[Fsf-friends] Test, ignore pls...

[Frederick Noronha]

On Thu, 2 Jan 2003, Nagarjuna G. wrote:
 
> There is a temporary domain problem, which is more or less fixed with
> ncst.  the domain will begin working soon.  If you have problems
> please add cc4.tifr.res.in to the mail domain, e.g.,
> fsf-friends@cc4.tifr.res.in.
> 
> Sorry for the trouble.
> 
> Nagarjuna
> 
> 
> On Thu, Jan 02, 2003 at 05:42:59PM +0530, Frederick Noronha wrote:
> > Am getting a 'host not found' message from this address. FN
> > 
> > 
> > The original message was received at Wed, 1 Jan 2003 17:17:28 +0530 (IST)
> > from IDENT:root@dialup-74-238.goatelecom.com [61.1.74.238]
> > 
> > <fsf-friends@gnu.org.in>
> >     (reason: 550 Host unknown)
> > 
> > 550 5.1.2 <fsf-friends@gnu.org.in>... Host unknown (Name server: gnu.org.in: host not found)
> 
> > Reporting-MTA: dns; goatelecom.com
> > Received-From-MTA: DNS; dialup-74-238.goatelecom.com
> > Arrival-Date: Wed, 1 Jan 2003 17:17:28 +0530 (IST)
> > 
> > Final-Recipient: RFC822; fsf-friends@gnu.org.in
> > Action: failed
> > Status: 5.1.2
> > Remote-MTA: DNS; gnu.org.in
> > Diagnostic-Code: SMTP; 550 Host unknown
> > Last-Attempt-Date: Wed, 1 Jan 2003 17:19:54 +0530 (IST)
> 
> > Date: Wed, 1 Jan 2003 17:04:05 +0530 (IST)
> > From: Frederick Noronha <fred@bytesforall.org>
> > Subject: Re: Likely problem...
> > To: Sukrit D <sd_root@yahoo.com>
> > cc: p_lug@yahoogroups.com, fsf-friends@gnu.org.in,
> >        linux-india-general@lists.sourceforge.net
> > 
> > Sukrit, forwarding your mail to LIG, since the debate came up
> > there. Also to the Free Software Foundation-India mailing list, where
> > another set of views prevail.
> > 
> > Personally, my view is (i) we nee to give credit where credit is
> > due, and since many of the tools are from GNU, it would be unfair to call
> > the whole Operating System just after the kernel (though the media keeps
> > doing this repeatedly; the media also terms 'crackers' as
> > 'hackers'...) (ii) personally, one thing that appears important to me
> > is the issue of freedom (not just freedom of choice placed before a
> > consumer, but the freedom that empowers you to run a program for any
> > purpose, study how it works, redistribute copies and improve the
> > program.... this is what GNU emphasises on (iii) the Open Source movement
> > was launched in 1998, and strategically aimed at garnering acceptance for
> > "Linux" from the business world... while this is important, one would
> > maintain that we should not lose sight of our other perspectives while
> > doing so.
> > 
> > Re the Bangalore LUG, every group (or individual, or set of
> > individuals)  has or have its/their own set of perspectives on this
> > issue. If you follow the postings of mailing lists in Chennai, Kolkata,
> > Mumbai, Delhi and the large number of smaller LUGs/GLUGs across the
> > country, you will see that each has differing policies.
> > 
> > This is fine. Ultimately it is for each one to decide, and opt for what
> > one feels is important. Some would also argue that the Free Software
> > and the Open Source are two different movements, the first born in the
> > early 'eighties and the latter in the late 'nineties. Interestingly, it
> > was Indian expat Rishab Aiyer Ghosh (based in Netherlands) who used the
> > term FLOSS (Free/Libre and Open Source Software) to have an inclusive term
> > that includes all segments. 
> > 
> > So, given differing priorities and principles, how do we work together? In
> > Goa, different members have their own perspectives, and we do coexist. One
> > of our LUGs, in Margao, changed their name (GLUG) and their website's name
> > after the recent visit to Richard M Stallman to Goa. 
> > 
> > There are many more issues than appear at first sight. If you want to look
> > at more angles, you could read the biography of Stallman, written by Sam
> > Williams (Free as in Freedom-Richard Stallman's Crusade for Free Software,
> > 2001, O'Reilly). It is put out under the GFDL License (anyone can copy
> > it... maybe even print an Indian edition). Some parts of the book are
> > fairly critical of Stallman, but on the whole IMHO, it presents an
> > interesting introduction to the entire debate and related issues.
> > 
> > Incidentally, things have changed a lot and continue to change, in a short
> > period of time. When Linux-India was started some years back, the idea was
> > to name all groups as ILUG-CityName. We half-seriously wanted to name ours
> > GLUG (Goa Linux Users' Group). But this was shot down in the interest of
> > uniformity. Since then, the earlier attempts at working on parallel tracks
> > seem to be diminishing. (Tried writing in to 'Thaths' Chandrashekharan
> > recently, but he must be away in Africa, and mail to his address doesn't
> > go through.)
> > 
> > Anyway, in conclusion, we need to perhaps keep two things in
> > mind. (i) Issues are more complex than they first seem (ii) It would be
> > nice if Linux-India (under whatever name) or any other organisation could
> > help to coordinate between different LUGs/GLUGs, and network among the
> > different smaller groups as used to happen earlier. 
> > 
> > Just a few of my thoughts... I wouldn't say 'musings', since that's the
> > word currently in fashion... from Goa. --FN
> > 
> > On Wed, 1 Jan 2003, Sukrit D wrote:
> > 
> > > guys, im the guy who sorta started plug. i wana hear
> > > wat u guys hav to say abt it. jus keep out the
> > > unhealthy stuff. as important as gnu is to me (iv
> > > mentioned it all over the site) i think its being
> > > given a little too much importance nowadays. frankly
> > > im into linux coz i get the kick out of it. to me its
> > > probably the hippy movement of the 21st century. as
> > > important as gnu is, one can't go about sying "gnoo
> > > linux" all the time. its jus too damn long. gnu is
> > > like the middle name. one jus dosnt use it all the
> > > time.
> > > 
> > > also, plug sounds much better than pglug. besides, has
> > > anyone mentioned anythin similar abt blug? bangalore
> > > linux users group???? not to my knowledge.
> > > 
> > >                              SD.
> > > PS: btw gnu or no gnu, we'v achieved somethin to be
> > > proud of. we'v got over 2000 hits in 4 days of being
> > > online. thanks, fred for more publicity...