[Fsf-friends] Arkoprovo's suggestion(s) and thoughts thereon

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

hi,
arkoprovo makes some valid points about the presence and footprint of the
GNU/Linux movement in the country. But i think we better take a good look at
what is happening in reality. instead taking the platform as a viable,
stable, economically beneficial and socially altruistic alternative to
proprietary/closed source software, state governments are actually using
this as a bait to drive/hammer down prices of you-know-what software. this
does not serve the movement nor the purpose of the activism. on a truly
national level, opinion must be created alongwith awareness about the
stability and the viability of the system. for more on what is happening, i
suggest the mar'03 issue of the [most unfortunately named] LinuxForYou.
Frederick Noronha in one part of his column [nice one FN btw !!] outlines
the malaise that is slowly creeping through. *free as in speech and not as
in beer* might have been a rallying cry towards critical mass, but *freedom
matters* should be the wardrums that roll. freedom matters and ideas matter.
throughout history, man has risen against all odds, braved mighty
challenges, driven by the sheer will and desire to be free. if such strong
is the quest for freedom then i see no reason why we will not have people
contributing. the only hitch is that in all FSF cause espousals we see the
same faces. this is good as it reinforces belief and faith in the system.
but we need to see new faces, new ideas, new projects and more importantly
national awareness of such events. we need to synergise and form symbiotic
relationships with related efforts and grow in unison.
regards
sankarshan


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