This is a reminder about the RMS Talk at IIT-M on 7th. Please note that the talk has been advanced an hour earlier to 3:00 PM. Links to a couple of posters are also available.
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Hello All,
Extramural Lecture by RMS @ IIT-Madras :- =======================================
Topic : "The Danger of Software Patents"
Speaker: Richard M Stallman (RMS)
Time : 15:00 - 17:00 Monday February 7th 2005
Venue : Central Lecture Theater (CLT), Opp to Open Air Theater (OAT), HSB, IIT-Madras.
Posters: http://www.chennailug.org/meeting/info/eml-rms-bw.pdf : http://www.chennailug.org/meeting/info/eml-rms-color.pdf
Abstract of the talk :-
Richard Stallman will explain how software patents obstruct software development. Software patents are patents that cover software ideas. They restrict the development of software, so that every design decision brings a risk of getting sued. Patents in other fields restrict factories, but software patents restrict every computer user. Economic research shows that they even retard progress.
About the speaker :-
Richard Stallman launched the development of the GNU operating system (See http://www.gnu.org/ and http://directory.fsf.org/GNU/) in 1984. GNU is free software: everyone has the freedom to copy it and redistribute it, as well as to make changes either large or small. The GNU/Linux system, basically the GNU OS with Linux kernel added, is used on tens of millions of computers today. Stallman has received the ACM Grace Hopper Award, a MacArthur Foundation fellowship, the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Pioneer award, and the the Takeda Award for Social/Economic Betterment, as well as several honorary doctorates (See http://www.stallman.org/).
ALL ARE WELCOME :)
Bye :)