[ilugd] Openmoko, Symbian, Android
Any clues on how these compare on mobiles? Particularly Openmoko and Android? Would the C/C++ thingy be a negative mark for Openmoko? I understand there are license issues too (Symbian isn't 'yet' open source, and Android is in Google's grip). But how does this reflect when it comes to the user's interests? FN -- FN * Independent Journalist http://fn.goa-india.org Blog: http://fredericknoronha.wordpress.com Tech links from South Asia: http://twitter.com/fn M: +91-9822122436 P: +91-832-2409490 ___ 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/
[ilugd] Lyx, My Beautiful GNU/Linux, Mind-Maps, and DP
Videos from Software Freedom Day at BITS Pilani Goa centre... Lyx ... and all that LyX is a document processor following the self-coined what you see is what you mean paradigm (WYSIWYM), as opposed to the WYSIWYG ideas used by word processors. This means that the user only has to care about the structure and content of the text, while the formatting is done by LaTeX, an advanced typesetting system. LyX is designed for authors who want professional output with a minimum of effort and without becoming specialists in typesetting. The job of typesetting is done mostly by the computer, following a predefined set of rules called a style, and not by the author. Specific knowledge of the LaTeX document processing system is not necessary but may improve editing with LyX significantly for specialist purposes. DP explains how he uses this tool... (quote from the Wikipedia) http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=F-03AtOx1Ps My beautiful [GNU]Linux BITS-Pilani Goa campus has grown over the past four to five years, and now has over 2000 students on the outskirts of Vasco/Dabolim. At a Software Freedom Day held on the campus recently (Sept 27, 2008) we encounter students, and learn about their interest in Free Software and Open Source. Also some images from an event that saw talks and presentation span the better part of two days. This video starts with a showcasing of the potential of GNU/Linux, the largely volunteer-built alternative computing system... that's in fact better than the 'real thing' (my view)! http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=Py6YdW03YYE Mind-maps? What's all that about? A mind map is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks, or other items linked to and arranged radially around a central key word or idea. Mind maps are used to generate, visualize, structure, and classify ideas, and as an aid in study, organization, problem solving, decision making, and writing. DP explains at the BITS Pilani, Goa centre. 27 September 2008. http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=k5689nG0FEU --- On mind-maps, please check out some other excellent presentations also on YouTube. On Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_map#Origins On YouTube.com: Maximise the Power of Your Brain - Tony Buzan MIND MAPPING http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=MlabrWv25qQfeature=related Mindmeister - Mindmaps with team spirit http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=FChJkOch0Fwfeature=related Getting Things Done (GTD) with Mindmaps http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=THxauHwtUpMfeature=related Mind-Maps How to mindmap http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=qWz88RHQS4sfeature=related Smarter Mind Maps http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=3zdBkVvJkFUfeature=related Mind Maps and Self Coaching http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=K2xezdpNifUfeature=related Make Mind Maps with revolutionairy software from the creator http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=yY9IZoDjRwMfeature=related How Mindmaps can help you learn a language http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=XVYDcTNI-_sfeature=related MINDMAPS - my experience http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=mch8H7LHkHUfeature=related --- DP-1 at SFD (BITS Pilani Goa campusa, Sept 27, 2008) Talk by young ILUG-Goa/ILUG-Ponda volunteer DP. He explains issues of documentation that could be useful to any student and researcher. http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=QktwiBicJ1E Other video shorts at: http://in.youtube.com/user/fredericknoronha -- FN * Independent Journalist http://fn.goa-india.org M: +91-9822122436 P: +91-832-2409490 ___ 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/
[ilugd] Software For Kids
SOFTWARE FOR KIDS: A new site focussing on what is freely available (free-beer, free-speech) for helping children learn. Specially the young ones, with a focus on India and South-Asia. Current links include * Yobler.com … educational videos * The Digital Study Hall (DSH) * ET? What's that? (An Aug 2008 conf in Bangalore) * Educational power points…. http://pppst.com/ Pete's Power Point Station. * Educational resources… from azimpremjifoundation.org * Taking sharing to the classroom (downloadable FLOSS report) * The 4000-rupee computer shows up in Goa * Why Free Software makes sense in education * Computer education for rural kids riddled with obstacles http://softwareforkids.wordpress.com -- FN * Independent Journalist http://fn.goa-india.org 784 Nr Convent, Saligao 403511 Goa India Ph +91-832-2409490 M: +91-9970157402 ___ 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/
[ilugd] A virtual visit to ILUG-Goa...
Freedom... at a Free Software meet We invite you for a virtual meet of the India Linux Users Group-Goa at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4sQK7AZyDQ ABOUT THE VIDEO: On the fourth Saturday of each month, a group of volunteer-techies meets at the Goa Science Centre (Miramar), to share knowledge and ideas. Strangely, this free-to-join, non-profit group has been effective over the last eight years in building skills, sharing talent, and keeping it going. More details at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ilug-goa DETAILS: ILUG-Goa was launched in February 2000. It has 583 members on its mailing list, and upto 15 turn up each month for the meetings, hosted generously by the (Government of India's) Science Centre, Miramar. Anyone can join this network, and all it costs is a ten-rupee entry fee to the venue for each meeting. The mailing-list is also open to all. Please visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4sQK7AZyDQ -- FN * Independent Journalist http://fn.goa-india.org Ph +91-832-2409490 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Goa http://www.linkedin.com/in/fredericknoronha ___ 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/
[ilugd] Tutorial for Devanagari Documents in LyX (from FOSS-Nepal)
-- Forwarded message -- From: Prakash Manandhar [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: 2008/6/21 Subject: [FOSS-Nepal] Tutorial for Devanagari Documents in LyX To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], Suraj Adhikari (GMail) [EMAIL PROTECTED] Hi, I have written a tutorial for Devanagari Document creation in LyX at WikiHow. LyX/LaTeX is a word processing alternative that is completely open source and free. Summary: With the incorporation of XeLaTeX in all major distributions of LaTeX including MikTeX, it has become easy to incorporate Devanagari and other Unicode characters in LaTeX/LyX documents. Here we describe a point-wise summary to help you do just that. http://www.wikihow.com/Create-Devanagari-Documents-in-Lyx-Using-Xelatex - Please help me expand/test the how-to. Thanks, jaH. --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ FOSS Nepal mailing list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://groups.google.com/group/foss-nepal To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Community website: http://www.fossnepal.org/ -~--~~~~--~~--~--~--- -- Frederick FN Noronha * Independent Journalist http://fn.goa-india.org * Phone +91-832-2409490 ___ 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/
[ilugd] FLOSS in schools... a syllabi for the Third Standard (eight/nine-year-old) student from India
Free software in schools. Download this from here http://www.divshare.com/download/4053521-61e From Farida Umrani [EMAIL PROTECTED] I am working with Prof. Sridhar Iyer at Dept of Computer Science, IIT Bombay on content development for school computer science based on Edubuntu . We will have the content for elementary class ready in 2008. I am sending you a draft of a textbook for class I (the file is bulky; hence split and send in two mails). [DOWNLOAD FROM URL ABOVE] At present, I am implementing this curriculum in one of the pilot schools. We have included Scratch as a programming language for students in Grade 3 4. Currently we are focusing on elementary classes and plan to scale it up in the next academic year. We are facing difficulties in getting the teachers familiar with open source. Most schools do not have a system administrator or even a regular Internet connection to get the regular updates and prefer an installable CD that gives them everything. But to a windows user, this does not appear intuitive and hence they are put off by it. I wanted to know about your experience with Goa schools? I have read that GCSP trained engineering students and teachers. Did these students help the local schools? We announced a training program for school teachers, but got poor response and therefore deferred it. Did you face similar problems? How did you deal with them? I myself have a Psychology background... and it has taken me several hours of work and reading up the forums to understand the installation and getting all the dependencies right. However, what is encouraging is that students have received the open source applications very well. I hope to learn from your experience at Goa. -- -- Frederick 'FN' Noronha | Ym/Gmailtalk: fredericknoronha http://fn.goa-india.org | [EMAIL PROTECTED] Independent Journalist | +91(832)2409490 Cell 9970157402 -- ___ ilugd mailinglist -- ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd Next Event: http://freed.in - February 22-24, 2008 Archives at: http://news.gmane.org/gmane.user-groups.linux.delhi http://www.mail-archive.com/ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org/
[ilugd] FLOSS in schools... a syllabi for the Third Standard (eight/nine-year-old) student from India
Free software in schools. Download this from here http://www.divshare.com/download/4053521-61e From Farida Umrani [EMAIL PROTECTED] I am working with Prof. Sridhar Iyer at Dept of Computer Science, IIT Bombay on content development for school computer science based on Edubuntu . We will have the content for elementary class ready in 2008. I am sending you a draft of a textbook for class I (the file is bulky; hence split and send in two mails). [DOWNLOAD FROM URL ABOVE] At present, I am implementing this curriculum in one of the pilot schools. We have included Scratch as a programming language for students in Grade 3 4. Currently we are focusing on elementary classes and plan to scale it up in the next academic year. We are facing difficulties in getting the teachers familiar with open source. Most schools do not have a system administrator or even a regular Internet connection to get the regular updates and prefer an installable CD that gives them everything. But to a windows user, this does not appear intuitive and hence they are put off by it. I wanted to know about your experience with Goa schools? I have read that GCSP trained engineering students and teachers. Did these students help the local schools? We announced a training program for school teachers, but got poor response and therefore deferred it. Did you face similar problems? How did you deal with them? I myself have a Psychology background... and it has taken me several hours of work and reading up the forums to understand the installation and getting all the dependencies right. However, what is encouraging is that students have received the open source applications very well. I hope to learn from your experience at Goa. -- -- Frederick 'FN' Noronha | Ym/Gmailtalk: fredericknoronha http://fn.goa-india.org | [EMAIL PROTECTED] Independent Journalist | +91(832)2409490 Cell 9970157402 -- ___ ilugd mailinglist -- ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd Next Event: http://freed.in - February 22-24, 2008 Archives at: http://news.gmane.org/gmane.user-groups.linux.delhi http://www.mail-archive.com/ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org/
[ilugd] OFFTOPIC: Voices on the alternative side... options to copyright, proprietorial software, and much more.... (Sunder Raman, Open Views on KRUULP)
Check these pages for some fascinating audio interviews: Joi Ito (CreativeCommons.org). Sunil Abraham (IOSN, Mahiti.org in Bangalore, etc). Sunlight Foundation. Vera Franz (OSI). Mike Linksvayer (Creative Commons). Peter Suber (Open Access). Heather Ford (iCommons.org). John Sullivan (Free Software Foundation). Matthew Todd (The Synaptic Leap). Matthew Cockerill (BioMedCentral). Ethan Zuckerman (co-founder, GlobalVoicesOnline.org). Bill Witherspoon (TheSkyFactory). Ronaldo Lemos (CreativeCommons, Brazil). Dean Jansen (Participatory Culture Foundation). Doc Searls (Senior Editor, Linux Journal). David Lipman (National Institute of Health). Heather Gallagher (Burning Man). Lawrence Liang (AltLawForum.org). Wendy Seltzer (OPenLaw.org). Richard Baraniuk (Cnx.org). Laurent Kratz (CEO, Jamendo). Cory Doctorow (sci-fi author, copyright reform activist). Michel Bauwens (Foundation for Peer to Peer Alternatives). Melissa Hagemann (Open Society Institute). Ethan Zuckerman (GeekCorps). Jennifer Papin Ramcharan (UWI). John Wilbanks (Science Commons). Kembrew McLeod (author, filmmaker, professor). Wayan Vota (IESC-Geek Corps). Richard Poynder (freelance journalist). Mark Shuttleworth (Ubuntu, etc). Mark Patterson (Public Library of Science). Richard Jefferson (creator of BiOS license). Abhas Abhinav, founder Deeproot.in. Siva Vidhyanathan, author and historian. Janet Hope, author of Open Source in Biotechnology. Mike Linksvayer, CTO, CreativeCommons.org. Prayas Abhinav, CreativeCommonsIndia. Moore Wells. http://kruufm.com/station/archives/4 http://kruufm.com/station/archives/4?page=1 http://kruufm.com/station/archives/4?page=2 http://kruufm.com/station/archives/4?page=3 Sunder Raman. On KRUULP 101 FM, the voice of Fairfield, Iowa... Frederick Noronha http://fn.goa-india.org Ph +91-832-2409490 ___ ilugd mailinglist -- ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd Next Event: http://freed.in - February 22-24, 2008 Archives at: http://news.gmane.org/gmane.user-groups.linux.delhi http://www.mail-archive.com/ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org/
[ilugd] OFFTOPIC: From India, a magazine that looks at Open Publishing ...
i4donline.net's February 2008 magazine focuses on open publishing. Some of the articles it has include: * Gutenberg Project * Moodle CMS * Widgit Software * Open Webcasting * Open Architecture Network * Digital Library in India, the million book project * Cape Town Open Education Declaration * Information on the Farm Front * Interview: Gregory Newby and Michael Hart * Workshop on Science Commons * ACIA: Intl Workshop on Asia and the Commons in the Info Age * Training programme on biomedical info retrival * BytesForAll summaries * Books: Community radio guide, empowering tools * Etc You can download it at http://i4donline.net/feb08/feb08.pdf FN -- Frederick Noronha http://fn.goa-india.org Ph +91-832-2409490 The Goa books blog: http://goabooks.wordpress.com Goa1556 (alt.publishing.goa): http://goa1556.goa-india.org ___ ilugd mailinglist -- ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd Next Event: http://freed.in - February 22-24, 2008 Archives at: http://news.gmane.org/gmane.user-groups.linux.delhi http://www.mail-archive.com/ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org/
[ilugd] Help with laptop in Delhi
Dear All, My journo friend Arnab has just gone in for an Acer with GNU/Linux and is having some challenges in getting it started. I'd be very grateful if you could offer any help! Thanks so much... FN -- Frederick Noronha http://fn.goa-india.org Ph +91-832-2409490 The Goa books blog: http://goabooks.wordpress.com Goa1556 (alt.publishing.goa): http://goa1556.goa-india.org ___ ilugd mailinglist -- ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd Next Event: http://freed.in - February 22-24, 2008 Archives at: http://news.gmane.org/gmane.user-groups.linux.delhi http://www.mail-archive.com/ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org/
[ilugd] Taking a look... at some recent developments in Urdu computing (from BytesForAll, South Asia)
BYTESFORALL: A LOOK AT SOME URDU DEVELOPMENTS... Some useful and interesting links from the UrduComputing mailing list http://groups.yahoo.com/group/urdu_computing URDU NVU RELEASE Huda Sarfraz [EMAIL PROTECTED]: The current release of the Nvu localization includes the Urdu Nvu installer for Windows, which has it's GUI in Urdu. Work to be done for future releases includes changing the layout direction of Urdu Nvu to right-to-left. For download and installation details, please go to Urdu Nvu Windows Installer. http://www.crulp.org/software/localization/OSS/NVu.html Nvu (pronounced N-view) is a WYSIWYG HTML editor, based on the Composer component of Mozilla Application Suite and Gecko 1.7. It is a common WYSIWYG editor for Linux and is intended to be an open source equivalent to proprietary software like Microsoft FrontPage and Macromedia Dreamweaver (although to date it is missing many features they possess). As a WYSIWYG editor, it is designed to be easy for novice users and does not require any knowledge of HTML or CSS to use. The project was started by and sponsored by Linspire. Linspire hired Daniel Glazman, former Netscape Communications Corporation employee and CEO/Founder of Disruptive Innovations, to be lead developer. Nvu is available for Linux, Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows, and it can be built successfully on any platform with the Netscape Portable Runtime. (Source: Wikipedia) * * * ONLINE DICTIONARY: Aijaz Akhtar [EMAIL PROTECTED]: A very good Dictionary is now available on line. Its huge database, Unicode nature, and Nafees Web Naskh font give it an edge over other on line dictionary sites. Visit here: http://www.urduenglishdictionary.org/ [Works fine in FireFox 2.0.0.9, on Windows XP-SP2 with Urdu fonts and phonetic keyboard installed for MS Office. When doing Urdu to English search, you will need to switch your keyboard to Urdu from the language bar.] * * * GNU/LINUX WINDOW MANAGER xfce IN URDU: Aijaz Akhtar [EMAIL PROTECTED]: Very good news. A low end yet powerful window maker for Linux is now translated into Urdu by Makki. XFCE may not be as beautiful an interface as KDE or Gnome for Linux, yet it is powerful and consumes less processor power and is light on RAM requirements, making it suitable even on a pentium-1 or 2 machine with 400-500 MHZ processor (Correct me if I am wrong). So now one can download this, and configure your Linux (with XFCE preloaded, since it is not bundled with in some Linux disros) to use Urdu interface of Linux. Download presently from here: http://www.4shared.com/file/28497917/a3c84cdc/xfce_441_Urdu_Translation_by_Makki.html Soon to be uploaded in the download section of http://urduweb.org. Mohammed Ali Makki had already translated and made available Urdu Slax earlier that is available here: http://www.urduweb.org/mehfil/local_links.php?catid=19 * * * HINDI TO URDU TRANSLITERATOR: Abdur Radhid: [EMAIL PROTECTED] A beta version of Hindi to Urdu Transliterator is available on line. Please give your feedback. Visit here: http://hindi2urdu.tripod.com COMPILED IN PUBLIC INTEREST BY: * * * TYPING IN URDU, UBUNTU ETC: Ali Hussnain Shah: [EMAIL PROTECTED] as a starting point you can use crulp's Urdu Layout for Linux at http://www.crulp.org/software/localization/keyboards/linuxphonetickb.html There should be one text file containing the key mappings. You can us it to learn and change it as you like and use that on linux. After you have developed a standard keyboard and if this should be included in all Linux distributions, submitting it to xorg (opensource implementation X Window System, on which KDE,Gnome are based) would be better.. their mailing list is at http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/xorg After submission to xorg it will be included in all linux distributtions (debian, suse, ubuntu ...) as soon the distribution uses a new version of the X system. I think Sergey Udaltsov is responsible for handling of the X input system there in the list. * * * PAKTYPE NASKH BASIC FONT: Lateef Sagar Shaikh [EMAIL PROTECTED]: I have created PakType Naskh Basic 1.0 font, which is available at: https://sourceforge.net/projects/paktype http://groups.yahoo.com/group/paktype/files/NaskhBasic/1.0/ This font supports following languages: Amazigh, Arabic, Balochi, Balti, Berber, Brahui, Burushaski, Farsi, Fulani, Gojri, Hausa, Hindko, Kalami, Kanuri, Kashmiri, Khowar, Kurdish, Ladakhi, Maba, Malay, Mandinka, Ormuri, Pashto, Pathwari, Punjabi, Saraiki, Shina, Sindhi, Somali, Swahili, Torwali, Turkish, Urdu and Uyghur and others. This font is free for distribution and modification under GPL. Glyphs taken from ArabEyes.org font KacstQurn, having following copyright notice; KACST holds the copyright of the included Arabic font which is donated under GPL by KACST. URW Design and Development holds the copyright of the included Latin font which is donated under GPL by URW. * * * LIGATURE-BASD NASTALEEQ WRITING SYSTEM: Sarmad Hussain [EMAIL
[ilugd] LAP or Linux Access Project, Delhi ILUG
Could someone kindly point me to some follow up on this initiative? Just writing on the topic. Thanks! FN The Delhi chapter of the Indian Linux Users Groups, ILUG-D, has started a project named LAP. LAP or Linux Access Project is a project started at Linux Delhi to provide an infrastructure to schools to shift over their computer labs on to open source software, explains Supreet Sethi, a member of LAP. [Source: LFY] -- Frederick Noronha http://fn.goa-india.org Ph 0091-832-2409490 List of Indian e-lists http://wikiwikiweb.de/MailingListsInIndia ___ ilugd mailinglist -- ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd Next Event: http://freed.in - September 28-29, 2007 Archives at: http://news.gmane.org/gmane.user-groups.linux.delhi http://www.mail-archive.com/ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org/
[ilugd] Presentations at Freed.in
Could someone kindly point me to where I could get access to the following presentations from Freed.in? Ajith Kumar's Free Software in Science Experiments using Phoenix and Ajay Kumar's Free/Open Tools for Free/Open Educational Content. Many thanks in advance, FN -- Frederick Noronha http://fn.goa-india.org Ph 0091-832-2409490 List of Indian e-lists http://wikiwikiweb.de/MailingListsInIndia ___ ilugd mailinglist -- ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd Next Event: http://freed.in - September 28-29, 2007 Archives at: http://news.gmane.org/gmane.user-groups.linux.delhi http://www.mail-archive.com/ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org/
[ilugd] FLOSS in schools: a query (and seeking your help)
Dear all: I'm working on a paper on Free/Libre and Open Source Software in Schools and would be grateful if you could point me to useful links about such ventures, where it has been used successfully or otherwise. A draft paper (work-in-progress) of what I've put together so far can be read at http://www.divshare.com/download/2205748-36f Your suggestions, comments and critique is welcome. Thanks in advance for any help you could offer. FN -- Frederick Noronha http://fn.goa-india.org Ph 0091-832-2409490 List of Indian e-lists http://wikiwikiweb.de/MailingListsInIndia ___ ilugd mailinglist -- ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd Next Event: http://freed.in - September 28-29, 2007 Archives at: http://news.gmane.org/gmane.user-groups.linux.delhi http://www.mail-archive.com/ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org/
[ilugd] Delhi FOSS event gets growing attention
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Infotech/Software/Delhi_FOSS_event_gets_growing_attention/articleshow/2421842.cms -- Frederick Noronha http://fn.goa-india.org Ph 0091-832-2409490 List of Indian e-lists http://wikiwikiweb.de/MailingListsInIndia ___ ilugd mailinglist -- ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd Next Event: http://freed.in - September 28-29, 2007 Archives at: http://news.gmane.org/gmane.user-groups.linux.delhi http://www.mail-archive.com/ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org/
[ilugd] IT practical tests on ‘open’ pl atform
Could anyone kindly pass on links of Free Software/Open Source usage in Indian schools? Am writing on this currently. Tks, FN IT practical tests on 'open' platform Anand Parthasarathy [EMAIL PROTECTED] project of Kerala has developed an operating system based on the Linux Akshaya had raised popular expectations Kerala, first State to use Edusat satellite channel — Photo: Special Arrangement IT WORKS: Students of the Government Girls High School, Ernakulam, doing self-paced computer 'practicals.' BANGALORE: In the largest such simultaneous deployment of 'free-and-open' software in India, over 15 lakh Kerala schoolchildren on Friday start taking their quarterly practical tests in Information Technology on personal computers using a special Linux version. The [EMAIL PROTECTED] project of the State Education Department has developed an operating system based on the Linux version Ubuntu. Called [EMAIL PROTECTED] GNU Linux Version 3.0, it was distributed to 2,832 high schools — over a thousand of them government schools, the rest aided and unaided ones. Between September 7 and 22, children of Classes 8, 9 and 10 will use some 30,000 PCs to do their quarterly practical examinations in IT. Test skills In Class VIII, for example, the examination will test skills in the use of the mouse; the 'Tux' paint software for drawing; word processing and spreadsheets. A trained cadre of over 70,000 teachers will help them. The project has created a whole ecosystem of computer-aided tools for self-paced learning, online testing, instant evaluation, marks generation and so on. All this is done using royalty-free Open Source software. For example, the Open Source picture editing tool Gimp, rather than a pricey proprietary option like Photoshop, is in use. The State's path-breaking e-learning initiative Akshaya had raised popular expectations, but the cost of proprietary software licences in bulk was unaffordable. This led to the State emerging as a pioneer in the use of Open Source resources in a host of education and e-governance projects. In July 2005, Kerala was the first State to use the Edusat satellite channel to connect schools in all its 14 districts under the Virtual Class Technology on Edusat for Rural Schools, or VICTERS, programme. [EMAIL PROTECTED] executive director K. Anvar Sadath, a veteran of the Akshaya programme, said on Thursday that the Central Government had underwritten almost the entire cost of the school computerisation programme to the tune of Rs. 6.2 crores, while the State had spent Rs. 75 lakh this fiscal year. Printer friendly page http://www.hindu.com/2007/09/07/stories/2007090755131600.htm -- Frederick Noronha Journalist http://fn.goa-india.org In Hyderabad. Ph 040-23132176 SMS: 9822122436 ___ ilugd mailinglist -- ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd Next Event: http://freed.in - September 28-29, 2007 Archives at: http://news.gmane.org/gmane.user-groups.linux.delhi http://www.mail-archive.com/ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org/
[ilugd] Memo to Microsoft: Stop wasting our time! (Venky Hariharan's blog...)
http://osindia.blogspot.com/2007/08/memo-to-microsoft-stop-wasting-our-time.html Feedback to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Thursday, August 30, 2007 Memo to Microsoft: Stop wasting our time! Finally word is out and the Bureau of Indian Standards has confirmed that it will be submitting a No with comments vote to International Standards Organization on Microsoft's OOXML proposal. This brings to a temporary close five to six months of hectic legwork to prevent a sub-standard proposal from getting the coveted tag of an ISO standard. I doubt if Microsoft realises it, but its actions are only making it the Union Carbide of the global IT industry. Microsoft is the world's largest software company but if you flip through their 6000+ pages of OOXML documentation, you'll be justified in wondering how they grew so big if the rest of their work is as shoddy as OOXML. The extremely flawed proposal certainly does not befit its stature in the IT industry. But, does Microsoft learn from all the feedback given to it or does it learn anything from it. No. Humility and Microsoft are like oil and water -- never shall they mix. According to reports coming in from countries that are involved in the ISO vote on OOXML, Microsoft is busy stuffing the ballot boxes. Read Andy Updegrove's blog post The OOXML Vote: How Bad Can it Get? (Keep Counting). Originally, only 30 ISO members were supposed to vote on OOXML. However, as the September 2nd date for the final voting comes close, another ten more countries have joined the committee. Updegrove says: As someone who has spent a great part of my life working to support open standards over the past 20 years, I have to say that this is the most egregious, and far-reaching, example of playing the system to the advantage of a single company that I have ever seen. Breathtaking, in fact. That's assuming, of course, that I am right in supposing that all of these newbie countries vote yes. I guess we'll just have to wait and see a few more days to learn whether that assumption is true. Want to place your bets? Sitting here in India, it is difficult to influence countries like Malta, Cyprus, Ecuador, Jamaica, Lebanon, Pakistan, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Uruguay and Venezuela in the two days left before the final votes are submitted, but we shall try. I checked with the IT ministry in Pakistan and brought to their attention that Pakistan is now a P member of ISO which entitles it to vote on OOXML. This was news to them as they were not consulted on the OOXML issue. I hope that Pakistan's vote will be cast only after thoroughly reviewing the arguements for and against OOXML. Coming back to India, I am extremely proud of the fact that my country has voted against this proposal. To accept such a poor document would have been to denigrate the very meaning of standards. The academia, the government bodies, industry organizations and non-profits like the Free Software Foundation spent countless hours debating and discussing this issue. Some of the best brains in India burnt the midnight oli to review this 6000 page proposal and the final consensus was that none of Microsoft's answers to the 201 technical issues raised was found satisfactory. I hope the Microsoft bosses in Redmond take note of this and make a genuine attempt to rectify the issues instead of trying to stuff the ballot boxes. For wasting the collective intellect of India's best IT brains, Microsoft and ECMA must be blacklisted. Just as a person with a bad credit history has to redeem himself or herself before applying for subsequent credit, any standards proposal submitted by these two organizations should be thoughly vetted before it is even accepted for review or voting in India. India has more pressing problems to tackle than OOXML. Therefore, Microsoft, please do us a big favor and stop wasting our time. Next time, do your homework before you submit something to India. PS: This is an old joke in the IT industry and shows how little Microsoft has changed in decades. Q. How many Microsoft engineers does it take to change a light bulb? A. None. Microsoft declares Darkness(TM) an industry standard. End of forward... -- Frederick Noronha Journalist http://fn.goa-india.org E: [EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED] P: +91-832-2409490 M: +91-9970157402 Yahoo: fredericknoronha Skype: fredericknoronha GTalk: fredericknoronha Saligao 403511 Goa India http://www.linkedin.com/in/fredericknoronha ___ ilugd mailinglist -- ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd Next Event: http://freed.in - September 28-29, 2007 Archives at: http://news.gmane.org/gmane.user-groups.linux.delhi http://www.mail-archive.com/ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org/
[ilugd] War of formats: India shows thumbs-down to Microsoft
Posted by Vinayak Hegde [EMAIL PROTECTED] at GII-India http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Infotech/Software/ India_throws_Microsoft_open_format_out_of_the_window/articleshow/2305780.cms (url has wrapped) NEW DELHI: India on Thursday gave Microsoft a thumbs-down in the war of standards for office documents. In a tense meeting at Delhi's Manak Bhawan, the 21-member technical committee decided that India will vote a 'no' against Microsoft's Open Office Extensible Mark Up Language (OOXML) standard at the International Standards Organisation (ISO) in Geneva on September 2. We unanimously agree on the disapproval of OOXML with comments. The same will be submitted to ISO, National Informatics Centre head and BIS technical committee chairperson Nita Verma said after a marathon meeting that lasted over six hours. There was no need for a voting as only Infosys Technologies and CSI supported Microsoft. The Open Document Format (ODF) alliance, enjoying widespread support from academia and corporates like Oracle, IBM, Red Hat, Sun Microsystems, Google, were in a jubilant mood having succeeded in stalling OOXML from being accepted as a standard in India. Microsoft said it respect's the government's decision. There were only three options `Yes', `No' and `Abstain' to be taken and we respect the government's decision, Microsoft's legal affairs head Rakesh Bakshi said. He, however, added that India's 'No' vote will become a 'Yes' if Microsoft is able to resolve all technical issues with OOXML before the ballot resolution committee of ISO. Prof DB Phatak of IIT Mumbai, who was instrumental in conducting the meetings, looked relieved after being flooded with calls from both camps over the week. Speaking to ET outside the BIS premises, the Microsoft camp complained that when ODF was being standardised by ISO, they did not oppose it and now the ODF camp refused to return the favour. ODF supporters said they would have no problems with OOXML if all the 200 technical issues were taken care of. Amongst hectic lobbying from both camps, the US government on Thursday said that it will abstain from voting. China has already voted a 'No' against Microsoft, while Malaysia, Denmark and Switzerland are supporting the software major. A global alliance of Sun-IBM, Oracle, Google, Red Hat have ganged up against Microsoft which is being supported by Apple, Quark, Accenture and Novell. On Indian soil, Infosys, HCL, Skelta, Sonata Software and Sify have come out in support of Microsoft. September 2 is the last date to submit the vote with comments to ISO. About 123 counties are participating in the vote. Votes from most are still to come. Canada, Czech Republic, Iran, Japan, Libya, Cuba, New Zealand, UK are likely to back the IBM-Sun's ODF Alliance. On the other hand, Belgium, Finland, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Singapore, Korea, France and Australia are likely to abstain from voting. -- Frederick Noronha Journalist http://fn.goa-india.org E: [EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED] P: +91-832-2409490 M: +91-9970157402 Yahoo: fredericknoronha Skype: fredericknoronha GTalk: fredericknoronha 784, Sonarbhat, Near Lourdes Convent, Saligao 403511 Goa India ___ ilugd mailinglist -- ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd Next Event: http://freed.in - September 28-29, 2007 Archives at: http://news.gmane.org/gmane.user-groups.linux.delhi http://www.mail-archive.com/ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org/
