Re: Bytesforall_Readers digest, Vol 1 #112 - 7 msgs
"Prof. Anil K. Gupta" <[email protected]> Wed, 06 Nov 2002 15:17:43 +0530
| Newsgroups | gmane.culture.publications.bytesforall.readers |
|---|---|
| Organization | Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, India |
| Message-ID | <[email protected]> |
--------------060704000806020208050508 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit dear mavericks on this list national Innovation Foundation ( www.nifindia.org ) had advertised for National Coordinator ( Information Technology and Database applications, dissemination) last month. We have received many applications but the fact that during last two attempts, we did not find the kind of hands on person are looking for, makes me issue this appeal on this list also. I am all for free softwares and open source softwares so long as somebody pays the cost of those who develop these softwares and distribute these. In our case, we can afford to do that and hence we are willing to try. If there are champions of indian language applications, of making local decentralized data bases of local knowledge and innovations ( and not just connecting the local people with global sources of 'wisdom' ) and of maintaining national register, on line value chain through volunteers, to convert innovations into enterprises in real physical world, pl do send in your resume to [email protected] thanks anil k gupta [email protected] [email protected] wrote: >Send Bytesforall_Readers mailing list submissions to > [email protected] > >To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/bytesforall_readers >or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > [email protected] > >You can reach the person managing the list at > [email protected] > >When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific >than "Re: Contents of Bytesforall_Readers digest..." > > >Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: Understanding Free/Libre and Open Source Software (or, FLOSS) (Tapan S. Parikh) > 2. (no subject) ([email protected]) > 3. Free Software Update! (sunil) > 4. Link to Yuva.com (Frederick Noronha) > 5. Re: Kind attn RMS * Priority (Richard Stallman) > 6. MLA needs Linux Geeks (sunil) > 7. FEATURE: Patents in software a potential 'minefield': Stallman (Frederick Noronha) > >--__--__-- > >Message: 1 >Date: Sat, 2 Nov 2002 20:59:11 +0530 >From: "Tapan S. Parikh" <[email protected]> >To: Frederick Noronha <[email protected]> >Cc: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] >Subject: Re: [Bytesforall_Readers] Understanding Free/Libre and Open Source Software (or, FLOSS) > > > >Free software is not about policy makers, not about heads of 100 million >dollar "information service" systems, not about NGOs or Development or, >even to a certain degree - about users even. It is about programmers. > >I program in free software because I enjoy programming in free software. > I like seeing the insides and the source code of the libraries I am >working with and linking with. I like the insight I get from seeing >other peoples code, being able to understand how it does (or doesnt) >work. This is very important as this source code will end up being a >large part of the application I eventually compile and distribute. And >I prefer free over open source because I dont want any legal hassles, >and Open Source is a vague enough concept so that I cant understand what >I can and cannot do with that source. With Free Software, with GPL >software, there is no such question. Call it a programmers view of safe >sex. > >The quality of the product is unquestionable. Seems a lot of people >are, whatever Mr. Jha's reservations, choosing to use free software. >Does www.digitalpartners.org run on Apache? If it doesnt, it should. >As any of us with the brains and experience to know anything can easily >tell you - IIS sucks. > >There are many other examples. So all with the power to do so please >choose, and choose wisely. If you look at the situation objectively, I >am sure you will realize that in the year 2002 for the optimal solution >of any companies business and other needs - a large part of that will be >served by what we now call Free Software. > >But dont presume to understand or impose outdated, skeptical and >fundamental economic theories upon a system you fundamentally dont >understand. Because to really understand, you have to start with the >basic premise - first and foremost, free software is by and for >programmers. All else is incidental, and we can see the power of the >incidental even now, and this wonderful conference by the vaunted >InfoDev falls into just this category - incidental. > >(Sorry to be so late, I am a bit slow in connectivity nowadays.) > >-- Tapan > > > >On Sun, 20 Oct 2002 00:54:09 +0530 (IST) >Frederick Noronha <[email protected]> wrote: > > > >>On Sat, 19 Oct 2002 [email protected] wrote: >> >> >>>open source is good, free software?????.... >>>i am not closed to linux or open source. i am closed to "free". good >>>that sunil has clarified his perspective and i am with that. open >>>source- yes. free software as in free beer-- no!! >>> >>> >>This argument is premised on a basic misconception of Free >>Software. Going by the reporting of Mr Jha below, one can see >>surfacing many of the fears of people grown on a generation of >>copyright-restricted software, loaded concepts like 'software piracy' >>and profiteering from blocking access to others information/code. >> >>It's time to perhaps rethink fundamentals. >> >>Below is a note from RMS (Richard M Stallman), the Founder of the Free >>Software Foundation. It was written in the context of the Washington >>conference itself, and I take the liberty of reproducing it below. If >>people like Stallman were around, perhaps there would be less scope >>for such a fundamental confusion of issues. FN >> >>PS: There's a difference between Linux and GNU/Linux too... >> >>PPS: I know young coders who have totally changed their way of >>thinking after reading Stallman's 2001 biography from O'Reiley. Trying >>to get a copy in time for his Nov 2002 visit to India (it might happen >>the same month that Bill Gates comes too ;-) >>-- >>Frederick Noronha * Freelance Journalist * Goa * India 832.409490 / >>409783 BYTESFORALL www.bytesforall.org * GNU-LINUX >>http://linuxinindia.pitas.com >>Email [email protected] * Mobile +9822 122436 (Goa) * Saligao Goa >>India Writing with a difference... on what makes *the* difference >> >>From RICHARD M STALLMAN >> >>From [email protected] .... >> >>Tony Stanco invited me to speak at the conference in October, but I >>felt obliged to refuse. The reason is that it is presented solely as >>an "open source" conference. My participating in it would encourage >>people to think I am a supporter of the Open Source Movement. A >>number of other people from the Free Software Movement are also >>declining to participate, for the same reason. >> >>Since 1984, the Free Software Movement has championed users' freedom >>to share and change the software they use. This is an ethical and >>social issue, not just a technical and practical one. We developed >>the GNU operating system so that users could have freedom. >> >>In the 1990s, millions of users began using our free software, and >>many of them appreciated its practical benefits but not the ethical >>and social benefits. In 1998, some of them founded the Open Source >>Movement. This movement cites only the practical advantages of being >>able to share and change software, and studiously avoids presenting >>this as a question of right and wrong. This may seem like a subtle >>point, but actually it is a fundamental difference in basic values. >>As a result, the statements of the two movements are as different as >>night and day. (Contrast http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/ with >>http://www.opensource.org/ and you'll see.) >> >>The Open Source Movement has had a lot of publicity, which often >>labels our work as "open source". An article in New Scientist this >>year even said that I founded the Open Source Movement. The result of >>this confusion is that the Free Software Movement and its views are >>often hidden behind the Open Source Movement. We've learned to be >>wary of participating in events that would put the "open source" label >>on us. >> >>I asked Tony Stanco to please make this event an "open source and free >>software" event, and thus make room for our movement as well as the >>other, but he said the event's sponsors were unwilling. Do you think >>you might be able to convince them to make room for us? >> >>See http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-software-for-freedom.html for >>more explanation of the difference between the two movements. By the >>way, the operating system isn't really "Linux", either. >> >>_______________________________________________ >>Bytesforall_Readers mailing list >>[email protected] >>https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/bytesforall_readers >> >> > > > >--__--__-- > >Message: 2 >From: [email protected] >To: [email protected] >Cc: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] >Date: Mon, 4 Nov 2002 03:22:59 +0530 (IST) >Subject: [Bytesforall_Readers] (no subject) > >Tapan: > >I seem to be at one with you in the way you have articulated it. > >Thanks. > >[email protected] wrote > > >Free software is not about policy makers, not about heads of 100 million >dollar "information service" systems, not about NGOs or Development or, >even to a certain degree - about users even. It is about programmers. > >I program in free software because I enjoy programming in free software. > I like seeing the insides and the source code of the libraries I am >working with and linking with. I like the insight I get from seeing >other peoples code, being able to understand how it does (or doesnt) >work. This is very important as this source code will end up being a >large part of the application I eventually compile and distribute. And >I prefer free over open source because I dont want any legal hassles, >and Open Source is a vague enough concept so that I cant understand what >I can and cannot do with that source. With Free Software, with GPL >software, there is no such question. Call it a programmers view of safe >sex. > >The quality of the product is unquestionable. Seems a lot of people >are, whatever Mr. Jha's reservations, choosing to use free software. >Does www.digitalpartners.org run on Apache? If it doesnt, it should. >As any of us with the brains and experience to know anything can easily >tell you - IIS sucks. > >There are many other examples. So all with the power to do so please >choose, and choose wisely. If you look at the situation objectively, I >am sure you will realize that in the year 2002 for the optimal solution >of any companies business and other needs - a large part of that will be >served by what we now call Free Software. > >But dont presume to understand or impose outdated, skeptical and >fundamental economic theories upon a system you fundamentally dont >understand. Because to really understand, you have to start with the >basic premise - first and foremost, free software is by and for >programmers. All else is incidental, and we can see the power of the >incidental even now, and this wonderful conference by the vaunted >InfoDev falls into just this category - incidental. > >(Sorry to be so late, I am a bit slow in connectivity nowadays.) > >-- Tapan > > > >On Sun, 20 Oct 2002 00:54:09 +0530 (IST) >Frederick Noronha <[email protected]> wrote: > > > >>On Sat, 19 Oct 2002 [email protected] wrote: >> >> >>>open source is good, free software?????.... >>>i am not closed to linux or open source. i am closed to "free". good >>>that sunil has clarified his perspective and i am with that. open >>>source- yes. free software as in free beer-- no!! >>> >>> >>This argument is premised on a basic misconception of Free >>Software. Going by the reporting of Mr Jha below, one can see >>surfacing many of the fears of people grown on a generation of >>copyright-restricted software, loaded concepts like 'software piracy' >>and profiteering from blocking access to others information/code. >> >>It's time to perhaps rethink fundamentals. >> >>Below is a note from RMS (Richard M Stallman), the Founder of the Free >>Software Foundation. It was written in the context of the Washington >>conference itself, and I take the liberty of reproducing it below. If >>people like Stallman were around, perhaps there would be less scope >>for such a fundamental confusion of issues. FN >> >>PS: There's a difference between Linux and GNU/Linux too... >> >>PPS: I know young coders who have totally changed their way of >>thinking after reading Stallman's 2001 biography from O'Reiley. Trying >>to get a copy in time for his Nov 2002 visit to India (it might happen >>the same month that Bill Gates comes too ;-) >>-- >>Frederick Noronha * Freelance Journalist * Goa * India 832.409490 / >>409783 BYTESFORALL www.bytesforall.org * GNU-LINUX >>http://linuxinindia.pitas.com >>Email [email protected] * Mobile +9822 122436 (Goa) * Saligao Goa >>India Writing with a difference... on what makes *the* difference >> >>From RICHARD M STALLMAN >> >>From [email protected] .... >> >>Tony Stanco invited me to speak at the conference in October, but I >>felt obliged to refuse. The reason is that it is presented solely as >>an "open source" conference. My participating in it would encourage >>people to think I am a supporter of the Open Source Movement. A >>number of other people from the Free Software Movement are also >>declining to participate, for the same reason. >> >>Since 1984, the Free Software Movement has championed users' freedom >>to share and change the software they use. This is an ethical and >>social issue, not just a technical and practical one. We developed >>the GNU operating system so that users could have freedom. >> >>In the 1990s, millions of users began using our free software, and >>many of them appreciated its practical benefits but not the ethical >>and social benefits. In 1998, some of them founded the Open Source >>Movement. This movement cites only the practical advantages of being >>able to share and change software, and studiously avoids presenting >>this as a question of right and wrong. This may seem like a subtle >>point, but actually it is a fundamental difference in basic values. >>As a result, the statements of the two movements are as different as >>night and day. (Contrast http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/ with >>http://www.opensource.org/ and you'll see.) >> >>The Open Source Movement has had a lot of publicity, which often >>labels our work as "open source". An article in New Scientist this >>year even said that I founded the Open Source Movement. The result of >>this confusion is that the Free Software Movement and its views are >>often hidden behind the Open Source Movement. We've learned to be >>wary of participating in events that would put the "open source" label >>on us. >> >>I asked Tony Stanco to please make this event an "open source and free >>software" event, and thus make room for our movement as well as the >>other, but he said the event's sponsors were unwilling. Do you think >>you might be able to convince them to make room for us? >> >>See http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-software-for-freedom.html for >>more explanation of the difference between the two movements. By the >>way, the operating system isn't really "Linux", either. >> >>_______________________________________________ >>Bytesforall_Readers mailing list >>[email protected] >>https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/bytesforall_readers >> >> > > > > > >--__--__-- > >Message: 3 >Date: Mon, 04 Nov 2002 12:42:31 +0530 >From: "sunil" <[email protected]> >To: [email protected] >Reply-To: [email protected] >Subject: [Bytesforall_Readers] Free Software Update! > >http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59197-2002Nov2.html > >By Ariana Eunjung Cha >Washington Post Staff Writer >Sunday, November 3, 2002; Page A01 > >MERIDA, Spain -- Luis Millan Vazquez de Miguel, a college professor >turned politician, is succeeding where multibillion-dollar, >multinational corporations have failed. He is managing to unseat >Microsoft Corp. as the dominant player in the software industry, at >least in his little part of the world. > >Vazquez de Miguel is the minister of education, science and technology >in a western region of Spain called Extremadura, a mostly rural expanse >of olive trees and tiny towns with 1.1 million inhabitants. In April, >the government launched an unorthodox campaign to convert all the area's >computer systems, in government offices, businesses and homes, from the >Windows operating system to Linux, a free alternative > >--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > >http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/27896.html >MS settlement rotten with loopholes >By Thomas C Greene in Washington >Posted: 02/11/2002 at 10:01 GMT > >As we learned Friday, Judge CKK has conditionally accepted most of the >MS/DoJ antitrust settlement, effectively shutting down the unsettling >states unless they can find solid grounds for an appeal. "The court is >satisfied that the parties have reached a settlement which comports with >the public interest," she wrote. > >There will be no breakup, no forced disclosures of source code, no >bare-bones Windows. > >There are, to be sure, a number of provisions which ought to be useful >in cultivating a slightly more diverse software marketplace, only most >of them are so rotten with loopholes that MS' competitors are basically >where they were at the outset of this four-year fiasco; that is, pretty >well forced to rely on Redmond's renowned openness, good will and honest >competitive spirit. > >--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >http://www.gstreamer.net/apps/vw/ >>From a Slashdot post >Zeeshan Ali Khattak has made a videowall using Red Hat Linux, GStreamer >and commodity hardware. The solution was made based on the need to >create a flexible and cheap solution for use in Pakistani Schools and >Universities using commodity hardware. To find out how this was done and >some more details, and of course some cool pictures, check out the Video >Whale project homepage." > >--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > >http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/27853.html >Brussels to spend ?250k on Linux migration study >By John Leyden >Posted: 30/10/2002 at 17:12 GMT > >The European Commission has awarded UK-based consultancy netproject a >?250,000 contract to study the issues of migrating government computers >in member states to a Linux / Open Source environment. > >netproject has been hired by the Commission to draw up guidelines on a >move to open source technologies and to help define EU IT strategy on >desktop computing. The German state of Mecklenburg-Pomerania >is to be used as a test bed in defining this strategy, which goes beyond >the investigation of a switch between Windows and Linux PCs. > >--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > >http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2002/1028/web-open-11-01-02.asp >Open source courses through DOD > >BY Dan Caterinicchia >Nov. 1, 2002 >What would happen if open source software were banned in the Defense >Department? >A recent study conducted by Mitre Corp. for DOD posed that hypothetical >question and found this answer: The department's cybersecurity >capabilities would be crippled and other areas would be severely >impacted. >Mitre Corp. was asked to develop a listing of open-source software >applications at DOD and to collect representative examples of how those >applications are being used. Over a two-week period, an e-mailed survey >identified 115 applications and 251 examples of use, and Mitre's report >acknowledged that actual use could be "tens of thousands of times larger >than the number of examples identified." >To help analyze the data, the hypothetical question was posed: What >would happen if open-source software were banned at DOD? > >--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > >http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2002-10-30-linux-cars_x.htm >10/30/2002 - Updated 09:53 AM ET > >Linux finding its own niche in the automotive industry > >DETROIT (AP) - To lower costs and stay competitive, automakers are >turning to inexpensive Linux-based computers for crash simulations, >structural analysis and other tasks once handled by expensive >high-performance systems. > >The auto industry's move away from computers based on custom hardware >and the proprietary Unix operating system mirrors trends in other >industries, including oil exploration and retail. > >"This is a game-changer for any industry that has a high-performance >computing workload," said Steve Solazzo, general manager for Linux >operations at IBM. > >--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > >Thanks, > >Sunil > >===== >Sunil Abraham [MAHITI] >314/1, 7th Cross, Domlur >Bangalore - 560 071 Karnataka, INDIA >Ph/Fax: +91 80 5352003. Pager: 9624 279519 >[email protected] http://www.mahiti.org > > >--__--__-- > >Message: 4 >Date: Mon, 4 Nov 2002 14:02:29 +0530 (IST) >From: Frederick Noronha <[email protected]> >To: [email protected] >Subject: [Bytesforall_Readers] Link to Yuva.com > >Government of Karnataka ha sannounced yuva.com. It says, "The scheme has >stirred up the hornet's nest, i.e. unemployment, by inspiring the rural >educated, unemployed youth to be entrepreneurs and optimistic of their >future ahead. Yuva.com is a unique IT training scheme, specially for >rural, educated unemployed youth. (It is being worked out) in a strategic >alliance with leading IT education providers APTECH, NIIT, SSI, and >Keonics. Training centres have been established at 229 locations in the >state...." > >Anyone with more information on this? Any evaluations of this >idea? Candidates whose annual income is below Rs 24,000 (roughly $500) can >benefit from Yuva.com. Candidates aged between 18 to 40 years, who have >passed their secondary school leaving certificate, are eligible for >training. > >Other links: >Karnataka Information www.karnatakainformation.com > >>From an advert in BusinessLine, October 17, 2002. >-- >Frederick Noronha * Freelance Journalist * Goa * India 832.409490 / 409783 >BYTESFORALL www.bytesforall.org * GNU-LINUX http://linuxinindia.pitas.com >Email [email protected] * Mobile +9822 122436 (Goa) * Saligao Goa India >Writing with a difference... on what makes *the* difference > > >--__--__-- > >Message: 5 >From: Richard Stallman <[email protected]> >To: [email protected] >cc: [email protected] >Reply-to: [email protected] >Date: Tue, 05 Nov 2002 00:13:10 -0500 >Subject: [Bytesforall_Readers] Re: Kind attn RMS * Priority > > > Hi RMS, To be precise, the two-page news release of the book actually uses > > those words. > > Hi RMS, I got it from O'Reilly via email. > >When did they send that press release to you? >Was it in March when the book came out, or was it recently? > >Please don't circulate their press release. > >--__--__-- > >Message: 6 >Date: Tue, 05 Nov 2002 18:52:36 +0530 >From: "sunil" <[email protected]> >To: [email protected] >Reply-To: [email protected] >Subject: [Bytesforall_Readers] MLA needs Linux Geeks > >http://www.medialabasia.org/job/jobDetail.php?jobId=14&typeId=10 > >Linux, System Software, and Networking Scientists > >Role . What if an operating system were designed specifically for rural >India instead of for urban Seattle, Washington? How might it be different >in terms of scheduling, memory management, file systems, user interfaces, >language support, memory image size, network support... and what if802.11 >were redesigned for villages instead of office buildings? How would it >differ in terms of power requirements, cost, RF properties...? >. Media Lab Asia aims to radically re-conceptualize, for rural India, >system software and network systems in its Systems Laboratory based on >the IIT Madras campus in Chennai. Media Lab Asia consists of the renowned >Media Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), >regional laboratories in Mumbai, Kanpur, New Delhi and Chennai, and >participating grassroots communities. The organization has its >administrative headquarters in Mumbai. >. We are looking for world-class scientists and engineers interested in >the applications of high-technologies to social and economic development >and rural transformation. The successful applicant will have experience >in either system software (Linux kernel experience a plus) or network >engineering. A Ph.D. is preferred but ambitious new post graduates >showing exceptional promise will be considered. >. Please include an introductory statement of 500 words or less along >with your CV. Your email should be composed in clear ASCII text or html. >Attachments will not be opened. URL links to relevant websites are >welcome > >Job Closing Date 31st December 2002 >Special Instruction . To know more about the research topics that Media >Lab Asia is working on click here > > >Thanks, > >Sunil > >P.S. MediaLabAsia.org runs on free software::: The site >www.medialabasia.org is running Apache/1.3.22 (Unix) (Red-Hat/Linux) >mod_ssl/2.8.4 OpenSSL/0.9.6b DAV/1.0.2 PHP/4.2.2 mod_perl/1.24_01 on >Linux. > >===== >Sunil Abraham [MAHITI] >314/1, 7th Cross, Domlur >Bangalore - 560 071 Karnataka, INDIA >Ph/Fax: +91 80 5352003. Pager: 9624 279519 >[email protected] http://www.mahiti.org > > >--__--__-- > >Message: 7 >Date: Wed, 6 Nov 2002 05:47:28 +0530 (IST) >From: Frederick Noronha <[email protected]> >To: [email protected] >Subject: [Bytesforall_Readers] FEATURE: Patents in software a potential 'minefield': Stallman > >Patents in software a potential 'minefield', warns Free Software founder > >By Frederick Noronha > >PANAJI (Goa), Nov 6: India should avoid the "minefield" of introducing >patents in the software world, Free Software Foundation head Dr Richard M >Stallman warned industry and politicians here, asking to avoid such a >trap. > >"Software patients is a very critical issue, and I understand the Indian >parliament is considering whether to do so," Stallman (49) said at a dinner >meet organised by the Goa Chambers of Commerce and Industry during his >first-ever three-day visit to this small state. > >The head of an impressive campaign to keep software 'free' and >non-proprietary, which has led to the birth of the alternate GNU/Linux >operating system today threatening to challenge corporations like >Microsoft, Dr Stallman warned that patients were not suited for a field >like software. > >"When writing a (software) program, you typically combine different ideas. >Anyone trying to develop software -- unless its very small or limited in >size -- is going to be stepping onto a minefield (in case software patents >are accepted)," he cautioned. > >Since "many good ideas go into your program", there's no such thing as "the" >patent, he said Richard Matthew Stallman, who began the Free Software >Movement in 1984 inspired by the ideals of the American War of Independence. > >"This is an issue that is going to affect all software developers. In the >US, there are already over 100,000 software patents. So, that means, there >are a lot of things we (as developers) are not allowed to do," he argued. > >He called software patents "incredibly dangerous". Right now, the European >Union was also making a decision over this issue, he noted. Besides, he >suggested, countries from the West would be better equipped to file patents, >and also pump in money to fight cases over the same. > >Stallman, a strong votary of Free Software -- this refers to the freedom >offered to the developer and user, not the price -- underlined the >benefits of such operating systems as against proprietorial and >closed-source products (where the critical code that goes into the program >is not publicly available to the buyer). > >Speaking at the meet, Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar suggested that >higher-secondary students getting state-subsidised computers under a >'cyberage' scheme could possibly be given a GNU/Linux-based operating >system (OS), rather than a proprietorial OS. > >National Institute of Oceanography (Goa) scientist Dr Albert Gouveia said >his institute had been running an early version of GNU/Linux right from >1993. > >Businessmen appreciate the cost-saving aspects of this operating system, >while programmers say it offers them wide freedom while also making >computing affordable, a critical factor in a country like India. > >"The way I learnt to be a good programmer was when we worked at MIT, and had >the freedom to (tinker around with the code). I didn't know enough (of >programming) then. But I could learn because we could work on it. Today Free >Software gives you that opportunity," said the bearded, long-haired, >pun-loving genius of a programmer. > >Stallman, among other things, wrote the first extensible Emacs text editor >there in 1975, for which, in 1991, he received the Grace Hooper Award from >the Association for Computing Machinery. He is also the recipient of a >MacArthur Foundation genius grant. > >Speaking earlier, Stallman opined that two countries in the globe -- India >and Brazil -- have been showing an "increasing awareness" over addressing >the social aspects of computing. Both countries have been working on >building affordable computing solutions, and take IT to the commonman in a >number of ways. (ENDS) > > > >--__--__-- > >_______________________________________________ >Bytesforall_Readers mailing list >[email protected] >https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/bytesforall_readers > > >End of Bytesforall_Readers Digest > > > -- Prof Anil K Gupta Professor, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad 380015, India [email protected] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Personal Page: http://www.iimahd.ernet.in/~anilg/ Sristi Page: http://www.sristi.org, GIAN Page: http://www.gian.org National Innovation Foundation (NIF): http://www.nifindia.org Phone Numbers: (0) +91 (79) 632 4927, 630 8357, 6309973 Fax Numbers: +91 (79) 630 7341, 630 6896 Fortitude is the capacity to say 'yes' when the whole world wants to say, 'NO, it cant be done'. --------------060704000806020208050508 Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1"> <title></title> </head> <body> dear mavericks on this list<br> <br> national Innovation Foundation ( <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.nifindia.org">www.nifindia.org</a> ) had advertised for National Coordinator ( Information Technology and Database applications, dissemination) last month. We have received many applications but the fact that during last two attempts, we did not find the kind of hands on person are looking for, makes me issue this appeal on this list also.<br> <br> I am all for free softwares and open source softwares so long as somebody pays the cost of those who develop these softwares and distribute these. In our case, we can afford to do that and hence we are willing to try. <br> <br> If there are champions of indian language applications, of making local decentralized data bases of local knowledge and innovations ( and not just connecting the local people with global sources of 'wisdom' ) and of maintaining national register, on line value chain through volunteers, to convert innovations into enterprises in real physical world, pl do send in your resume to <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a> <br> <br> thanks<br> <br> anil k gupta<br> <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a><br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a> wrote:<br> <blockquote type="cite" cite="[email protected]"> <pre wrap="">Send Bytesforall_Readers mailing list submissions to <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/bytesforall_readers">https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/bytesforall_readers</a> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a> You can reach the person managing the list at <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Bytesforall_Readers digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Re: Understanding Free/Libre and Open Source Software (or, FLOSS) (Tapan S. Parikh) 2. (no subject) (<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a>) 3. Free Software Update! (sunil) 4. Link to Yuva.com (Frederick Noronha) 5. Re: Kind attn RMS * Priority (Richard Stallman) 6. MLA needs Linux Geeks (sunil) 7. FEATURE: Patents in software a potential 'minefield': Stallman (Frederick Noronha) --__--__-- Message: 1 Date: Sat, 2 Nov 2002 20:59:11 +0530 From: "Tapan S. Parikh" <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:[email protected]"><[email protected]></a> To: Frederick Noronha <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:[email protected]"><[email protected]></a> Cc: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a>, <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a>, <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a> Subject: Re: [Bytesforall_Readers] Understanding Free/Libre and Open Source Software (or, FLOSS) Free software is not about policy makers, not about heads of 100 million dollar "information service" systems, not about NGOs or Development or, even to a certain degree - about users even. It is about programmers. I program in free software because I enjoy programming in free software. I like seeing the insides and the source code of the libraries I am working with and linking with. I like the insight I get from seeing other peoples code, being able to understand how it does (or doesnt) work. This is very important as this source code will end up being a large part of the application I eventually compile and distribute. And I prefer free over open source because I dont want any legal hassles, and Open Source is a vague enough concept so that I cant understand what I can and cannot do with that source. With Free Software, with GPL software, there is no such question. Call it a programmers view of safe sex. The quality of the product is unquestionable. Seems a lot of people are, whatever Mr. Jha's reservations, choosing to use free software. Does <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.digitalpartners.org">www.digitalpartners.org</a> run on Apache? If it doesnt, it should. As any of us with the brains and experience to know anything can easily tell you - IIS sucks. There are many other examples. So all with the power to do so please choose, and choose wisely. If you look at the situation objectively, I am sure you will realize that in the year 2002 for the optimal solution of any companies business and other needs - a large part of that will be served by what we now call Free Software. But dont presume to understand or impose outdated, skeptical and fundamental economic theories upon a system you fundamentally dont understand. Because to really understand, you have to start with the basic premise - first and foremost, free software is by and for programmers. All else is incidental, and we can see the power of the incidental even now, and this wonderful conference by the vaunted InfoDev falls into just this category - incidental. (Sorry to be so late, I am a bit slow in connectivity nowadays.) -- Tapan On Sun, 20 Oct 2002 00:54:09 +0530 (IST) Frederick Noronha <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:[email protected]"><[email protected]></a> wrote: </pre> <blockquote type="cite"> <pre wrap="">On Sat, 19 Oct 2002 <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a> wrote: </pre> <blockquote type="cite"> <pre wrap="">open source is good, free software?????.... i am not closed to linux or open source. i am closed to "free". good that sunil has clarified his perspective and i am with that. open source- yes. free software as in free beer-- no!! </pre> </blockquote> <pre wrap="">This argument is premised on a basic misconception of Free Software. Going by the reporting of Mr Jha below, one can see surfacing many of the fears of people grown on a generation of copyright-restricted software, loaded concepts like 'software piracy' and profiteering from blocking access to others information/code. It's time to perhaps rethink fundamentals. Below is a note from RMS (Richard M Stallman), the Founder of the Free Software Foundation. It was written in the context of the Washington conference itself, and I take the liberty of reproducing it below. If people like Stallman were around, perhaps there would be less scope for such a fundamental confusion of issues. FN PS: There's a difference between Linux and GNU/Linux too... PPS: I know young coders who have totally changed their way of thinking after reading Stallman's 2001 biography from O'Reiley. Trying to get a copy in time for his Nov 2002 visit to India (it might happen the same month that Bill Gates comes too ;-) -- Frederick Noronha * Freelance Journalist * Goa * India 832.409490 / 409783 BYTESFORALL <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.bytesforall.org">www.bytesforall.org</a> * GNU-LINUX <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://linuxinindia.pitas.com">http://linuxinindia.pitas.com</a> Email <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a> * Mobile +9822 122436 (Goa) * Saligao Goa India Writing with a difference... on what makes *the* difference From RICHARD M STALLMAN From <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a> .... Tony Stanco invited me to speak at the conference in October, but I felt obliged to refuse. The reason is that it is presented solely as an "open source" conference. My participating in it would encourage people to think I am a supporter of the Open Source Movement. A number of other people from the Free Software Movement are also declining to participate, for the same reason. Since 1984, the Free Software Movement has championed users' freedom to share and change the software they use. This is an ethical and social issue, not just a technical and practical one. We developed the GNU operating system so that users could have freedom. In the 1990s, millions of users began using our free software, and many of them appreciated its practical benefits but not the ethical and social benefits. In 1998, some of them founded the Open Source Movement. This movement cites only the practical advantages of being able to share and change software, and studiously avoids presenting this as a question of right and wrong. This may seem like a subtle point, but actually it is a fundamental difference in basic values. As a result, the statements of the two movements are as different as night and day. (Contrast <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/">http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/</a> with <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.opensource.org/">http://www.opensource.org/</a> and you'll see.) The Open Source Movement has had a lot of publicity, which often labels our work as "open source". An article in New Scientist this year even said that I founded the Open Source Movement. The result of this confusion is that the Free Software Movement and its views are often hidden behind the Open Source Movement. We've learned to be wary of participating in events that would put the "open source" label on us. I asked Tony Stanco to please make this event an "open source and free software" event, and thus make room for our movement as well as the other, but he said the event's sponsors were unwilling. Do you think you might be able to convince them to make room for us? See <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-software-for-freedom.html">http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-software-for-freedom.html</a> for more explanation of the difference between the two movements. By the way, the operating system isn't really "Linux", either. _______________________________________________ Bytesforall_Readers mailing list <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/bytesforall_readers">https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/bytesforall_readers</a> </pre> </blockquote> <pre wrap=""><!----> --__--__-- Message: 2 From: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a> To: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a> Cc: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a>, <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a>, <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a> Date: Mon, 4 Nov 2002 03:22:59 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Bytesforall_Readers] (no subject) Tapan: I seem to be at one with you in the way you have articulated it. Thanks. <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a> wrote Free software is not about policy makers, not about heads of 100 million dollar "information service" systems, not about NGOs or Development or, even to a certain degree - about users even. It is about programmers. I program in free software because I enjoy programming in free software. I like seeing the insides and the source code of the libraries I am working with and linking with. I like the insight I get from seeing other peoples code, being able to understand how it does (or doesnt) work. This is very important as this source code will end up being a large part of the application I eventually compile and distribute. And I prefer free over open source because I dont want any legal hassles, and Open Source is a vague enough concept so that I cant understand what I can and cannot do with that source. With Free Software, with GPL software, there is no such question. Call it a programmers view of safe sex. The quality of the product is unquestionable. Seems a lot of people are, whatever Mr. Jha's reservations, choosing to use free software. Does <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.digitalpartners.org">www.digitalpartners.org</a> run on Apache? If it doesnt, it should. As any of us with the brains and experience to know anything can easily tell you - IIS sucks. There are many other examples. So all with the power to do so please choose, and choose wisely. If you look at the situation objectively, I am sure you will realize that in the year 2002 for the optimal solution of any companies business and other needs - a large part of that will be served by what we now call Free Software. But dont presume to understand or impose outdated, skeptical and fundamental economic theories upon a system you fundamentally dont understand. Because to really understand, you have to start with the basic premise - first and foremost, free software is by and for programmers. All else is incidental, and we can see the power of the incidental even now, and this wonderful conference by the vaunted InfoDev falls into just this category - incidental. (Sorry to be so late, I am a bit slow in connectivity nowadays.) -- Tapan On Sun, 20 Oct 2002 00:54:09 +0530 (IST) Frederick Noronha <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:[email protected]"><[email protected]></a> wrote: </pre> <blockquote type="cite"> <pre wrap="">On Sat, 19 Oct 2002 <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a> wrote: </pre> <blockquote type="cite"> <pre wrap="">open source is good, free software?????.... i am not closed to linux or open source. i am closed to "free". good that sunil has clarified his perspective and i am with that. open source- yes. free software as in free beer-- no!! </pre> </blockquote> <pre wrap="">This argument is premised on a basic misconception of Free Software. Going by the reporting of Mr Jha below, one can see surfacing many of the fears of people grown on a generation of copyright-restricted software, loaded concepts like 'software piracy' and profiteering from blocking access to others information/code. It's time to perhaps rethink fundamentals. Below is a note from RMS (Richard M Stallman), the Founder of the Free Software Foundation. It was written in the context of the Washington conference itself, and I take the liberty of reproducing it below. If people like Stallman were around, perhaps there would be less scope for such a fundamental confusion of issues. FN PS: There's a difference between Linux and GNU/Linux too... PPS: I know young coders who have totally changed their way of thinking after reading Stallman's 2001 biography from O'Reiley. Trying to get a copy in time for his Nov 2002 visit to India (it might happen the same month that Bill Gates comes too ;-) -- Frederick Noronha * Freelance Journalist * Goa * India 832.409490 / 409783 BYTESFORALL <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.bytesforall.org">www.bytesforall.org</a> * GNU-LINUX <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://linuxinindia.pitas.com">http://linuxinindia.pitas.com</a> Email <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a> * Mobile +9822 122436 (Goa) * Saligao Goa India Writing with a difference... on what makes *the* difference From RICHARD M STALLMAN From <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a> .... Tony Stanco invited me to speak at the conference in October, but I felt obliged to refuse. The reason is that it is presented solely as an "open source" conference. My participating in it would encourage people to think I am a supporter of the Open Source Movement. A number of other people from the Free Software Movement are also declining to participate, for the same reason. Since 1984, the Free Software Movement has championed users' freedom to share and change the software they use. This is an ethical and social issue, not just a technical and practical one. We developed the GNU operating system so that users could have freedom. In the 1990s, millions of users began using our free software, and many of them appreciated its practical benefits but not the ethical and social benefits. In 1998, some of them founded the Open Source Movement. This movement cites only the practical advantages of being able to share and change software, and studiously avoids presenting this as a question of right and wrong. This may seem like a subtle point, but actually it is a fundamental difference in basic values. As a result, the statements of the two movements are as different as night and day. (Contrast <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/">http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/</a> with <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.opensource.org/">http://www.opensource.org/</a> and you'll see.) The Open Source Movement has had a lot of publicity, which often labels our work as "open source". An article in New Scientist this year even said that I founded the Open Source Movement. The result of this confusion is that the Free Software Movement and its views are often hidden behind the Open Source Movement. We've learned to be wary of participating in events that would put the "open source" label on us. I asked Tony Stanco to please make this event an "open source and free software" event, and thus make room for our movement as well as the other, but he said the event's sponsors were unwilling. Do you think you might be able to convince them to make room for us? See <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-software-for-freedom.html">http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-software-for-freedom.html</a> for more explanation of the difference between the two movements. By the way, the operating system isn't really "Linux", either. _______________________________________________ Bytesforall_Readers mailing list <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/bytesforall_readers">https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/bytesforall_readers</a> </pre> </blockquote> <pre wrap=""><!----> --__--__-- Message: 3 Date: Mon, 04 Nov 2002 12:42:31 +0530 From: "sunil" <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:[email protected]"><[email protected]></a> To: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a> Reply-To: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a> Subject: [Bytesforall_Readers] Free Software Update! <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59197-2002Nov2.html">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59197-2002Nov2.html</a> By Ariana Eunjung Cha Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, November 3, 2002; Page A01 MERIDA, Spain -- Luis Millan Vazquez de Miguel, a college professor turned politician, is succeeding where multibillion-dollar, multinational corporations have failed. He is managing to unseat Microsoft Corp. as the dominant player in the software industry, at least in his little part of the world. Vazquez de Miguel is the minister of education, science and technology in a western region of Spain called Extremadura, a mostly rural expanse of olive trees and tiny towns with 1.1 million inhabitants. In April, the government launched an unorthodox campaign to convert all the area's computer systems, in government offices, businesses and homes, from the Windows operating system to Linux, a free alternative --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/27896.html">http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/27896.html</a> MS settlement rotten with loopholes By Thomas C Greene in Washington Posted: 02/11/2002 at 10:01 GMT As we learned Friday, Judge CKK has conditionally accepted most of the MS/DoJ antitrust settlement, effectively shutting down the unsettling states unless they can find solid grounds for an appeal. "The court is satisfied that the parties have reached a settlement which comports with the public interest," she wrote. There will be no breakup, no forced disclosures of source code, no bare-bones Windows. There are, to be sure, a number of provisions which ought to be useful in cultivating a slightly more diverse software marketplace, only most of them are so rotten with loopholes that MS' competitors are basically where they were at the outset of this four-year fiasco; that is, pretty well forced to rely on Redmond's renowned openness, good will and honest competitive spirit. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.gstreamer.net/apps/vw/">http://www.gstreamer.net/apps/vw/</a> >From a Slashdot post Zeeshan Ali Khattak has made a videowall using Red Hat Linux, GStreamer and commodity hardware. The solution was made based on the need to create a flexible and cheap solution for use in Pakistani Schools and Universities using commodity hardware. To find out how this was done and some more details, and of course some cool pictures, check out the Video Whale project homepage." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/27853.html">http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/27853.html</a> Brussels to spend ?250k on Linux migration study By John Leyden Posted: 30/10/2002 at 17:12 GMT The European Commission has awarded UK-based consultancy netproject a ?250,000 contract to study the issues of migrating government computers in member states to a Linux / Open Source environment. netproject has been hired by the Commission to draw up guidelines on a move to open source technologies and to help define EU IT strategy on desktop computing. The German state of Mecklenburg-Pomerania is to be used as a test bed in defining this strategy, which goes beyond the investigation of a switch between Windows and Linux PCs. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2002/1028/web-open-11-01-02.asp">http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2002/1028/web-open-11-01-02.asp</a> Open source courses through DOD BY Dan Caterinicchia Nov. 1, 2002 What would happen if open source software were banned in the Defense Department? A recent study conducted by Mitre Corp. for DOD posed that hypothetical question and found this answer: The department's cybersecurity capabilities would be crippled and other areas would be severely impacted. Mitre Corp. was asked to develop a listing of open-source software applications at DOD and to collect representative examples of how those applications are being used. Over a two-week period, an e-mailed survey identified 115 applications and 251 examples of use, and Mitre's report acknowledged that actual use could be "tens of thousands of times larger than the number of examples identified." To help analyze the data, the hypothetical question was posed: What would happen if open-source software were banned at DOD? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2002-10-30-linux-cars_x.htm">http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2002-10-30-linux-cars_x.htm</a> 10/30/2002 - Updated 09:53 AM ET Linux finding its own niche in the automotive industry DETROIT (AP) - To lower costs and stay competitive, automakers are turning to inexpensive Linux-based computers for crash simulations, structural analysis and other tasks once handled by expensive high-performance systems. The auto industry's move away from computers based on custom hardware and the proprietary Unix operating system mirrors trends in other industries, including oil exploration and retail. "This is a game-changer for any industry that has a high-performance computing workload," said Steve Solazzo, general manager for Linux operations at IBM. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks, Sunil ===== Sunil Abraham [MAHITI] 314/1, 7th Cross, Domlur Bangalore - 560 071 Karnataka, INDIA Ph/Fax: +91 80 5352003. Pager: 9624 279519 <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.mahiti.org">http://www.mahiti.org</a> --__--__-- Message: 4 Date: Mon, 4 Nov 2002 14:02:29 +0530 (IST) From: Frederick Noronha <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:[email protected]"><[email protected]></a> To: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a> Subject: [Bytesforall_Readers] Link to Yuva.com Government of Karnataka ha sannounced yuva.com. It says, "The scheme has stirred up the hornet's nest, i.e. unemployment, by inspiring the rural educated, unemployed youth to be entrepreneurs and optimistic of their future ahead. Yuva.com is a unique IT training scheme, specially for rural, educated unemployed youth. (It is being worked out) in a strategic alliance with leading IT education providers APTECH, NIIT, SSI, and Keonics. Training centres have been established at 229 locations in the state...." Anyone with more information on this? Any evaluations of this idea? Candidates whose annual income is below Rs 24,000 (roughly $500) can benefit from Yuva.com. Candidates aged between 18 to 40 years, who have passed their secondary school leaving certificate, are eligible for training. Other links: Karnataka Information <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.karnatakainformation.com">www.karnatakainformation.com</a> >From an advert in BusinessLine, October 17, 2002. -- Frederick Noronha * Freelance Journalist * Goa * India 832.409490 / 409783 BYTESFORALL <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.bytesforall.org">www.bytesforall.org</a> * GNU-LINUX <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://linuxinindia.pitas.com">http://linuxinindia.pitas.com</a> Email <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a> * Mobile +9822 122436 (Goa) * Saligao Goa India Writing with a difference... on what makes *the* difference --__--__-- Message: 5 From: Richard Stallman <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:[email protected]"><[email protected]></a> To: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a> cc: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a> Reply-to: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a> Date: Tue, 05 Nov 2002 00:13:10 -0500 Subject: [Bytesforall_Readers] Re: Kind attn RMS * Priority > Hi RMS, To be precise, the two-page news release of the book actually uses > those words. Hi RMS, I got it from O'Reilly via email. When did they send that press release to you? Was it in March when the book came out, or was it recently? Please don't circulate their press release. --__--__-- Message: 6 Date: Tue, 05 Nov 2002 18:52:36 +0530 From: "sunil" <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:[email protected]"><[email protected]></a> To: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a> Reply-To: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a> Subject: [Bytesforall_Readers] MLA needs Linux Geeks <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.medialabasia.org/job/jobDetail.php?jobId=14&typeId=10">http://www.medialabasia.org/job/jobDetail.php?jobId=14&typeId=10</a> Linux, System Software, and Networking Scientists Role • What if an operating system were designed specifically for rural India instead of for urban Seattle, Washington? How might it be different in terms of scheduling, memory management, file systems, user interfaces, language support, memory image size, network support... and what if802.11 were redesigned for villages instead of office buildings? How would it differ in terms of power requirements, cost, RF properties...? • Media Lab Asia aims to radically re-conceptualize, for rural India, system software and network systems in its Systems Laboratory based on the IIT Madras campus in Chennai. Media Lab Asia consists of the renowned Media Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), regional laboratories in Mumbai, Kanpur, New Delhi and Chennai, and participating grassroots communities. The organization has its administrative headquarters in Mumbai. • We are looking for world-class scientists and engineers interested in the applications of high-technologies to social and economic development and rural transformation. The successful applicant will have experience in either system software (Linux kernel experience a plus) or network engineering. A Ph.D. is preferred but ambitious new post graduates showing exceptional promise will be considered. • Please include an introductory statement of 500 words or less along with your CV. Your email should be composed in clear ASCII text or html. Attachments will not be opened. URL links to relevant websites are welcome Job Closing Date 31st December 2002 Special Instruction • To know more about the research topics that Media Lab Asia is working on click here Thanks, Sunil P.S. MediaLabAsia.org runs on free <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="software:::">software:::</a> The site <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.medialabasia.org">www.medialabasia.org</a> is running Apache/1.3.22 (Unix) (Red-Hat/Linux) mod_ssl/2.8.4 OpenSSL/0.9.6b DAV/1.0.2 PHP/4.2.2 mod_perl/1.24_01 on Linux. ===== Sunil Abraham [MAHITI] 314/1, 7th Cross, Domlur Bangalore - 560 071 Karnataka, INDIA Ph/Fax: +91 80 5352003. Pager: 9624 279519 <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.mahiti.org">http://www.mahiti.org</a> --__--__-- Message: 7 Date: Wed, 6 Nov 2002 05:47:28 +0530 (IST) From: Frederick Noronha <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:[email protected]"><[email protected]></a> To: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a> Subject: [Bytesforall_Readers] FEATURE: Patents in software a potential 'minefield': Stallman Patents in software a potential 'minefield', warns Free Software founder By Frederick Noronha PANAJI (Goa), Nov 6: India should avoid the "minefield" of introducing patents in the software world, Free Software Foundation head Dr Richard M Stallman warned industry and politicians here, asking to avoid such a trap. "Software patients is a very critical issue, and I understand the Indian parliament is considering whether to do so," Stallman (49) said at a dinner meet organised by the Goa Chambers of Commerce and Industry during his first-ever three-day visit to this small state. The head of an impressive campaign to keep software 'free' and non-proprietary, which has led to the birth of the alternate GNU/Linux operating system today threatening to challenge corporations like Microsoft, Dr Stallman warned that patients were not suited for a field like software. "When writing a (software) program, you typically combine different ideas. Anyone trying to develop software -- unless its very small or limited in size -- is going to be stepping onto a minefield (in case software patents are accepted)," he cautioned. Since "many good ideas go into your program", there's no such thing as "the" patent, he said Richard Matthew Stallman, who began the Free Software Movement in 1984 inspired by the ideals of the American War of Independence. "This is an issue that is going to affect all software developers. In the US, there are already over 100,000 software patents. So, that means, there are a lot of things we (as developers) are not allowed to do," he argued. He called software patents "incredibly dangerous". Right now, the European Union was also making a decision over this issue, he noted. Besides, he suggested, countries from the West would be better equipped to file patents, and also pump in money to fight cases over the same. Stallman, a strong votary of Free Software -- this refers to the freedom offered to the developer and user, not the price -- underlined the benefits of such operating systems as against proprietorial and closed-source products (where the critical code that goes into the program is not publicly available to the buyer). Speaking at the meet, Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar suggested that higher-secondary students getting state-subsidised computers under a 'cyberage' scheme could possibly be given a GNU/Linux-based operating system (OS), rather than a proprietorial OS. National Institute of Oceanography (Goa) scientist Dr Albert Gouveia said his institute had been running an early version of GNU/Linux right from 1993. Businessmen appreciate the cost-saving aspects of this operating system, while programmers say it offers them wide freedom while also making computing affordable, a critical factor in a country like India. "The way I learnt to be a good programmer was when we worked at MIT, and had the freedom to (tinker around with the code). I didn't know enough (of programming) then. But I could learn because we could work on it. Today Free Software gives you that opportunity," said the bearded, long-haired, pun-loving genius of a programmer. Stallman, among other things, wrote the first extensible Emacs text editor there in 1975, for which, in 1991, he received the Grace Hooper Award from the Association for Computing Machinery. He is also the recipient of a MacArthur Foundation genius grant. Speaking earlier, Stallman opined that two countries in the globe -- India and Brazil -- have been showing an "increasing awareness" over addressing the social aspects of computing. Both countries have been working on building affordable computing solutions, and take IT to the commonman in a number of ways. (ENDS) --__--__-- _______________________________________________ Bytesforall_Readers mailing list <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/bytesforall_readers">https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/bytesforall_readers</a> End of Bytesforall_Readers Digest </pre> </blockquote> <br> <pre class="moz-signature" cols="$mailwrapcol">-- Prof Anil K Gupta Professor, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad 380015, India <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Personal Page: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.iimahd.ernet.in/~anilg/">http://www.iimahd.ernet.in/~anilg/</a> Sristi Page: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.sristi.org">http://www.sristi.org</a>, GIAN Page: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.gian.org">http://www.gian.org</a> National Innovation Foundation (NIF): <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.nifindia.org">http://www.nifindia.org</a> Phone Numbers: (0) +91 (79) 632 4927, 630 8357, 6309973 Fax Numbers: +91 (79) 630 7341, 630 6896 Fortitude is the capacity to say 'yes' when the whole world wants to say, 'NO, it cant be done'. </pre> <br> </body> </html> --------------060704000806020208050508--