--- Kenneth Gonsalves wrote:
> On 31-Mar-07, at 1:28 PM, Nagarjuna G. wrote:
>
> >> pro or anti is irrelevant - since doze is not
> open source, we cant
> >> do anything about defects. So why waste our time
> complaining about
> >> it? If you have paid for vista and cant compile
> something this
> >> list is not the place to complain ...
> >
> > It is clearly a matter of concern if free software
> like firefox,
> > openoffice, GIMP, inkscape, blender etc are
> compiled for Vista, and
> > if they don't take full advantage of the system
> due to restriction
> > of the OS. User's will assume that free software
> works less
> > efficiently, without understanding that the cause
> is due to their
> > digital restrictions management. Let us remember
> that most of free
> > software today is inter operable, except of course
> the kernel Linux.
>
> agreed - so what can this list do about it?
> Especialy as probably
> vista was designed with this idea in mind. As i said
> originally -
> dont worry, just migrate to linux.
I trust your remark is rhetorical. There is PLENTY a
list like this can do, being vibrant and full of aware
people as well as people who lurk to learn.
You can work with the cybercafe initiative (which is a
brilliant and practical idea, and having watched it
emerge from the discussions over the past couple of
weeks, I really applaud the consensual method) to
create a working distro that addresses the needs of
tomorrow's computer users, unlike the bloatware that
is increasingly irrelevant and inherently expensive to
use, and that never succeeds in emerging productively
from the morass of contraditictions that is the DRM
world.
You can work with each other (all of us) to create
better installers, that deliver not just simpler
install routines but also address the mix of h/w and
peripherals in the real world.
You can help put together a visual platform (qua Aqua)
that will deliver designs that match anything that
comes from the Mac world (the only competition, as far
as this aspect is concerned, IMHO Vista is so far
behind, you wonder - well, I wonder - whether they
even know what visual delight means).
And then there's work pending on a FOSS mobile
interface to deliver the announced features of the
iPhone for an Indian audience (localised, the works) -
that will run on any Linux-enabled mobile box.
In the legal playing field, the FOSS movement in India
doesn't have the kind of groundswell 'critical mass'
to pursue court battles against restrictive practices
such as the unsigned pamphlet the Bombay Police put
out for cybercafes. We need to identify the root
causes of this apathy (ie, it is awareness? is it
funding?) and address them in a structured manner. As
we all know, there are many more restrictive practices
in place that make it difficult for ordinary users to
switch comfortably.
We need to find a way of placing people in key
organisations in the civil society movement (many of
these organisations pay quite well, actually, and
prefer persons who have an all-round approach to work,
rather than tightly focused on, say, being a sysad
24/7). Such people will play a key role in bring such
organisations directly into the FOSS movement. We also
need to make visible persons who work in medium and
large commercial organsations to come and talk - at
LUG meets, for instance - on the use of FOSS in their
operations.
Just some food for thought. If some or all of these
things begin to happen, you can be sure that the
developers in the 'doze world will think twice about
letting restrictive software out into the real world.
I just saw Nagarjuna's post about being at HBSCE all
of today, and must say, talk about communication gap,
I didn't notice ANY post from anyone saying the venue
would be available all day. I could easily have been
there earlier, but am now committed to only getting
there in the evening.
Vickram
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