Top IT guru Stallman's visit to Goa enthuses young techie circuit PANJIM: To hundreds of thousands of coders across the globe, Richard M. Stallman is a real big name. His plan to visit Goa this week has sparked off excitement, including among young enthusiastic students at Farmaguddi's engineering college where he will speak.
In the Farmaguddi engineering college, students are planning a traditional welcome for RMS -- as he is known worldwide -- and banners. RMS's visit is being seen as a historic occasion for Goa's three-decade engineering institution which has created top-notch products like Ashank Desai, head of the Rs 200 crore Mastek software firm in Mumbai. "I think this is the right time and occassion to push the Goa Govt to change their IT syllabus to make the Goa education system swatantra (freedom) software friendly," commented Mahesh T. Pai, one of the Free Software advocates based in South India. "I remember seeing RMS on an interview with Star News the last time he was here in India," commented Clinton Vaz, a polytechnic student from Margao, who's himself deeply interested in GNU/Linux, and learning all about it. In Bangalore, computer campaigners working for Indian-language solutions on the GNU/Linux front, have sought to draw RMS's attention for specific steps that would make computers more useful to Indian users by giving them software usable in their own language. Richard M. Stallman, considered the hero of the Free Software revolution, recently said that Indians are far ahead in recognising the advantages of 'free software'. Stallman has led pioneering efforts to re-engineer the way the world thinks about software. 'Free software', though affordable priced and freely copyable, implies not that the software 'costs nothing', but rather to represent the freedom that the software code itself to be copied, modified and redistributed. Or even sold. Asked how he rates the current status of GNU/Linux software in India, Stallman said: "The number of GNU/Linux users in India is still small. But there are many enthusiasts now who want to do work (both technical and organizational) to spread it. Even some government officials recognize its usefulness." Goa is one of only three destinations -- besides Bangalore and Delhi -- which Stallman will be visiting in India this month. Incidentally, of all Indian states, Goa also has the highest per capita number of registered GNU/Linux users, according to the international Linux Counter. Youngsters in Goa have been writing 'Free' code -- ranging from small utilities to complete library management solutions that have got noticed as far away as in distant Brazil. Stallman (49), the controversial founder of the Free Software Foundation (FSF), is a brilliant coder and MacArthur "genius grant" recipient who single-handedly launched the movement that threatens to beat Microsoft by radically changing the rules of the software game. His recent trip took him to Bangalore. After Goa (Nov 5-7) he flies on to Delhi. On Nov 6, he speaks at the Farmagudi-based Goa College of Engineering. In Bangalore, Stallman has spoken at IT.com, addressed the Computer Society of India and lectured at the IIIT-B on the dangers of software patents. Goa has three GNU/Linux user groups that meet regularly in Panjim, Margao and Farmaguddi. It also has an Internet-based e-list that keeps everyone networked daily. During his 2001 visit to India, Stallman said he was "impressed most of all" by what he called the readiness of many Indians to see free software as a social and political issue, a matter of freedom. "They recognize that the rules imposed on the users of software are important for people's way of life -- that software is not just a matter of what job you can do at what price. I have not seen any other country where so many people could understand this," he said enthusiastically. Stallman however felt that Indians' contribution is a still only a "small fraction" of the world's stock of free software. This is despite the fact that India is considered a global software power-house. But, he conceded, some Indians are now starting to make important contributions. "An Indian programmer is developing debugging aids to make the GNU kernel reliable. An Indian company is developing an important office automation application that should help government agencies and businesses get their work done on free software," Stallman said in the interview. Asked whether countries like India had a particularly strong need for Free Software, Stallman said: "Every country needs free software. Non-free software divides the users and keeps them helpless; it imposes an ugly way of life where people are prohibited from helping each other. This is not good for people anywhere." In his view, the principal importance of free software is that it respects your freedom. This, he argues, is important for computer users everywhere. Over the years, ideas inspired by Stallman and those of global networks like GNU/Linux, have built up ambitious and world-class computer Operating Systems that have been building up into tough competition for commercial software like the Windows of Bill Gates. Stallman has pressed his viewpoint globally, to argue that "free software means you are free to run the program, free to study the program and change it to suit your needs, free to redistribute copies, and free to publish an improved version". Free software provides a secondary benefit which is also important in countries such as India, where there are many people who can just barely afford a computer, as the guru of free software noted. In the resource-poor, talent-rich developing world, users can save on license fees by lawfully redistributing copies of software to each other. "But important as this is, it is not as important as freedom to live an upright life and help your neighbour," argues Stallman. In the Southern Indian state of Kerala, the global guru of free software was designated a state guest. Stallman, who loves Carnatic classical music, says he enjoyed a classical concert in Kochi and adds: "I hope they enjoy my software as much as I enjoyed their music." (ENDS) Programme: 4 pm, Nov 6, Farmaguddi GEC. Stallman speaks to students. If you plan to attend, please intimate Animesh <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ To unsubscribe from Goanews Send a mail message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: 'unsubscribe goanews'
