[Fsf-india] FSF.org.in

[Raghavendra Bhat]

Gopal posts:

> a talk on advocacy started here  on FSF-India.  Let's not let this die
> down.
 
It is indeed a welcome change to find a very techie guy wanting more GNU
advocacy.  Thank you for this and as you have rightly put, we have to be
ever more  vigilant on protecting the  *freedoms* that we  have with us.
We see people  trying to make a compromise here and  we should never let
that happen.   People wanting to  call `free' software as  `open' source
for the  mere convenience  of substituting `free'  with a  nice sounding
word 'open'.

During RMS'  last visit, a  ranking professor was suggesting  to replace
the word `free' with `open' in  the handouts to be printed.  I asked him
that this  shall not happen, but  he was insistent saying  that there is
this `negative'  connotation with  the word `free',  he was  saying that
people associate  a `free' product  as a shoddy  one, as if  handing out
`freebies' along  with an  X commercial product.  "Hey, look, here  is a
`free' pen if you buy two packets of Y wheat flour".  This `free' pen is
badly  made and one  of the  cheapest available.   He was  implying that
people associate *free* software with the afore-mentioned `free' pen :(

The  need of the  hour is  more discussions  about *free*  software than
churning out code..."don't show us the code, do you know what the GNU is
all about ?"


> when & where is RMS landing. Where are his visits ..etc...

I  understand that  RMS  will be  proceeding  to Pune  after landing  at
Bombay.  Maybe he will be giving  a talk at IUCAA or some-such place and
proceed to  Bangalore/Chennai.  Alex/AB can  you tell us more  about his
plans at Bangalore.  I would like to hear him at Bangalore and would not
mind  traveling down  to our  `infocity'.  From  Chennai, RMS  would be
going to Delhi and would be flying back Stateside.

Can someone give more info ? 

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