[Freebangfont-devel] Fw: Linux-Announce Digest #521 (fwd)

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Frederick Noronha (FN)" <address@hidden>
To: "Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay" <address@hidden>
Sent: Friday, August 29, 2003 11:00 PM
Subject: Linux-Announce Digest #521 (fwd)


>
>
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> Frederick Noronha (FN)        | http://www.fredericknoronha.net
> Freelance Journalist          | http://www.bytesforall.org
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> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>
> Linux-Announce Digest #521, Volume #4          Fri, 29 Aug 2003
09:13:05 EDT
>
> Contents:
>   INDIA: GNU/Linux in Education and e-governance ("Frederick Noronha
(FN)")
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
------
>
> Date: Thu, 28 Aug 2003 13:56:49 CST
> From: "Frederick Noronha (FN)" <address@hidden>
> Subject: INDIA: GNU/Linux in Education and e-governance
>
> GNU/Linux in Education and e-governance
>
> The Jadavpur University (www.jadavpur.edu) sub-center of the Forum of
> Scientists, Engineers and Technologists - FOSET(www.foset.org)
organised a
> seminar/discussion with the very succint title of "GNU/Linux in
Education
> and e-governance" on 23.08.2003 at the Amitava Dey Memorial Hall. A
fair
> crowd of over 50 including some officials from the state government
were
> present. Given the current trend in considering GNU/Linux and other
FLOSS
> based systems as the prime component of e-governance and government
> initiatives, the seminar could not have come at a better time. Aimed
as a
> preparatory panel before a larger workshop on GNU/Linux implementation
> issues, it saw some vigorous discussions and questions leading to
> interesting interactions.
>
> In his welcome address, Prof Siddhartha Dutta (Secretary, FOSET-JU
> subcenter) provided the parameters of the discussion and hoped that
some new
> ideas would emerge. Prof. Nirmal Chatterjee presided over the seminar
and
> talked about how GNU/Linux is becoming more of a familiar technology
than a
> 'disruptive one'.
>
> In his much appreciated inaugural address, Prof S K Sen (ex-Vice
Chancellor,
> JU) talked about the implementational aspects of technology. Although
in a
> self-deprecating fashion he termed himself a 'novice' at GNU/Linux,
his wide
> experience in matters technical and technological made his speech
valuable.
> With insights into the difficulties faced while implementing
technology, he
> integrated the lack of 'vernacular-based computing' with the lack of
> knowledge base that utilises and learns. Knowledge grows. And it grows
> through dissemination.
>
> Continuing the thread of sharing of knowledge and collaborative
learning
> leading to community learning, Prof. Tathagata Banerjee (Coordinator,
> FSF-India(www.fsf.org.in) West Bengal Chapter) talked about the
"Philosophy
> behind Free Software". In a comprehensive and well articulated
> presentation,(the slides of which will possibly be available upon
request to
> the Coordinator) Prof. Banerjee spoke at length about the 'freedom'
espoused
> by the Foundation (www.fsf.org) and the movement as a whole. Comparing
and
> contrasting with the chimera of freedom provided by non-free
software(s), he
> firmly concluded that the time was indeed ripe to begin statewide
discussion
> on action plans. Integration and interaction would lead to greater
> participatory action - this was the central theme. The presentation
also
> laid out the future roadmap for the 'fledgling unit' (as Prof Banerjee
> endearingly terms it) of the FSFI, and the Coordinator called upon
Prof P K
> Das (Dept of Comp. Sc & Engg, JU) and Dr A R Thakur (Pro-VC, JU) to
> participate in this movement to initiate discussions and enrich the
> initiative with their experience and expertise.
>
> Mr Prasun Neogy (CMC Ltd) provided a glimpse into the technical
competence
> required to secure a GNU/Linux box with "Linux Security". Initiating
the
> presentation with the curious statement that no box could be made
fully
> secure, the various technologies and toolsets required to provide
security
> to a GNU/Linux box were adequately spaced out. Culled from exhaustive
> references, the presentation was informative and enriched with the
personal
> heuristic knowledge of Mr Neogy.
>
> Prof Pradip Kr Das (Dept of Comp Sc and Engg, JU) talked about the
> possibility of exploring LTSP (www.ltsp.org) for school education in
his
> presentation titled "GNU-Linux Terminal Servers for School Education".
He
> used standard TCO metrics to drive home the point that with meagre
resources
> LTSP should be the ideal technology to be implemented. Lacing his very
> informative presentation with insights from his presence on a
committee that
> explored technological feasibility of such a project, Prof Das firmly
> concluded that given the onus of proper resource utilisation, schools
should
> take a long hard look towards LTSP implementations.
>
> Prof A R Thakur (Pro Vice-Chancellor, JU) took a comprehensive
approach in
> discussing "Business and GNU/Linux". Comparing and contrasting data
> regarding IT usage and penetration vis-a-vis India and China, he
brought
> forward the startling revelation that the political will to implement
issues
> has always stood a nation in good stead. Talking about the business
case
> models of GNU/Linux implementations, he used his transparencies to
convince
> the audience as to the wide potential of such technology because of
the
> endless possibilities provided by it.
>
> The Ankur Group (www.bengalinux.org), formerly known as the Ankur
Bangla
> Translation Project showcased their initiative in "Localisation of
Free
> Software - Challenges and Possibilities". Indranil Das Gupta,
Sayamindu
> Dasgupta and Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay talked about the technological
> challenges that such a massive L10n project entails, explained some of
the
> self-devised solutions and then took the audience on a tour through
the
> possibilities of the project. Taking cues from talks of the earlier
> speakers, they used a functional Bangla desktop to convincingly
demonstrate
> the viability of the project. Highlighting the immense technological
> competence of the volunteers and the dedicated effort towards meeting
every
> deadline the presenters talked about the need to use Open Standards
and
> collaborative methodology to ensure a stable L10n effort. The audience
was
> seeing such a localised desktop for the first time and the intuitive
appeal
> drew words of appreciation and suggestion. On behalf of the Ankur
Group,
> they stated their immediate short term and future plans and were
confident
> in announcing the goal of releasing a localised live CD in time for
> Infocomm2003 (in November, 2003).
>
> Mr Santanu Sengupta summed up to proceedings for FOSET and Prof
Nandini
> Mukherjee conveyed the vote of thanks to conclude an interesting and
> informative session.
>
> Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay (sankarshanmukhopadhyay at vsnl.net) is a Free
> Software (www.fsf.org) enthusiast and a member of Indian Linux Users
Group -
> Kolkata (www.ilug-cal.org). His blog 'Random Thoughts'
> (http://sankarshan.blogspot.com) reflects his writings on various
> technological and human issues.
>
>
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