Ajaykumar - KSEB , Prof. K. Pappootty (Director of the State Institute of Encyclopaedic Publications), Mr. Joseph C Mathew (IT advisor to Kerala Chief Minister )

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Balram navigates cyberspace like any other net surfer. The visually-challenged youngster, however, uses a different set of tools to scan online newspapers and browse e-mail messages.

Mr. Balram has reason to become a die-hard advocate of free software. Addressing a function organised here on Saturday as part of the ‘Software Freedom Day,’ he explained how packages like Ubuntu and ORCA had enabled him to overcome his physical constraints and explore the cyberworld like any other youth.

The programme was organised by the GNU/ Linux Users Group, Thiruvananthapuram, Free Software Foundation of India and Society for Promotion of Alternative Computing and Employment (SPACE).

Addressing a seminar held in connection with the event, noted campaigners for free software activists spoke on the applications available for various user groups and their advantages.

Representatives of the Kerala State Electricity Board, Kerala Khadi and Village Industries Board and the State Institute of Encyclopaedic Publications spoke on how the adoption of free software had changed the functioning of their offices over the last one year. Institute director K.Pappootty explained how patent and copyright laws had led to the privatisation and monopolisation of knowledgeIT adviser to the government Joseph Mathew said the proposed International Centre for Free and Open Source Software in Kerala would harness free software for the development of technology in various sectors.

The event also included the screening of two films, Elephant Dreams and Big Buck Bunny, and a documentary titled Steal this Film, all produced using the Blender free software.

Demonstration of free software applications for the differently-abled and desktop effects were also arranged as part of the event. Another highlight was a tutorial for students and others interested in computer programming. A Freedom Toaster vending machine installed at the venue evoked a good response from those interested in installing free and open source software. As many as 40 students, teachers and technical experts participated in the workshop.
Courtesy – Thehindu

Peoples to see, hear and clap

Hi all,

We at the installfest were lucky enough to have that heady feeling that accompanies a picture of FOSS working its magic and people benefitting from it. Today we had a visit from Khadi board.

Khadi board has been using Fedora and Ubuntu to run their office for quiet sometime now. They had to obey a ruling from the government which mandated the use of FOSS. Instead of waiting around and shoving miles of red tape over it , they went into action and started using FOSS. Of course they ran into problems. They went to CDAC for help. Unfortunately , its another government body and they proved it. CDAC started bull shitting , promising stuff and delivering nothing , demanding ever increasing amounts of money for it and being secretive about it. Frustrated , the people from Khadi board turned to the FOSS community and voila !! things started to go right. Their major problem was Malayalam rendering and input which was solved by the leading Malayalam language computing group , Swathanthra Malayalam Computing ( http://fci.wikia.com/SMC ) . Its members provided support to Khadi board, over web. And Khadi board kept coming back to the community which never let them down.

Today they were here to offer support for FOSS communities , in their own words ” We saved over fifteen lakh rupees on OS licensing costs alone. Donating money as sponsorship to the FOSS communities and the events that they organize is nothing com[ared to the help and support they provided us”

And you know what ? We are proud of them . We are proud of ( and to be the ) members of FOSS community that helped this organization which is a beacon of hope to the dying traditional weavers community.

Khadi board is going to be the first public sector organization in Kerala to go completely paperless. And they did this because the FOSS community was right behind them supporting them. Not the government , not the so called software and research organizations sposored and funded by government, but the community who owns and maintains FOSS.

A video that we managed to capture (pardon the poor video quality and awful reporting ) : http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=BuyfLUzFz9E

സ്വതന്ത്ര മലയാളം കമ്പ്യൂട്ടിങ്ങ് – എന്റെ കമ്പ്യൂട്ടറിന് എന്റെ ഭാഷ
വെബ് താള്:http://smc.org.in/
ഗൂഗിള് കൂട്ടം‍:http://groups.google.com/group/smc-discuss
സാവന്ന സംരംഭം: https://savannah.nongnu.org/projects/smc
ഐആര്‍സി ചാനല്‍: irc.freenode.net ലെ #smc-project
ഓര്‍ക്കൂട്ട് കൂട്ടം :http://www.orkut.com/Community.aspx?cmm=20512120

Technopark Today

Thehindu

Visit for Shedule

Schedule of Program for GNU/Linux Install Fest at Technopark, Trivandrum

Net users in the city and in Kerala are discovering and exploring the potential of free software

Photo: C. Ratheesh Kumar

Freedom Free software is economically viable and gives the user the freedom to adapt the code to his needs

Chandrasekharan Nair, a Peyad-based planter, turned to cyber space to express his angst against what he perceived as farmer-unfriendly policies. Gradually, he also began to include tips on farming in general and rubber cultivation in particular. keralafarmer.wordpress.com is the blog published by Chadrasekharan, affectionately called ‘Chandrettan.’ And his posts are all in Malayalam.

Local cyber content

Chandrettan is not alone. There are more net users like him in Kerala who are gravitating towards locally generated cyber content and Malayalam language computing.

kannur.web4all.in. is another example of such a portal. It is a web portal of Kannur district that gives voice to the panchayats and various projects in the district. “Locally generated content in Malayalam is fast catching up in Kerala where there is the right atmosphere and potential for dissemination of information and employment of technology,” says Ashiq of the Swatantra Malayalam Computing Community, which is developing and refining the technology to make Malayalam a user-friendly language in day-to-day computing. Visit http://gghssmalappuram.in/ and all doubts will be cleared. It is a website in Malayalam and English of a school by the same name.

This increase in accessibility has been made possible by the booming viability of free software. Not for long can Kerala remain insular to the revolution of free software ignited by Richard Stallman with his ‘right to read.’

GNU Linux distributions such as Ubuntu and free and open source software such as OpenOffice have started posing a serious challenge to proprietary giants. The ideology of free software can be explored more easily by encountering the people using and popularising it.

Yet another organisation that is at the forefront of using cyber space for local content is the non-profit organisation Society for Promotion of Alternative Computing and Employment (SPACE). For four years, SPACE has been promoting free software and encouraging local participation in using new technology. SPACE works to popularise Linux and is the workhorse behind many Goverment projects such as IT @ School.

Vimal Joseph of SPACE says: “In Kerala’s context the economic viability of using proprietary software is beyond question. The dollar-to-Rupee conversion rate makes proprietary software a financial question. Such software also seriously curtails flexibility and freedom of the user. Free software, on the other hand, is economically viable and gives the user the freedom to adapt the code to his needs.”

Adds Dineshan M, a teacher associated with IT @ School: “A teacher should impart value to his students. Discouraging the use of pirated copies of expensive software and promoting GNU/Linux comes naturally to me as a teacher.”

The Kerala Government syllabus for IT is modelled on the use of free software.

Many students in the city are also rallying around the Linux bandwagon. Rajiv Nair, a final-year student of engineering, has scripted a code that detects his bluetooth phone and when he (his phone) is away, instructs the computer to standby automatically. Rajiv has mastered the operating system and is confident of tweaking it to his needs.

The Linux user group in the city has many more innovative users like him who are ready to help out new users.

Anoop John, who runs a computer sales and services shop in the city remarks: “The barrier that remains is the mindset barrier. People traditionally grow up with a kind of software on their desktops. People have now started discovering and exploring the possibilities of Linux.”

Anoop worked abroad for three years as a software developer before returning to India to set up his own business.

The time is ripe for computer enthusiasts to try such alternative computing environments. A google search of ilug-tvm (Indian Linux Users Group – Trivandrum) leads us to www.ilug-tvm.org and any help needed is at hand.

VISHNU MENON M

Courtesy & Copy right @ thehindu.com