http://bangalore.gnu.org.in/?VTU-FLOSS_Campaign
FSUG-Bangalore | RecentChanges VTU-FLOSS Campaign Please Sign This letter
Vice chancellor, Visveswaraiah Technologies University, Belagum, Karnataka.
Dear Sir,
There are thousands of engineering and polytechnic colleges in India. Each year lakhs of graduates and diploma holders earn their degree. They pay thousands of rupees as fees to get the best facilities. A part of this goes to buying the software's which they use either in college lab or for doing assignments at home.For every software which they use; there is alternate Free Software program available. Now this shows the amount of money which we can be saved if we start using Free Software. This will bring down cost education considerably.
Other than cost benefits, Free Software has other advantages
* No-fee licensing * Ease of license fee management * Better large-scale programmability * Easier integration * Better performance * Development convenience * Better support
There are hundreds of Free Software's programs which colleges or universities can adopt. As Vishweshwaraiah Technological University is one of the biggest universities in India, its time for VTU to moving towards using Free Software. This will make other Universities to follow. Let the VTU have pride to be the first. Here I am giving you an example of three such alternative Free Software's which can be used.
* (1) Operating System: Windows v/s GNU/Linux
I don't know what university generally recommends to colleges. But presently almost all the colleges use Microsoft Windows based operating system. We all know the best available operating system today is GNU/Linux. It is the best OS any educational institution can have. Students can not only use it but also can study.
* (2) Simulation: Matlab v/s Octave
Matlab is used in communication and electronics lab. Matlab for individual license for university (academic use) costs $500. Any college will have to buy minimum 25 licenses. Which means shelling out Rs.537500. Octave, which is simulation software written by University professors. This usually comes with the GNU/Linux Operating System. The advantage to students is that they don't have to buy a limited student version to use at home. They can use Octave both at Lab and at home. SciLab? is another open source competitor for Matlab. It uses sophisticated algorithms to analyze data and produce lovely graphics. Now you have the choice which one you want to include in your curriculum.
* (3) Office software's: MS Office v/s Open Office
Well, we all used Microsoft word to submit our project documents for review and for other academic purposes. Now we have Open Office which is as good as MS office and has some feature Microsoft Office lacks like PDF support, compatibility with older versions of Microsoft Office, HTML editor, a vector drawing application .... It gives you everything starting from word processor, presentation software to PDF generator [Fully compatible with Microsoft Office -- So already existing data in those formats can be used]. Don't you think it's the right time to save money of a poor student ?
The above are just examples. There are many such software programs from which the students can benefit. We hope the university understands the urgency and the need. We would be happy to give you any information/help if university needs. Here by we urge the university to make an effort in this direction.
Thank you,
Please sign this petition
* click this link [1] to enter your comments. * Enter your Signature in Text Box right below the _Start Here_ line. * Give your name in the 'Username' and kindly don't edit any other contents. * Click Save button.
Start Here
1. Thejesh GN. Milwaukee USA. Former student of VTU [1BT98EC047]. March 01 2005
2. Rakesh 'arky' Ambati (Bangalore India) Fri Mar 11 11:19:57 IST 2005
3. Praveen Arimbrathodiyil (National Instititute of Technology, Calicut) Fri Mar 11 17:34:50 IST 2005 We use GNU/Linux in our main Computer center. It saves a lot of money of the college as there is no licence fee to be paid for each users. Since the source code of the softwares are available many computer science students do projects based on Linux kernel and other such projects. The possibility of use of thin-clients (which our computer center use) reduces the cost of hardware dramatically. It has proved to be beneficail to our college and I urge you to chose Free Software for giving a better alternative for students.
------------------------------------------------------------------------ d88888b d8b db Frederick Noronha * Freelance Journalist * Goa India 88' 888o 88 f r e d @ b y t e s f o r a l l . o r g 88ooo 88V8o 88 http://www.bytesforall.org * http://fn.swiki.net 88~~~ 88 V8o88 Phone 0091.832.2409490 Mobile 09822 122436 88 88 V888 784 Nr Lourdes Convent, Sonarbhat Saligao Goa 403511 YP VP V8P Writing ... with a difference, on issues that matter
Hi All, The petition is hosted at http://bangalore.gnu.org.in/?VTU-FLOSS_Campaign And at http://www.techmag.biz/?q=node/66 You can find the copy attached to this mail.
Until now the total no of signatures is 44.
You can leave your signature at any point....ultimately both will be merged to send it across to VC.
Thanks, Thejesh GN
--------------------------------------------------------------PETITION---------------------------------- Vice chancellor, Visveswaraiah Technologies University, Belagum, Karnataka.
Dear Sir, There are thousands of engineering and polytechnic colleges in India. Each year lakhs of graduates and diploma holders earn their degree. They pay thousands of rupees as fees to get the best facilities. A part of this goes to buying the software's which they use either in college lab or for doing assignments at home. Well for every software which they use; there is alternate open source software available. Now this shows the amount of money which we can save if we start using open source software's. This can make the education cost less.
Other than money the advantages of open source software are --No-fee licensing --Better large-scale programmability --Easier integration --Better performance --Development convenience --Intellectual propriety --Better support
There are hundreds of open source software's which colleges or universities can adapt. Considering Vishweshwaraiah Technological University as one of the biggest in India, its time for VTU to move towards open source. This will make other Universities to follow. Let the VTU have pride to be the first. Here I am giving you an example of three such software's which can be used.
(1) Operating System: Windows v/s GNU/Linux I don't know what university generally recommends to colleges. But presently all most all the colleges use windows based operating system. We all know the best available operating system today is Linux. It is the best OS any educational institution can have. Students can not only use it but also can play.
(2) Simulation: Matlab v/s Octave Matlab is used in communication and electronics lab. Matlab for individual license for university (academic use) costs $500. Any college will have to buy minimum 25 licenses. Which means shelling out Rs.537500. Octave, which is simulation software written by University professors. This usually comes with the Linux distro. The advantage to students is that they don't have to buy a limited student version to use at home. They can use Octave both at Lab and at home. SciLab is another open source competitor for Matlab. It uses sophisticated algorithms to analyze data and produce lovely graphics. Now you have the choice which one you want to include in your curriculum.
(3) Office software's: MS Office v/s Open Office well we all used Microsoft word to submit our project documents for review and for other academic purposes. Now we have Open Office which is as good as MS office. It gives you everything starting from worprocessor, presentation software to PDF generator. Don't you think it's the right time to save money of a poor student?
The above are just examples. There are many such from which the students can benefit. We hope the university understands the urgency and the need. We would be happy to give you any information/help if university needs. Here by we urge the university to make an effort in this direction.
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Frederick Noronha (FN) -
Thejesh GN