[3927] in linux-announce channel archive
Linux-Announce Digest #219
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Digestifier)
Mon Nov 4 18:13:09 2002
From: Digestifier <Linux-Announce-Request@senator-bedfellow.mit.edu>
To: Linux-Announce@senator-bedfellow.mit.edu
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Date: Mon, 4 Nov 2002 18:13:06 EST
Linux-Announce Digest #219, Volume #4 Mon, 4 Nov 2002 18:13:06 EST
Contents:
[LOCAL] Linux Users Los Angeles-Tues, 11-19 / Anti-Spam Measures (LULA Announce)
FEATURE: 23, and raring to go... (Frederick Noronha)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 3 Nov 2002 21:10:12 CST
From: LULA Announce <somewhat@pacbell.net>
Subject: [LOCAL] Linux Users Los Angeles-Tues, 11-19 / Anti-Spam Measures
[LULA Nov 19, 2002 Meeting Announcement - Please repost]
LULA (Linux Users of Los Angeles) presents:
"Anti-Spam Measures"
Speakers: Keith Hasely
When: Tuesday, November 19, 2002, 7-9 pm
Where: Tom Bradley Center, 5213 West Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA
Cost: Free
Joe Jared of relays.orirusoft.com and Michael Elkins will be speaking on
anti-spam measures.
We all know Mike Elkins, and how well his presentations are received,
and Joe Jared is
the creator of a black list that is used by the filters in Sendmail,
Spam Assassin, and others.
--
LOCATION:
Tom Bradley Youth and Family Center
5213 West Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90019
Telephone: (323) 692-0669
North side of West Pico Blvd.
between Cloverdale Avenue and Cochran Ave.
between major cross streets of Fairfax Avenue and La Brea Ave.
For a map, see
http://maps.yahoo.com/py/maps.py?addr=5213+W.+Pico&csz=90019
DIRECTIONS:
>From 10 East or West - Exit north on La Brea, go one mile,
turn left onto Pico, go west about 1/2 mile and park.
>From 405 Freeway North or South, go 10 East - see above.
>From 5/101/170 Freeway North or South, go 10 West - see above.
North
Cochran Cloverdale
| |
| |
| |
| alley |
| +-----------| |
| lot | |
| Center | |
+---------------------+------------------+
| | Pico(1/2 mile) |
| | |
La Brea
South ^
|
(from 10 Freeway)
^
PARKING:
Metered parking on Pico, Cochran, and Cloverdale;
free after 6PM.
Free parking also available in the rear lot; entered only from Cochran
via the alley, but it's a bit cramped.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
See http://www.lula.org
or http://www.lalugs.org
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------------------------------
Date: Mon, 4 Nov 2002 11:17:08 CST
From: Frederick Noronha <fred@bytesforall.org>
Subject: FEATURE: 23, and raring to go...
23, AND RARING TO GO... INDIAN GEEK SEES GNU/LINUX WORTH CONTRIBUTING TO
He's 23 and raring to go. But more than that, geek Trevor Warren's
experiences with Free Software portray a wider canvas of what's happening in
the world's second-most populous nation on this front.
Till a little over five years back, Free/Libre and Open Source Software (or
FLOSS) in India simply meant quite another thing. Once in many months you
waited for that rare release of a GNU/Linux 'distro'. It meant a scramble to
make sure you got the free CD, coming with a copy of the limited number of
fairly inexpensively priced computer magazines in those days.
1997 August changed that all. The Internet opened up to the average Indian
user. People slowly discovered the power of collaborative working. Software
development ideas and solutions started emerging from mailing-lists, which
took a little more time to come. This ignited the imagination of many in a
country which is sometimes seen as having a natural talent in programming.
India is slowing shifting from being a beneficiary of the GNU/Linux bounty,
to being a contributor.
Bombay (Mumbai)-based Warren is just one of a generation, who tells a wider
story through his own experiences, and how it has shaped his attitude
towards Free Software. Calling himself a "self-confessed GNU/Linux freak",
Warren is an articulate speaker who evangelizes at colleges across India, to
students not much younger then him. "I would never want to loose an
opportunity to convey the message/power of Free Software to the people
around me," says he.
He has been project manager for the R&D Products-Technology department of
Zenith Computers Limited, one of the few successful Indian hardware
companies. As Warren puts it, he loves spending time online and "getting
immersed in tonnes of information related to Linux/System, Network
Security/Embedded Systems". Says he, with some cocky confidence: "Out here
at ZCL we are coming up with tonnes embedded stuff on the Linux front.
Probably you'll see the next Zaurus PDA from our stables." Excerpts from an
interview with Frederick Noronha <fred@bytesforall.org>:
================================================================
Q: To start with, tell us what is qmailtheeasyway.com?
================================================================
Till late last year, I worked for a great GNU/Linux solutions company called
FreeOS Technologies (http://www.freeos.com). Out there, whenever there was a
need to get any mail server installations done we would have to go running to
www.lifewithqmail.com, read the docs and get the job done.
Life was so difficult. Writing and copying scripts and having to get things
right every-time. I decided it was time to do something about the problem
that was bugging me. That was how Qmail The Easy Way was born.
In fact I never ever expected so much adoption of the project.
The project is basically an adoption of www.lifewithqmail.com document with
various install options being given to the end user of the package.
================================================================
Q: What inspired you to set it up?
================================================================
As I mentioned earlier, its basically the need to have a neat qmail install
done that would help me and the whole world grab qmail and have it installed
with a jiffy.
Qmail is the world's most sturdiest mail server and is known by everyone to
power sites of the likes of hotmail.com and yahoo.com. But the inherent
complexity in installing and getting qmail up and running is what turns
amateurs away.
================================================================
Q: What has the response been?
================================================================
Astounding. Initially when I did Qmail The Easy Way, i just did a CLI
(Command Line Interface) install. Then later on it graduated to a GUI
(graphical user interface) install with support for four different mail
server installations.
It nearly took me one whole month to get the first release out. But later
on, things kept going smoothly with support from the community and
debugging.
I started out with a site at tripod.com (the free site hosting place), but
then tripod threw me out for allowing only downloads from Freshmeat.net.
Users have been so good that I have three mirrors around the world now, even
"qmailtheeasyway.com"+ the 250MB space has been donated by supporters. Apart
from the work to get the package done, everything from domain name to the
mirrors have been the gift of supporters of the project.
================================================================
Q: Who are your mail collaborators?
================================================================
People from all over the world -- from the US to Timbaktu, Chinese,
Taiwanese, etc. One thing that this project has taught me is, Free Software
can really make a difference and that software done for use value is a
million times more than software done for sale value.
================================================================
Q: Does this case study mean that India really has something to offer the
GNU/Linux world?
================================================================
My project is just a small tip of the iceberg of what Indians are collaborating
(and offering) to the Free Software movement. Whenever I think about my
project, I think about it as my contribution to the community that has given
me and made me what I am today.
================================================================
Q: How much time do you spend over this per week/month?
================================================================
Initially before i joined the R&D department at Zenith Computers (one of India's
prominent hardware manufacturers) I used to spend 10 hours a day on learning
tcl/tk, debugging these issues nd getting elated at seeing the counter on
the home-page go nuts. (Grins.)
================================================================
Q: Do you get signs to show the utility of this experiment?
================================================================
The mail that i get everyday thanking me for making life a little bit more
simpler for someone else. I would always want to keep going on, trying to
give back to the community that has given me so much.
================================================================
Q: What are your next plans?
================================================================
>From the past few months things have relaxed a bit. Infact I am keenly
thinking on the lines of doing a few successors to the **** The Easy Way. In
terms of IDS the Easy Way and Firewalls The Easy Way, System/Network
Monitoring the Easy Way, etc.
================================================================
Q: In what way, do you believe, Indians could contribute to GNU/Linux?
================================================================
The opportunities are tremendous. In fact I have been pushing the Bombay
Linux Users group towards setting up a Project Resource Center. I want this
Project Resource Center to be a centralized repository for students to come
and pick up a project of their choice.
We have plans to set up a group-ware system that will enable the respective
students to choose a project and be guided by any of the senior LUG members
online. This is a method being jointly worked out by Dr. Nagarjuna G (a
prominent Bombay-based advocate of Free Software), the Linux User Group of
Bombay and me.
>From the way I look at it, there's tons of stuff that needs to be done in
the Free Software movement. What's lacking is (not the enthusiasm but) the
expertise to fill those gaps in.
Infact, a simple example would be to look at China/Japan. Out there, even
the local shop keepers have their computers booting Linux in their local
languages and we (in India, who vainly) call ourselves the upcoming IT
superpower are still lagging far behind.
Not that i want to undermine all the efforts of the Indian Linux Project (I
know the dudes who are slogging it out), but just want to state that in terms
of our contribution to the products arena internationally in both Free
Software/Closed Source world there leaves more to be desired.
Individually we are a scattered lot. But together we can make a hell of a
lot of difference. Indians can contribute in terms of trying to fill in the
gaps in the contributions towards development on various projects available
on Freshmeat.net and Sourceforge.net. There's also the Gnu Hurd kernel which
needs a lot of help. In terms of evangelisation, more than ever, we need
people to take up and be torch bearers of Free Software and do their little
to make this world a better place to live in.
FOOTNOTE: Trevor Warren can be emailed at trevorwarren@yahoo.com
--
Frederick Noronha * Freelance Journalist * Goa * India 832.409490 / 409783
BYTESFORALL www.bytesforall.org * GNU-LINUX http://linuxinindia.pitas.com
Email fred@bytesforall.org * Mobile +9822 122436 (Goa) * Saligao Goa India
Writing with a difference... on what makes *the* difference
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