that ICT applications can be made available at low cost in the language of the people. Further, the developed codes are proposed to be made available on the Internet so that people can not only freely use them but also develop on them. Specifically, the project aims to create Free Font for Malayalam, create toolkit (toolkits are basic building blocks in creating Graphical User Interface based applications) with Malayalam support, and create a localised desktop and office productivity applications and documentation in Malayalam. This will surely help in ICT penetration in Kerala, spur development of similar fonts on free software for other local languages in India and other parts of Asia Pacific, create the base for further development in software with local language support thus enabling a larger segment of the population to enjoy the benefits of information technology. Background and Justification of the Project ICT has potential to play an important role in improving the life of common man in a developing country. Many initiatives have already been taken in this regard. At the same time it is also true that only very few people are able to take advantage of ICT and the high costs of hardware and software are in certain ways perpetuating the development divide through a digital divide. A minority population, that is able to afford the high cost, are able to benefit from the ICT revolution and a large majority is getting further marginalized in the process. Two major reasons for this digital divide are: Non availability of content in regional languages The high cost of software. Kerala is one of the southern states of India lying nearly 9 to 13 degrees North and having a population of nearly 30 million out of which nearly 74% live in rural area (2001 census). It is important to note that the rural population has gone up from 73.5% to 74% during 1991 to 2001. Apart from an elected State Legislature, the State also has multi-layered elected local bodies. There are 992 Grama Panchayats (Village level councils) and 58 Municipal Councils and Corporations representing the rural and urban areas respectively. Kerala, known as ^�God^�s own country^� for its natural beauty and which makes it one of the top tourist destinations of the world, has also initiated various programs/steps to make the benefits of information technology reach common people through innovative projects. Although Kerala has a literacy level of 90.92% (2001 census) (male 94.20% and female 87.86%), the population connected to Internet remain shockingly below 1%, the issues relating to lack of connectivity remain a big problem. Today, Malayalam enabled software is scarce. Those available are for Word Processing alone. Malayalam usage in computers is limited to using the computer as an electronic typewriter and for publishing. The major reason for this is the lack of Operating Systems supporting Malayalam. To add to this, the Malayalam font system for the global standard ^� the Unicode - has not been built. As a result, it is not possible to have an ICT infrastructure with Malayalam support. Another issue is the very high cost of proprietary software. If Malayalam font is developed in proprietary software, the cost of the same will make it prohibitively costly for using it on a larger scale. Low income populations will in particular, find it exceedingly difficult to use the resulting system, thus making the digital divide even more dominant. The alternative proposed is the development of local content in free Software. Freedom associated with free software enables one to make modifications to it (to support Malayalam) and make it available to people around the world. Project Objectives The benefits of Information Technology are reaching only a very small minority, thus creating a digital divide. The two major issues here are lack of availability of software with local language support and the very high cost of software. This Project aims to reduce this digital divide by creating localised versions of free software. This project will create Free Font for Malayalam, create a toolkit (toolkits are basic building blocks in creating GUI based applications) with Malayalam support, create localised desktop and office productivity applications and documentation in Malayalam. This will create the base for further development in software with local language support, thus enabling a larger segment of the population to enjoy the benefits of information technology. Further, the developed codes are proposed to be made available on the Internet so that people can not only freely use them but also develop on them. Project Benefits/ Beneficiaries The project foresees various benefits arising out of it. The direct impact arising out of this would be large-scale development of content in local language. Additionally, the content would be more participative and, therefore, more localized in terms of needs and requirements, issues and solutions etc. Inspite of having more than 90% literacy for over one decade, the Kerala state continues to remain low on PC and Internet penetration in the country. Development of local content for a state like Kerala, with high literacy will lead to change in the society and economy. Some important aspects are Usage: Tools in ICT will become more and more accessible to people who don^�t know English but know to read and write Malayalam. This implies access to majority of people in Kerala. Education: Education for majority in schools is in Malayalam language. This will be enable development of educational software in local language. Date archiving: Archiving of vast amount of data available becomes possible. The knowledge archiving and retrieval is the major application of ICT. Till now we are forced to use English language to archive our knowledge, our history. This has inherent limitations. Economic: This will also help in development of new ICT enabled services in local languages etc. e-Governance: Support for local language becomes easy for all the e-governance programs of the Government. Apart from benefits arising to Kerala, the project will have lessons for developing similar fonts in other local languages. Asia Pacific, rich in culture and languages cannot be dependent on English alone. Indian alone has 17 official languages. The experience gained through this project will encourage other similar efforts in other languages. Project Sustainability The software developed by the Project will be loaded free on the Internet enabling anyone interested to download it and use it. It will also enable others interested in it, to develop it further so that there is an ongoing mechanism to upgrade the software. This would ensure continuous ongoing upgrading of software and its long-term sustainability. Project Methodology The aim of the project is to create a comprehensive set of software for computing in the local language. The Project involves the following tasks: Font: The first step in bringing a new language to computers is creating a font for that language. The font contains information about shape of characters in that language. This project aims to create a font based on Unicode character encoding scheme. Unicode is the new standard to encode data from languages around the world. It is the most accepted standard now. During the development of this font, creation of font encoding scheme for Malayalam is also necessary. Lack of a font-encoding scheme is now an issue for development of more fonts for Malayalam. Toolkits: Indian languages have got a special property of change in shape of characters depending on context. Hence, these languages are referred to as complex ^� text languages. All the software using graphical interface are built using some Toolkit. Toolkits are basic building blocks in creating software. Localisation of the toolkits will make the creation of Malayalam supported software easier. The work will be on a cross platform GUI toolkit called GTK. A major component in this is to create a renderer for Malayalam and adding Malayalam support for freely available toolkits. Localisation of Applications: Localisation of software involves developing localized applications on common utilities like Office suite, Desktop, and other productivity applications. Localising Desktop + Basic Applications ^� Involves packaging and application translation. This task can be started only after making toolkit work. Localisation of Office Applications ^� Involves localizing office productivity applications like Word processor, Presentation application, Spreadsheet, Groupware. Additional packages like Vector and Raster Graphic tools, Plotting, Project Management, Finance, Diagramming, Communication etc. can be added. Internet Applications ^� This task consists of localizing basic Internet tools like Browser (Translation), Mail client, IRC, Instant Messenger. Database ^� Localised sorting support will be implemented. Postgre SQN will be used as the database and modifications will be made in to it. Localising terminal applications ^� This is mainly for people who want to use machines with low resource and without graphic interfaces. Documentation: Manuals are essential for suitable documentation and for a new user to get started with the application. These Manuals will be developed in both English and Malayalam. Translation of these manuals will help a lot of people who want to learn and use computer themselves. K-BIP & FSF India has initiated some work in the aforesaid direction. The present work includes work on customizing the GNU/Linux (Free Operating System) to support Malayalam. Project Timeline/ Phases/ Team Nine months encompassing font development, toolkits, localization of applications and project documentation. The Project is divided into four phases. The first phase is Font development and this activity involves 1 Programmer, 1 Graphics Expert and 1 Draftsman. The second phase is the building of Toolkits and this involves 3 Programmers. The third phase is the Localization of Applications in which 9 Programmers, 1 Translator and 3 Data Entry Operators will be involved. The fourth phase is the Documentation and 1 Language Translator, 1 Proof Reader and 1 Data Entry Operator will be involved in this phase. Project Outputs This Project will create a Free localized GNU /Linux Desktop system. The components of this will be: A Malayalam Font Localised Toolkit for Malayalam A collection of commonly used Applications (Word Processor, Email client, Browser, Database etc.) Documentation for the software in Malayalam Project Monitoring The Output of this project is a collection of software. The evaluation and monitoring will be done with the help of National Informatics Centre, which is the apex institution in the area of Computing and Information Technology. The Font must contain all glyphs from the ISFOC Standard for Malayalam. And the encoding will have to be Unicode based. The Toolkits will be verified by creating sample graphical applications using the same. Usually the test code will be available with Toolkit. The test programs will be in 'C' programming language. Localization of Application will be verified by looking through all the messages of the application in the message database. Documentation will be verified with help of a language expert by comparing it with the original document in Malayalam. Random Samples will be taken for this. Project Implementors Implementing Organisation ^� Kerala Bureau of Industrial Promotion (K-BIP) is a non-profit autonomous body under aegis of the Industries Department of the Government of Kerala. It is envisaged for promoting the potential industrial activity in the state of Kerala. It is the state level agency for Asia Pacific Centre for Transfer of Technology (UN-APCTT), responsible for transfer of technology for SMEs. It is also involved in promoting e-governance in Kerala through various initiatives like online applications for various Government applications, online payment for Government payments etc. The project is being carried out in close coordination with Secretary, Information Technology, Government of Kerala. Partner Organisation - The Free Software Foundation is a world-renowned organisation founded by Richard M. Stallman in the USA in 1984. FSF believes that all software should be free as software is information and the withholding of information is wrong and a denial of a human right. The first FSF Chapter in India was started in India in Trivandrum, Kerala. Project Management The Project Team will be headquartered in the State Capital, Thiruvananthapuram. The Project Director and Coordinator is the Chief Executive of K-BIP and Secretary (Industries) Government of Kerala. The Project Director will oversee the work of two Project Managers who, in turn, will steer the other members of the Project Team. The Chief Executive of K-BIP is Secretary (Industries), Government of Kerala. For further information, please contact: Mr. Ajay Kumar Secretary to the Government of Kerala Industries Department/ Executive Director, Kerala Bureau of Industrial Promotion Sri Ganesh', T.C. IX/2197 Kurup's Lane, Sasthamangalam Trivandrum - 695010, Kerala, India Tel: 91-471- 333028 Fax: 91-471- 311883 Email: kumarajay1111(a)yahoo.com

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LINK-GOA: Check out the new ILUG-Margao mailing list...
by Frederick Noronha 07 Dec '02

07 Dec '02

Margao is the main headquarters town of South Goa. When someone suggested setting up a LUG there, the response was: why not? Today, this LUG is doing well for itself, attracting more people to GNU/Linux in Goa, and bringing in those who would have probably not made it for the main group's meetings in Panjim. This is a small note from them... FN PS: Goa is India's smallest state on the west coast.... ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Key highlights:- ** www.ilug-margao.org is the first GNU/Linux related site in Goa.. ** The contributions section contains easy to read how-to's contributed by members..one dosent have to go through tonnes of material to install/configure the stuff. A quick read should do the trick! ** A chat channel for GNU/Linux enthusiasts. Impatient geeks could get their queries answered instantly! (Perhaps, Saturday night could be fixed to hold virtual discussions?) ** Project section will hold projects that have been coded by members. ** A neat and slick Photo Gallery to show off GNU/Linux activities! ** Tutorials section for other resources/tutorials found around the web ** CD/Book management will be added by the end of JAN to facilitate borrowing of Books/CD's around South Goa.

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From Archives of Indian business
by smitha balraj 07 Dec '02

07 Dec '02

Have anyone done through this link ? http://www.domain-b.com/companies/companies_o/open_software/20021031_statem… Open Software Solutions makes pro-free software statement Jays Jacob 31 October 2002 Kochi: Open Software Solutions (OSS), the first software development industrial venture in the cooperative sector that has gone official today, has made a pro-free software definitive statement in the ongoing Linux versus Microsoft debate in Kerala. Based on the philosophy and politics of the copyleft, as opposed to copyright, the society is already into developing and marketing products in Open Source Software Platforms like the Linux OS and the PostgreSQL RDBMS, providing the much-needed price and reengineering buoyancy to its clients. Already the flagship product of OSS Sanghamitra, the online banking software for cooperative banks is making a silent wave in the sector. This cooperative banking tool is currently being implemented in 14 locations in six districts of Kerala and is growing at the rate of two-to-three installations every month. The tool, which took more than 27,000 man-hours to develop, is expected to revolutionise the way primary service cooperative banks work as it will help in inter- and intra-bank transfers. The users need not have to pay for licences, version upgrading or adding new users. The cooperative sector in the state will be able to save up to Rs 80 crore by using the free software which otherwise goes out of the national wealth, says OSS social entrepreneur and chief technology officer K V Anil Kumar. Social entrepreneurship is also the motivating force for the society, which currently has 36 members mostly with techie background. The seed for this unique geek tree was sown in 1999 when Kumar, along with three other youngsters currently with the OSS (Joby John, Krishnadas M and Joseph Thomas), were actively involved in a study for a total e-governance strategy development for the Ernakulam District Panchayat as part of the Electronics Industrialisation Infrastructure Development (EIID) Society. The argument then was that projects like e-governance can be done only by bigger agencies and with the help of companies like Microsoft, says Kumar. The study recommended that free software should be used to cut on the massive licensing fee that the state would have to pay year after year, says John, an IT consultant and honorary member of the Appropriate Technology Promotion Society, which promotes and guides OSS. We stand for a cause. By providing cost-effective appropriate technology, the state will be able to save crores of rupees that would otherwise go out of the country. It is also a unique experiment of social entrepreneurship where a bunch of like-minded individuals have come together to create opportunities in jobs and learning, adds John. The politics of the venture is to take on the unscrupulous market forces that have got into patenting knowledge and using them for monopolistic gains based on the philosophy of greed. It is almost similar to the new capitalism that no more claims the ownership of land, but has usurped the technology of the seed. The murky world of Intellectual Property Rights is helping transnational corporates gain more than 40-per cent profit, says John. OSS with its unique philosophy has attracted a lot of youngsters and has a good gender balance. I became attracted in the philosophy while doing a project at EIID as part of my postgraduate studies in Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT). I feel free software is the most appropriate technology for the software community, says Sindhu Jerson, an MBE from CUSAT and an OSS honorary secretary. Kerala State Minister for Tourism K V Thomas inaugurated OSSs office at Subhash Chandra Bose Road, Kadavanthara, Kochi, today. Four other products developed by OSS, including a cheque printing software, interactive voice response system (IVRS), jukebox and a chitti software, were also released. OSS can be reached at eiidp(a)vsnl.com. ________________________________________________________________________ Missed your favourite TV serial last night? Try the new, Yahoo! TV. visit http://in.tv.yahoo.com

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Beowulf Clusters
by Tarun Gaur 07 Dec '02

07 Dec '02

Hi Friends, Good article to have a peek into. http://fscked.org/writings/clusters/cluster.html It is on linux beowulf Clusters. regards, tarun gaur Free software for the brave GNU world. _________________________________________________________________ Help STOP SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail

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Free Software Platform for Schools @ Kannur
by eiid 07 Dec '02

07 Dec '02

Hai, Here is the news appeared in New Indian Express on 5th Dec 2002 Kannur varsity students help reduce hardware cost KOCHI: Even as talks between the State Government and Microsoft are deadlocked over the issue of using legal software, the hardware optimisation for schools in Kannur parliamentary constituency is being implemented on a free software platform - GNU/Linux. The IT@School programme will be taught in Kannur schools utilising this facility. The usage of Etherboot on GNU/Linux has helped in reducing the hardware cost of the project to less than 66 percent and will help schools to have more computers. All this was possible because of the technical support rendered by a bunch of students of Kannur varsity's MSc Computer Science course and the Social Entrepreneurship Promotion Society on Information Technology (SEPSIT), the charitable society they floated recently for promoting use of software under General Public Licence (GPL). The money for the project comes from the MP's fund and the savings can be used to buy more than 50 additional computers, says Manoj T R, a third semester student of the MSc Computer Science course and director of SEPSIT. The organisation, which has the backing of the faculties of the Kannur University MSc Computer Science, aims at enhancing social entrepreneurship among IT professionals and nurturing technology education geared to creation of public intellectual property in IT. The society, which has the active participation of nearly 70 software professionals, will operate throughout the State from its office in Dinesh Software Park. SEPSIT had to work overtime to convince the officials of the National Informatics Centre which is the nodal agency for approving computerisation projects under the MP's fund. The order for 140 computers worth Rs 26 lakh was given to Keltron Controls, Aroor, only after it was convinced of the technology utilising Etherboot on GNU/Linux platform. Keltron Controls is supplying 43 server configurated PCs and 97 nodes for the project. Each school will have a server and four or five diskless nodes. The drastic cost reduction is possible because devices like hard disks, floppy drives, CD drives and UPS can be cut down in the client server mode. There is a saving of Rs 9000 per school and the money can be used for purchasing more computers. Around 185 computers in Linux platform can be purchased using the Rs 45 lakh pledged by Kannur MP A P Abdullakkutty against the 130 that can be bought while using proprietary software. Keltron Controls has also bagged the order for computerisation of schools in Alappuzha district from V M Sudheeran MP's fund. The order for over 700 computers (5 PCs for one school) using proprietary software is pegged at Rs 2 crore. SEPSIT has now formulated a strategy to train the teachers of these schools in Linux Administration, usage of free software tools like Open Office (and other free office tools), Xine (and other multi-media applications), and BASIC programming on GNU/Linux platform. SEPSIT also has the computerisation project of Kannur University using free software tools in hand.

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Tactical Media Lab... (see Free Software references below)
by Frederick Noronha 06 Dec '02

06 Dec '02

---------- Forwarded message ---------- Dear All Below is a report of the Tactical Media Lab at Sarai which was held on the 14, 15 16 of November. Feedback welcome. Also available online at www.sarai.net/events.htm best M Tactical Media Lab @ Sarai On November 14 - 16, 2002, Sarai hosted the South Asian Tactical Media Lab (TML), one of a chain of such events, that are taking place in different parts of the world (Amsterdam, Barcelona, Cluj, New York, Delhi and Sydney) as a run-up to the fourth Next 5 Minutes Conference (N5M4) in Amsterdam in 2003. Over three hectic days free software enthusiasts, programmers, graphic designers, filmmakers, artists, activists, members of NGOs, telecommunications experts, students and media practitioners from Mumbai, Dehradun, Kolkata, Dacca, Kathmandu, Tehran & Delhi shared ideas, experiences, problems and grievances, explored varied uses of tactical media, discussed strategies, designed posters and websites, disbanded opinions and formed new ones through panel discussions, presentations, installations, workshops and a film screening. The event lent itself naturally to the crystallization of a loose coalition of tactical media enthusiasts in the Asian region. From the very begining it was positioned as being a 'process' in the course of which the participants would uncover the energies of a network ... after three days this network was brimming with ideas of many possible collaborations to counter everyday local situations. We hope to sustain these energies in the months to come. Day 1 of the Tactical Media Lab at Sarai, November 14, 2002 The first day began with a very well attended public conversation between Shuddhabrata Sengupta from Sarai and the TML's "Mystery Guest" - David Barsamian. David Barsamian , the founder and director of Alternative Radio, an independent, award-winning, weekly radio program produced in Boulder, Colorado, is well known in Delhi through the publications of his interviews with Noam Chomsky, Edward Said and Eqbal Ahmed. Barsamian, who happened to be visiting Delhi at the time was invited by Sarai to open the Tactical Media Lab, which he did with a very inspiring invocation to media activists to be positive, energetic, creative and humorous and not turn into moaners with dwindling audiences! The conversation with him led to a very lively discussion in which the question of "free speech", particularly in conflict ridden societies like South Asia's was actively discussed. The TML got off to a very active and lively start as a result of this and through the next few days the importance of free expression, new ways of reaching the public domain and the necessity to be inventive and creative recurred several times in the conversations and presentations. The afternoon of the first day featured presentations by the people at Sarai working on the Cybermohalla (Cyber Neighbourhood) Project. Shveta Sarda, Ruchika Negi, Joy Chatterjee and Ashish Mahajan from Sarai, with Azra Tabassum from the LNJP colony Cybermohalla Compughar, talked about the processes involved in setting up digital media labs using free software in the LNJP squatter settlement and the Ambedkar Nagar Resettlement Colony in Delhi. Issues of access, technological flexibility, creativity and different ways of looking at the city were discussed. Shveta presented some of the work done by the Cybermohalla project, Joy and Ashish spoke of the software and hardware configurations involved in operationalizing each lab, Ruchika read from the journal that she is keeping of her interactions with people on the street, and Azra spoke of how the process works to steadily remove layers of fear in terms of her engagement with the urban environment. Following this, Pradip Saha, Managing Editor Down to Earth magazine, spoke briefly about using humour and subversive fun as an essential element in designing an effective communication strategy by activists This intervention was followed by a panel composed of Shekhar Krishan, PUKAR , along with Sanjay Bhangar from Indymedia, Mumbai; Arun Mehta, telecommunications engineer and Internet activist; Partha Sarkar of the Bytesforall Network, from Dhaka, and Shilpa Gupta, from the Open Circle Artists' Collective in Mumbai. Each presentation featured candid discussions on the possibilities and limitations of media activism in South Asia. While the panelists were often of the opinion that, barring very specialist fora, online discussion lists have not taken off as expected in South Asia, they emphasized the need to develop effective communication strategies that engaged with public concerns in a demonstrably public manner. The Indymedia Mumbai group spoke of their efforts to involve communication students in the university to develop an effective web presence, especially in the context of online actions commemorating the anniversary of the Bhopal Disaster of 1984, in tandem with the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, earlier this year. Arun Mehta spoke of the feasibility of low-cost and low-tech strategies for radio as a tool for building sustainable, community controlled communications networks in the rural areas of Orissa in Eastern India. Gaurab Upadhyay from Bytesforall, Kathmandu, intervened with his experience of alternate radio networks in Nepal and discussions revolved around how to use the technology, and available networks, to suit urban conditions. Partha Sarkar spoke about the experience of building the Bytesforall network, which he initiated from Dhaka, together with Fredrick Noronha, who is based in India. Bytesforall has now grown into a pro-active South Asia wide network for people interested in the social usage of information and communication technologies. He led us through the evolution of Bytesforall as an online forum where technicians, activists, and people interested in the issues of development network and brainstorm together. He also pointed out how discussions on Bytesforall have, by being focused on concrete and practical issues, and by discussing all matters in a spirit of knowledge-sharing as peers, have so far managed to transcend the fractious 'political' barriers that exist in South Asia. Shilpa Gupta from the Open Circle collective talked of public art intervention experiments that she and some members of her group have been involved in, especially the Aar Paar Projects that brought together artists from India and Pakistan for exchanges of portable art objects and posters which were then exhibited in tea stalls, grocery stores, and other public spaces. She also spoke about the another artist-led initiative called "The Reclaim Your Freedom Week" earlier this year in response to, and in protest against, the violence in Gujarat in March 2002. The discussions that followed the presentations focused on the need for creating an active discursive community of artists, practitioners and others that could step out of the "responding to events" syndrome that seems to characterize much of artist/practitioner inspired activism, in order to move towards more sustained forms of public-practitioner interfaces that draw on the energies of everyday forms of resistance and communication. Event-centred protests, often take on a "token" character, even as they sap the energies of the artists/practitioners/activists who get involved, and also lead to hierarchies of people who "deliver a message" as opposed to people who passively "receive a message". Day 2 of the Tactical Media Lab at Sarai, November 15, 2002 The second day was devoted to Free Software. The morning session started with a general presentation on Linux, its ideas and practices by Kishore Bhargava from Linux Users Group, Delhi. This was followed by a presentation of Knopik and LAP (Linux Access Project) by Supreet Sethi from Sarai. A lot of pertinent issues and queries were raised on the implementation, usage and the philosophy of the projects. Arun Mehta from www.radiophony.com demonstrated the software that has been developed for Stephen Hawkings (http://indataportal.com/software/hawking.htm)which was written in visual basic and he made a public request to the audience to render the same on a Free Software platform. The second half of the day concentrated on the localization efforts within the Free Software /Open Source platform. Ravikant, from the language programme of Sarai, briefed the audience about the problems non-English users face - related to fonts, encoding standards, keyboards and web design. Gaurab Upadhyay (bytesforall, Kathmandu) and Arash Zaini from Linux Iran, talked of the progress being made in localising Nepali and Persian respectively. Gaurab discussed the differences between Nepali Devanagari and Hindi Devanagari and was of the opinion that Unicode is so far the best available solution. From the audience Niyam Bhushan clarified certain basic issue about fonts, glyphs and typefaces. But the presentation that truly inspired everyone was Arash Zaini's who has recently translated the KDE desktop in Persian. (KDE is a Linux-based-programme package that provides efficient mail handler, calendars and organisers apart from the usual functions for browsing, editing, word processing, graphics and games). After interactions we realised that with only slight modifications the same desktop can be used for writing in Urdu as well. Arash then took us inside KDE and showed how effortlessly and flawlessly each of the applications worked. It was a revelation to learn that only four people could create this in just four months. He also fielded questions on the whole idea and process of translation and the public reception of the package. The concluding panel of the day was an open discussion on 'Collaborations and Contributions: Practitioners and Users in the Free Software Movement - the making of a creative community'. This discussion, attended by Raju Mathur, Leo Fernandes, Kishore Bhargava and others from the Linux Users Group, Delhi; Sharad Kukreti from Dehradun, Trevor Warren from Media Lab Asia, Mumbai, and other participants, focused on issues of freedom and programming culture and aroused strong reactions from both Free Software practitioners and others in the audience. Critical debates in the international Free Software/Open Source community were reiterated in local contexts.. debates that were mirrored in the film, 'The Code: Story of Linux', that was screened at the end of the day. Day 3 of the Tactical Media Lab at Sarai, November 16, 2002 The third day of the Tactical Media Lab began with a session moderated by Ravi Sundaram from Sarai on "ICT and Civil Society: Can we think beyond the Development Paradigm". The participants in this discussion were Leo Fernandes of the Free Software Foundation (India), Trevor Warren (MIT Media Lab, Asia), Gaurab Upadhyay (Telecom activist, Kathmandu), Arun Mehta (Telecom Activist, Delhi), Jeebesh Bagchi (Sarai) and Shekhar Krishnan (PUKAR, Bombay) The discussion focused on the problems of limiting software interventions within a social frame strictly of "instrumental" and "developmental" paradigms. This was based on a critique of the notion of "development" itself, and how it often perpetuated top-down models of social processes. The second session of the day was a presentation by Shaina Anand of her Tellavision Project and the allied Chitrakarkhana.net website. This project aims to document social and political processes in Bombay, post September 11. She showed footage from her film in progress and made a presentation of the website and hopes to tie in responses from the film viewing process on to the interactive parts of her website. The discussion focused on what needs to be done to create a language of image-making and viewing that ties into everyday concerns of young people in a way that reflects their lives and conditions, rather than reproduce a "political" rhetoric that might serve also to alienate and distance large numbers of people, while speaking only to the converted. The final session of the day was a round table on the need for a network of new media networks in Asia. The participants from Iran, Bangladesh, Nepal and various parts of India, spoke of the need to carry the energies that they had discovered through their meetings into the future. Plans were made to set up a Tactical Media Asia discussion list hosted by Sarai, and everyone was keen to initiate a cluster of collaborative processes, like for instance a free software desktop in the Urdu language as a concrete instance of collaboration between people at Sarai and the LinuxIran group. The TML ended on a very positive note, with people taking away many ideas for future collaborations, and everyone agreed on making a strong Asian representation and platform at the next Next 5 Minutes ! WORKSHOPS: Cybermohalla Workshops: Leading up to the TML a series of workshops were conducted at the Cybermohalla labs in the working class settlements of LNJP basti, Central Delhi and at Dakshinpuri, South Delhi). Workshop 01 November 1 & 2, 2002 Furthering the Cybermohalla experience of writing the city, this workshop explored the insider/outsider binary, problematising it through the sharing of daily encounters within the neighbourhood and outside it, through life stories, stories about migration, work and labour in the city, narratives of meeting spaces within the basti, of contested spaces, the production of criminality. The primary forms were writing and conversation. Workshop 02 November 8 & 9, 2002 This was a fun, hands-on workshop with reels of paper, transparency sheets, colour pens, crayons, scissors, pictures and glue, to produce a wall magazine. Over twenty enthusiastic participants spent two days writing, cutting and pasting material, working on their own and each others' work. The theme for the wall magazine was 'water' - daily routine around it, the material objects, related with it and conversations around community taps. The idea was to explore forms that would allow for a playful text-image relation and collaborative work to create content for a common output, through the concepts of hypertext and hyperlinking employed in print publications. Emphasis was also on the design elements used to produce a publication that would be reproducible through photocopying. The content generated in the two workshops, along with other forms that have been explored in Cybermohalla (mails, diary entries, ethnographic notes, notes on conversations at the labs) was compiled and circulated among visitors at the TML as a photocopied publication, Cybermohalla Notebook 01. Print & Web Design Workshop November 14-16, 2002 The workshop, held on all three days of the TML, was conducted by Pradeep Saha, Managing Editor Down to Earth magazine and Mrityunjoy Chatterjee from the Sarai Media Lab. It was held at Sarai Public Access Zone using free software tools like Open Office [text, vector image design & HTML editor], Gimp [raster image editor] & Scribus [publishing layout software]. The workshop started with an introduction to Tactical Media and different approaches to it. The fourteen participants - students, filmmakers and activists - were shown flyers and broadsheets as examples of tactical media and were introduced to varied print design strategies and to web technology. After this the participants were split into two groups and asked to design a campaign that could be put to use outside the workshop area. As most of them were from the Delhi University they chose to work on issues that are of immediate concern to the student community - Sexual Harrassment & Communal Violence. Throughout the workshop participants discussed ideas and strategies and on the final day Shuddhabrata Sengupta talked briefly on visual rhetoric and other tactical principles. At the end of three days each group designed a website and a print campaign. People from both groups presented their work, describing them and their experience in detail to all those who had assembled for the TML. The first group designed a poster campaign on 'Sexual Harrassment in the City' while the second adopted a satirical position on communal violence - 'How to Orchestrate Riots'. The websites were extensions of the same ideas with more links and images. The works were warmly appreciated. The participants too enjoyed the process of making creative use of low-cost, easily available materials and designing tools. Many of them were already making posters for their campaigns, and the workshop opened up a wide range of ideas and strategies and helped them to put these in perspective. INSTALLATIONS AT THE INTERFACE ZONE There were three installations(Video/sound, Flash/sound, HTML) playing all through the Tactical Media Lab at the Sarai Interface Zone giving visitors a virtual spatial sense of the city. The works originated from the idea of quintessentially focussing on a sound piece, i.e to make a psycho-geographic scape of various kinds of urban networks, right from electronic communication portals like the telephony networks, internet cafes and call centers to more physical networks like transport portals in Delhi, which would include public transport portals like the Inter State Bus Terminus and the railway station. The idea was to make textural sound recordings at these sites and then develop a panoramic navigational sound scape of several of these co-ordinates in a non-linear pattern. Installation 1. Traffic media: Modem Telephone Line Parenthesis by Dylan Volkhardt, independent media artist in residence at the Sarai Media Lab The installation was an attempt to look at the (dis)location between the liquid architecture (the sound scape) of the telephone communication network and the physical aspects of labour and cabling. The video was shot just outside the CSDS where some cable work was in progress. The installation, work on which finished just the day before the TML, consisted of three 15" TV screens playing a video loop at different speeds. The sound track was a long loop playing in the background all through the day, of locational sounds recorded at PCO booths and call centres and worked on in the Sarai Media Lab. Installation 2. Traffic media: Platform no 12 by Renu Iyer, Sarai Media Lab This was a 2 minute audio/video scape playing as a continuous loop on a computer screen. The video was a 4 box per frame flash movie, shot at the New Delhi Railway Station. The idea was to look at the Railway Station as an urban navigational spatial network, and attempted to highlight our collective memories of our fragmented everyday recordings of these sites. The soundscape was a layered piece of recordings made at the Station, with ambient sounds and conversations with travellers. Visitors could listen to the soundtrack with headphones. Regulars at the Sarai caf�, cast curious, at times even perplexed, glances at the screen playing in the background and then went over to engage with the works. Installation 3. Dilliwale Kaun? Baharwale Kaun? A web installation by Syeda Farhana Zaman and Mrityunjoy Chatterjee This is an HTML web installation of hyper-linked images and texts, looking at the migrant communities in Delhi. The work is based on photographic documentation and conversations with emigrants living in slums and in shrines in Delhi. It explores issues of citizenship, of migration and of related harrassments and hardships faced by the many Bangladeshi migrants on the streets of Delhi. Mrityunjoy Chatterjee, from the Sarai Media Lab, helped Farhana convert photographs and texts to build web-based narratives of the experience of being an outsider. The installation was available on a computer screen, as was the Sarai digital Interface which is always available on the local network at the Sarai Interface Zone. Posters were also put up - made from photographs taken at the Delhi Metro construction sites and cyber cafes. Installation 4. Weather Report by Rustam Vania, Centre for Science & Environment, Delhi The installation which takes a satirical look at the politics of Climate Change was made for the World Climate Change Conference held in Delhi in October 2002. The panels were put up all over Sarai and the CSDS. -- Monica Narula Sarai:The New Media Initiative 29 Rajpur Road, Delhi 110 054 www.sarai.net _________________________________________ reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. Critiques & Collaborations To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request(a)sarai.net with subscribe in the subject header. List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/>

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Re: call for localisation 1pager (fwd)
by Frederick Noronha 06 Dec '02

06 Dec '02

Thank you very much Jody. I will circulate for the attention of all interested. There surely must be many interested and convinced about the importance of such a task. The challenge is to find them! FN PS: There's a lot happening on the Indianization of GNU/Linux, but the efforts need to be further coordinatated. My friends Tapan Parikh, Joseph Koshy, Karunakar, Vijay Pratap and others were sitting down on the lawns of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore during the LB/2002 meet to discuss this very issue... unfortunately I had to run to catch a bus back to Goa. Maybe some of them could update us all on the trends planned. On Thu, 5 Dec 2002, Jody Goldberg wrote: > On Sat, Nov 30, 2002 at 09:35:31AM +0530, Frederick Noronha wrote: > > Dear Jody, Am sending you copies of some IndicComputing material, put > > together by a friend of ours Karunakar, who is at the forefront of this > > campaign. Thanks for your time and attention. Frederick > > Interesting. As you collect people interested in helping please > send them my way. I'd love to get gnumeric ready for use in various > indian locales. We now use pango which should help with basic > script display. However, getting the input method handling right > and having the documentation (we have alot of documentation) > translated is a huge task. > > thanks > Jody >

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M$ in Uttranchal
by H S Rai 05 Dec '02

05 Dec '02

Uttranchal government signed MoU with M$ http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/holnus/06041404.htm http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php%3Fclid%3D12%26theme%3D%26usrsess%… May list member extend their services to make this poor government aware of this expensive deal called MoU in e-governance and for development of hindi. -- H.S.Rai

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2 interesting links from ZDNet India ...
by Harish 05 Dec '02

05 Dec '02

Research firm IDC has reinforced a Microsoft argument that Linux is more expensive to administer than Windows, a factor that makes Windows less expensive overall in most server uses: http://www.zdnetindia.com/news/international/stories/nsl,71690.html Linux, West Bengal and e-governance projects: http://www.zdnetindia.com/news/national/stories/nsl,71697.html

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lets put an end to it !!
by Tarun Gaur 03 Dec '02

03 Dec '02

Hi Mr. MTP, I was expecting this reply. Especially you being a lawyer. See how easy it is to find out if there is a bit of commonsense. I am registered as a volunteer and also in the business directory. If you really cared you could have easily found out. i suppose that is what these things are there for in the first place. now inspite of being a techie, though i should not dare to contest a lawyer, i will try in good spirit. My brother, you are intentionally misquoting me and i can understand. Asking for help and knowing the credentials of people becoming a part of a sincere effort is nothing bad; especially when the product has been approved at savannah as a project. Now, asking for help for a project registered at savannah does not amount to recruitment dear SIR. And believe me, i have had a good response. There are people who are willing to join me in the spirit of free software and GNU. In your entire mail you have mentioned my "Trying to Recruit" people a total of four times. I can again understand. I think once was enough. [REPETITION OF ABOVE] techies can comptete anyways ... Now your entire mail is on assumption that i have not disclosed myself. - Did you check the volunteers list ? - did you see the business directory ? You did not, but others did and they contacted me at my office and we are meeting soon to discuss the software. The software is free and open to all. >Thanks for being considerate. I expected worse from you. You will >please refer back to the first line I quoted from your letter. You >were >asking somebody for help to configure your 'linux' installation. And before >helping *you*, that guy should convince you of his credentials. Is that how >you seek help? you are right. my response would have been more outright if i did not care about the spirit of free software and openness to criticism. Brother, i am still not contesting you but your opinion and the language used by you in your first mail. As far as knowing a bit about people is concerned, if i have asked people about them, i have written back to them about me. AND I AM NOT RECRUITING ANYBODY !! They are still helping !! Now, like you , i repeat ... you i could know you, you could do it too. Now, no matter what, using offending language is not justified even if you disliked something. You could have advised me to improve and i would have accepted gladly. But writing "haha" "hehe" and "without regards" is just hilarious. (ref: your mail that triggered it all). i will try and end it all by being apologetic about offending you in what ever manner. Now, lets put an end to it. WITH REGARDS to MTP and all others, tarun gaur _________________________________________________________________ Tired of spam? Get advanced junk mail protection with MSN 8. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail

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(no subject)
by Tarun Gaur 03 Dec '02

03 Dec '02

Hi Mr. MTP, I was expecting this reply. Especially you being a lawyer. See how easy it is to find out if there is a bit of commonsense. I am registered as a volunteer and also in the business directory. If you really cared you could have easily found out. i suppose that is what these things are there for in the first place. now inspite of being a techie, though i should not dare to contest a lawyer, i will try in good spirit. My brother, you are intentionally misquoting me and i can understand. Asking for help and knowing the credentials of people becoming a part of a sincere effort is nothing bad; especially when the product has been approved at savannah as a project. Now, asking for help for a project registered at savannah does not amount to recruitment dear SIR. And believe me, i have had a good response. There are people who are willing to join me in the spirit of free software and GNU. In your entire mail you have mentioned my "Trying to Recruit" people a total of four times. I can again understand. I think once was enough. [REPETITION OF ABOVE] techies can comptete anyways ... Now your entire mail is on assumption that i have not disclosed myself. - Did you check the volunteers list ? - did you see the business directory ? You did not, but others did and they contacted me at my office and we are meeting soon to discuss the software. The software is free and open to all. >Thanks for being considerate. I expected worse from you. You will >please refer back to the first line I quoted from your letter. You >were >asking somebody for help to configure your 'linux' installation. And before >helping *you*, that guy should convince you of his credentials. Is that how >you seek help? you are right. my response would have been more outright if i did not care about the spirit of free software and openness to criticism. Brother, i am still not contesting you but your opinion and the language used by you in your first mail. As far as knowing a bit about people is concerned, if i have asked people about them, i have written back to them about me. AND I AM NOT RECRUITING ANYBODY !! They are still helping !! Now, like you , i repeat ... you i could know you, you could do it too. Now, no matter what, using offending language is not justified even if you disliked something. You could have advised me to improve and i would have accepted gladly. But writing "haha" "hehe" and "without regards" is just hilarious. (ref: your mail that triggered it all). i will try and end it all by being apologetic about offending you in what ever manner. Now, lets put an end to it. WITH REGARDS to MTP and all others, tarun gaur _________________________________________________________________ MSN 8 with e-mail virus protection service: 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus

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(fwd) FSF's Position on Proposed W3 Consortium "Royalty-Free" Patent Policy
by Raju Mathur 02 Dec '02

02 Dec '02

This is an RFC 1153 digest. (1 message) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-Id: <200212021610.41960.stefan.meretz(a)hbv.org> From: Stefan Meretz <stefan.meretz(a)hbv.org> Sender: owner-list-en(a)oekonux.org To: list-en(a)oekonux.org Subject: [ox-en] Fwd: FSF's Position on Proposed W3 Consortium "Royalty-Free" Patent Policy Date: Mon, 2 Dec 2002 16:10:41 +0100 ---------- Forwarded Message ---------- Subject: FSF's Position on Proposed W3 Consortium "Royalty-Free" Patent Policy Date: Mon, 02 Dec 2002 15:34:26 +0100 From: "Georg C. F. Greve" <greve(a)fsfeurope.org> To: discussion(a)fsfeurope.org Cc: announce(a)fsfeurope.org Hi all, in case you haven't read (and done) this already, please take a look at the patent policy proposed by the W3C consortium and make sure you protest that draft. Otherwise we risk seeing an increasing amount of W3C standards that cannot be implemented as Free Software. Regards, Georg Greve FSF Europe, President [ http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/w3c-patent.html ] FSF's Position on Proposed W3 Consortium "Royalty-Free" Patent Policy 25 November 2002 The Free Software Foundation, represented by its General Counsel, Professor Eben Moglen of Columbia University Law School, participated in the W3 Consortium Patent Policy Working Group from November 2001 through the current Last Call draft. The Foundation regards the current Last Call draft, which proposes the adoption of a "royalty-free" or "RF" patent policy, as a significant step in the direction of protecting the World Wide Web from patent-encumbered standards. But the proposed policy is not an adequate final outcome from the Foundation's point of view. The proposed policy permits W3C members participating in W3 technical working groups to commit their patent claims "royalty-free" for use by implementers of the standard, but with "field of use" restrictions that would be incompatible with section 7 of the GNU General Public License. Such "field of use" restrictions, in other words, would prevent implementation of W3C standards as Free Software. Section 7 of the GNU GPL is intended to prevent the distribution of software which appears to be Free (because it is released under a copyright license guaranteeing the freedoms to use, copy, modify, and redistribute) but which cannot, in fact, be modified and redistributed because of patent license restrictions that limit the use of patent claims practiced by the software to a particular purpose. Though other Free Software licenses may not happen to contain provisions equivalent to GPL's Section 7, this does not imply that programs released under those licenses will be Free Software if the patent claims contributed "royalty-free" to the standard those programs implement are limited to a particular field of use. As an example, W3 members may contribute patent claims to a standard describing the behavior of web servers providing particular functionality. A Free Software program implementing that standard would be available for others to copy from, in order to add functionality to browsers, or non-interactive web clients. But if, as the present proposed policy permits, the patent-holder has licensed the practicing of its patent claims "royalty-free" only "in order to implement the standard", reuse of the relevant code in these latter environments would still raise possible patent infringement problems. For this reason, the proposed policy does not actually protect the rights of the Free Software community to full participation in the implementation and extension of web standards. The goal of our participation in the policy making process at W3C has not been achieved. The Foundation urges all those who care about the right of Free Software developers to implement all future web standards to send comments to the W3C urging that the policy be amended to prohibit the imposition of "field of use" restrictions on patent claims contributed to W3C standards. The address to which such comments should be emailed is <www-patentpolicy-comment(a)w3.org>. The deadline for receipt of comments is Tuesday 31 December 2002. -- Georg C. F. Greve <greve(a)fsfeurope.org> Free Software Foundation Europe (http://fsfeurope.org) GNU Business Network (http://mailman.gnubiz.org) Brave GNU World (http://brave-gnu-world.org) ------------------------------------------------------- -- Vereinte Dienstleistungsgewerkschaft ver.di Internetredaktion Potsdamer Platz 10, 10785 Berlin -- mailto:stefan.meretz@verdi.de maintaining: http://www.verdi.de private stuff: http://www.meretz.de -- _______________________ http://www.oekonux.org/ ------------------------------ End of this Digest ****************** -- Raju Mathur raju(a)kandalaya.org http://kandalaya.org/ It is the mind that moves

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People like him should be thrown out
by Tarun Gaur 02 Dec '02

02 Dec '02

cDate: Sat, 30 Nov 2002 17:26:11 +0530 >From: Mahesh T Pai <paivakil(a)vsnl.net> >CC: fsf-friends(a)mm.gnu.org.in >Subject: Re: [Fsf-friends] Invitation to become a FSF Member ... > >Tarun Gaur wrote: > > I operate out of these three places. > >(See below) > > > Can you give me any URL on any website where i could read about your > > work. > >What about giving details about your firm? Your qualifications? >Software you have already developed? > > > i am working on some enterprise software where you could help me > > configure linux for the specific purposes. > >Kids play. > >You, operating a company from three locations, better hire a plus two >kid from a LUG in the locality for that. > > > _________________________________________________________________ > > Tired of spam? Get advanced junk mail protection with MSN 8. > > http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > >Nice. Operating from three places, and not even an own e-mail. Forget >about a URI. > >Hoo!! boy!!! > >Without regards, >Mahesh T Pai. Dear Mr. M T P, It is really disgusting to have people like you on this mailing list. Be very sure that i have no intentions of being a part of an intellectual mailing list that has members like you trying to insult others. I come here to learn and contirbute. As far as emails are concerned, i own more personal emails than the money in your bank accounts. --------------------------------------------------------- I would please request others not to tolerate these kind of mails towards anyone. It could be you next time. I dont know what has offended Mr. MTP ? These kind of people are not worth an intellectual forum, no matter how intelligent they are. Mr. MTP, it is guyz like you who discourage people like me to disclose their professional emails. be very sure some good people have and will get my contact addresses. If you had a bit of commonsense you could have found out on your own, forget writing linux software. You call it a kids play; brother i do serious work and want serious help. And i have a habit of keeping away from brilliant and boasting people (though they are not) who dont have basic manners on how to be a part of an intellectual forum. You have been disgusting in your response. Is this forum created to insult people ? Can people like MTP promote an ideology. I think they can promote dislike and hatred. All my friends, i leave you with this thought, Regards to all, tarun gaur _________________________________________________________________ The new MSN 8: smart spam protection and 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail

4 3

Its great work Guyz
by Tarun Gaur 02 Dec '02

02 Dec '02

Hi gopal/arun, I have seen your work on dotgnu project. Its good work. It feels great to know that we all are thinking ahead of time. I am sure some MS people who keep a tab on our mails are wondering what we are upto. I support porting of .NET (C#) on linux but remember, we get less mileage on porting it to linux. I mean, .NET web services can be accessed from Linux anyways, due to XML-RPC n SOAP standards. Getting C# clients running on linux should be made integral part of such an endeavor but should not take a centerstage. The edge lies in integrating the linux environment such that it provides all the .NET funtionality (not .NET) in linux. We have a beautiful langauage in Java at our hands. If we can get togather to promote java as an alternative (matching or superseding .NET), infact C and C++ are good enough with a strong developer base. The key to beating .NET seems to be how well we can integrate the services available on linux to provide an equivalent if not more functionality. If we can create an integrated environment that is easier to use than .NET .. i believe we are on. Arun/Gopal its great work that you guyz are doing. Guyz like you really make it all worthwhile. Please let me know on who is managing the project and whether you guyz are on for adding some new concepts into the project ? Free software for the brave GNU World. With regards to all, Tarun Gaur >From: Gopal V <gopalv82(a)symonds.net> >To: Tarun Gaur <gaur_tarun(a)hotmail.com> >CC: Fsf-India Mailing List <fsf-india(a)mm.gnu.org.in> >Subject: Gnu and the dot (was: (no subject)) >Date: Sun, 1 Dec 2002 23:19:39 +0530 > >If memory serves me right, Tarun Gaur wrote: > > The project i am working on is not just a replacement/porting of .net on > > linux. It is much more than that. It intends to provide a highly >scalable > > web services environment of which C# and other microsoft technologies >are a > > small part. Some languages that are taken care of by our environment are >: > > C++, C, COBOL, Java, C# and some things that we are keeping under wraps >till > > it completes. We will be releasing the sofware under GNU LGPL. > >Even though I don't understand why you'd need to keep it under wraps ... >I do think DotGNU has a lot in common with what you suggest ... We started >off to provide a Microsoft compatible webservice framework .. later Rhys >Weatherly came in with Portable.Net the C# compiler and runtime , and I >jumped in (sort of pushed in by Arun) ... > >I'm working on the codegen, SemanticAnalysis and flow analysis of the >compiler .. And I have done my bit on the runtime engine , and am currently >the lead developer of the pnetlib standard libraries .... > > > We are creating a Global Naming and security architecture that can boast > > some interesting unique features. We have options of using triple DES / >IDEA > > as cryptosystems for the environment. And the environment makes it >amazingly > > easy to Write distributed code. > >Hmm... our ideas of distributed execution have been put into the pipeline >and Chris Smith has promised a release by next year Mid-Jan ... It will >use a CIL sandboxed engine for execution , and other engines like Parrot >are being kept open for inclusion... > > > Now, Please tell me on how can i contribute in your endeavor. > >http://dotgnu.org/ or http://dotgnu.info/ or >${gnu_mirror}/gnu/dotgnu-pnet/ > > > Anyways, Arun and Gopal, please let me know how can i contribute. I >would > > love to and i have got a good following of a handfull of good >programmers > > who will be willing to pitch in too. > >Visit http://savannah.gnu.org/projects/dotgnu-pnet/ for the C# side of >things. >Get the CVS , hack in a few features ... submit a patch ... and all that.. > >We're on a stabilizing run for the 0.5.0 release , so we're keeping hands >off the CVS repository and testing the patches hard .. > >The hackers on developers(a)dotgnu.org lists will be more helpful for further >queries .. > >Gopal >-- >The difference between insanity and genius is measured by success _________________________________________________________________ Add photos to your e-mail with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/featuredemail

2 1

Three views on Free/Libre and Open Source Software... (long)
by Frederick Noronha 02 Dec '02

02 Dec '02

---------- Forwarded message ---------- http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?artid=2… The Economic Times Should governments use open source software? TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2002 01:28:06 The Linux versus Microsoft tussle over open-source software as against proprietary software has all the romance of a David versus Goliath battle. What is the reality? We present three views, two from industry and one from governmen. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Javed Tapia, Director, Red Hat, India ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Linux is an operating system, much like Microsoft Windows, Solaris or MacOS X. What sets Linux apart from most other operating systems is that it is an open source. This is generally taken to mean simply 'free'. What this actually is much more than that and in practice means that the source code is available to all for modification, customisation, and improvement. The use of Linux lowers the total cost of IT very significantly. The first advantage is the upfront price. A single fully supported package would cost significantly less than any proprietary alternatives. Secondly, since Linux is under a general public licensing model it can be installed on many computers without any restrictions. Thirdly, a typical Linux CD contains not only the operating system, but a large variety of other software products that can be installed if needed. Thus, without buying or downloading anything else, the user already has simple office suite, all the software needed for internet access, advanced networking capabilities, and so on. Fourthly, a major argument against the implementation of proprietary software in the government sector is the dependency on proprietary software vendors. Even in an open tender acquisition system, this requirement for compatibility with proprietary standards makes the system biased towards specific software vendors, perpetuating a dependency. This dependency is perpetuated due to two reasons: first of all software owners have to upgrade the software, even if there is no internal reason or interest in doing so. Otherwise they risk facing a situation where their programs are not capable of process documents and files, created by newer versions of the same product. The second coercion to upgrade evolving from this dependency situation is the ending of support for 'older' versions. This situation thus has major consequences for the cost side of IT management. Through the passage of time, the proprietary software vendor does not have to fear competition, since the client has to take its product irrespective of any choice. A typical, at least de facto, monopoly evolves in which the vendor dictates prices, conditions and quality. Open source provide liberation from such a situation as it offers no proprietary lock-in to any one vendor. Fifthly, apart from the cost advantage, in a large installation such as government ministry or department, administration of all the computers in all locations can be a logistical nightmare. Linux provides many features that can make this administration much easier. Linux is a multi-user system which means that each file belongs to a specific user, and one user cannot alter another user's files unless latter assigns appropriate permissions. Linux has a number of features that make its use on a network much more secure. Examples include a built-in firewall, the ability to allow certain services (e.g., file sharing) to be accessible only from within an internal network, software to detect attempted hacking, encrypted protocols for remote administration, file transfer, and so on. An important selling point of Linux is its stability. Barring hardware malfunctions, Linux is highly stable. Operating system crashes are almost unheard of. Proof of this being that today large enterprises and government bodies are adopting Linux in a big way for their mission-critical applications. For instance NASA and the ESA are using a customised version of Linux in a number of highly-sensitive space missions. While it is possible to download Linux for free, make copies of the downloads and distribute them freely, this option includes no support from the supplier, although one can always make use of peer support groups and other self-proclaimed gurus. To benefit from professional telephone or email support from the suppliers like Red Hat, one has to buy the operating system. This option normally includes more software than the free version, printed manuals, a number of days of support and software provided ready on CDs. Finally, the situation after the migration to open source software will lead to lower life-cycle costs. Service, support and maintenance can now be contracted out to a range of suppliers, being placed in the competitive environment of a functioning marketplace. The money saved in the service-oriented model of open source is then also normally spent within the economy or the governmental organisation. Unlike proprietary software situations where they are paid out as pure licence fees to large monopolistic multinational organisations. The cost of the service oriented model of open source has a positive fallout on the domestic economy through the generation of local employment, spurring of local investment and ensuring local technological upgradation. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sanjiv Mathur, Head of marketing, Microsoft, India: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- To begin with let me first clarify the term 'Free software.' The word 'free' here specifically means what you can do with the software, not the price. While you can obtain the basic software free, it is distributed and sold for a charge by companies who develop applications on it. As a result, the pricing structure becomes very similar to commercial software as companies promoting free software charge for initial installation, support, training, etc. Though the price debate is still under the microscope, the total cost of ownership underscores the fact that when you invest in software or hardware, there are a number of hidden costs that come into being. In the commercial and free software debate this element becomes of critical value as studies reveal that TCO of free software is quite high. Microsoft believes in the overall benefit of the software ecosystem -- one that recognises the roles of government, education, private industry and end users to develop a healthy interaction that advances the public knowledge base, protects IP rights, furthers innovation and spurs further growth. Our primary concern is not with open source as a whole, but with the GNU General Public License. Its role in discouraging the development of commercial software threatens to undermine intellectual property, stifle innovation, and limit entrepreneurism while reducing choice in the market. The best catalyst for software innovation and industry growth is the market place, supported by a strong regime for intellectual property protection. If an organisation is looking at moving over to free software, it is attracted by the short term benefits where the initial investment may be less than what they would need to do for commercial software. However taking into account the longer term implications; they definitely need to think of the overall value proposition that a platform offers vis-a-vis the other. They need to evaluate the basic acquisitions costs of free software vis-a-vis the long term costs which include integration costs between various components, backwards compatibility costs, collaboration with the partner community, trained manpower. These costs are absorbed by the commercial software companies and the value is passed onto the customer. Moreover, once free software is installed, it also becomes a source of elevated security vulnerabilities for IT buyers, because the source code is freely available: no one person is responsible for it. Microsoft's investments in e-governance in particular go back several years, and we were amongst the first IT companies to strike alliances with the central and state governments. Today, we have MoUs with 18 state governments in India, and are doing pioneering work in developing e-governance applications and solutions. Some results of our successful partnerships include the Gyaandoot Project with the government of Madhya Pradesh, the Bhoomi Project in Karnataka and work with the Treasuries department of the government of Haryana. We at Microsoft believe that a healthy software ecosystem is one built on choice with government agencies and all entities having the ability to select which software model fits their needs. We believe that an open market approach where software products compete on their technical merits is the best model for the long-term growth of the software industries in all countries. Software companies make heavy investments in R&D and if they do not have a chance to be compensated for their R&D spends, the cycle of sustainable innovation is disrupted and the health of the local software industry is jeopardised. As a result, it would discourage any organisation to take on the effort of expensive R&D to improve upon the same as they would not see any benefit in doing so. This would lead to a disruption in the software ecosystem. Both open source and commercial software are integral parts of the broader software ecosystem, and the two models have co-existed within the software ecosystem for decades. We are not averse to sharing our source codes with our customers if it will be beneficial for them, however we are concerned about the potential implications of GPL. The problems created by GPL result from the onerous licensing terms that it contains. The GPL requires that all third parties must have the right to make unlimited copies of GPL-licensed software and distribute them free of charge. Obviously, it is extremely difficult for a software company to generate revenue by distributing a program if everyone has the right to distribute unlimited copies of the same program free of charge. We believe that software has commercial value and attempts to render software free will ultimately undermine the software industry, causing less R&D to go into software development and ultimately less innovation for consumers. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- R Gopalakrishnan, Secretary to chief minister, Madhya Pradesh: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- A more appropriate query would be why haven't governments done it earlier. The implications for public policy are fairly obvious. First is cost. Commercial software costs money and open source software is free. Even after accounting for training and installation costs of open source software, it may still cost anywhere between one-half to one-tenth of commercial software depending on the application. The ocean of unnecessary features in commercial software makes hardware expensive and obsolescence cycles shorter. Getting locked into all future upgrades again becomes serious issue. By going along the open source path, a government will spend less money and receive the same or better features, functionality and performance. Even the money that they spend will not be invested in product prices, but in training and developing tens of thousands of their own people creating a competence that will become a long-term asset for the state and its people. The issue of cost is vitally tied to liberating India to become a land of one billion opportunities.Digital inclusion will become possible only with low-cost computers combined with open source software and broadband connectivity. Some experts feel that even at a conservative estimate, the hardware-software savings with an open source based thin client can be 75% or more as compared with MS Windows-office fat desktop. This is perhaps the reason why countries like China, Brazil, South Africa and Germany have chosen open source software and why it finds endorsement in major emerging markets. The good old standard operating procedure of bureaucracies, when confronted with the unknown, was to ask a question "what is happening in other places"? In this case we seemed to have missed that question. The issue of security is important for public policy. It is practically impossible to prove proprietary software is more secure than free software. Public systems will need to enshrine security and proprietary software that guards source codes inherently have a problem with governments that would not want their core systems to be dominated by external monopolies. We must admit that e-governance, so far in India, has been a play in the margins, the eulogising of the cow that got sold on the internet. As we begin to put more citizen-services in the public domain the issue of costs and security will need to be squarely faced. In the area of education, governments will need to enlist the computer as a tool to push the frontiers of learning to improve quality. We need to transit from the current obsession with mere computer literacy to generate cyber coolies for the market but see the potential of the medium to stimulate the inherent creativity of the human mind. Open source software has been the preferred medium in learning institutions because here students can investigate the medium they work with and construct knowledge. What can be the down-side of a policy shift to open source software in India? The standard fear is about who will provide maintenance and support. This fear is negated by the fact that there is a blooming support service industry which is set to grow as policy gets proactive on open source software. Why has not there been a national policy as yet on promotion of open source software? Part of the reason is the policy leadership of southern Indian states where the issues were focused more on IT production than on IT use. Another part of the reason is fragmented bureaucratic turf. Given the poor penetration of information technology in India, there is now a growing realisation that India will need to move to a more comprehensive "ICT Policy for Development". While formulating such a policy through a multi-sectoral forum that brings together the ministries of planning, finance, HRD, CIT, etc., the ministry of science and technology may need to comprehensively address the question as to whether the "technology framework of a government" can be based on proprietary standards. That will hopefully settle this issue. Public policy cannot be authored on the basis of freebies or initial sweeteners in terms of discounts offered by monopolies. It has to be informed by a long-term vision. The decision of the government of Madhya Pradesh to prefer open source software of Linux for its computer-enabled education programme was, like the chief minister stated, a matter of "choosing between a free software and a monopoly". It ought not to be seen as a vote against any particular company. Inherent in the debate on open source software are issues of freedom, monopoly and choice of the buyer. The internet itself is premised on freedom, sharing and decentered activity. And freedom, is as of yet, one of the best ideas that humankind has produced. (ENDS)

8 12

(no subject)
by Tarun Gaur 01 Dec '02

01 Dec '02

Hi Arun, The project i am working on is not just a replacement/porting of .net on linux. It is much more than that. It intends to provide a highly scalable web services environment of which C# and other microsoft technologies are a small part. Some languages that are taken care of by our environment are : C++, C, COBOL, Java, C# and some things that we are keeping under wraps till it completes. We will be releasing the sofware under GNU LGPL. We are creating a Global Naming and security architecture that can boast some interesting unique features. We have options of using triple DES / IDEA as cryptosystems for the environment. And the environment makes it amazingly easy to Write distributed code. Now, Please tell me on how can i contribute in your endeavor. I will be more than willing to contribute ENERGETICALLY. Lol (One of our friends called me over-energetic). Anyways, Arun and Gopal, please let me know how can i contribute. I would love to and i have got a good following of a handfull of good programmers who will be willing to pitch in too. Free software for the brave GNU world. Regards, Tarun Gaur _________________________________________________________________ MSN 8 helps eliminate e-mail viruses. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus

1 0

I disagree. Its free software not free abuses
by Tarun Gaur 01 Dec '02

01 Dec '02

hi satyakam, Brother, i honour your opinion. Now, what you call over-energetic behaviour is my interest in the list that belongs to my countrymen. i am currently part of 1 gnu and 2 non-gnu projects. But i am as patriotic as i am energetic. Maybe thats the reason i have been trying to create an environment along with others to promote fsf-india's mailing lists. I have been relentlessly talking to my collegues and people i know. I take seminars on distributed computing myself. i have a good following amongst students. I have been asking them to join the mailing list and take active part in development of the projects. I have been a member of linux, oracle, novell, ibm, hp , MIT etc forum for a long time. But never i have seen people behaving like this. Dont forget there are others (at GNU) watching us outside FSF-India. Ah what an impression ! and friend, if you find it ok to be insulted by strangers. Though i honour your viewpoint, i am not in for it. And be sure i am as energetic at pursuing problems as i am in fsf mailing lists. i will talk to administrators to monitor the discussions here,. If things are the same, i know where to write. friends, i am just plain pleading to be a sport and create some synergy. We are all brothers after all. someone says i am overenergetic another writes "Without respect". We have been silent spectators always and believe me friend it is nothing great in being a silent spectator. Now look at your statement. "This is a forum for FREE SOFTWARE, FREE IDEOLOGY, FREE EXPRESSIONS and should i add FREE ABUSES ? Does that make your statement complete. Intellectual forums are meant to share knowldege, not hurl abuses. anyways i dont see a point in discussing if you folks think otherwise. I will prefer GNU america forums rather. Remember friends, EXPRESSIONS ARE AN INDEX OF MIND. Mr. Arun and Gopal have asked me to give the details of the project related to .NET that we are pursuing. i am a bit busy with work. I have asked someone to write some stuff on the project. I will be posting it soon. Regards, Tarun Gaur _________________________________________________________________ Add photos to your messages with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/featuredemail

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LINUXBANGALORE2002: Schedule of talks from Dec 3-5
by Frederick Noronha 01 Dec '02

01 Dec '02

Just fyi... This is the schedule of the programme for LinuxBangalore2002, an Open Source event being organised in Bangalore, South India: Talk Schedule Development SysAdmin Users Business Emerging Govt/Edu Kernel Special Date 3rd Dec 2002 Time JN Tata (750) Hall A (120) Hall B (90) Hall C (60) CSIC (250) 10:00am-11:00am Welcome and Opening Ceremony All 11:00am-12:00pm Linux - Open for Business Subrahmanyam Vempati Hewlett Packard 12:00pm-1:00pm Linux is ready for the Enterprise! Kalpana Margabandhu IBM Lunch Break 2:00pm-3:00pm Linux C programming TCO Using OpenSource Linux Potential Supercomputing under Linux Linux Servers for for Embedded and Clusters with HP eGovernance: Real Time Itanium2 - Early Naba Kumar K.Siva Koti A Business Applications experiences Belzabar Reddy Case Software Wipro K. Sebikumar R. Balasubramanian Development Technologies Dr.Mary Wipro Hewlett Packard India Pvt Ltd. Mathew and Technologies India Gopi Krishna S Garge Indian Institute of Science & Exocore Consulting 3:00pm-4:00pm Penguin on Big Iron GUI An EGovernance: Programming For - Linux on IBM Programming Introduction OpenSource the S/390 using XLib. to Open Solutions Encore-Simputer Source Srikrishnan Karthik N Software Atul Chitnis Samyeer Metrani Sundararajan Parashar Licences Exocore Encore Software IBM Global Services Larsen & Consulting Limited India Limited Toubro Biju Chacko (P) Ltd. BC Consulting 4:00pm-5:00pm Carrier Grade Linux Introduction Licensing Tux goes to Experiences with for to Qt concerns in school embedding Linux Networking/Telecom programming reuse of on a handheld Platform Free/Open Arvind Yadav device Nitish Jaisoor Source Online Manoj Dey Infosys Software Productivity Srivatsa Intel Corp, NSD Technologies, Solutions IBM Ltd. Gopi Krishna Pvt. Ltd. S Garge Exocore Consulting P Ltd 5:00pm-6:00pm Linux in Robotics Introduction Implementing Geographical An Introduction to GTK Linux/Exim Information to Network Mrinal Kalakrishnan Programming based system System(GIS) Security in and Jnaneshwar Das for Banks 'GRASS' on Embdded Devices PES Institute of Naba Kumar Mail Gateway Linux Technology Belzabar Platform Chitra Software Varadaraja Balakrishnan . Development Iyer Bijon B Shaha Hema Bhargavi India Pvt Ltd. IDRBT Electronics M.S. Test & ERNET/IISc & Development Bluefont Centre Technologies Pvt Ltd 6:00pm-7:00pm Discussion: Discussion: GUI Embedded Linux Programming All All Date 4th Dec 2002 Time JN Tata (750) Hall A (120) Hall B (90) Hall C (60) CSIC (250) 10:00am-11:00am Keynote 3 (TBA) Keynote Address 11:00am-12:00pm Shared Source Security and Shell scripting Weitse Venema's Security -- Implementation of Privacy with IPv6 in Linux Postfix An .NET introduction Jayachandra K Kartik N Suraj V. Shankar Tarun Anand Hewlett packard IBM GSI Yukthi Technologies Devdas Bhagat Microsoft Pvt. Ltd. 12:00pm-1:00pm .NET on Linux IPv6 Routing in Introduction to Intranet - News DDos - Linux Berkeley DB Server Detection and Vinod Unny Prevention Enterprise InfoTech Mahendra M Raj Mathur karthikeyan.N Infosys Kandalaya Devi Information Kalyan Varma Technologies Ltd Systems Alluri Yahoo! Inc Lunch Break 2:00pm-3:00pm The OpenSource Developing a DHCPv6 Porting STREAMS Accessibility - Email server Corporate Desktop server & Client on Driver to Equal Access to Free security Linux Linux. Software Atul Chitnis Devdas Bhagat Exocore Consulting Swaroop Sanjeeva Manvi Hema Seetharamaiah (P) Ltd. Krishnamurthy, Hewlett Packard Wipro Technologies Nikhil U Moorthy, Mehnaz Farooqui Aditi Technologies, VIT & DSL 3:00pm-4:00pm Corporate Security: Developing a Tiny Artificial Internationalization Security With Do you know where IPv6 stack for The Neural Network (i18n) in Linux SSH your data is? Embedded Linux for Image Classification Karunakar Guntupalli V S Raj Mathur Pooja Nagpal using GIMP IndLinux.org Somasundaram Kandalaya Oracle Webstix Naresh Jain Design Pvt DSL Software Ltd Limited 4:00pm-5:00pm Content Management Secure Supercomputing Localization of Linux VPN Systems in Linux Coding/Programming and Linux Linux in Indian solutions for in Linux/Unix languages - Current SME Kishore Bhargava Manu Konchady Status and Future and Gurunandan Bhat Kalyan Varma Alluri Self-Employed Chetan Kumar Linkaxis Yahoo! Inc Karunakar Guntupalli S Technologies/Goa IndLinux.org Wipro University&Synapse Technologies 5:00pm-6:00pm Education SIG Meet Localization SIG Discussion: meet Security All All All 6:00pm-7:00pm Date 5th Dec 2002 Time JN Tata (750) Hall A (120) Hall B (90) Hall C (60) CSIC (250) 10:00am-11:00am Oracle on An introduction Network Is the Linux Analysis of Kernel Linux to Python Management/Monitoring Desktop for Locking Mechanisms for Systems you? Linux Kernel Gurunandan R. Biju Chacko Programming Bhat BC Consulting Ravi Ananth Giri K Swati Sani Goa Ishoni Networks SANIsoft Dr. B. Thangaraju University & Wipro Technologies Synapse 11:00am-12:00pm PostgreSQL an Zope - A Implementing 'Single Running Win32 Memory Management in Introduction complete Sign On' (SSO) applications the Linux Kernel insight Solution using Linux under Mohan and OpenLDAP Linux.(using A.R.Karthick Ze Omega Debojit Wine) Infosys Infotect Pvt Hazarika Shanker Balan Technologies,Bangalore Ltd Ze Omega Exocore Consulting Kingsly John Infotect Pvt Kingsly Dot Ltd Net 12:00pm-1:00pm Advanced Opensource in Automating Linux Mass LaTeX : Read-Copy-Update mutual Server Side bioinformatics Installs with Document exclusion - in Linux Programming Kickstart Preparation Kernel 2.5 with vineeth shiva in Linux PostgreSQL sandeep Vinod Unny Maneesh Soni Institute of Enterprise InfoTech Manu Bhardwaj IBM Global Services Gurunandan R. Bioinformatics and Hareesh India Ltd Bhat (The Genomic Nagarajan Goa Research Trust) PESIT, University & Bangalore and Synapse RVCE, Bangalore Lunch Break 2:00pm-3:00pm Linux PHP for the first An Design of Dynamic Distributions & timer introduction per-cpu kernel memory Standards to Forth allocator Pradyumna Sampath Kishore BMS College Of Praveen Ravikiran G Thirumalai Bhargava Engineering Wipro IBM Linkaxis Technologies Technologies 3:00pm-4:00pm Using anjuta Implementing web Linker and Portable approach to for C services using PHP Loaders dispatching machine programming contexts in user-level Dr Tarique Sani Sandeep in Linux Naba Kumar SANIsoft Grover Belzabar QuickLogic Ganesh S Software India Wipro Technologies Development India Pvt Ltd. 4:00pm-5:00pm Kylix 3 Open Programming Dual Journey of a Thread scheduling in Edition - First Interface Applications packet the Linux Kernel C++ RAD Tool in Perl For Linux Mahendra M Patanjali Somayaji Kenneth Gonsalves Infosys Codito Technologies Nitin Stephen xlquest Technologies Koshy Ltd AgniSoft 5:30pm-6:30pm Closing Ceremony and Final BLUG Meet All 6:30pm-8:00pm Rock for Freedom Phenom Rock Show

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(fwd) Link to article in The Hindu on Bill Gates/Linux
by Raju Mathur 01 Dec '02

01 Dec '02

This is an RFC 1153 digest. (1 message) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-Id: <20021201080544.5645F7D0A(a)chn3.vsnl.net.in> From: nsjeyan(a)vsnl.net Sender: linux-india-general-admin(a)lists.sourceforge.net To: linux-india-general(a)lists.sourceforge.net Cc: Subject: [LIG] Link to article in The Hindu on Bill Gates/Linux Date: Sun, 1 Dec 2002 13:35:44 +0530 (IST) hi, below is the link to a column in The Hindu, "Selling India to Bill Gates" http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mag/stories/2002120100100300.htm regards, subash. ------------------------------ End of this Digest ****************** -- Raju Mathur raju(a)kandalaya.org http://kandalaya.org/ It is the mind that moves

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LINK: Selling India to Bill Gates
by Frederick Noronha 01 Dec '02

01 Dec '02

http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mag/stories/2002120100100300.htm Online edition of India's National Newspaper About Us Sunday, Dec 01, 2002 Contact Us Magazine Published on Sundays Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Select Articles Metro Plus | Open Page | Education | Book Review * The colonisers | Business | SciTech | Entertainment | Young colonised World | Quest | Folio | * Inputs for Magazine agriculture * Minimal lines, [Send this Article to a Fr[Printer Friendly Page] animated surfaces * Ask the Doc.. Selling India to Bill Gates Archives C. RAMMANOHAR REDDY * Datewise * Issues IN 1997, on his first visit to India, Bill Gates * Cuisine met Prime Minister Deve Gowda in New Delhi. A * Travel couple of days later, Mr. Gowda flew to Mumbai to * Gardening attend another function in honour of the Microsoft chief. In 2000, during Mr Gates' second News visit, more than half a dozen Chief Ministers News Update queued up to plead for investment by the software Front Page giant. Now, in 2002, the coronation of Mr. Gates National as the most preferred visitor from abroad has Regional: been completed. * Southern States * Other States The way we fete and fawn on Bill Gates each time International he visits India should make any self-respecting Opinion Indian wince with embarrassment. At the same Business time, we are quick to show our displeasure Sport towards Mr. Gates for speaking about AIDS in the Miscellaneous country. We are naturally equally quick to accept Index the money his Foundation had to offer, and want more. The AIDS mission apart, why was Bill Gates here? Blinded by his fame and wealth, we failed to see the pure commercial motive of advancing the interests of Microsoft. With our uncritical adulation, we may have ended up selling our software market, our software talents and perhaps even our soul to the world's biggest software company. Hook, line and sinker. The company Mr. Gates has built up is the biggest and most profitable software firm in the world. But it is also facing a threat from the most unlikely of competitors - the GNU/Linux operating system which has been developed by the larger Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) movement across the world. This "free" software has long since ceased to be a cult operating system meant for geeks. In terms of cost, reliability and security, GNU/Linux has proved itself far superior to the proprietary Windows in the market for software that runs the internet. Some independent estimates suggest that GNU/Linux has even overtaken Windows here. The back offices of several global companies are also increasingly being run on this alternative operating system. Businesses selling FLOSS are making money, and organisations switching to FLOSS are saving enormous amounts. (For a comprehensive survey on GNU/Linux versus Windows usage on the internet, in back offices and on the desktop, see www.dwheeler.com/oss_fs_why.html) Governments too are increasingly looking at GNU/Linux as an alternative to Windows. Cost is obviously one factor. For example, the United States Census Bureau found that launching a web site for provision of data, which cost $47,000 with Linux, would have cost as much as $3,58,000 had the proprietary Windows been used. A complete dependence on proprietary Microsoft software also raises security concerns. China recently launched a version of GNU/Linux to eventually replace Windows on all government computers. (That did not prevent Microsoft from announcing a $750 million investment in China. This, incidentally, is considerably more than the $400 million that Mr. Gates has planned for India.) During his visit last month, Mr. Gates bamboozled uncritical reporters with jargon about GNU/Linux not being a threat to Windows. The total cost of ownership (TCO), he said, was higher for GNU/Linux than for Windows. TCO is the cost of software, training, maintenance and upgrades. Now, most independent surveys say that the TCO of GNU/Linux is a minimum of 25 to 30 per cent lower than for Windows - quite the opposite of Mr. Gates' claim. The world's richest man also asserted that GNU/Linux is affecting software companies like Sun and not Microsoft. This is only half correct. GNU/Linux, positioned in the middle, is rapidly eating into the market share of both Sun and Micrsoft in server software. From Peru to Japan, from China to the U.S., governments all over the world are looking at GNU/Linux. There is one government though that is missing in this list. In spite of India being home to many of the writers of software who have contributed to the development of GNU/Linux, the Centre and the States seem to be more busy chasing Microsoft than exploring the use of this superior software. There have been reports of the Centre launching a Linux India Initiative to encourage universities and governments to move away from Windows. But the Government seems too scared to confirm such press reports. And of the State Governments, only Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal have been making some noises about exploring the use of GNU/Linux. Mr. Gates' interest in India is obvious. Computer use in India remains very low, but is growing. E-governance is just beginning to happen. Imagine the future, as e-governance and other government computer-linked services increase rapidly. Imagine all government computers running on Microsoft software - a potential market of hundreds of thousands, eventually even millions. No wonder it is so important to tie India to proprietary software. There is another reason for the Gates interest in India. Though a lot of application software - like word-processors or spreadsheets - is available for GNU/Linux, much more needs to be written if open source software is to completely replace Windows on the desktop. India is believed to be home to 10 per cent of the world's developers of software. If India's software community can be chained to the development of proprieatry software, then one source of GNU/Linux-based applications will dry up! Bill Gates needs India more than India needs Bill Gates. But we don't seem to want to see that. E-mail the writer at crr100(a)india.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Comments to : thehindu(a)vsnl.com Copyright � 2002, The Hindu ------------------------------------------------------------------------

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NEWS-DELHI: Fashion institute raided for using pirated software
by Frederick Noronha 30 Nov '02

30 Nov '02

Likening them to 'pirates', eh! Fashion institute raided for using pirated software >From Indo-Asian News Service New Delhi, Nov 30 (IANS) Delhi Police raided the privately run National Institute of Fashion Design (NIFD) for allegedly using pirated software. The raid was conducted Friday at two premises of the institute in West Patel Nagar in west Delhi and Pitampura in northwest Delhi. "A representative of the Adobe Company informed us that the institute was using pirated software to teach its students," a police officer said Saturday. Seven computers were seized after the raid. They were found to be running pirated versions of Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Imageready and Adobe Photodeluxe. "They had been using the pirated software for quite some time. We have charged them with copyright violations," the officer said. --Indo-Asian News Service

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Invitation to become a FSF Member ...
by Tarun Gaur 30 Nov '02

30 Nov '02

Hi Ajith, It is really wonderful to know of your work. I think you can lead the way and help us get some insights into making linux easier and easier. I am really excited on knowing what you have done ? Maybe we can associate and i can promote your work in Delhi, Bangalore and pune. I operate out of these three places. Can you give me any URL on any website where i could read about your work. If i recollect well, you said that you are not a member of FSF forums. We will be honoured to have your views on a regular basis for the entire FSF community. Infact your work can lead the way. i am working on some enterprise software where you could help me configure linux for the specific purposes. It'll be a great help from your side. With regards, tarun gaur _________________________________________________________________ Tired of spam? Get advanced junk mail protection with MSN 8. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail

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(no subject)
by Tarun Gaur 30 Nov '02

30 Nov '02

Hi Friends, I feel great that i have been able to induce the need for Constructive Criticism into our forum. This sets our focus on identifying the problems and then working on them for betterment of the brave GNU world. Friends, i will quote a small example on how keeping a close tab on competetion can help. The place where I am working, we are developing a complete replacement of .NET on GNU/Linux. Now I and some of my collegues have been keeping a close tab on what Microsoft has been doing and where they stand today. Now we tried to pick up information from all the possible sources, we could lay hands on plus our exposure to MS technologies over the years helped. (I was using their products since the Windows 16 bit days), so its like seen it all. And then i have a habit of closely watching all the speeches, articles and books of guys like Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer. I also keep a tab on the research projets at Microsoft, IBM, HP, Intel, Major US Universities. Now we started our research ... and came to some very wonderful conclusions. - If Windows 95 can be inspired from Mac 89, why cant our interfaces make use of all the research done by Microsoft on interfaces. This is like giving them their cake on their face. - Microsoft's strength has been "ease of use" of their software, with 2000 servers and .NET they are coming into enterprise world. .NET is not that easy after all, though not that difficult too. - Microsoft cant afford to do away with Windows OS but still Bill Gates picks up 21% stake in COREL LINUX. corel is working on desktop linux. - Our research said ... If you want to be a serious contender in the global market with .NET, ... keep it easy. And I wrote a POEM ... I call it.. "MAKE IT EASY YAAR" " BE AWARE OF THE NEED, ISOLATE THE PROBLEM, DONT REINVENT THE WHEEL, AND THEN SEE, WHAT YOU FEEL, MAKE IT EASY FOR YOUR BOSS, YOU WILL NEVER GET A TOSS, MAKE IT EASY FOR THE DEVELOPER, YOU ARE SURE TO EARN A FOLLOWER, MAKE IT EASY FOR THE USER, YOU WILL NEVER BE A LOSER. NOW, WORK IN YOUR MILL, AND GO IN FOR THE KILL, BE SURE, IT WILL TAKE SOME TIME, BEFORE THEIR WOUNDS HEAL, AND THEN SEE, WHAT THEY FEEL. Now, the point is awareness is the key to knowledge and knowledge is a key to wisdom. AND FOR US WISDOM SAYS ... Keep it easy. Now, praising others for good work is not bad after all. We can praise the Work of some good companies on our forum and learn from it to improve our software. Leave you with this thought, Free software for the brave GNU world. Regards, Tarun Gaur _________________________________________________________________ Tired of spam? Get advanced junk mail protection with MSN 8. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail

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Microsoft's shared source... a query
by Frederick Noronha 30 Nov '02

30 Nov '02

See the programme for Linux Bangalore 2002 (Dec 3-5) at http://linux-bangalore.org/2002/schedules Interestingly, Microsoft's Tarun Anand also speaks on 'Shared Source: Implementation of .NET'. Just a query, how does this concept of 'shared source' compare with GNU/Free Software or Open Source licences? FN

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Good s/w promotes ideology on its own ... we can help for sure
by Tarun Gaur 29 Nov '02

29 Nov '02

Hi Ajith, By the likes of it, it seems that you are quite senior to me when it comes to the industry. As far as linux goes, i think i am my self a sort of vetran. Now, I totally agree with you that criticism alone cannot improve things. But friend , the ideology is based on how well it can be accepted by the masses and anything inferior is not generally accepted ( though we may quote exceptions, but remember exceptions are always in minority ). Now "inferior" is a relative term. Something that may not be inferior at BARC (for scientists) may be inferior for the masses (because the needs are different). I have never doubted our ability to write wonderful software. But we have ignored the "interfaces" for the masses for too long. I am sure Richard Stallman agrees. Now, you have yourself mentioned that FSF is currently worrying about helping school children take on GNU/Linux. Now, lets just for a moment pause and ponder over the needs of these kids and put our software on test. Now lets forget the problems, lets try and find answers. As far as the ideology goes, it is spreading and will spread even more the moment we start touching the masses. Projects like Gnome and KDE have taken giant strides in the direction. But there is scope of improvement. Now, to put this point thru i need help of people like you to endorse the fact that we need to improve the interfaces, we need to consolidate the services on GNU/Linux, we need to simplify the structure etc and believe me, we are all set to push Microsoft software to a corner if not oblivion. Look at the current scenario, - microsoft is in a transition phase - We are real good at Server side solutions - They are consolidating their servers - We are working on GUIs Now, we know it is peanuts for people to write Desktop versions of Operating System who are good at Enterprise Servers. Desktops touch the masses and this world belongs to masses as masses are in MAJORITY. Now friends, Let us all contribute. Let us do our bits and be sure we will reign supreme. A Dream of an ideology reigning supreme is not that bad after all. Free software for the brave GNU World. With regards, Tarun Gaur >From: Ajith Kumar <ajith(a)nsc.ernet.in> >To: Tarun Gaur <gaur_tarun(a)hotmail.com> >Subject: Re: [Fsf-friends] Read Richard Stallman's mail >Date: Fri, 29 Nov 2002 14:33:13 +0530 > >Tarun Gaur wrote: > > > Hi Mr. Ajith > > > > I am shocked at the way you have interpreted my quest for ever >improvement. > > According to your interpretation, all the CRITICS carry some kind of > > infiriority complex ? Brother, i am just asking all my friends to >improve. I > > will quote Richard Stallman's mail posted on fsf-friends, where he says >that > > common user has to be taken serious care of. > >First of all i am not an FSF member. I have used GNU/Linux for >applications >like >particle accelerator control and physics experiments. Nuclear Science >Centre's >control system runs on a network of 6 machines , 24 hours 365 days and I am >yet >to see a >'hanging' OS , running redhat 5.2 distro. I developed it 5 years ago. >We have a Data Acquisition System that is fastest among the other labs >like >BARC etc., >done in Linux. Almost the entire organization uses it for communication, >office work etc. > >I know that it is not perfect. I myself face a lot of problems when try to >convince people to >use it. I had a talk with RMS when he visited NSC in March. He asked me to >give more stress >on spreading the ideology than trying to get more people just using Free >Software. >I spend a lot of time and energy to help schools to use GNU/Linux. >The point is we should not project weaknesses alone, the stregths also >should >be projected at the >same time. > >As far as I know FSF is mainly worrying about how to get the schools in >Kerala to use Free Software. > >with regards > >Ajith _________________________________________________________________ Protect your PC - get McAfee.com VirusScan Online http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963

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Re: [bytesforall_readers] INDIA: Memo from the Free Software Users' Group, Kochi.... (fwd)
by Frederick Noronha 29 Nov '02

29 Nov '02

This came up on BytesForAll mailing list. Sending it to FSF too. FN ---------- Forwarded message ---------- As one who was involved in the initial stages of IT@SCHOOL project (but by no means connected to the recent developments) I found it interesting to read the lengthy Memorandum and is keen to know the response from the government side on the issues raised. In this context I would request all the other Free Software Users' Groups in the state to work closely on the issue. With my little experience with the government I think the government would be looking for practicable and implementable ideas.Therefore the suggestions should also conform to that .In any case we need to pursue this.It would be fruitful to hold a meeting of people who are interested , for charting out workable strategies. I can take an initiative in that. Looking forward to response from other user groups MOHAN DAS

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Read Richard Stallman's mail
by Tarun Gaur 29 Nov '02

29 Nov '02

Hi Mr. Ajith I am shocked at the way you have interpreted my quest for ever improvement. According to your interpretation, all the CRITICS carry some kind of infiriority complex ? Brother, i am just asking all my friends to improve. I will quote Richard Stallman's mail posted on fsf-friends, where he says that common user has to be taken serious care of. I have failed to understand why cant we take criticism in the right spirit. Are we so closed in our thinking? Friend i am not bothered about what has been achieved by FSF. I am really curious on how we can improve more. I am very proud of what has been achieved by FSF and am equally aware of where we are lacking. Now please dont tell be that we are perfect. THERE IS A LOT OF SCOPE OF IMPROVEMENT and I am doing my bit for it in 3 projects at GNU. My criticism has been taken very well at the global forums. Our Indian fourm is the only place where some people are taking a negative view of it. Brothers please cool down, this is a quest for improvement not any kind of infiriority complex. i would be really proud to have someone from FSF-India contribute a mainstream or futuristic project and make it to GNU/Linux OS. Be sure i am working on some projects myself. At the end, It is really easy to judge and comment, but really difficult to contribute. lets worry about contributing. Be sure i am doing my bit. regards, Tarun Gaur >From: Ajith Kumar <ajith(a)nsc.ernet.in> >To: Tarun Gaur <gaur_tarun(a)hotmail.com> >Subject: Re: [Fsf-friends] (no subject) >Date: Thu, 28 Nov 2002 11:29:35 +0530 > >Tarun Gaur wrote: > > > Dear friend Suraj, > > > > We live in a world that moves at a very fast pace. In today's world, >people > > value quality over price in most of the situations. And yes cost of > > ownership does matter, but never at the price of quality. > > > > Now, we are evangalists supporting the same movement. A movement that >brings > > people and ideas togather to create free software. It intends to > > realize the vision of a genius called Richard Stallman. > > > > but friend, I have some questions for you. > > > > Do Richard Stallman and GNU ask us not to praise and be aware of what is > > happening in the properietary world ? > > > > Are we hampered by any force to write software as good as the >properietary > > world ? > >I think you have some inferiority complex about Free Software. There are >many >areas free software is better than >proprietary one. Just think about the recent virus attacks on NT servers >running IIS. >Apache fared better. > >we don't need to be that apologetic. Be proud of the good work you are >doing. >Even if you give the 'whole world' for >a single click some people will not be happy if there is not a LOGO of some >big >MNC. > >regards > >ajith _________________________________________________________________ Tired of spam? Get advanced junk mail protection with MSN 8. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail

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NEWS: Free software movement picks up in Doon Valley
by Frederick Noronha 29 Nov '02

29 Nov '02

The Hindu, Nov 26, 2002 [Some mixing up between Free Software and the Open Source movements, but interesting news nonetheless. -FN] FREE SOFTWARE MOVEMENT PICKS UP IN DOON VALLEY DEHRA DUN, Nov 25: Demonstrations of utilisation of free software (Open Source software) are being carried out in schools, colleges and other institutions of the Doon valley by a group of youth which recently launched a movement for software freedom here. Sharad Kukreti, president of the Sir George Everest Research Society, which began the movement, said free software was one that was free to copy, redistribute and modify. "It must be available as source code," he added. Kukreti said the finest example of Open Source Software was Linux and Open Office software. The Society has brought out the first monthly newsletter in India -- "Software Freedom" which is edited and published here by Kukreti. Articles and suggestions related to free software can be sent to india-hills(a)vsnl.com The free or open source software movement began in the "hacker" culture of the US computer laboratories in the 1960s. It was in this environment that Richard Stallman, prioneer of the movement, began his career in 1971. In 1985 he created the Free Software Foundation. Free software does not imply that it is free of charge but a user is free to redistribute copies to anyone and anywhere without any permission. Kukreti said Stallman was scheduled to visit the Doon valley in February. -UNI

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[ANNOUNCE] Devnagri/Hindi font
by Raju Mathur 29 Nov '02

29 Nov '02

India Linux Users Group, Delhi is proud to be associated with hindi_freehand, a Devnagri/Hindi font developed by Avneesh Chhabra and Shivaas Gulati, students of Class X in Delhi. Avneesh and Shivaas had the option of selling the font to Microsoft for a hefty amount of money. However, to their credit they chose to release the font under the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) so that everyone could benefit from their efforts. Full information and download links at: http://linux-delhi.org/ . Click on the news story or the hindi text. Please send kudos and suggestions to Avneesh and Shivaas at: fontdudes(a)rediffmail.com Regards, -- Raju -- Raju Mathur raju(a)kandalaya.org http://kandalaya.org/ It is the mind that moves

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Re: [Fsf-friends] [OFFTOPIC] Three views on Free/Libre and Open Source Software...
by V. Sasi Kumar 29 Nov '02

29 Nov '02

On Thu, 2002-11-28 at 11:36, Nagarjuna G. wrote: > > Can you get me the name of this writer, and if possible email id. > > Nagarjuna The email id is at the top of this mail. Regards V. Sasi Kumar

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LINK: Query from Japan, embedded software
by Frederick Noronha 29 Nov '02

29 Nov '02

Would anyone be able to put a friend from Japan in touch with Free Software developers working on the embedded front? Sandor Markon <markon(a)rd.fujitec.co.jp> writes: "I am a manager of a Japanese manufacturer, involved with introducing Linux to my company since at least 5 years ago. My company is considering to start outsourcing software projects in India, and I am in charge of the initial survey." He will be in India in early December. If you know someone, please put him in touch with Sandor. Thanks, -FN

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Group urges limits on open source
by Raju Mathur 29 Nov '02

29 Nov '02

http://news.com.com/2100-1001-975578.html?tag=fd_top <excerpt> The Initiative for Software Choice, which counts Microsoft, Cisco Systems and Intel among its backers, said in comments filed Tuesday that the department should "avoid crafting needless and potentially detrimental IT policy to promote the use" of open-source software. "Open source" means every software developer can view the source code for software, modify it, and use it for free. The initiative, which launched in May and is chaired by a group called CompTIA, an organization that has close ties to Microsoft, is worried about a recent report that concluded the Defense Department relies on open-source software and recommended its further adoption. Written by defense contractor MITRE, the report said that free and open-source software "plays a more critical role in the (Defense Department) than has been generally recognized" and endorsed it as a viable alternative to proprietary Microsoft products. -- Raju Mathur raju(a)kandalaya.org http://kandalaya.org/ It is the mind that moves

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Microsoft Unveils Licensing Discounts To Counter Linux
by Raju Mathur 29 Nov '02

29 Nov '02

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nf/20021127/bs_nf/20105 <excerpt> "What's happening is that Microsoft sales reps have been instructed to be on the lookout for any businesses that are migrating some of their machines to the Lindows OS," Yankee Group analyst Laura DiDio told NewsFactor. "If [the sales reps] think there's a real threat of some pretty large numbers of defections to open source, they can request authorization from Microsoft higher-ups to offer steeply discounted pricing." -- Raju Mathur raju(a)kandalaya.org http://kandalaya.org/ It is the mind that moves

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Re: [FSF-WG] Writing to President
by V. Sasi Kumar 28 Nov '02

28 Nov '02

On Wed, 2002-11-27 at 18:36, Arun M wrote: > What about sending a letter to President by RMS. May be through FSF > India. I think it will be helpful and RMS may suggest visiting him > during Feb trip to India. Why not draft a nice letter introducing Free Software to the Chief Minister and the IT Minister (where present) of every state, and encouraging them to adopt Free Software for governmental purposes? V. Sasi Kumar

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List of Linux -Development companies.
by Abraham Jacob 28 Nov '02

28 Nov '02

Friends, I want to gather a list of companies who Can Deliver,Develop, and Support Linux(any flavour) OS and applications[for the Kerala. Can someone help ? -Abraham.

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Searching for info on GNU/Linux in Asia...
by Frederick Noronha 27 Nov '02

27 Nov '02

Dear FSFfriends: This note is from a freelance journalist in India, and I am currently working to find out details about how GNU/Linux is being harnessed in countries across Asia (all the 48 or so countries in this vast continent). The task is challenging, particularly because (i) many countries are primarily non English-speaking and (ii) most of the stories in the region have not been adequately reported upon in the international media, where only the tip of the proverbial iceberg has been focussed on. In this context, I would be very grateful if you could extend a little help in enabling me to identify interesting projects that are being undertaken in any Asian country you know of. You could just send me a brief link (if a URL is available), or an email address, and maybe a line or two describing the same. In particular, it would be very interesting to hear of any projects that deploy GNU/Linux in the field of development, health, education, human rights, democratisation, women's rights. If you could also send me any details about GNU/Linux user groups in the area, that would help too. Thank you so much for your help. If you would like to share a copy of my findings, once done, I would be more than glad to do so. Please mark any email on this issue with the subject-line ASIA GNU/LINUX. Thanks, FN -- Frederick Noronha * Freelance Journalist * Goa * India 832.2409490/2409783 BYTESFORALL www.bytesforall.org * GNU-LINUX http://linuxinindia.pitas.com fred at bytesforall dot org * Mobile 9822 122436 (Goa) * Saligao Goa India Writing with a difference ... on what makes *the* difference "A computer lets you make more mistakes faster than any invention in human history... with the possible exception of handguns and tequila." - Anon.

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The work of migrating non-profits to Free Software has already begun
by Frederick Noronha 27 Nov '02

27 Nov '02

A very heart-warming letter from America. Perhaps another reason why FSFIndia should seriously clinch the deal for having a presence at the Asian Social Forum in Hyderabad in early Jan. Thank you Karl! FN PS: I'm copying this to the Free Software Forum-India network. PPS: Karl Pena was put in touch with us by RMS. On Wed, 27 Nov 2002, Karl wrote: > Hi Frederick, > > I'm in the process of incorporating a nonprofit with which to facilitate > this program. I am have been taking the bull by the horns with the legal > requisites, start-up funds, and paperwork, and learning a lot about how to > establish a corporation. Many parts of this are good, but it takes a long > time. And the work to be done does not pause. > > In the meantime, eagerly awaiting for the incorporation to manifest itself > ASAP, I am working independently in DC, serving nonprofits by migrating > them from proprietary to Free Software infrastructures. This is the the > center of our mission. > > Through my humble weekly accomplishments, I am learning a lot and finding > a tremendous amount of support, inspiration, and viable business > methodology for the nonprofit organization endeavor. > > We do need help, in many areas. Can you talk to me about your skillset? Of > course you have mentioned you are a journalist, but do you tout a plethora > of technology kung-fu as well? Special areas of interest (besides what I > might assume from visiting bytesforall.org)? Would you be willing to > assist in writing up case-studies of progress and accomplishments with > clients/NGOs? > > I think we will need literature or 'whitepapers' along the lines of > case-studies to show other nonprofits and NGO's what we have done with > prior organizations: costs-saved, infrastructure added, user-happiness, > ethical value, et cetera. > > What information can I give you? Can we take things from here forward, > tell me what sort of action items you suggest and are interested in, and > I'll see if/how we can fit them into our mission? > > In the long run, what the nonprofit structure in DC accomplishes should > transmittable via a rocksolid case-study to be spread acround the USA, and > transcontinentally within months or years, depending on how well > volunteers and colleagues can assist in the mission. (The language and > literature will have to be exciting, and open, not too critical overall, > but if we have several sections, like in a newsletter, we could certainly > have a 'critics corner' where the more radical, grassroots ideas are > appropriately verbalized.) In general the literature should not be too > cutting and mudslinging about anyone, nor should it toot its own horn, of > course. Sorry if that idea was too basic or obvious. No offense meant by > my brainstorming and oversimplifying. > > The work of migrating nonprofits to Free Software has already begun... > > > I look forward to your hearing your thoughts. > -Karl > > > ___________________________________________________________ > http://www.gnu.org/gnu/gnu-linux-faq.html > ___________________________________________________________ > > > On Wed, 27 Nov 2002, Frederick Noronha wrote: > > > I'd really like to help this going... FN > > > > On Fri, 6 Sep 2002, Karl wrote: > > > > > > > Hi RMS, and Frederick, > > > and Sunil, Niranjan, > > > > > > Thanks for writing to me about your interest. Your journalistic > > > contributions, and a global level of collaborations and connections, as > > > you have mentioned below, might be a great asset to our group. At the very > > > least we ought to stay in touch and ping each other about things. > > > > > > Let's dialogue together, and make notes of our insights. > > > > > > I'd like to hear a little about what Sunil does, who he advocates to, if > > > you'd tell me about it. > > > > > > -Karl > > > > > > On Sun, 1 Sep 2002, Frederick Noronha wrote: > > > > > > > Hi RMS, Karl: I'd love to help NGU in any way. Please keep in mind though > > > > that I'm a journalist and acutely lack techie skills. My friend in > > > > Bangalore, Sunil Abraham, is shaping up into a very articulate campaigner > > > > for NGOs taking to GNU/Linux. I think people like him will have a crucial > > > > role to play in linking these two never-intersecting parallel lines -- the > > > > NGO world and the Free Software movement, which have such close > > > > perspectives and goals. Niranjan Rajani is a Finland-based researcher of > > > > Pakistani origin; he's working on a study to see the contribution of > > > > GNU/Linux to development worldwide. FN > > > > RMS: Thanks for raising the critical (from a Third World > > > > perspective) issue of affordability in your OneWorld meet. I know those > > > > guys in India... doing interesting work. How about pushing things with > > > > UNDP/Unesco? They're both interested in Free Software.... > > > > > > > > On Sat, 31 Aug 2002, Richard Stallman wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > Regarding NGOs, I have understood that GNU is launching a > > > > > program/campaign called NGU which is said to be directed at NGOs, > > > > > > > > > > Not exactly. I encouraged Karl Pena to start NGU, but it is an > > > > > independent activity, not part of the GNU Project. The GNU Project is > > > > > the project to develop GNU, the operating system. > > > > > > > > > > Are you interested in helping to work on NGU? It looks like you are. > > > > > How about if you write to karl(a)tux.org and offer to work with him? > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >

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Tux Fights Bux for the Soul of India
by P. Sugathan 27 Nov '02

27 Nov '02

Tux Fights Bux for the Soul of India Is India literally a battleground for the war between Open Source and Microsoft? Reading through this list of recent articles indicates that it is. One of the more interesting factoids – Gates is spending four times as much on fighting Linux as he is on fighting AIDS… Read the full article at The Linux Journal http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=6450 Sugathan

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Fwd: Get Your FREE RedHat Linux CDs Today
by klak＠giasbm01.vsnl.net.in 27 Nov '02

27 Nov '02

-- Khuzaima A. Lakdawala

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Re: Invitation for Asian Social Forum 2003
by FREDERICK NORONHA 27 Nov '02

27 Nov '02

A whole set of contacts for the Asian Social Forum at Hyderabad in January 2003. Thanks to a friend, Juha Rekola (former journalist in India) from Finland. We *really must* try to have some presence there for the FSF-India. What say? FN PS: Linking up the Free Software world with NGOs could make for a powerful alliance... The Free Software debate has important implications to currently-accepted (?) norms regarding the ownership of 'intellectual property'.... On Tuesday 26 November 2002 15:08, you wrote: > Hi Fred, > > Check http://www.wsfindia.org/ > They have an register your event -form at > http://www.wsfindia.org/org_RegisterUI.php > > WSF Hyderabad > 1st Floor, Green Channel > opp. Nasar High School, > Khairatabad, Hyderabad - 500 007 > Andhra Pradesh, India. > Ph: 91-40-3392726. > Email: wsfhyd(a)hotmail.com > > WSF India Secretariat > 204, Elite House, > 36 Community Centre, Zamrudpur, > New Delhi - 110048 > Phones: 91-11-6476580, 6473425 > email: wsfindia(a)vsnl.net > > > Just got the following invitation from a good friend of mine, JP > (Jayaprakash) from Delhi Science Forum, who might be/know a > contact in this. jpdsf(a)hotmail.com > > Another friend, Jai Sen, whom you also knew, was in the interim > secretariat formed last April. (He will be travelling, and I'll > probably meet him on the 4th. Send him e-mail to both > jai_sen2000(a)yahoo.com and jai.sen(a)vsnl.com ) So was Vijay Pratap > of CSDE. Send the same to vijaypratap(a)vsnl.net > > Say Hello from me to all these. > > -Juha > > *** > From: WSFINDIA <discuss(a)wsfindia.org> > Reply-To: WSFINDIA <discuss(a)wsfindia.org> > Subject: Invitation for Asian Social Forum 2003 > Date: 22 Nov 2002 11:18:41 -0000 > > Dear Friends, > > Greetings from WSF-India. > > We take great pleasure in inviting you and your organisations to > participate in the Asian Social Forum that is being held in > Hyderabad from 2nd – 7th January, 2003.As you might be aware, the > Asian Social Forum is a follow up of the two successful World > Social Forum events organised in Porto Alegre and the decision to > have regional and thematic events. > > The Asian Social Forum (ASF), being organised by WSF India, will > be held in the city of Hyderabad, in the Southern Indian State of > Andhra Pradesh between January 2nd to 7th, 2003. It is an open > forum: the only criteria is that the participants be opposed to > imperialist globalisation as well as religious sectarian violence, > and have a commitment to democratic values, plurality and peace. > > We hope that the ASF will provide an inspiring space where > movements/ organizations/ groups/individuals / will come in from > all over India and Asia to carry the message of the World Social > Forum. We expect about 7000 delegates to participate in the ASF, > out of which about 1000 would be from outside India. Organisations > both in India and Asia and also the rest of the world, are invited > to participate by organising conferences, seminars and workshops > broadly falling under the themes of the ASF. > > Main Themes of the ASF are the following: > · Peace and Security > · Debt, Development and Trade > · Nation State, Democracy and Exclusions > · Ecology, Culture and Knowledge > · Social Infrastructure, Planning and Cooperation > · Alternatives and Peoples Movements. > > The events that are envisaged over a period of 6 days, from 2nd to > 7th January are: > · 2 public/ plenary sessions, i.e. opening session on 2nd > afternoon/evening and closing session on 7th morning. > · 2 conferences daily (total 6-8) > · 25 parallel seminars daily (total 50-100) > · Up to 50 workshops daily (total 100-200) > · Testimonials, and open "spaces" for mass movements > · A Youth Camp > · Cultural Events > · Film Festival > > The Opening and Closing plenary session will be open to the public > and will be organized on 2nd (afternoon-evening) and 7th (morning) > respectively. > > We hope that you and your organisation will participate in the > Asian Social Forum event. More details of the event including > organising seminars and workshops, registration details, etc., cab > be found in the website www.wsfindia.org. Please write to us for > any further details that you may require. Those who would like to > be kept informed about the Asian Social Forum event can do so by > going to the website and registering for the Asia Social Forum > newsletter or giving a mail to wsfindia(a)vsnl.net > > Do circulate this mail to other organisations or individuals that > may be interested in the Asian Social Forum event in Hyderabad. > > You can log on to our website <www.wsfindia.org? for delegate > registration and other information. The registration fees need to > be paid at the conference venue only. The registration amount is > Rs.100/- per delegate. > > Thanking you > > > WSF-India Secretariat > 204 Elite House > 36, Community Centre > Zamrudpur, G.K.-I > New Delhi-110048 > Tel : 011-6221870, 6285744 > Email : <wsfindia(a)vsnl.net> > Url : <www.wsfindia.org>

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LINK: Free software vs. goliaths
by Frederick Noronha 27 Nov '02

27 Nov '02

------------------------------------------------------------------ BOSTON GLOBE: FREE SOFTWARE VS. GOLIATHS "Still, the money's going to the Free Software Foundation, the Cambridge nonprofit group that might be termed the Vatican of the open-source software movement. Moglen's been fighting the foundation's legal battles for years, free of charge. You'd think that would be enough of a contribution..." COMPLETE STORY: http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/329/business/Free_software_vs_Goliaths+.s… ------------------------------------------------------------------

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