> > 2010/11/11 Raj Mathur (राज माथुर) <[email protected]>: > > On Wednesday 10 Nov 2010, [email protected] wrote: > >> I have just signed a petition to put Indian interests above the > >> interests of foreign nuclear corporations. Please see the mail below > >> and sign the petition at > >> http://www.greenpeace.org/india/en/Tell-manmohan-singh-to-stop-impor > >> t-of-untested-nuclear-reactors/ > > > > That's wonderful, and it would be even more wonderful if you didn't pass > > on your whole address book indiscriminately to some web service so that > > it could spam the world with your achievement. > > > > Please stay on topic. > On Thu, Nov 11, 2010 at 10:53 AM, Sayan "Riju" Chakrabarti < [email protected]> wrote:
> How, /me asks, is this relevant to FOSS? > I guess to the very minor extent (and then, it is only polite to spell it out) that nuclear power systems are presently at risk, and not a very minor one either, of infection via Windows-based viruses, specifically STUXNET. It therefore makes sense for those responsible for decisions on Indian nuclear plants to ensure that the entire computing environment networked to the SCADA used for managing the nuclear complex should be virus-free, and since the current virus is Windows based, Windows-free. Given that necessity, it makes a lot of sense for this environment to be FOSS based. [We are separately pursuing (by we, I mean several of us on this list and off it, and again, we have not chosen the online petition route) the use of non-FOSS-based software within the UIDAI schemes. imho this is an adjunct to our list-based consensual decision to actively chase down and halt non-FOSS based public investments in the provision of ICTs for education]. Of course, the current petition doesn't actually cover this necessity, so as far as our list is concerned, we should be proactively creating a new one, to ensure that any new nuclear plants (and the existing ones) are safeguarded. Another weakness in the petition is the fact that it has no specific information about whether India has actually ordered one of these reactors, which are allegedly going to be installed in Maharashtra (the nearest is a statement by noted activist Vivek Monteiro, quoted in a third level link from the petition page. I'm not arguing that it isn't true, I have no idea, frankly, but only that there is no obvious or direct link to, or mention of, any report about this decision). We could also petition that continuing down the nuclear energy path is foolish, dangerous, and a wasteful use of our resources, but that is neither here nor there as far as this list is concerned (just thought I would sneakily snuck in my personal opinion while the topic is open). -- Vickram Fool On The Hill <http://communicall.wordpress.com>
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