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[DS-discuss][Fwd]: [Fsf-friends] FSUGS and other ideas


From: Suraj Kumar
Subject: [DS-discuss][Fwd]: [Fsf-friends] FSUGS and other ideas
Date: Tue, 15 Apr 2003 11:43:46 +0530

hi all,

I guess we need to make FSUG-Chennai heard. What say list?

  -Suraj

-- 
+--------------------------------------------<address@hidden>---+
| He is in all my thoughts, I praise his excellence; yet           |
| pallor steals my body, paining in sexual passion                 |
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--- Begin Message --- Subject: [Fsf-friends] FSUGS and other ideas Date: Tue, 15 Apr 2003 07:50:14 +0530
 hi members of the list,

of late there has been a thread that started off with discussion(s) on the
semantic correctness of *intellectual capital* and then veered towards the role
to be played by FSF especially FSF-India. Arkoprovo, Nagarjuna G and a few
others have already laid down some ideas. i feel that i too should have my say.

Over the past 18 months, some hectic development and r&d activity on the
GNU/Linux front has ensured that the media glare is fully on this movement. day
after day we are bombarded with media stories on this issue. as a subscriber to
various GNU/Linux related mailing lists, a pattern seems to be emerging, in as
much as my limited understanding of it goes. the (G)LUGs across the country are
more into the implementation and execution aspect of the movement. while this is
good and desired, what however is not so desirable is that the conceptual aspect
of the movement is getting diluted. as all (G)LUG coordinators will admit, most
of the new members (i mean the newbies and not the old hands who are
subscribing) are keen on getting onto the bandwagon enticed by the technical
aspect/side of the GNU/linux implementations. meeting themes at these (G)LUGs
generally do not touch upon the theosophy (if it can be termed as such) of the
movement.

it is my firmly held belief that besides the obvious merit of the movement over
proprietary or non-free software, the beauty lies in the philosophy it espouses.
the idea of a common shared pool of knowledge from which societal benefit could
occur. one of the major characteristics of the post 17th century societies has
been the unbridled enthusiasm for science as a vehicle for enabling common good.
ICT must be seen as an enabler and as a driving force. currently we are faced
with a crisis of shrinking spaces to voice our thoughts and our ideas. our fears
and our hopes. technology, which was supposed to provide such fora has been
subverted (sometimes brazenly) so as to curb such sharing of knowledge. In such
a scenario, i think that FSF has a larger role to play.

(G)LUGs being inward looking in a technological sort of way, the onus is upon
FSUGs to form and spearhead the philosophical bulwark of the movement. FSUGs
should, i believe, work in tandem with (G)LUGs to propagate, promote, nurture
and further the reach of the Free Software Movement. i have often heard that
such synergy and symbiotic relationship is untenable  "that is against the basic
tenets of both groups" - but is it ? willing or unwilling to name the OS as
GNU/linux has long been the subject of mighty flames on different lists, but in
the end it does boil down to personal choice. the freedom to choose is one of
the most abused and most revoked freedoms in these times. in the mails between
Raj Mathur (RM) and RMS, the latter stated beautifully - 'what you want the OS
to be called is your choice and your liking, but you'd be doing us wrong if you
do not give us credit' [or words to that effect, my mail archive is backed up
and so i have to rely on memory]. that is what FSUGs must build on. an active
and sustained campaign to create an upswing of public awareness. hold meetings
and seminars relevant to the locus of the FSF idea and revolving around the
central theme of FSF philosophy. lobbying for space and collecting, collating
and presenting an knowledge base towards the benefit of all. greater good for
the greatest number is never an unattainable goal, one only has to try that much
harder.

officially writing to (G)LUGs might just pose some amount of problems though. as
far as i know, a majority of them are not registered as societies/bodies/bodies
corporate [my home www.ilug-cal.org is not ] and thus the legal formality of a
location arises. in that event, having region-based/state based FSUGs that act
in sync with FSF-india's policies and aims as well as form a nodal point of
contact towards developmental activities is most desirable. in west bengal,
fsf-westbengal has been conceived with that singular aim in mind. strengthening
the reach and sensitivity of FSF-india while providing a rich resource base of
developers, activists and enthusiasts. tathagata banerjee
(address@hidden) has taken the on the responsibilty of being the
coordinator of such a group (address@hidden) and as RMS, NG and
others will be aware (he is, i believe in mail communication with them) he plans
to develop the group into a strong platform for Free Software Advocacy under the
aegis of FSF-India

thanks for your patience in going through this mail, with today being the
bengali new year, i can only hope and pray that the coming year be one of
success and achievements for us all

warm regards
sankarshan




-----------------------
http://www.ilug-cal.org - A Brave Gnu world
http://www.asiaosc.org - Open Source & Free Software
-----------------------


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