FSUG-Bangalore September 2008

fsug-bangalore@mm.gnu.org.in

32 participants
62 discussions

translation of selected essays of RMS to Kannada - celebrating 25th anniversary of GNU project -27th sept 2008
by renuka prasad 13 Nov '08

13 Nov '08

Hi all As part of GNU's 25th anniversary celebration , we are organizing few events 1. Translating Selected Essay of RMS in kannada Language. 2. GNU / Linux Installation Fest. 3. A small party ( cutting cake + other snacks ) I welcome all for this celebration -- interested ones can confirm here itself. For Event 1 . A team of 30 students and 11 faculties are formed and already few professional translators have agreed to review it and many more are joining is there any one who is interested to contribute in any form for any of the events above can reply to this mail as soon as possible ಕನ್ನಡ ಕುಲಬಂಧುಗಳೆ ಬನ್ನಿ ಕನ್ನಡವನ್ನು ಉಳಿಸೋಣ, ಬೆಳೆಸೋಣ, ಹಾಗು ಇಂದಿನ ಮುಕ್ತ ಸಮಾಜದ ನಿರ್ಮಾಣಕ್ಕಾಗಿ ಶ್ರಮಿಸೋಣ, ಮುಕ್ತ ತಂತ್ರಾಂಶದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ನಮ್ಮ ಬಂಧುಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಅರಿವು ಮೂಡಿಸೋಣ, ನಿಮಗೆ ಆಸಕ್ತಿ ಇದ್ದಲ್ಲಿ ನಮ್ಮೊಂದಿಗೊಡಗೂಡಿ ರಿಚರ್ಡ್ ಸ್ಟಾಲ್ಮನ್ ರವರ ಪುಸ್ತಕ "Free Software, Free Society: Selected Essays of Richard M. Stallman " ದ ಅನುವಾದ ಕಾರ್ಯವನ್ನು ಯಶಸ್ವಿಯಾಗಿಸೋಣ.

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25th Anniversary Celebration @ RVCE, Bangalore - a brief reporting and photos
by renuka prasad 29 Sep '08

29 Sep '08

Hi all It was a nice celebration, 9 -11 around 40 volunteers indexed and we tried to merge all the essays of selected Essay of RMS in kannada 10 - 12.30 -- around 100 students experienced the installation process of GNU + Linux 12.40 to 1.20 : Expert talk was arranged , 1. Sunil Abraham spoke about FOSS business models during the installation process itself 2. Madhu and Santosh from BMSCE shared their experience in GSOC and inspired many to take part in coming GSOC 3. Sujith gave demo on Cannon Hacking Develpoment Kit 1.20 - 1.50 : We cut the cake -- around 200 students shared the cake and other snacks arranged Many other member from fsug-joined -- few to mention, Anivar, Ambati-Sridhar, Prabhanjan here are the few snaps - http://www.flickr.com/photos/25734428@N06/sets/72157607540238657/ i have a video file --- 30 mb + 30 mb -- dont know where to put it , will try somewhere and send the link soon

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Invitation to The National Public Meeting on Software Patents
by Anivar Aravind 29 Sep '08

29 Sep '08

*Please Circulate widely* With Usual apologies for X-posting On behalf of the organizers, Free Software Users Group- Bangalore cordially invites you to The National Public Meeting on Software Patents ==================================== ==Venue== 2nd Floor, Ecumenical Resource Centre, United Theological College, Millers Road, Benson Town. (Behind Cantonment Railway Station) Bangalore–560046 ==Time== 10:00–17:00 Saturday, October 4, 2008 Software patents in India occupy a contentious and indeterminate legal space. While recent amendments to the Patent Act have sought to bring our law in conformity with WTO-mandated standards, these amendments have shied from pronouncing conclusively on the patentability of software. The result is an equivocation in the law which is being wrestled aggressively and effectively by corporate interests, patent attorneys and the Patent Office in favour of granting software patents. Unheard, and so unrepresented in this powerful triad are the interests of millions of citizen-consumers who are either presumed too ignorant to be credited with a view on the issue, or are presumed to be irrelevant to the determination of issues which are seen as purely "business" matters (as opposed to "citizen" matters). Software is everywhere you look (and many places you never think of looking). With the explosion of low-cost computing devices (think mobile phones and iPods), software has leaked out of its traditional home—the PC—and begun infiltrating various aspects of our lives. From traffic signals to toilet commodes in some countries, refrigerators to railway tickets, vacuum cleaners and electronic voting machines, TVs, refrigerators and electronic pacemakers, inanimate objects of all sizes are humming to themselves, chattering amongst themselves in an intricate, highly complex tongue called 'software' that few of us can ever hope to understand. On the impulses of software, we stop or move on streets, fill up on petrol, and elect governments. Someone's heart beats. Someone else receives land records on a village kiosk. Someone is standing by helplessly for fourteen years (the un-evergreened term of a patent) because software failed to factor in her disability. There are big stakes involved in the control of software in an era when software is becoming increasingly central to the way we humans organize our lives and inhabit a democracy. At one level this is about preserving the right of agency and self-direction that citizens have in their own lives. At another, it is about the right not to be silenced when our long-fought democratic republic is at risk of being diminished by a few lines of software in a machine. Whether or not we are all in fact capable of deciphering software is inessential. Those of us who are ought not to be denied the freedom to interrogate, tinker and improve. Patents have the effect of adding an additional layer of 'protection' to already existing copyright protection of software, while simultaneously overriding the various affordances and safeguards built into copyright law. For instance, the right of "fair dealing" under copyright law permits users to examine and modify any software in order to make it interoperable with other software. This is an extremely potent right that reasserts our right to intervene in the shaping of our surroundings. It is also one of the rights that is most imperiled by software patents. The present "public hearing" on software patents is an invitation for dialogue on the various issue surrounding software patents. Although the Patent Office had scheduled a public consultation on its Draft Patent Manual to be held in Bangalore in August this year, that meeting was abruptly cancelled (or postponed indefinitely, or to an unannounced date—we can't be sure) without any reasons having been assigned by the Patent Office. This signals either of two unpleasant scenarios: first, the Patent Office is proceeding with its consultations in an extremely mechanical fashion, not intending inputs received in the course of these consultations to qualitatively impact their functioning in any way; or secondly, perhaps the Patent Office underestimates the amount that citizens living in the IT capital of India might have to say on the subject of software patents. It is our attempt in this public hearing to organize the kind of consultation that the Indian Patent Office ought to have conducted. We hope also hereby, to serve as a gentle but firm reminder to the Patent Office that its task is as yet undone. ==Agenda== 1000–1100 Presentation on the principles of patent law and software patents Sudhir Krishnaswamy (National Law School) Prabir Purkayastha (Delhi Science Forum) Nagarjuna G. (Free Software Foundation of India) 1100–1130 Discussion on software patents in the Indian context: Indian Patent Act, and the draft patent manual Prashant Iyengar (Alternative Law Forum) Venkatesh Hariharan (Red Hat) 1130–1150 Tea break 1150–1240 Discussion on patents and the development sector (freedom of speech, open standards, healthcare, biotech, agro-sector, etc.) Sunil Abraham (Centre for Internet and Society) Anivar Aravind (Movingrepublic, FSUG-Bangalore) Others 1240–1300 Presentation on the software patents that have been granted so far in India Pranesh Prakash (Centre for Internet and Society) 1300–1400 Lunch break 1400–1700 Open House T. Ramakrishna (National Law School) Abhas Abhinav (DeepRoot Linux) Joseph Mathew (Special It advisor, Govt of Kerala) Sreekanth S. Rameshaiah (Mahiti Infotech) Vinay Sreenivasa (IT for Change) Any others who wish to speak ==Organizers== Centre for Internet and Society; Free Software Users Group-Bangalore; Free Software Foundation of India; SPACE; IT for Change; Alternative Law Forum; Delhi Science Forum; Movingrepublic; Sarai/CSDS; OpenSpace, ; Swathanthra Malayalam Computing; Servelots - Janastu; Mahiti; DeepRoot Linux; Wiki Ocean; Turtle Linux Lab; Zyxware Technologies; INSAF; Aneka Anivar Aravind +91 9449009908 -- Any responsible politician should be encouraging a home grown Free Software industry because it creates the basis for future jobs. Learning Windows is like learning to eat every meal at McDonalds.

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[OT]MS in Computer Science at Christ University
by Vikram Vincent 29 Sep '08

29 Sep '08

These are weekend courses for working professionals http://www.christuniversity.in/progpages.php?progid=182&sid=793 -- Vikram Vincent +919448810822 http://swatantra.org/

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GNU/Linux primer
by shirish 28 Sep '08

28 Sep '08

Hi all, I made an attempt at making a GNU/Linux primer at http://flossexperiences.wordpress.com/2008/09/28/gnulinux-primer/ To put it simply, just something which tells newbies what it is all about without getting technical. What do you guys think? Do you think I may have missed something? Do you think something could have been put up in a better way? Or you think it plain sucks. Feedback and flames all are encouraged :) -- Regards, Shirish Agarwal This email is licensed under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ 065C 6D79 A68C E7EA 52B3 8D70 950D 53FB 729A 8B17

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Invitation to SFD at BMSCE on 25-09-2008
by Madhusudan C.S 27 Sep '08

27 Sep '08

Hi everyone, BMSCE is celebrating SFD tomorrow, i.e 25-09-2008. This has been organized by BMSLUG in association with SUN Club at BMSCE. The events schedule is as follows: 9:00 – 9:30 : Inauguration. 9:30 – 10:30 : Introduction to Open Source Technology. 10:30 – 10:45 : View of 3D Desktop (Compiz features) 10.45 – 11:00 : Tea Break 11:00 – 12:00 : Introduction to Open Solaris. (dtrace, zfs, installation thru virtual box) 12:00 – 12:30 : How to build a blog in less than 10 minutes 12:30 - 13:00 : Open Source Multimedia Applications Development (Blender) 13:00 – 14:00 : Lunch 14:00 – 15:00 : Introduction to Java and Netbeans IDE 15:00 – 17:00 : Netbeans hands-on session (first hour will be to show how to use netbeans for executing C and C++ programs and the second hour will be used to show mobile application development) Venue: BMSCE Library Auditorium. All are coridally invited. I request all of you to join the celebrations and make it a grand success. -- Thanks and regards, Madhusudan.C.S Blogs at: www.madhusudancs.info Official Email ID: madhusudan(a)madhusudancs.info

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"Avoiding Ruinous Compromises" by Richard Stallman
by Anivar Aravind 27 Sep '08

27 Sep '08

<quote> If you want to help the community stay on the road to freedom, one important way is to publicly uphold citizen values. When people are discussing what is good or bad, or what to do, cite the values of freedom and community and argue from them. It's no use going faster by taking the wrong road. Compromise is essential to achieve a large goal, but beware of compromises that lead away from the goal. </quote> http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/compromise.html rms writes: "Twenty-five years ago on September 27, 1983, I - Hide quoted text - announced a plan to create a completely free operating system called GNU -- for 'GNU is not Unix'. As part of the 25th anniversary of the GNU system, I have written this article on how our community can avoid ruinous compromises." -- Any responsible politician should be encouraging a home grown Free Software industry because it creates the basis for future jobs. Learning Windows is like learning to eat every meal at McDonalds.

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Swatantra Free Culture Showcase
by Vikram Vincent 26 Sep '08

26 Sep '08

Swatantra Free Culture Showcase This idea has been inspired by the UbuntuFreeCultureShowcase<https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuFreeCultureShowcase> Our team wants to address various social, cultural, political and technologically relevant issues and we want to shake things up a little bit. At the heart of Swatantra's ethos is a belief in showcasing free software<http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html>and free culture <http://freeculture.org/>, and we think it would be an excellent opportunity to show off some free culture artists by utilising their media in various global campaigns. Although the time restrictions are tight, we think this is too good an opportunity to miss. So, we present the Swatantra Free Culture Showcase. http://swatantra.org/wiki/index.php?title=SwatantraFreeCultureShowcase How it works is pretty simple: Your submission must be no larger than 1Minute for the audio and 3Minutes for the video. Upload your submission somewhere online (there are lots of free hosting solutions available such as archive.org). Do not email any of the organisers or judges with your submissions. When the deadline for submissions closes, our panel of judges(*Mrs. Shobana Mathews, Mr. Sunil Chandy, Mr. Anil Pinto*) will pick a shortlist, and will then pick the final winners from the shortlist. The deadline for submissions is *20th November 2008* -- Vikram Vincent +919448810822 http://swatantra.org/

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[jobs]Fwd: [Aid-awareness] Looking for web-designers and Drupal programmers
by Anivar Aravind 25 Sep '08

25 Sep '08

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Priya Ranjan <priya(a)aidindia.org> Dear Friends: Hows life? We here at AID are looking for web designers/graphics artists and people who can do wonders with tools like Joomla and Drupal. Please let me know if you will be interested in contributing. thanks for your help. -priya _______________________________________________ AID-awareness is grateful to Shreyas, Ved, Anish, Devi and whole Free/Open source coummunity (Yo GNU/LINUX!!) for their tremendous technical support. AID awareness thanks Harsha and Abhisek for providing real time petition support and related follow up services. We are also grateful to numerous contributors who make us more aware about the Indian world around us. AID-awareness provides only content delivery services and messages forwarded on this list are NOT written by Priya Ranjan. Aid-awareness mailing list Aid-awareness(a)lists.aidindia.org To unsubscribe please login at http://lists.aidindia.org/mailman/listinfo/aid-awareness -- Any responsible politician should be encouraging a home grown Free Software industry because it creates the basis for future jobs. Learning Windows is like learning to eat every meal at McDonalds.

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TOI believes - Flickr is for flicking
by shirish 25 Sep '08

25 Sep '08

Hi all, Its an interesting blog post. http://blog.twilightfairy.in/2008/09/01/toi-believes-flickr-is-for-flicking/ It would be nice if the ALF or some other forum would like to take this fight :) -- Regards, Shirish Agarwal This email is licensed under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ 065C 6D79 A68C E7EA 52B3 8D70 950D 53FB 729A 8B17

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FSUG-Bangalore September 2008