Press Note National Conference on Free Software 2010

We sent the following rejoinder to Mathrubumi but Mathrubumi has not carried our rejoinder. We are recording our rejoinder in our website.
http://www.nc2010.fsmk.org/content/rejoinder-mathrubumis-fabricated-report
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is with reference to your report in Mathrubumi on Monday , March 22 , 2010 by NS Binu Raj.
We are deeply saddened that a paper of repute like Mathrubumi is giving way to such malafide and defamatory reports.
http://www.mathrubhumi.com/online/malayalam/news/story/221531/2010-03-22...
The above report has not considered basic journalistic ethics and code of conduct of getting the version of the concerned person, in this case our democratically elected General Secretary Shri Kiran Chandra of the Free Software Movement of India (FSMI) before publishing a report. The report says Shri Kiran Chandra (who is also a member of board of directors of FSF-India a sister organisation of Free Software Foundation, headed By Richard Mathew Stallman) is a representative of an IT company , Novell. Do you have any proof for this? Why is this report publishing outright lies. We condemn such lies and demand an apology.
The General Secretary of an esteemed organization has been unnecessarily defamed without any basis. Hence we request you to publish an apology for the same. We also request you to correct this mistake by publishing our version of the story.
The following are reports of the event from Independent bloggers and newspapers of repute.
http://ideasareimmortal.blogspot.com/2010/03/national-conference-on-free...
http://ideasareimmortal.blogspot.com/2010/03/nc2010-day-2-and-free-softw...
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/59304/making-sense-unjust-world.html
http://www.thehindu.com/2010/03/19/stories/2010031961140300.htm
http://www.thehindu.com/2010/03/20/stories/2010032064330300.htm
http://www.thehindu.com/2010/03/21/stories/2010032154350500.htm
http://beta.thehindu.com/news/cities/Bangalore/article245413.ece
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/58966/free-software-movement-gaining...
http://bangalore.citizenmatters.in/events/show/2260-a-run
http://bangalore.citizenmatters.in/events/show/2210-national-conference
http://beta.thehindu.com/news/article261275.ece
We are a free software movement and we are not concerned with the political affiliations of its members. Members of all political parties and non members are welcome to join. There are indeed professors and academicians from institutions like IISc , IIMB, IIIT were part of this conference and some of them are elected office bearers of the Free Software Movement of India. We do not know on what basis and facts you determined them to be part of a politcal party. This is mis-representation, lies and baseless articulations.
The conference was sponsored by companies and public institutions. We have been in constant touch with the president of Free Software Foundation , Boston , Richard M. Stallman , the founder of this movement on the basis of sponsorships for this conference. You can contact Richard M Stallman and take his direct opinion. We are sure the author of the report didn't want to do so.
https://my.fsf.org/donate/patron/
https://my.fsf.org/donate/patron/logos/
In the above page you could see the names of some of the monopolies as your report says. This is the patron page of the FSF, Boston. Taking support doesn't construe dilution of the free software message and the founder of this movement has clarified it many times. We have only followed the same practice of the free software foundation of not endorsing the views of sponsors.
We had invited the chairman of FSF India, Dr G Nagarjuna, to participate in the conference and he couldn't because of certain commitments he had made earlier. One of the working group members of FSF India Abhas abhinav who is from Bangalore has participated in one of our sessions in the conference. Which again shows the fabricated and biased nature of this report. Shri VS Achuthandan couldn't participate because of the election code of conduct and so couldnt the other misister from Karnatka Shri Katta Subramania Naidu.
For the sake of the basic journalistic ethic “Facts are sacred and comment is free” We once again request you to uphold this journalistic ethic in reporting.


Highlights of the Conference
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/59304/making-sense-unjust-world.html

A glance at the pictures revealed the cruelty of living in an unequal world, the story in short of those who had clicked them.

The plight of slum children portrayed in the photo exhibition was arranged as part of the national conference on Free Software held in the city at the weekend. Fifty pictures taken by the slum children were on display. Indeed, it was harder for many visitors to believe that the pictures were taken by the slum children.  

Although children that age prepare for the day's class work eating breakfast made by their moms, school-goers in our locality have to rise at five in the morning and work at a couple of houses before they start to school,” said Saraswati, a volunteer at the Free Software conference, who works with the slum project initiated by Free Software Movement of Karnataka (FSMK) volunteers at her slum near Sudarshan Layout in Bannerghatta Road.  

http://www.thehindu.com/2010/03/21/stories/2010032154350500.htm
‘IT has entered Indian consciousness as a commodity'

The Free Software movement may be perceived as a rather nascent movement in India. However, the thronging audience at the National Free Software conference held here on Saturday makes a compelling case to the contrary. Sharing knowledge, in true Free Software spirit, and deliberating on implementation of open standards and practices in public software, the two-day conference is packed with sessions ranging from case studies of public Free Software to hands-on technical or “coding” sessions on GNU/Linux-based platforms. Over 1,700 Free Software enthusiasts, academics and students from across the country are attending the event.


National Free Software coalition formed
This coalition, which has 16 movements in its fold, to begin with, aims at taking Free Software and its ideological implications to computer users “across the digital divide” and to various streams of science and research. The conference, that had around 1,500 participants, had parallel session that deliberated on many of these social and technical facets of the Free Software philosophy. Besides presenting case studies on implementation of Free Software in States such as Kerala, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, it also offered popular hands-on technical or ‘coding' sessions on GNU/Linux-based platforms.

Free software movement gaining ground By S Chatterjee

Bal Gangadhar Tilak, the doyen of Indian nationalism described ‘swaraj’ as his ‘birthright,’ which had to be had by all means.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/58966/free-software-movement-gaining-ground.html

“The FSM further demands that the UAIDI project, for giving a unique identity card to all our citizens, should be executed with free software, by involving the Indian IT industry and is interacting with the industry to popularise many of its ideas in the IT industrial sector itself.
The FSMK is running IT schools in slum areas with enthusiastic participation from the members of the community, who not only proved to be quick learners but showed surprising levels of innovation “


“Umashankar, former Managing Director of Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu, regaled the audience with short presentations of various Free and Open Source projects in e-governance. “A 2007 Gartner report decreed that by 2017 proprietary systems would be obsolete. It is the developing countries with large demand and cost constraints, which would move faster,” Mr. Umashankar said.”

http://www.thehindu.com/2010/03/21/stories/2010032154350500.htm

Why Free Software is relevant


http://www.thehindu.com/2010/03/20/stories/2010032064330300.htm

BANGALORE: Consider the analogy of the proverbial elephant and the blind men. While different people may develop a nuanced understanding of the tail, tusk or head; in a proprietary world there is no economic calculus that allows them to talk and share their knowledge. This is where the concept and philosophy of Free Software becomes critical in solving global, interdependent societal problems such as climate change, observes K. Gopinath, professor of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc.) and a supporter of the Free Software movement. He is also the chairman of the National Conference on Free Software being held at the Central College campus starting today. Prof. Gopinath says he is overwhelmed by the response the event has received what with over 1,500 participants having registered. “In 1993 when IISc. organised a conference on intellectual property and its social/technical implications, it followed a top-down approach. In contrast, this conference is no longer an academic exercise but driven by people who are touched by, and believe in, Free Software,” he explains.
Slum Computer Center Paintings


Inaugural Session
AC3 Photo Exhibition

1000+ students particpate








Towards bridging the digital divide
Deepa Kurup
‘Namma Debian' was released at a slum computing centre in Bangalore
FILLING A VACUUM:Software professionals who support free software explaining the features of ‘Namma Debian' at a slum off Bannerghatta Road in Bangalore.
BANGALORE: Even tech-savvy computer users often fail to grasp the concept of Free Software or fathom the philosophy behind it. However, in this non-descript slum settlement located diametrically behind the high-rise IT office buildings on Bannerghatta Road, there is remarkable clarity and awareness on software freedom.
Tucked away at the end of a crowded lane, the Ambedkar Community Computing Center (AC3) hosted an unusual programme on Sunday. A motley crowd of software professionals, free software enthusiasts, students and residents gathered to create music, share information and perspective, and officially release “Namma Debian”, the Kannada version of Linux distribution system.
“Namma Debian” is the localised version of Debian GNU/Linux, a popular and stable free operating system — that runs your computer and comes bundled with a set of programme utilities that are all from the Free, GNU/Linux stable. Raghavendra, a student and a FOSS volunteer, described the evening as “Thiruvizha” a Tamil word for celebration.
“It was beautiful to see residents enthusiastically participating in an event — conceptually still distant to them — with a hope that at least it would benefit their children someday,” he said.
Shedding light on another issue, Vidya, who suffers from partial visual impairment, spoke on the issues that the visually impaired face while using computers.
Demonstrating various technical issues with the proprietary tools she uses, she spoke about the fact that accessibility tools (such as screen readers and related software, all in the proprietary domain) were extremely expensive. At the end of her eloquent talk, members of the FSMK (Free Software Movement of Karnataka) committed themselves to working towards solving these issues by developing better, more accessible and free tools or software in this domain.

http://www.thehindu.com/2010/03/17/stories/2010031751130200.htm

Freedom Walk as Run up
“The lacuna in the society we are addressing surfaced again while interacting with people, when one person inquired about the conference and expressed his interest in participating in it, but also told us he was an illiterate and that he knows only Kannada. We then welcomed him to the conference, briefing him about the gamut of Kannada related activities we are organizing as a run-up to the conference and in the conference itself. He was glad to accept the invite.

While campaigning continued profusely,an auto driver approached us. He was curious as to what we were doing. After listening to us he introduced himself. He has completed his Electronics Hardware training and conveyed to us his interest in learning some software technologies. He was interested in the National Conference as well, and told that he would be contacting the FSMK office at Madiwala for further details. “