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Re: [ILUG-BOM] Communication Skills and Software Development
by Prashant Verma 12 Jul '09

12 Jul '09

At 08:02 AM 7/12/2009, Siddhesh Poyarekar wrote: >What is funny is that we Indians are not the only ones with English as >a non-native language. But we seem to be the only ones to cite that as >*the* reason for any failure. The issue is not language, it is >attitude. One thing that we should remember is that not everyone has had the advantages (of education in certain types of colleges or schools), that we have had. So, in order to really appreciate the problem, we need to look beyond the familiar. I occasionally come in touch with people from rural background who are good programmers, but not so good at communication. And they have a performance problem because of that. About the rest of your email.. you seem to agree with me, but have taken several hundred words to do so :P Anyway, I feel that even in a Mentor-Mentee setup there are certain ingredients to success. The Mentor should have access to online tutorials, articles etc. which are geared to explaining the need for good communication and the steps for improving at that. Just creating a Mentor-Mentee setup will not solve the problem. I am hunting for such tutorials, or will write one if needed.

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Re: [ILUG-BOM] Communication Skills and Software Development
by Prashant Verma 12 Jul '09

12 Jul '09

At 10:46 AM 7/11/2009, Siddhesh Poyarekar wrote: >On Sat, Jul 11, 2009 at 4:22 AM, Mani A<a.mani.cms(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > I do not think the strategy is sufficiently perfect. Such people > > should be made to write complete developer-level documentation under a > > mentor preferably as well (in the FOSS project). Language skills > > cannot be handled properly in a FOSS development environment without > > special mentoring. > > >... >And as for language skills -- if you're talking about the mere ability >to speak in English or write perfect grammar then no, FOSS is not the >place to learn that. In fact I haven't seen to many grammar pedants in >the FOSS programming scenario -- you have to be if you're contributing >to documentation though :) ... Siddhesh, please see the original post. The objective of improving communication skills is so that one can understand and convey specs etc. If a person is skilled enough that he can convey ideas in imperfect english mixed with mumbaiya lingo ('kya baap, khali pili pointer ko null pe set karta hai. Runtime pe lafda ho jayenga.'), that is fine, as long as the person on the receiving end understands it. If you're working in a team, the team members must understand this too :P Of course, once we are past that stage, we'll understand that the best way to communicate is the most concise and precise way, so that most of the people reading it get the message. And that's where grammar comes in. The big point is that lack of communication skills is one of the big obstacles because of which deserving people do not achieve their potential. People must have enough communication skills to be effective in their work. Mentoring, as Mani points out could be an effective way of improving communication skills, but responsibility also lies with the mentee. I'm reminded of this old joke: Q: How many psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb? A: Just one, but the bulb has to want to change.

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[OT]Communication Skills and Software Development
by Prashant Verma 12 Jul '09

12 Jul '09

Why are communication skills important in Software Development? Comprehension and verbal skills are required to read and understand, as well as convey: a. Requirements b. Specifications c. Books, articles and manuals d. Bug reports e. Project Plans f. Achievements g. Difficulties and obstacles coming in way of goals h. and more... More importantly, good communication skills help a developer prioritize tasks better. A good communicator can better grasp the urgency/importance of a particular situation or feature. And of course, innumerable other reasons. Now, one thing I have noticed is that there are many software developers, those with excellent academic records, who could be brilliant programmers or testers, if only their communication skills were better. Often such 'latent' good programmers find their way into organizations of all shapes and sizes. Sadly, more often than not, such professionals are unable to achieve their potential because of their Achilles' Heel: Communication. Often we hear reports of speeches by industry leaders or top managers who have said that graduates from <insert country or state or university> are unemployable. My belief is that the students have the fundamental material built in, but are only hampered by lack of good communication skills. Responsible organizations will want such people to achieve their potential. What are the options open to such organizations? Classroom Training? Online Training? I will appreciate if other people who have thought about this issue could contribute their opinion. If anyone has links to online articles which address this issue or online training programs, that would be very helpful.

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F 11 launch party
by dilip khanolkar 11 Jul '09

11 Jul '09

We are trying to arrange a fedora 11 launch party. Need some topics & speakers & a place to hold it can anyone help out in this. Regards, Dilip Khanolkar, +919769107738

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[Announce] Talks on FOSS - Friday, July 10th, 2009 @ 2.30 pm
by Prabhu Ramachandran 10 Jul '09

10 Jul '09

Hello, This is to announce the following talks that will be webcast from CDEEP at IIT Bombay, as part of the National mission on education through ICT. More information is available at: http://www.cdeep.iitb.ac.in/events.html. At the time of the event, a live webcast will be available at http://www.cdeep.iitb.ac.in/webcast/. The participants at all EDUSAT remote centres will have two way audio/video connectivity as well. You are welcome to attend in person or view this online. Regards, Prabhu ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Friday, July 10th, 2009 Time: 2.30 pm Venue: 3rd floor seminar hall, Kanwal Rekhi Building Duration: Each talk will last for about 40 minutes Talk 1: 10 things a FOSS developer should know Abstract: FOSS development is easy. A simple set of rules and protocols would get anyone started on FOSS development. In this talk, the 10 essential things are discussed in a form that is easy to remember and, easy to tell others. Mostly interactive and example-driven, the talk builds on the fundamental principles of Software Development and provides relevance within the FOSS model of doing things. Speaker: Ramakrishna Reddy is a Sr Software Engineer at Red Hat. A self-confessed Python fan, Ramakrishna is currently involved in authoring a book teaching non-programmers the fundamentals of computing. He is a regular on various Python forums along side NLP related forums. Ramakrishna maintains various eclectic packages in Fedora and, is also active in the Debian community. Talk 2: How to use infrastructure for FOSS Projects Abstract: Infrastructure is an important part of a FOSS project's lifecycle. In this talk, Prasad talks about how to set up a development environment for a developer and, how best to set up a development/project infrastructure. Touching upon the essential infrastructure aspects, Prasad takes an example of his own project to demonstrate how important infrastructure is for projects. Speaker: Prasad J Pandit is a Software Engineer at Red Hat. A developer who professes a love for Perl and C, Prasad maintains packages in Fedora. He also provides guidance to new participants in FOSS development showing them how to get their feet wet. Talk 3: Communication in a FOSS Project Abstact: Any project is based on communication. Clear, precise and accurate information at the right time helps to build communities around projects. Rahul delves into his experience as a Fedora Community Wrangler to talk about the ways and means to maintain a dialogue with an evolving community as well as how best to build up communication skills. Speaker: Rahul Sundaram has been working within the Fedora community for close to 5 years now. He works as a Software Engineer at Red Hat and, provides inputs and guidance in various aspects of The Fedora Project ensuring that concept of collaboration is well established. He also writes in various publications and online journals. His profile is available at<https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/RahulSundaram>

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Re: [ILUG-BOM] Can Red Hat Enterprise products fall under FOSS?
by Pravin Dhayfule 10 Jul '09

10 Jul '09

========================================================= Re: Can Red Hat Enterprise products fall under FOSS? (Atanu Datta) > Re: Can Red Hat Enterprise products fall under FOSS? > (Sukhdev Jadhav) > Re: Can Red Hat Enterprise products fall under FOSS? (jtd) > Re: Can Red Hat Enterprise products fall under FOSS? (Raj Mathur) > Re: Can Red Hat Enterprise products fall under FOSS? > (narendra sisodiya) =========================================================== Hi Folks, Thanks for the reply and the explanations. They all were well explainative and logical :) But my friends, I do agree about what CentOS does, distribute by removing trademarks etc etc. I agree. But folks, these all apply to them who want to entirely distribute a new Flavor by reusing Red Hat code. My question lies related to End Users. Just for the example what my friend did. Obtained the Red Had Linux CD from institute as a COPY of Original CD, just like how Windows, Linux Mint, Ubuntu and other OS CDs are replicated and distributed. Now on Ubuntu's cover for example, they permit Users the exclusive freedom to replicate and distribute the CDs, although for Windows its Restricted, and I guess this would be even restricted by Red Hat since every CD may be charged per System. So my questions is will this END USER style of distribution and sharing lead to Piracy? Trademark Removal etc are all Programmer Level steps. I am talking from a perspective of Sharing the OS with a neighbor to install on his/her system as it is received..... Will it be piracy? Bye Regards

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Can Red Hat Enterprise products fall under FOSS?
by Pravin Dhayfule 09 Jul '09

09 Jul '09

Hi Folks, One of my friend was arguing me that RED HAT is superior to any of the FREELY available Linux Distro as it provides Support (although in form of Subscriptions). However I told him that he can get free community support for many other free distros and more over they are Open Source. Now for this he said that Red Hat too is open Source, and he has got one installed in his home through a CD provided by his institute where he is studying REHL. I asked him, whether he needed to enter Serial Key like Windows, he replied no, but he wont be able to use their support. So I told him that he is using a PIRATED version of LINUX. HE said yes. I went ahead to cross check Red Hat License Agreement, and saw it to be similar to Microsoft's EULA that states, you cannot install it on more computers than the licensed purchased for etc. Secondly if the Subscription expires, the OS will no longer be Legal until its renewed (similar to Norton Anti Virus) So my question is... Can Red Hat enterprise products be really considered as Open Source (as their website claims) http://investors.redhat.com/index.cfm *Red Hat is the world's leading open source provider. Bringing the choice, collaboration, cost savings and value of open source to enterprises worldwide. Solutions include our Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating platforms, JBoss Enterprise Middleware and other Red Hat enterprise technologies. * I am a bit confused on this argument... When we refer to Open Source philosophy, it says "FREEDOM", but REHL EULA looks similar to Microsoft EULA, then is also Red Hat play a role in giving rise to "PIRATED LINUX" race? Bye Regards

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Bluetooth dongle compatible with Linux
by Easwar Hariharan 09 Jul '09

09 Jul '09

Hi all, I'm in the market for a USB bluetooth dongle and plan to go to Lamington Road in a few days.I'm running Ubuntu 9.04 64 bit,so what brand or shop do you guys recommend based on experience?I know such issues have been discussed time and again on this list,but the link for searching the mailing list archives on the wiki is currently not functioning,so please guide me as to where and on what I can get the best deal.I plan to use it only occasionally. Regards, Easwar Registered Linux user #442065

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[OT/commercial/x-post] Looking for professional help to integrate LDAP auth (Mac OSX, Linux and Windows XP)
by Arun Khan 09 Jul '09

09 Jul '09

Please contact me offlist/directly if you have implemented: LDAP authentication, using Mac OSX 10.5 server with it's bundled Open Directory as the backend to authenticate users on Linux, OSX (10.4 and 10.5) desktops, and Windows XP SP3 desktops. A client has a setup of heterogenous desktop setup and wants to implement Directory Services for the organization. The composition is 80% Linux desktop + 2 Linux File servers (NFS+Samba), 7 OSX desktops and 5 Windows XP desktops). The user's Unix (Linux/OSX) profile is portable to the respective platform via LDAP and Windows profile is portable through Samba. Samba+LDAP back end needs to be configured on 2 Linux file servers as well on the OSX server (for user's home dir). -- Arun Khan PS - I have already tried openLDAP (on Linux), works with Linux desktops, OSX clients see the LDAP server but do not authenticate from the graphical login window.

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Google Chrome Operating ( Based on Linux)
by Siji Sunny 08 Jul '09

08 Jul '09

Hello all, Google is going to release new operating system google chrome,which is based on linux kernel. http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/ -- Siji Sunny

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