############################################################################

        e88~~\  888b    | 888   |  /  888                888 ,e,
       d888     |Y88b   | 888   |  L  888 888-~88e  e88~\888  "    /~~~8e
       8888 __  | Y88b  | 888   |  I  888 888  888 d888  888 888       88b
       8888   | |  Y88b | 888   |  N  888 888  888 8888  888 888  e88~-888
       Y888   | |   Y88b| Y88   |  U  888 888  888 Y888  888 888 C888  888
        "88__/  |    Y888  "8__/   X  888 888  888  "88_/888 888  "88_-888
      --------------------------------------------------------------------
                 Compiled by: Frederick Noronha * Sept 20,  2004
      --------------------------------------------------------------------

  		 Free Software is  the way to go if we desire  to have a
  		 society where children are taught to be independent,
  		 resourceful, productive, co-operative, rational, intelligent
  		 and socially responsible. The Free Software Movement has
  		 contributed several thousand useful applications.  With
  		 little effort from more volunteers, we could make the free
  		 software wealth reach everyone.-- Ramanraj K
  		 <ramanraj@...>

############################################################################

HACKERS WANTED, FSF CALLING: From the FSF-India mailing list
http://mm.gnu.org.in/mailman/listinfo/fsf-prog there's a word of advice from
Anand Babu <ab@...>: "Yes I am need of developers for Free Software
Projects. If you are new to FSF projects, (you can get started) like this

  	 * Setup a Debian GNU/Linux system (best distro for developers)
  	 * Create an account for yourself at http://savannah.gnu.org.
  	 * Take a look at current GNU Task List at
    	   https://savannah.gnu.org/people/?group=tasklist

Choose one and start hacking. This process will help you prepare yourself
with the GNU's way of hacking software. Then, when you feel you are ready
for the main stream, you can jump into GNU Hurd kernel hacking (the most
important pending task).

Anand Babu <ab@...> said at another time: "Kernel hacking is too
difficult for newbies. I need developers with sold experience in C and
system programming with a Hacker's attitude. I would recommend newbies to
start hacking at the applications level, submitting patches, getting
familiar with GNU coding standards and Free Software development model."

############################################################################

[GNU]LINUX DEMO DAY IN DELHI:  Raj Mathur <raju@...> announced
plans to hold a Linux Demo Day, organized by India Linux Users Group, Delhi
(ILUGD, www.linux-delhi.org).

  	 Says Mathur: "We will   be conducting Linux-related  talks  and
  	 presentations in the Hamdard Archives Auditorium, on Saturday, Sept
  	 25, 2004, by some of our resident experts, and hopefully they will
  	 interest people who've already taken the plunge as well as those who
  	 are just about to. There'll be lots of demonstrations/talks
  	 throughout the day and plenty of opportunities to gain hands-on
  	 experience of different Linux distributions and applications for
  	 yourself. There is space outside the auditorium, which will be used
  	 for giving the demos. The demos and the talks will go on
  	 concurrently. We'll also be distributing Linux goodies at low or no
  	 cost.

Venue: Jamia Hamdard Archives Auditorium Hamdard University, New Delhi
110062. Landmark: Adjacent to Batra Hospital. Entry from Gate 6 Date:
September 25, 2004 Time: 10 am-6 pm (Registration at 9:30 am)
Contact: ldd2k4@... Entry: Free -- all are invited.

############################################################################

  	 LINUX GURUS... IN BHOPAL: kvprashant@... has set up the
  	 Linux_Gurus mailing list.  He describes it as: "A new linux user
  	 group for people of Bhopal needs your help and guidence." Do
  	 support! To join, send a blank email to
  	 linux_gurus-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

############################################################################

SEPTEMBER 2004's issue of Developer IQ contains:

    	 * GCC 3.4.1, Tcl/Tk 8.5, Mono 1.0, Python 2.3.4, Visual Tcl 1.6.0,
    	   Mlton-Perl, PHP (among other programming tools).  Apache HTTP
    	   server, XEmacs 21.4.5, GTK+ 2.4, PHP source code.

    	 * CD2 is dedicated to the Morphix Gamer. Games run from your CD ROM
        	   drive, regardless of the OS you run.

A summary of the FLOSS-related content has been posted earlier to various
GNU/Linux lists in India.

############################################################################

INDIA PRESIDENT'S VIEW ON FLOSS:
http://news.com.com/Indian+president+calls+for+open+source+in+defense/2100-7344_\
3-5259836.html


############################################################################

  	 HINDI ET AL IN GNOME 2.0: Gnome 2.8 is released, with Hindi,
  	 Bengali, Gujarati, Punjabi and Tamil as supported languages.  See
  	 http://www.gnome.org/start/2.8/ Source: Guntupalli Karunakar
  	 <karunakar@...> Indianisation work:
  	 http://www.indlinux.org

############################################################################

INDIC SOLUTIONS? Interested in this field, check out
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/indlinux-group

############################################################################

  	 JOIN THE 'FRIENDLY LUG' ILUG-GOA'S mailing list at
  	 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ilug-goa MAIN LIST
  	 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ilug-goa-announce LOW VOLUME, ANNOUNCE
  	 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/teach-yourself-linux FOR NEWBIES
  	 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/linuxgoahelp TECH HELP LIST
  	 OR VISIT http://ilug-goa.notlong.com http://www.ilug-margao.org

############################################################################

FLOSS IDEAS SPREADING? Please take a look at http://www.feetus.org.  V. Sasi
Kumar <vsasi@...> describes it thus: " Open access here in India. An
initiative worthy of promotion."

############################################################################

PROMOTING A PROPRIETARY FORMAT, FORCING A PROPRIETARY APPLICATION: V. Sasi
Kumar <vsasi@...> of the Centre for Earth Science Studies in Tvn
writes: "Indian Institute of Science asks alumni to fill up their details in
a document in MS Word format. This is a mail I sent them more than two weeks
back. No response as yet.

"Sir, I find that the proforma for membership records is given in a
proprietary format (MS Word) which forces me to use a proprietary
application. Indirectly you are promoting a particular company's software
that uses a closed format for its files, which is not a very good practice
for an internationally reputed institute like IISc.

"Instead, I suggest that the proforma be made available in open formats like
Postscript, PDF, XML, etc. This would enable anyone using any word processor
or any free application (like xpdf, Open Office, etc.) to read the file
without loss of formatting. May I also point out that even our President,
Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, has prompted scientists and technologists to move
from proprietary software to free software for several reasons, including
national security and economics."

############################################################################

  	 UPDATES FROM BANGALORE: Atul Chitnis <achitnis@...> recently
  	 announced the launch of the Linux Bangalore/2004 website at
  	 http://linux-bangalore.org/2004

  	 Adds he: "On behalf of the managers of Linux Bangalore/2004 I invite
  	 all of you visit the site, read all it has to offer, then get onto
  	 the discussion list http://linux-bangalore.org/2004/discuss/ "

############################################################################

INTERNATIONAL OPEN SOURCE NETWORK: The International Open Source Network
(IOSN - http://www.iosn.net) is a Centre of Excellence for Free / Open
Source Software in the Asia-Pacific Region. IOSN is an initiative of the
Asia-Pacific Information Development Programme (APDIP -
http://www.apdip.net), which has been supporting the strategic and effective
use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) for poverty alleviation
and sustainable human development in the Asia-Pacific region since 1997. Via
a small secretariat, the IOSN is tasked specifically to facilitate and
network Free / Open Source Software advocates and human resources in the
region. Activities undertaken by IOSN is listed below:

A. Free / Open Source Information Resource Facility

        1. Collaborative Website: On-going Mapping of Free / Open Source
           activities in Asia-Pacific;  Collaborative    database     of
           countries;   languages, fonts,and organisations in Asia-Pacific;
           On-line Information/Clearing-house and Mailing Lists
        2. Software Repository: A collection of FOSS software and GNU/Linux
           distributions specific to the Asia Pacific is being created.
        3. Documentation of Best Practise
        4. Open Source Primers: General FOSS by Kenneth Wong/Phet Sayo;
           Malaysia; Licensing by Shunling Chen-Taiwan; Policy by Kenneth
           Wong; Localisation by Anousak Souphavanh / Theppitak
           Karoonboonyanan - Thailand; Network/Security/Infrastructure by
           Gaurab Raj Upadhaya - Nepal; and Education by Wooi Tong Tan -
           Malaysia.

B. Creation of a Database of Free / Open Source Experts and Human
      Resources in the Region

        1. Networking of Experts
        2. Technical Support

C. Training and Workshops

        1. FOSSAP 2004: More than 50 senior policy makers and open source
           practitioners from 20 countries attended this event.
           http://www.iosn.net/fossap/
        2. Training of Trainers: We are currently planning the first
           training in Vietnam in partnership with Linux Professional
           Institute

D. Research and Development

        1. Localisation Toolkit in collaboration with Centre for Advanced
           Computing [CDAC], India
        2. End-user training material in Text and Multimedia format. Script
           by Dr. Nah Soo Hoe, Malaysia and production by GetIT multimedia,
           Singapore.
        3. GNU/Linux Live CD Project by Colin Charles, Australia of the
           Fedora Project.
        4. Q&A on FOSS R&D/Case Studies of implementations
        5. Micro-grant Programme in collaboration with University of South
           Pacific

############################################################################

AN INDIAN IN MALAYSIA: Nice to note that Sunil Abraham  sunil@... has
taken on the responsibility of being the Manager of the International Open
Source Network. He's located at UNDP Asia-Pacific Development Information
Programme Wisma UN, Block C Kompleks Pejabat Damansara. Jalan Dungun,
Damansara Heights. 50490 Kuala Lumpur. P. O. Box 12544, 50782, Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia Telephones: (60) 3-2091-5167, Fax: (60) 3-2095-2087

############################################################################

  	 LINDEC: Check plans for the Linux Desktop Conference --
  	 http://www.gnomebangalore.org/lindec/ -- that happens on September
  	 26 (Sunday), 2004.

############################################################################

DISCUSSION ON THE chillu character in Mayalayam Unicode. One well-informed
discussant was Mahesh T. Pai * http://paivakil.port5.com

############################################################################

MORE ON INDIC ISSUES: Javier SOLA <javier@...> says that discussion
on some Indic issues in Unicode is available at
http://www.unicode.org/~ecartis/indic/ Contact Javier for the required
user-id and password needed to access.

############################################################################

GNU/LINUX EQUIVALENTS: Sreekiran <dwija@...> drew attention to a
file of GNU/Linux equivalents in software terms:
http://linuxshop.ru/linuxbegin/win-lin-soft-en/table.shtml

############################################################################

INDIC LOCALIZERS MEET AT MUMBAI: G Karunakar <karunakar@...>
announced the Indic Localizers Meet that was held on Sept 18-19 in Mumbai.
For more details see http://www.indlinux.org/wiki/index.php/IndicMeet

Languagewise participants expected were:

    *  Bengali - Ankur group - Sayamindu Dasgupta, Sankarshan
       Mukhopadhyay/Runa Bhattacharjee, Indranil Das Gupta
    *  Gujarati - Utkarsh - Nirav Mehta, Ankur Patel
    *  Hindi - IndLinux - G Karunakar, Ravishankar Shrivastava
    *  Kannada - Pramod Raghavendra, Hari Prasad Nadig
    *  Marathi - Indictrans - Jitendra Shah, Swapnil Hajare
    *  Malayalam - SMC group - Mahesh T Pai , Arun M
    *  Punjabi - Punlinux, Amampreet Singh Alam
    *  Oriya - oriya.sarovar.org - Gora Mohanty
    *  Telugu - ?
    *  Tamil - Tamillinux team - R Hariram Aatreya, N Jayaradha
    *  Urdu - Ravikant Sharma

Others

    *  Nagarjuna G - FSF India, TIFR
    *  Prakash Advani - Onward Novell India
    *  Venky Hariharan - Red Hat India
    *  Abhijit Dutta - IBM India
    *  Dr Om Vikas - TDIL, MIT, GOI
    *  Hema Murthy - ?TeNet, IIT Chennai
    *  Alka Irani - CDAC
    *  M Sasikumar - CDAC
    *  Michael Sauntak - Burmese Localization


############################################################################

FROM PAKISTAN: The Open Source Resource Center (OSRC)
[http://www.osrc.org.pk] had scheduled a seminar on Free and Open Source
Software in Karachi on 14 September 2004. For registration and details,
visit http://www.osrc.org.pk/seminar/

The Open Source Resource Center (OSRC) is a first such forum in Pakistan
created by Pakistan Software Export Board (G) Ltd. [http://www.pseb.org.pk/]
at Islamabad. The Resource Center aims to bring together wide range of
expertise related to [Free/Libre and] Open Source Technologies and Resources
at one place. The IT companies can access, share, and contribute the
knowledge particular to the development and transformation of IT products on
FLOSS. The Resource Center works to bring together established technology
vendors, startups, open source community members and enterprise IT
users/customers to jointly explore new opportunities for OSS deployment and
how to capitalize on them.

############################################################################

FLOSS AND EDUCATION: Thanks to the IOSN-General mailing list for this, and
Nandalal Gunaratne of the Lanka Linux User Group.

http://www.schoolforge.net
http://www.schoolforge.org.uk
http://www.schooltool.org
http://www.scholarpack.org
http://www.theopencd.sunsite.dk
http://www.lfsp.net (linux for schools project)
http://http://www.affs.org.uk/education/index.html  Free Software assn.
http;//edu.kde.org kde edutainment
http://www.tux4kids.com/tyx4kids
http://www.debian,org/devel/debian-jr
http://www.bluelinux.org
http:/k12os.org
http://www.osef.org/
http://richtex.ca/seul
http://www.freeeduc.org

############################################################################

  	 PRIMER ON FLOSS, VIA MALAYSIA: IOSN has produced a primer on
  	 Free/Open Source Software Licensing and an early pre-copyedited
  	 draft of the primer is now available for public review and feedback.
  	 This primer is an introductory summary of licensing issues involved
  	 with using the different FOSS licenses, primarily the GNU GPL
  	 license. It offers several scenarios, and proposes a framework for
  	 licensing of government sponsored software.  The primer also
  	 addresses common questions and misconceptions regarding copyright
  	 and licensing issues. Further details from khairil@...
  	 http://www.iosn.net/licensing/foss-licensing-primer/

############################################################################

IOSN mailing list. Join the International Open Source Network
(Malaysia-based) mailing list iosn-general@...
http://lists.apdip.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/iosn-general

############################################################################

SOME ASIAN G/LINKS AND GNU/LUGS: A query brought in some interesting links
to LUGs in and around Asia. Here's a listing of some:

Lanka Linux User Group (LK-LUG) has been operating since 1998.They also have
a localization project: http://sinhala.linux.lk Check out more details at
http://www.linux.lk or http://www.lug.lk

Cambodia's English-language Majordomo-based mailing-list is at
linux@... Once there, one can also have a look at their KhmerOS
Initiative, to create UNICODE based Khmer language software -- in both the
Windows and the Linux environments. Check out http://www.KhmerOS.info

The Iranian LUG is pretty active: http://www.farsilinux.org Saudi's mailing
list is at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/saudi_linux/

Outside this continent, but probably having shared interests is the
http://fossfa.net This is the body working to promote Free and Open Source
Software in Africa. It has some 53 member states.

############################################################################

  	 THE STEPS AHEAD: Anand Babu wrote to friends from South Africa that
  	 the FSF-India working group is discussing initiatives on
  	 e-governance, localization and live CD distributions,
  	 super-computing grid and other core GNU tasks through Free Software
  	 Development Lab. Says he: "So far Government has hardly done
  	 anything for the Free Software Movement in India. Here is a three
  	 step approach they need to take: (1) Standardize on Free Software
  	 for all Governmental use. (2) Actively support and promote (educate)
  	 Free Software as #1 choice for the community (3) Fund Free Software
  	 initiatives.

############################################################################

OPEN OFFICE IN KANNADA: Pramod R <pramodleo@...> recently announced
that OpenOffice.org in Kannada is nearing 100% translations. Said he: "We
hope to have a review of the same during October 2nd & 3rd. For details:
http://www.kannudi.org/wiki/index.php?title=Openoffice.org_First_Review_Meet

############################################################################

NEWSLETTER ON LOCALIZATION: Localization Newsletter Issue 6, Vol 1 ( 1st
September 2004) is out, and available at
http://www.indlinux.org/nl/issue6.html

Highlights include * KDE Hindi translation review workshop at Sarai
* New Pango releases * Mozilla supports Pango upstream * Indic printing to work
from Gnome 2.8 (release mid-Sept) *  Utkal - New Oriya Opentype font available
- http://oriya.sarovar.org/download/utkalm.ttf.gz
* Indic Unicode issues and updates on Indic list at Unicode.
* Tamil PC team featured in Team watch

For older issues of L10n Newsletter check http://www.indlinux.org/nl/

############################################################################

USEFUL SCRIPT FOR STUDENTS: Robin Turner of Bilkent Universitesi in
Ankara-Turkey <robin@...> recently announced on the FSF-India
list that he has just updated his script for enabling students to upload
their work via a web page. Improvements: 1. Students choose which essay they
are submitting and the program automatically renames the file to something
appropriate ("this is because I am fed up with recieving files named 'My
Essay.doc'"); 2. The program now runs in taint mode and untaints submitted
variables ("I don't know if this really makes it any more secure, but it
makes me feel righteous"). If anyone wants to use it, it's at
<www.bilkent.edu.tr/~robin/scripts/101upload.cgi>.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
THIS NEWSLETTER IS EDITED and compiled by Frederick Noronha fred at
bytesforall dot org. Your inputs, feedback and brickbats are welcome. Contact
us at fred at bytesforall dot org COPYLEFT 2003. May be freely
circulated provided entire text and credits are left intact.

You can subscribe to receive this FREE newsletter (free beer, free speech!)
by subscribing directly at
http://www.freelists.org/cgi-bin/list?list_id=linuxinindia
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Frederick Noronha (FN)    Near Convent, SALIGAO 403511 GOA India
Freelance Journalist      Tel: +91-832-2409490 MOBILE: 9822122436
fred at bytesforall.org   fredericknoronha at vsnl.net
http://fn.swiki.net       (FN's swiki)
http://www.ilug-goa.tk    (GNULinux Users Group Goa)

Hello All

Please look at the Tux painting adoring linux_schools group

http://in.groups.yahoo.com/group/linux_schools/

This was created by Ms.Mehek , 11 year old from Hyderabad using tuxpaint.

Can we  compare the penguin pyramids to OSS development model ?

This painting depicts a game held in India during Lord Krishnas
birthday celebrations. The purpose of the game is to break one pot
filled with some treasure high above the ground.

During the game, the participants are disturbed by throwing water on
them by the spectators. The participants fall many times.

Recently there was one article about the OSS development model having
no democratic setup. The complaint was only a few people called the
"inner core"  do the real development.

I feel the pyramid painting rightly depicts this scenario.

The inner core are responsible for most of the things, but we have to
also consider the support of the lower layer of the pyramid.

Shall we have some discussion on this.


Herald.

Hello Friends

I created a webpage for this group a few weeks back.

Here it is:

linuxschools.tripod.com



There is not much content right now.

It could be used for downloading useful things from this group without
logging in to yahoogroups.

Feedback welcome.

Herald.

Dear Sanjeev
You can follow the syllabus that the board is having
as there are alternative to all proprietary software
in OSS. We have put together them in 4 CDs. Once you
start we can give you the same.

We are located in Ahmedabad.

Regards.. Laxman

  --- coverify <coverify@...> wrote:
> Hi,
> I just joined the group. I am working for a non
> profit organization
> (www.hohinc.org) and we are planning to setup a
> school computer lab
> in Bangalore. The address of the school is-
>
> ATMA SHREE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION
> 7th MAIN ROAD THAYAGARAGANAGAR,
> BANGALORE 560028 INDIA
>
> I am looking for resources that could -
>   1. Support the hardware
>   2. Syllabus based on open source software for
> children of class 1
> to Xth.
>   Since the standard of English is not very good,
> are there any
> support for "Kannada" language.
>   3. Are there any such center in Bangalore that we
> can contact.
>
> Thanks
> sanjeev
>
>
>

=====
Future Focus Foundation - www.f2foundation.org
My webpage - www.geocities.com/lxn_mon


________________________________________________________________________
Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your life partner online
Go to: http://yahoo.shaadi.com/india-matrimony

Hi,
I just joined the group. I am working for a non profit organization
(www.hohinc.org) and we are planning to setup a school computer lab
in Bangalore. The address of the school is-

ATMA SHREE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION
7th MAIN ROAD THAYAGARAGANAGAR,
BANGALORE 560028 INDIA

I am looking for resources that could -
   1. Support the hardware
   2. Syllabus based on open source software for children of class 1
to Xth.
   Since the standard of English is not very good, are there any
support for "Kannada" language.
   3. Are there any such center in Bangalore that we can contact.

Thanks
sanjeev

http://www.tutorialsforopenoffice.org/

The OpenOffice.org Unofficial FAQ v0.3.1b
A guide to complement the already existing documentation out there!

http://www.bytebot.net/openoffice/faq.html


--

   /             \        Recognise this ASCII-art ?
  ((__-^^-,-^^-__))       Want to know about the origins of
   `-_---' `---_-'        "Linux" and its use ?
    `--|o` 'o|--'
       \)  `(/    Visit:
        :o_o:     http://www.gnu.org/gnu/linux-and-gnu.html
         "-"

>
> http://opensource.mimos.my/?main=mimos/tcl-mimos
>
> This site is very useful .
>
>
> Herald.




Sorry for the wrong link of the site. Here is the correct link .


http://opensource.mimos.my/?main=main



Herald.

I found the OpenOffice User Manuals at one Malaysian university. It
will be very useful for teaching OpenOffice.

I have uploaded 3 manuals in pdf format for Writer,Calc and impress in
Files->Learning OpenOffice folder.

Here is the link of the site:

http://opensource.mimos.my/?main=mimos/tcl-mimos

This site is very useful .


Herald.

Hello

I came across a very good analysis of LTSP performance and scalability.

It explains thru graphs and tables the requirement of memory for
different nubmer of clients and for different programs like OPEN
OFFICE,MOZILLA,KONQUERER ETC.

Its 500KB, and 50 pages in size.

You can find it in Files ->linux_analysis.pdf section of this group.

Internet link is here:

http://opensource.mimos.my/fosscon2003cd/workshop/byorganisation.html

Download here:
http://opensource.mimos.my/fosscon2003cd/workshop/slides/08_mohd_toure.pdf


Herald.

Hello

I have uploaded an overview map of LINUX LAND. Dont forget to carry
the map when exploring LINUX LAND.

Files -> linux_map.pdf

Also You can see jpg version of map in

Photos -> linux_map.jpg


Contents of LINUX MAP:
Parts of linux
Applications
Hardwares/devices running Linux
Organisations,Standards,Consortiums,Forums
Major Commercial sponsors,endorsers,promoters of Linux
Distributions of Linux.


To see actual people in Linux Land we have to visit the LINUX LAND.
The map is too small to show them.



Herald.

Hello

Look at the tuxpaint drawings in Photos->Tuxpaint drawings->Mehek folder


Herald.

Hello

In the US, library is an important place for students and even elders
to borrow books,videos, surf the internet because all of these are free.

Some libraries have woken up by the problems they are facing with
Windows systems and have implemented Linux.

Here is a news story.

http://searchenterpriselinux.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid39_=
gci968183,00.html

I have copied some useful paragraphs here:

McNair said the library had considered a Windows turnkey reservation
system on Dell computers that, according to Open-PC's estimates, would
have cost them roughly $1,200 a seat, not counting anticipated Windows
licensing and upgrade fees. "We had a big budget cutback and that went
out the window," McNair said. The cost of comparable thin clients is
about $450 per seat, not including monitors.

While $1,200 a seat might not sound like an incredible expenditure for
an enterprise, for a public library it is virtually unthinkable. Paul
Ballantine, President and CEO of Open-PC, explained that in addition
to having a tiny IT budget, most public libraries are understaffed.

With limited resources, the library had to get resourceful. Using its
existing machines rather than buying new ones, the library turned its
old PCs -- 400 and 700 MHz Pentium boxes -- into thin clients by
switching their hard drives with bootable ROM drives.

The thin clients (both the new boxes and the converted PCs) are
connected to a central terminal server running K12LTSP, with mirrored
drives for reliability. K12LTSP is based on Red Hat Linux and the
Linux Terminal Server Project, and it was designed for educational use.

Despite being a kind of beta site for Open PC, the library's
transition was surprisingly smooth. "There were a few bugs they were
working through, but for the most part it went fairly well," McNair
said. "The public went from Windows to Linux and surprisingly, there
weren't very many problems with that."

Library patrons were able to adapt to using OpenOffice, instead of
Microsoft Office, very quickly. McNair said, "They sort of miss the
templates" Microsoft Office provides for resumes and other documents.
However, library staff has been able to create new templates for their
patrons and save them in OpenOffice.

And the system is still running fine. McNair and OpenPC's Paul
Ballantine concur that both the staff and the patrons are happy using
Linux. The library is working to iron out issues such as floppy disk
access for its patrons.

McNair advised that other organizations looking to migrate to Linux
and/or thin clients should be sure to plan ahead with care to avoid
surprises. "I thought I had spelled out exactly what we needed… some
things had to be tacked on," he said.

Curl said Open-PC had to add some network switches to hook things up,
along with some portable Sony USB diskette drives. The library also
bought a scanner and a copy of PowerTerm, a proprietary terminal
emulator program, for use at the circulation desk.

"Spell out in glaring detail what it is you need to do; look ahead a
year from now. Do it right the first time," McNair said.

Hello

Openoffice files created by children of 11th standard uploaded in
Files section, Learning Openoffice,Openoffice Writer  folder.

There are 3 formats .sxw,.doc and pdf

Please compare the files in MS Word .doc format with pdf format .

These files may be useful as typing material  for teaching
Openoffice.

Files: 1.admission1 - advertisement of Chirec school came in newspaper
        2.sales1     - sales quotation for computer parts
        3.syllabus   - Syllabus of 7th standard science of CBSE

After comparing the accuracy of .doc conversion please give a
feedback.


Herald.

Hi Herald !

I read your mail in LUG yahoo group and am glad to join this group. I
am  really impressed by what you and others at linux_schools are
doing.

I would like to visit your lab soon and see how I can contribute to
make linux popular among schools. I am also interested in making
Python a popular programming language among school kids. Please visit:
www.os4.com/~pugindia.

I am in Gachibowli and you can reach me at 55594197.

cheers,
jay

Hello

I uploade LormaLinux 4.1 a review  presentation in the files secion,
lorma.pdf .

It is mostly Screenshots, 16 pages, 664kb

It is 1 CD distribution based on Fedora Core 1.

Website: linux.lorma.edu

Herald.

Here is a story of LTSP success.


http://searchenterpriselinux.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid39_gci96\
1114,00.html


Some of the points may be helpful for schools.

I  have put here some relevant portion from the news:


medical group has replaced its aging, mixed Novell-Windows desktop
environment with a bevy of thin clients running the Linux Terminal
Server project off a central IBM xSeries server.

The migration has resulted in a 30% cost savings and 100% uptime since
it was completed five months ago.

Taking into account desktop and network maintenance charges, Dr. Echt
initially expected to trim 10% to 15% off his IT budget by converting
to Linux.

The system no longer requires physical tech support. There's nobody on
the floors anymore, there's nobody running around troubleshooting."



"The beautiful part of it is if you have a problem at a workstation,
you will just check the port by swapping the component. It doesn't
have to be done by a tech person," Rosen said.


Ximian Evolution handles e-mail, local calendaring and the task manager.

OpenLDAP is the corporate address book and Webmin manages it.

The staff uses Mozilla to access the Internet and OpenOffice as its
productivity suite.


Rather than managing 200 desktops, Rosen's group keeps its eyes on the
central IBM xSeries server. They configured Zabbix, a free monitoring
tool, to watch the thin clients and connected it to a text paging system.

Once the conversion was done, there was some mop-up operations to do.
Once that was done, [we have been] five months error free," Dr. Echt
said. "No user complaints. No breakdowns. We are error free."

--- In linux_schools@..., "Mahesh T. Pai"
<paivakil@v...> wrote:
> dmartyris said on Sun, Apr 11, 2004 at 11:57:33PM +0000,:
>
>  > Anyone on  this list  from Kerala.  I know that  there are  about a
>  > dozen schools there running LTSP as well.
>
> `A  dozen'  is too  few.  About  200  schools in  Malappuram  district
> installed GNU/Linux. The driving  force behind this initiative, AFAIK,
> is one Mr. Sujeevan P, of an organisation called IIRC, S2S2.
>
> Will ask him ot signup on this list.

Then Kerala is leading in Free Software and Open source front.

200 schools multiplied by 100 students on an average gives 20 thousand
GNU/Linux users.

Children are very curious and fast in experimenting and learning new
things.When they go home and talk about it, the elders also will be
automatically interested in checking what this software is.Similarly
the Engineering students will start getting interest in Free Softwares.

It is very difficult go to Engineering colleges and convince them to
use Free Software . Most of the colleges dont want to experiment with
new things. Also since they are used to the Windows environment, they
will find it uncomfortable to use GNU/Linux. It is not the fault of
Windows or greatness of Windows. It is human tendency to resist new
things or change.Therefore the best way to increase the user base of
GNU/Linux is to introduce it at the school level.

In Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh there are only the private schools to
harvest as the government ones have been captured by Microsoft.


Cheers
Herald.

dmartyris said on Sun, Apr 11, 2004 at 11:57:33PM +0000,:

  > Anyone on  this list  from Kerala.  I know that  there are  about a
  > dozen schools there running LTSP as well.

`A  dozen'  is too  few.  About  200  schools in  Malappuram  district
installed GNU/Linux. The driving  force behind this initiative, AFAIK,
is one Mr. Sujeevan P, of an organisation called IIRC, S2S2.

Will ask him ot signup on this list.


--
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+

   Mahesh T. Pai, LL.M.,
   'NANDINI', S. R. M. Road,
   Ernakulam, Cochin-682018,
   Kerala, India.

   http://paivakil.port5.com

+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+

Thanks for inviting me to join this group.

I am a member of an organization called the Knowledge Initiative
Trust (KIT) that manages the Goa Schools Computers Project
www.gscp.org. There are about 20 schools running LTSP in Goa for 2
years now, and a a couple of dozen schools with a couple of PC's
running stand-alone Linux (We're not sure at this stage how many of
the second category are still running Linux). All the PC's are
recycled PC's.

It would be wonderful to learn from others who are beyond the pilot
stage on issues like sustainability, integration with subject
curriculum, etc.

Anyone on this list from Kerala. I know that there are about a dozen
schools there running LTSP as well.

Best wishes,

Daryl

Hello

I have prepared one outline of a book which would have all that is
needed to be known when somebody wants to go for K12LTSP LAB.

This may take a lot of time for one person to prepare. But if
individuals contribute some chapters, it may be done faster.

You can find the outline in a 4 page pdf file named

k12book1.pdf
K12LTSP BOOK Proposed Outline in the files section.

Pls go thru the material and give feedback.



Any help in preparing this material is highly appreciated.

Cheers
Herald.

I got to know about this list from another mailing list. Happy
to know that there are other initiatives to take GNU/Linux to
schools. In Goa, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and several other places similar
moves are going around.

        I'd wish to take your attention to the Demo@Schools project. It
is an attempt to make free (as in freedom) study materials.

  Demo@Schools

   http://puggy.symonds.net/~suraj/demo-schools/
   http://savannah.nongnu.org/projects/demo-schools

<quote>

The <Demo@Schools> project aims at promoting Free Software to
educational institutes in India.

The project started with the aim of demoing Free Software to
Matriculation schools in Tamilnadu primarily because these schools had
a 'Free' syllabus. A syllabus that each individual school decides. We
thought it would be useful to convince these schools to teach Free
Software.

This repository would be mainly used in writing such textbooks. We
would also be using this repository for a variety of our activities
such as preparing posters, presentations, etc.,.

</quote>

~vimal

--
There is no system but GNU,
and Linux is one of its kernels
see http://www.gnu.org/gnu/linux-and-gnu.html

Hello

I have uploaded tuxpaint drawings on various themes in the
Files,Tuxpaintdrawings,Mr.Abhijits Folders sections.

There are around 66 drawings.


I have also put some of the drawings in Photos section.

Pls go through the drawings and give feedback.


Herald.

Hi HErald,

It looks like a pretty interesting venture to catch
the children young and teach them the basics of
GNU/Linux.

Over here in goa, there is a similar porject going on,
called the GOa School Computers Project. www.gscp.org.
At GSCP, Arvind Yadav and the Goa Linux users group,
ilug-goa@yahoogroups.com have been trying to replace
the propreitory software on the school machines to
GNU/Linux completely.

Hope u found that useful.

I havent gone through the study material as of yet..
Will post that soon.

About Open Office, what can I say... Its the best..

Regards
Ashutosh

  --- jj3kk <jj3kk@...> wrote: > Hello
> I am Herald right now in Hyderabad.
>
> I have been using OOo since more than six month and
> I started liking it.
>
> I went thru your mail from belgaum linux users
> group.
>
> Please join the group below where you can find one
> study material for
> children on linux and computers , prepared using
> Open office.
> The material is around 40 pages.
>
>
> http://in.groups.yahoo.com/group/linux_schools/
>
>
> You can find pdf as well as sxw files.
> Also give your feedback about the study material
>
> Thanks in advance
> Herald.
>
>

________________________________________________________________________
Yahoo! India Insurance Special: Be informed on the best policies, services,
tools and more.
Go to: http://in.insurance.yahoo.com/licspecial/index.html

Hi HErald,

It looks like a pretty interesting venture to catch
the children young and teach them the basics of
GNU/Linux.

Over here in goa, there is a similar porject going on,
called the GOa School Computers Project. www.gscp.org.
At GSCP, Arvind Yadav and the Goa Linux users group,
ilug-goa@yahoogroups.com have been trying to replace
the propreitory software on the school machines to
GNU/Linux completely.

Hope u found that useful.

I havent gone through the study material as of yet..
Will post that soon.
  --- jj3kk <jj3kk@...> wrote: > Hello
> I am Herald right now in Hyderabad.
>
> I have been using OOo since more than six month and
> I started liking it.
>
> I went thru your mail from belgaum linux users
> group.
>
> Please join the group below where you can find one
> study material for
> children on linux and computers , prepared using
> Open office.
> The material is around 40 pages.
>
>
> http://in.groups.yahoo.com/group/linux_schools/
>
>
> You can find pdf as well as sxw files.
> Also give your feedback about the study material
>
> Thanks in advance
> Herald.
>
>

________________________________________________________________________
Yahoo! India Insurance Special: Be informed on the best policies, services,
tools and more.
Go to: http://in.insurance.yahoo.com/licspecial/index.html

Hi,
Good to see some enthusiasts on advancing Linux from Schoolage.  Would be happy to hear more such things.

Thanks
pradeep

On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 linux_schools wrote :
>--- In linux_schools@..., "vprataprao_in"
><vprataprao_in@y...> wrote:
>Hello Sir
>We can definitely help you out in this regard.
>Please send the address details and a time suitable after 2 pm. We
>can
>come to your school with K12LTSP .
>There are lot of educational software in K12LTSP which can even be
>used by Nursery/LKG UKG students also.
>Pls download the study material on computers and linux for children
>which has introduction to some of the educational softwares for
>children found in K12LTSP. You can find it in Files section of this
>group. There are pdf and Open office writer versions.
>You can also see some excellent drawings by one sixth class student
>using tuxpaint.
>If it is convenient for you, you can also visit our lab in
>Chikkadpally after 4 pm anyday.
>Pls contact offlist  on linux_schools  at yahoo dot com  for more
>details about the address etc.
>(pls create the proper email id from above)
>Herald .

--- In linux_schools@..., "vprataprao_in"
<vprataprao_in@y...> wrote:


Hello Sir

We can definitely help you out in this regard.

Please send the address details and a time suitable after 2 pm. We
can
come to your school with K12LTSP .

There are lot of educational software in K12LTSP which can even be
used by Nursery/LKG UKG students also.

Pls download the study material on computers and linux for children
which has introduction to some of the educational softwares for
children found in K12LTSP. You can find it in Files section of this
group. There are pdf and Open office writer versions.

You can also see some excellent drawings by one sixth class student
using tuxpaint.


If it is convenient for you, you can also visit our lab in
Chikkadpally after 4 pm anyday.

Pls contact offlist  on linux_schools  at yahoo dot com  for more
details about the address etc.

(pls create the proper email id from above)


Herald .

Hi,
	 I happen to be the correspondent of a High School in
Goshamahal and a Linux enthusiast. I am interested in introducing
Linux in my school. I have about four / five computers in the
computer lab. I am running Fedora on two of them, though I have not
been successful in networking them.
	 I was on the look out for some useful software for school
kids based on linux. At last I have found a group to cater to the
needs of schools.
	 I am certainly ready to implement Linux in my school.
	 Kindly let me know the details.
					 Thanking in advance,
					 Aditya Pratap V.

>
> Simons,
>       I am even impressed by the way you are working towards making Linux as a
preferred choice with lots of applications installed than windows.
>       The scripts that you are ready to share will really be helpful for the
guys who would want to implement the LTSP.
>
> And lastly as I prefer to hear people use Linux not by mere OpenSource
philosophy, but by its power. That was the reason I started using it in '98-'99
and been working to advocate its usage.
>
> Thanks
> Pradeep
>


Here's the makeuser.sh file first.  I have it in /home/makeuser.sh   With LTSP,
it's best to have autologin users as ws001 to wsnnn   I use ws000 as my 'source'
user, where I can log in and set up options like Mozilla settings, Openoffice
settings, etc.  I don't let anyone log in as ws000

#!/bin/sh

# Note - don't use with an existing username!

if [ "$1" == "" ] ; then
         exit
fi

if [ "$1" == "ws000" ] ; then
	 exit
fi

# Create the new user
adduser $1

# Add them to the users group
usermod -G users,games $1

# Create their home folder
mkdir /home/$1

# Copy the 'ws000' user's folder to the new username
rsync -aux /home/ws000/ /home/$1/

# Change all the permissions in that folder to the new user
chown -R $1:users /home/$1

# Remove the OLD kde stuff - sockets, etc
rm /home/$1/.kde/*-Old

# remove the current .kde sockets
rm /home/$1/.kde/tmp-tux
rm /home/$1/.kde/socket-tux


# Get admin to change the password
passwd $1

# remove the OpenOffice stuff
rm /home/$1/.sversionrc

# remove the mozilla/netscape stuff
rm -rf /home/$1/.mozilla
rm -rf /home/$1/.phoenix
rm -rf /home/$1/.netscape
rm -rf /home/$1/.netscape6

echo "Now you have to log in as this user and run Firebird once."
echo "Then run 'sh update.sh'"

This one's my 'update.sh' script, kept in /home   It reads settings from user
ws000

Note that /home/firebird-share is a folder which contains the prefs.js file all
users share.  only user ws000 has write permission, so nobody else can change
it.

/home/ws000 also contains a symlink from /home/icewm-shared  to
/home/ws000/.icewm   This folder contains the ICEWM window manager settings and
menus, and it's read-only for all users other than ws000.   I can submit these
later too, if required.


#!/bin/bash

# update.sh: This script is designed to automatically perform non-destructive
# per-user changes and updates.


FIRST=1
LAST=10   # If you go over 999 you must edit the if/else with a -lt 1000 entry

for i in `seq $FIRST $LAST`;

do


	 # If $FIRST is 1 and $LAST is 16, $USER will be set to values
	 # ws001 to ws016, sequentially.


	 if [ $i -lt 10 ]; then

		 #single-digit number, e.g. ws003
		 USER="ws00"$i

	 elif [ $i -lt 100 ]; then

		 # 2-digit number, e.g. ws013
		 USER="ws0"$i

	 else

		 # 3-digit number, e.g. ws450 (That's some network!)
		 USER="ws"$i

	 fi

	 echo "----------------------"
	 echo "Modifying: "$USER
	 echo "----------------------"

	 # Ensure this user is in the necessary groups
	 usermod -G users,games $USER

	 # Remove the MozillaFirebird prefs.js file
       #  (Shows a non-fatal error if it's not there)

	 rm /home/$USER/.phoenix/default/`ls /home/$USER/.phoenix/default/`/prefs.js

	 # Link to a system prefs.js in /home/firebird-share/prefs.js
	 ln -s /home/firebird-share/prefs.js /home/$USER/.phoenix/default/`ls
/home/$USER/.phoenix/default/`/prefs.js


	 # -------------------------------------------------
	 # Add your own stuff here.  I use ws000 as the source for all changes,
	 # so as an example if you install Wine and want to link all ws users
	 # to the same wine folder, you can do

	 # (/home/wine is the wine config folder, shared between ws users)

	 # rm -rf /home/$USER/.wine
	 # ln -s /home/wine /home/$USER/.wine


	 cp -R /home/ws000/.scribus /home/$USER/
	 chown -R $USER.users /home/$USER/.scribus

	 echo "icewm" > /home/$USER/.wmrc

	 # OpenOffice setup.
	 cat /home/ws000/.sversionrc | sed s/ws000/$USER/ > /home/$USER/.sversionrc
	 chown $USER.users /home/$USER/.sversionrc

         cp -R /home/ws000/OpenOffice.org1.1.0 /home/$USER/
	 chown -R $USER.users /home/$USER/OpenOffice.org1.1.0

	 mkdir /home/$USER/.openoffice
         cp -R /home/ws000/.openoffice/1.1.0 /home/$USER/.openoffice/
	 chown -R $USER.users /home/$USER/.openoffice

	 # -------------------------------------------------

done

Herald,
        Nice to hear you are able to influence some schools to use Linux and help them in the process.  Hope the school you mentioned would get the PC's donated from the Bank as promised.

I was writing to Simons as I thought, I was addressing the group. I did not realize that I was addressing your yahoo mail id, instead of the group id.

Just now forwarded the mail to the group and hope Simons would look at it.

Cheers
Pradeep




On Mon, 15 Mar 2004 Linux Schools wrote :
>Hello
> > You may share if any schools have
> > started using them in Hyderabad, which we can use as
> > a reference for other schools. I remember you
> > sharing with us about some school in other state.
>
>Actually now I am working in a High school . SBI
>promised to give 2 computers (P III old ) from Nov
>2003. but they delayed the matter and promised to give
>them in April.
>
>Some Correspondent from Goshamahal has installed
>Fedora on 2 systems it seems. He want to see k12ltsp
>setup. He will come to see the k12ltsp lab.
>
>
> >  I checked the drawings of tuxpaint, they are just
> > too good. Especially the last one in which penguins
> > trying to hit the pot was very good! It should be a
> > lot of interest generating for the school children.
>
>I invited the author of tuxpaint Mr.Bill Kendrick to
>the group and he has joined. He also has uploaded the
>art using tuxpaint at tuxpaint website. You can see
>them in the following link. I am really happy about
>it.
>
>http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/tuxpaint/gallery/
>
> > Simons,
> >      I am even impressed by the way you are working
> > towards making Linux as a preferred choice with lots
> > of applications installed than windows.
> >        The scripts that you are ready to share will
> > really be helpful for the guys who would want to
> > implement the LTSP.
> >
> > And lastly as I prefer to hear people use Linux not
> > by mere OpenSource philosophy, but by its power.
> > That was the reason I started using it in '98-'99
> > and been working to advocate its usage.
> >
> > Thanks
> > Pradeep
>
>This mail will not go to simons. Or did u send it
>seperately also ?
>
>Yes you are right. We should use Linux because it
>solves lot of our problems . It works, it works
>greatly, No virus problems, great security, no
>crashes, and last it is Free.
>
>Thanks
>Herald.