forwarding a slightly revised form of the mail posted by me on fsf-wb and ilug-cal lists.

---------- Forwarded Message ----------

Subject: [ilug-cal] "Free Software Foundation - West Bengal" fsf-westbengal@gnu.org.in Date: Tuesday 14 September 2004 13:06 From: tathagatabanerjee@softhome.net To: "Free Software Foundation - West Bengal" fsf-westbengal@gnu.org.in, ilug-cal@ilug-cal.org

dear all, as many of you may already know, dipankar-da (known to some as prof.dipankar das since he teaches economics at jaipuria college, but he has strong objections to this salutation) has written a book for teaching gnu/linux for the beginners-to-intermediate level.

i have been one of the first readers of the book through its many revisions and fine-tunings, and know it to be a unique work not only because it is (as far as i know) the only substantial (a little less than 400 A4 pages) bangla book on this subject, but also because of its friendly and unconventional approach that simulates the average learner's first steps in learning gnu/linux. his tone is humorous, semi-serious and conversational, and his material is carefully researched and well-presented. as and when it is publicly available, this book should be a priceless possession to all who have been wanting to learn gnu/linux, but were rebuffed by language barriers or by the beginner-unfriendliness of texts commonly available.

dipankar-da has decided to release the book under the GNU Free Documentation License, or some similar free licensing scheme, and the Free Software Foundation of India has agreed to publish the work. but this has become difficult because of a shortage of funds. it is estimated that it will cost somewhat more than Rs.1,00,000/- to print 1000 copies without compromising too much on quality. it was possible to cut the cost to this level mainly because dipankar-da has given up all royalty claims to the work. but even of this amount, only a fraction has been promised to FSFI by a certain sponsor. we need to generate funds of our own if we want to see this work published. the West Bengal Chapter of FSFI has taken on itself the task of organising the collection of funds to the extent that its limited capcity permits. on behalf of FSFI and FSFI-WB, i appeal to all supporters of 'linux', gnu/linux and Free Software on these lists to donate to the cause. modalities of payment and receipt can be worked out on a person-to-person basis, as soon as interested people contact me by e-mail or telephone. my contact details are given below. please DO NOT reply to the ilug-cal list but write/call me directly. fsf-wb listers, however, are welcome to discuss this on their list.

also please note that we shall make every effort to repay the sponsors as we recover the cost, and given the unique placement of the book we can expect this to be a fairly rapid process. but of course nothing can be promised. profits, if any after repaying the sponsors, shall go to the FSFI.

thank you.

Tathagata Banerjee Co-ordinator, FSFI West Bengal Chapter.

Lecturer in English Bangabasi College 19, Scott Lane, Calcutta - 700009.

e-mail: tathagatabanerjee at gmx dot net tathagatab at gmail dot com phone: (+9133) 98301-66313

addenda:

1. a few chapters of the book are available for free d/l in pdf form at www.geocities.com/ddipankardas

2. a (full) pre-release version of the book is available on cdrom at cost price + shipping. you have to write to glt-mad@ilug-cal.org

3. an attempt is on to make the book available for free d/l at fsf india's website.

4. dipankar das makes the apology that the book was written and pdf-ed with the help of proprietary software, because of the unavailibility or poor usability of current bangla writing technologies using Free Software.

- t.