hi everyone!

[Nirmal Thacker]

arky introduced me a few days back, on the lists. my name is nirmal
thacker. im a UG student in BMSCE. thats all about me, but there was
something on my mind which i'd like to share.

i had signed the VTU petition for the use of open source software a
long time back. i was not aware of this lists at that time. anyways
have you guys heard of EDUSAT? it is a distance learning project
already in full swing by VTU. and Microsoft Corp is a major part of
it. heres the link to the edusat site: http://elearning.vtu.ac.in/

heres the link to the several newspaper articles of edusat. you will
find several instances of Microsoft helping EDUSAT in different ways
:http://elearning.vtu.ac.in/inmedia.htm#

what im getting at is will VTU still use open source software? after
all if microsoft is playing a huge role in EDUSAT , VTU may feel
commited towards them although the use of open source software is
beneficial for both them and us.

Secondly, again before joining up for this lists i had decided that i
would do my bit for the open source community by distributing CD's
like GNU/ linux distros, open source software collection and anything
related to it (on cds!) for free. since we have a newsletter in our
college, where im actively involved , making announcements are easy.
and i really dint mind spending a bit of money ( an empty cd today
costs only about 9/8 rs each, if bought in bulk) if i could convince
people of the benefits of this new revolution. Cant we do the same? i
mean as a group , our reputation would increase if we began in ways
such as these. who knows , you may then get sponsors to distribute
open source stickers, t shirts, etc.

one of the best ways to spread anything related to engineering
students is by getting involved with the various fests held by the
colleges.

please send in your replies and opinions. do we have some kinda
meetings ? im new around here so im not sure

thanks again for letting me be a part of this!

nirmal thacker