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14152 discussions

Is it legal to use linux in a closed source VM was Re: Fwd: Everything is fine
by jtd 23 Feb '09

23 Feb '09

starting a new thread relevant to the content On Sunday 22 February 2009 06:07, Mohan Nayaka wrote: > On Sat, Feb 21, 2009 at 8:13 AM, Nishit Dave > <stargazer.dave(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Enough, already! There's more to life than these petty issues, so > please stop beating them to beyond death. > > If you need to focus your energies on something, please try a more > constructive approach, like discussing how to convince a corporate > IT dept. To allow you to use Linux on your laptop (ours even > considers Is it allowed to install a closed-source ("legal") VM and put Linux in it? Yes afaik. But why would one want to do that. -- Rgds JTD

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[ILUG-Bom][ANNOUNCE]Installfest on 27th and 28th February
by Easwar Hariharan 23 Feb '09

23 Feb '09

Hello all, I intended to hold a demonstration and installfest of Ubuntu a few months ago,which didn't work out because the projector was unavailable.I plan to do the fest again,this time successfully, on 27th and 28th Feb,with the demo on 27th and installfest on 28th respectively.My (more) fleshed out plan follows,please tell me what you think of it. :) Demonstration: On 27th,I plan to set up 4-5 machines with Ubuntu 8.04[LTS] installed with eye candy and requisite non-free codecs and to attract people with compiz effects and natural curiosity and explain to them the various replacements for applications they use on Windows(TM).As Mehul has helpfully provided,we need to show them reasons to switch,which will be parallels for the applications they use on Windows(TM) Explain the features vis-a-vis Windows,career possibilities and use of GNU/Linux in universities and companies abroad.We organize an install fest next day for those interested. Installfest: I have 28 odd Ubuntu 8.04 32 bit CDs.I plan to install for those who bring their boxes and hand them a CD.If people can't bring their machines,ask them to check out the installation procedure,and hand out CDs. Also,planning to provide Fedora 10 installs for those who wish to try out a different distro. If I run out of CDs,I ask them [previous day]to bring their flash stick and create a bootable image on them,provided their boxes have USB boot capabilities.Also planning to keep a CD Writer handy. Where I need help in this plan is to arrange for the machines for the first day.I have presently arranged for 3 desktop machines,but a wide range of hardware is preferable. Hence,if anyone can get along laptops pre-installed with Linux or Sun VM machine, that'll be of help to me during the demonstration,because I would be sure all the hardware works with Linux(or at least know which hardware to skirt) and there will be no "Eh,this thing should have been working" moments.Ideally,I plan to have a range of specifications from low power to highly powered rigs. I also need experienced people to lend their expertise in framing how to speak to people who drop in to check out the machines on the first day. Therefore I invite willing members of ILUG-Bom to speak about GNU/Linux to people who are interested in finding out more after experiencing the Operating System. And,last but not least,I need to be pointed out holes in the plan,and help with patching them. Regards, Easwar Registered Linux user #442065

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Alternate broadband dialers illegal?
by Siddhesh Poyarekar 23 Feb '09

23 Feb '09

Hi, I had written a broadband dialer for sify (antidialer) some time back. during this time, sify decided to change its dialer protocol for unknown reasons and include some cryptography** in it. I wanted to know if it would be legal to reverse engineer the dialer (not necessarily disassemble it) or wireshark packets to analyze and try to write an alternate dialer for the new protocol. I'm asking this for the following reasons: 1) I am not using the dialer for unauthorized access -- it is simply an alternative means to login using a valid account. I have to do it because the linux dialer crashes before or after I login and the customer care has not been responsive to my complaints so far. 2) There is no EULA for which I have to click through when I use the Linux based dialer, so reverse engineering it should not be illegal right? 3) Someone had mentioned once on a forum (indiabroadband.com or something like that) a while back that it is illegal to "break" cryptography. If it is legal then I could go around attempting to understand and implement what the protocol does. **It's really some silly xor/reverse with MD5s from what I could understand so far. -- Siddhesh Poyarekar http://siddhesh.in

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kind attn Mrugesh, abt netbook distro
by Suhit Kelkar 23 Feb '09

23 Feb '09

Hi, thanks for your kind suggestion. has your model got a webcam and if so, which make? mine is a bisoncam, works w/the preinstalled gnulin, but don't know if the driver is proprietary. i'm just worried abt the foss compatibility of the webcam. suhit.

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response to the discussion about treatment of newbies
by Suhit Kelkar 23 Feb '09

23 Feb '09

I agree with the list member[s] who say[s] newbies should be treated respectfully. when i was a [greater] newbie, i had a bad experience on this list, a member was extremely rude to me. so i kept both myself and my suggestions away from the lug-meet that i had written to enquire about. i guess that is what that member wanted, anyway-- someone new is always threatening to the coterie. re the thread discussion about silly questions: lots of people, esp. from our cultural/educational atmosphere *cannot* absorb knowledge except through a conversation. they simply cannot parse the written word, esp in English-- there is a mental block, otherwise lack of confidence, or simply the necessity to think with the left brain that makes them manual-averse. here, the person is not someone necessarily lazy, stupid or mentally challenged. Suhit Kelkar.

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pl recommend good distro for MSI Wind Netbook U90
by Suhit Kelkar 23 Feb '09

23 Feb '09

hi, recently purchased MSI Wind U90 netbook; don't like the pre-installed gnulin. which distro goes well with this netbook, IYO? if anyone wants to drop me a line on this, will post the h/w specs etc. tks, pl help. suhit kelkar.

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Static IP Setup.
by Vinod Raghavan 23 Feb '09

23 Feb '09

Hello I use MTNL Triband connection, recently I applied for static IP and got one (59.185.196.123 [ just example ] ), does any one know how to set this ip static on my ADSL Router (iball 54M Wireless ADSL2+ Router, Model No.: iB-WR6111A) I also want to setup NAT on the Router to access my LAN from outside. this Router is capable but I tried many but not yet succeded. MTNL call center help was of no use, those guys just know basic dynamic setup. WAN side of router: ---------------------------- Static IP : 59.185.196.123 ( just example, not actual ) Mask : dont know GW : 59.184.191.254 LAN Side of router: --------------------------- IP : 192.168.1.1 Mask : 255.255.255.0 P DNS : 203.94.227.70 S DNS : 203.94.243.70 Any help Thanks Vinod Raghavan

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Alternate broadband diallers-- illegal?-- What the IT act says
by Suhit Kelkar 22 Feb '09

22 Feb '09

CAVEAT: i am not a lawyer, and this isn't legal advice. it is only meant to provoke further investigation. Hi, there's this section 43 of the Indian IT Act, 2000, which says in subsection b, that [any person who, *without the owner's permission*] ==quote== (b) downloads, copies or extracts any data, computer data base or information from such computer, computer system or computer network including information or data held or stored in any removable storage medium; ==end quote== [could stand to be fined to the tune of up to a crore rupees]. this is sufficiently vague for the authorities to screw people who have not been permitted by sify to work with their cryptography. of course, the law doesn't apply if your name is raju ;) best suhit kelkar.

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(no subject)
by Suhit Kelkar 22 Feb '09

22 Feb '09

hello, http://db.glug-bom.org/wiki/index.php/FOSS_based_Cyber_Cafe this is a page on the glug-bom wiki. somebody has cut-pasted xxx links into it. a page full. hardy har har! Suhit Kelkar

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Fwd: Everything is fine [was] threads [was] [OT] Invitation to connect on LinkedIn
by Kenneth Gonsalves 22 Feb '09

22 Feb '09

I was requested to forward this. If Vid has been moderated for defending women's rights, it is a sad thing and a blow against freedom. ---------- Forwarded Message ---------- Subject: Everything is fine [was] threads [was] [OT] Invitation to connect on LinkedIn Date: Wednesday 18 February 2009 From: VidAyer <vid(a)svaksha.com> To: Kenneth Gonsalves <lawgon(a)au-kbc.org>, Easwar Hariharan <meindian523(a)gmail.com>, Harsh Busa <harsh.busa(a)gmail.com> Hello, Request, could one of you please forward this "verbatim" to the ILUG-BOM list since I am on moderation. Thanks. On Wed, Feb 18, 2009 at 10:37 AM, Rajeev R. K. <rajeevrk(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > Firstly, Dinesh, If you have to insult anyone ever, even if > provocation is provided, it's a sad thing. it's a really poor > communicator who cannot make his displeasure known without stooping to > insults. A witty and sarcastic barb is > much better, IMHO. And i wouldn't wish a virus on anyone. And VidAyer, > I guess you are bing a little belligerent... > This thread need not have gone on this long, should have died long > ago, and you know it. > > Well, at least it managed to wake me up :) Glad you did :) The thread and the responses is recurrent in most Indian LUG's and I can summarize them here : 1. Shutup and move on. I've heard that before Rajeev and its exactly what i did some years ago, went upstream to contribute and be more productive. It works just fine. 2. Local Lugs? Zilch. Nada. Nothing to see in your local LUG. (and this comes from men who contribute code, men who I've spoken to IRL, wrote to me off-list and what snippets from IRC). 3. Denial. "Nothing is wrong. Everything is fine here (read LUG)". Get labelled "belligerent", "militant feminist", etc .. (and i have logs collected over the years to prove this) because you called out a bully and said "stop bullying". Nice !! Women don't participate in LUG activities? Cant blame them, I would'nt either. 4. Crass humour. You said the same above with "A witty and sarcastic barb is much better, IMHO". Object and one gets a response : "It was a joke! Don't you have a sense of humour?". The gate-keepers are more intent on protecting "freedom of speech" for loud-mouths who have turned nastiness into an art form. 5. I'm a Geek. I'm first, you came in later. Remain in your place, woman !! This is a *our* space and you (women) have to be thick-skinned to tolerate bullying, name calling, intimidation, online stalking and personal attacks, usually indulged in by a very small subset of highly vocal individual(s). Never openly and always subtle. 6. Ignore. Another way to say #3.Everything is fine here. You are the problem. 7. Take it off-list. Another easy way to make it more difficult for her to prove she is being harassed since private conversations are just that. Private. Maintain the dense cloud of ambiguity. 8. Open. Our community already has <insert token number> women who are doing just great. The rest dont bother to show up, participate, make the effort. Something is wrong with the majority. 9. Celebrate boorish behaviour. Rinse. Repeat. Result : Why waste time jumping over loops. Easier to stay away. Libre software does *not* demand contribution from all. Those who do volunteer, do it because they care or want to. You dont need to recognise that but telling them to "shutup" and "ignore problems" is neither polite nor helpful. And this "staying away" is not restricted to women and has nothing to do with gender. Men stay away too. Folks can adopt an ostrich-like attitude, because Everything_IS_Fine, really !! Thanks for all the fish !! Vid, .. who un-subscribes, yet again. ------------------------------------------------------- -- regards Kenneth Gonsalves Associate NRC-FOSS http://nrcfosshelpline.in/web/

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