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CODING IS LIKE COOKING, SHARE YOUR SOFTWARE, SAYS STALLMAN PANAJI, Nov 6: "Do you cook?" That's an odd question to come up from one of the world's code-genius. But the point Richard M Stallman is making is that software is like a recipe, and refusing to share with your friend who needs it badly is a real crime. For two-and-half hours, the one-time Massachussets Institute of Technology guru of software shared ideas with industrialists and ministers on what Free Software implies, and why this concept has more to do with freedom and not the free-price that many take it for. "There are a lot of analogies between proprietorial software and colonialism. But instead of one country colonising another, here's a corporation colonising your computers," he charged. Free software could encourage local businessmen rather than paying "huge sums to a few rich (global) businesses" for their products, code guru Dr Richard M Stallman said. "Any government in India that wants to make its people prosper should invest on something that shifts people over to (sustainable and beneficial) Free Software solutions," said Dr Stallman, speaking during a dinner meet hosted in his honour by the Goa Chambers of Commerce and Industry. 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. Parrikar mentioned the cost factor of proprietorial OSs, but Stallman's emphasis was primarily on the "freedom" that free software gives both its developers and users thus, he argued, moving towards a better society. "Are we in a position to have a trained manpower to shift (over to another OS)," the chief minister commented, underlining that this was only 'loud thinking' on the issue. But he said this issue was likely to be discussed shortly with experts from Mumbai. "I'll keep everything you said in mind," chief minister Parrikar told the Boston-based coder, who chose to visit Goa during his three-destination tour of India. From Goa, he heads to New Delhi on Thursday before leaving on November 11. RMS -- as he is popularly known -- cautioned India to avoid the "minefield" of introducing patents in the software world. "Software patients is a very critical issue, and I understand the Indian parliament is considering whether to do so," Stallman (49) said. 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. (ENDS) ---------------------------------- 'Piracy': What's that? ---------------------------------- PANJIM: Asked what he thought of software 'piracy', Stallman said that term was itself misleading and loaded in the first place. "I think attacking a ship in high seas is very wrong. That's piracy," he said. He strongly objected to using loaded labels like 'piracy' for the act of sharing software solutions with friends. On the software front, he said people using 'non-free' (proprietorial software that disallowed copying) faced a moral dilemma when a friend asked for a copy. Either they could violate the law, or deny a friend a badly-needed copy. "The lesser evil is to share with your friend. Better still, reject proprietorial software altogether," he contended. (ENDS) ---------------------------------------------------------- What's On In Goa (WOIG): Nov 05 onwards: Wendell Rodrigues Festival. Altinho, Panjim Nov 05 Bobbin lace-making training, Don Bosco's Panjim (till 17.11) Nov 06 Richard Stallman, free software guru, speaks Farmagudi 4 pm Nov 06 Bob Fitts, gospel music singer, Navelim grounds, 6 pm Nov 06 Fr Britto's health courses, Pilar. Till 10.11. Later Chicalim. Nov 06 ArtHouse, Calangute: Chaitali's acrylics on canvas till 19.11 Nov 07 Creative science, for children, Goa Sc Centre (till 16.11) Nov 17 Goan Engineers and Assoc meet, at Pickering, Canada. Nov 20 Fr Agnelo's 75th death anniversary, Pilar Dec 01 Two day conference, Goa Agenda. IT For Society. (Ends 2.12) Every Sunday: Music therapy sessions at Moira, 5 pm. 278, N.Portugal ----------------------------------------------------------
