[4229] in linux-announce channel archive
Linux-Announce Digest #521
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Digestifier)
Fri Aug 29 09:13:08 2003
From: Digestifier <Linux-Announce-Request@senator-bedfellow.mit.edu>
To: Linux-Announce@senator-bedfellow.mit.edu
Reply-To: Linux-Announce@senator-bedfellow.mit.edu
Date: Fri, 29 Aug 2003 09:13:05 EDT
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)")
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Date: Thu, 28 Aug 2003 13:56:49 CST
From: "Frederick Noronha (FN)" <fred@bytesforall.org>
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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