Mahesh T. Pai wrote:
In fact, in light of this event, I think the time is right now ripe for this community to take the initiative and ask them to open up their previous works in localisation field. The IBM sponsored project will provide resources for the future. I am afraid that the past works might remain locked, and we need to ensure that it is publicly available.
In light of the recent opportunity I had to interact with the NCST division of C-DAC, I notice an enthusiasm among its staff and officers who are well aware of the underlying philosophy and community building aspects of the Free Software movement. All that is required is only a small nudge and a bit of push to institutionalise the approach, for the bureaucrats and the babus are no push overs. Hence, we need to to guide them in the right direction.
How do we go about it?
Raj Mathur has been asking for publication of accounts etc. If we could dispose such requests first, then we should be able to ask others to do the same, with more conviction. Having access to information would help us to act upon it in a better way.
FSF India could play a major role in channelising dev and advocacy efforts. Drafting petitions and memorandums to have our requests processed, would be the main channel of making suitable requests.
Yesterday, Raman.P., of ILUGC, suggested that free software user groups in India join together to form an association. While software cos. have NASSCOM, software user groups have no corresponding association that could effectively air their views and needs. In the free software community, the line between developers and users is virtually non-existent, and FSF India could lead in co-ordinating all the free software user groups, including LUGs that are willing to join. Most user groups meet once a month, and discuss over mailing lists also, and hence important issues could be discussed at all LUGS and based on consensus, better representations could be sent to authorities.