After a good experience at the First National Conference at Hyderabad I had been planning to attend the Second Conference at Kochi from the time of its announcement a couple of months ago. Even my serious ill-health could not keep me away from the conference as many will vouch. After two weeks of bad health of which 5 days were spent on a hospital bed I woke up from the hospital bed and came straight to Kochi.
The Conference was well organised and the 1000+ delegate participation from all over the country was magnificent. It was a representation of the growing peoples' mass movement which cannot be stopped or controlled by vested interests or power centres. What is obvious is the conscious conversion of a developers' movement to a peoples' movement. THE PEOPLE ARE TAKING CHARGE. The resolutions brought out at the conference are important and I hope that they will be released soon. One of the most important talks was the one by Sri. Sitaram Yechury where the issue of the crisis in global capitalism and its impact on people and the role of the Free Software Movement in building the resistance was presented in terms that even a 10th standard student could understand.
A couple of years ago when organising the GPLv3 conference I noticed that only a small group of people took responsibility and organised the 'event'. But now the dynamics has changed. Events are being replaced by processes. The Karnataka team (I am not referring to FSUG-Bangalore because though I am an integral part of it I know that it is not representative of Karnataka but only a miniscule part of the Movement. A single community. FSUG B'lore is just a mailing list.) comprising of ordinary people from the slums, computer technical trainers from villages, academicians, IT employees, engineering students and others participated in the conference. The conscious effort to build a mass movement in Karnataka is bearing fruit and this was clear when almost one and a half bus loads of activists from Karnataka reached Kochi. Even the efforts to sideline genuine work and at various important protests/programs could not/cannot dampen our spirits.
What struck me as odd was why FSF-India which claims to be THE free software community was not a part of this important process. While we will support causes which are just irrespective of individuals and banners we will definitely not allow elements to disrupt the movement here in Karnataka or anywhere in India and we will continue to work to build the movement the best way we know -- as a mass movement. Join us and you will be assimilated. In solidarity with the Free Software Movement,
In a debate on question of "free vs non-free" or "role of non-free in free conferences", this one is drifting towards private and personal references which can be avoided. Let not Novell get off the hook by stirring trouble here. There are countless private conferences and symposiums going around nearby which promote themes of non-free and patents. No free software activist goes there to register protest.
Differences of opinion are usually accorded highest priority in a democratic institution, as they may be revealing something very surprising or innovative - silencing and subjugating are hallmarks of despotic or autocratic institutions. No one expects the entire rank and file of organisers to be aware of non-free designs; Novell could have very well evaded such a public scrutiny before gaining entry here, especially when it has very little public presence in Kerala.
Free Software conferences serve many purposes and we can accept that one such method in revealing or knowing about non-free intrusions could be through some kind of non-violent protest - stickers, posters and T-shirts are hallmarks of FS protests. Now many of us know what Novell does, and such an exposure on Novell coincides perfectly with the theme of our public conference in disseminating concepts on Free Software.
Since public institutions have a say on private lives, it cannot be beyond criticism. Just like "divine rights" cannot be placed over "human rights", it would be equally suicidal if we uncritically submitted to "political rights" of any party. After all, political parties gain power only after they appeal before citizens - notably the poor-off ones. Hence sharing dias or approaching leaders is in no way a transgression, it falls perfectly under rights of citizens. No established leader or representative would ever think this way.
Here, a wrong has been committed by (a) humiliating an individual who protests against a non-free incursion inside a Free Software conference and disseminates non-free ideology and (b) protecting the non-free intruder to display their non-free trickery without objections. Novell has succeeded in driving the wedge, inflicting a kind of perfect damage to a contributors' community and getting away scot-free.
CK Raju
yes rebel voices should be never supressed...in fact they have shown the way in history..
agreed this was within the family...and hence somebody took the liberty to protest .. rather than in a private conference elsewhere
however cheap publicity should be looked down .. rebels have historically been very responsible people......that is the part which is in question right now...rebels try resolution before confrontation ......
and sure no body can get away - all of us our saying 'BOYCOTT NOVELL" - however we need to work with some of them like the IEEE , the gentleman who came with Arun the other day, who has done a lot for free software ( sorry sir once again ) - and have a democratic way of protesting too
i suggest we have a protest/grafitti stall from now on in our programmes.......where all of us can criticise fsf-india, any political party which is supporting free software and so on - but when this happens without responsibility - then we have to have these unfortunate posts - which makes me very sad - especially when folks are putting their heart and sould into this work
-s
Here, a wrong has been committed by (a) humiliating an individual who protests against a non-free incursion inside a Free Software conference and disseminates non-free ideology and (b) protecting the non-free intruder to display their non-free trickery without objections. Novell has succeeded in driving the wedge, inflicting a kind of perfect damage to a contributors' community and getting away scot-free.
CK Raju
[Bouncing this to the FSF-Friends list]
Hi,
On Tue, Nov 18, 2008 at 11:10 AM, CK Raju ck.thrissur@gmail.com wrote:
through some kind of non-violent protest - stickers, posters and T-shirts are hallmarks of FS protests. Now many of us know what Novell does, and such
Interesting indeed... during the last elections here in WB, the election commission went hammer and tongs against political graffiti by political parties put up typically on private property. The ruling Left Front took an interesting and smart strategy - issued proll hundreds of thousands of T-Shirts printed with "Vote for XYZ" which was distributed to people, and which people wore on them.
How about
a) wall of volunteers wearing such T-Shirts or
b) T-Shirts that has just a single letter each of the slogan and create a wall... after all there isn't a Section 144 in place ;-)
just my 2p -indra
-
CK Raju -
Indranil Das Gupta -
Senthil Sundaram (sensunda) -
Vikram Vincent