Greetings, Over the past few weeks, there have been certain emails on the list dealing with how the various LUGs around the country can support events related to Linux and FOSS. The discussion seems to have turned towards how bad the vendors are and why they are the bane of LUGs countrywide. Arguments can go back and forth on these topics, but aren't we missing the point entirely?
When the call for Linux Bangalore went out, it was an open invitation to *ALL* the LUGs around in order to garner their support and comments about how to go about making this event something different - Too many people have been to technical conferences which mostly follow the same trends. For those who don't monitor the LB lists: there have been dozens of comments from a number of sources which gave out a number of ideas which could potentially be incorporated into the event. And these sources aren't ALL limited to Bangalore or places nearby - some of them have been from people from around the country and the world. What is surprising is that no one from ilugd bothered to comment on it. IS it that surprising? (Correct me if wrong) Consider - the Bangalore LUG, if it exists at all, is a shell of what it once was. I can't speak about the other LUGs around - the Delhi LUG however still chugs on. Again, meetings supposedly in the interest of fostering community spirits have been turned into BOFs, which are [sic] cold, formal meetings geared to solve corporate or personal problems [/sic] - well, maybe not entirely, and although the participants aren't limited to a certain discussion topic, the closed nature of the meet puts off a large number. As for the previous thread > in infinite wisdom Ritesh Agrawal spoke thus on > 07/15/05 12:49: > > Today many topnotch > vendors(IBM,DELL,HP,SUN etc) > > supporting linux as a weapon to fight agianst MS > monoply. But they are > > not looking sincere to support open source > philosophy. They treat linux > > as big market platform to sell their proprietary > software and hardware. > > So Who cares? Why do WE, the OSS community want the corporate world to *Promote the OSS? It would be naive to assume that the vendors get anything at all out of supporting OSS. But isn't the crux here that WE NEED to promote the spirit. Where are those evangelists who wanted to take Linux and OSS to the grass roots? Those who wanted India to take up E-Gov based on FLOSS? Those who want the syllabi changed to introduce the option of non MS products? I'm not saying they aren't there - but to the common person, their activities in promoting their own community and cause is hardly visible. And on top of this, their non participation in *public events throws salt on an already open wound. The stress on Public arises from the so called competition between Linux Asia and Linux Bangalore, and how the respective LUGs are at loggerheads with each other , ideologically or otherwise. A popular opinion out there is that ilugd refuses to cooperate and work with BLUG simple because they want to snuggle up to LA and thus avoid LB. And, again LA seems not to have enough support in Bangalore because of the vendors there cowering in fear of alienating LB. Sheesh. Petty differences? Profit margins going down? Are these the reasons which appear to drag down the Indian FOSS movement into a quagmire? The community has really got to rise up in force and offer publicised explanations for their (in)actions. With the whole world raving about India and its IT prowess, and what seems to be the next phase - the Knowledge outsourcing paradigm, people sitting here can actually see those pipe dreams going down in waste (at least with reference to FLOSS). LUGs *will flourish. IS that a statement which can be taken at face value anymore? With all the contradictions, i find it hard to believe that unless a coordinated effort between groups around the country comes into action, India just won't succeed in its goal of adapting FLOSS. The question is, are we doing anything about it? Cheers, Viksit -- Viksit Gaur Deptt. of CS&E, Yale University http://viksit.com __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ ilugd mailinglist -- ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd Archives at: http://news.gmane.org/gmane.user-groups.linux.delhi http://www.mail-archive.com/ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org/
