Gandhi Peace Foundation

An upcoming seminar on Free Software will be presented by the "Indian Linux User Group, Cochin Chapter" on 7th April 2007 at Ernakulam. We are thinking of several topics for the seminar. Primary importance would be given to the aspect of Freedom and rights in the field of Information Technology.

I also think that the importance of an Operating System to a common man and how Free Software and GNU/Linux can affect him also need to discussed.

Free Software Article in "Info Madhyamam"

The article composed by Balakrishnan Sir, Venkat, Reju and me has been published in the Information Technology supplement of Madhyamam a leading newspaper of Kerala on Friday 9th March 2007.

The article talks about the core concepts of Free Software and most importantly about the misconceptions behind the term "Free Software". Apart from these the article also mentions some history of Free Software and the GNU Movement. The "Open source" term has been explained briefly.

Since the article is a part of a series planned by us on behalf of the "Indian Linux User's Group (Cochin Chapter)", it also talks about GNU/Linux, explains "distributions" and sets the stage for a more detailed explanation in the coming articles.

Suswagatham

The purpose of this blog is to spread awareness about free software, educate people and help them switch over to free software. Since being an active member of the Indian Linux(Libre) user group, Cochin Chapter discussions relating to the activities of the group will also take place.

Although the highlight is on Free Software, this blog is not just another FOSS mouthpiece like the numerous ones on the web, because here i intend to discuss serious issues of how to utilize free software to create a self sustaining knowledge rich community of students, professionals and the common people in the Kerala State of India.

Since the Kerala government has already taken steps to implement such a community we now need to analyze the existing situation and try to implement this concept sucessfully. What i am trying to emphasize here is that this blog is not just for Free Software enthusiasts, but for everyone from the society, because we need to counter the knowledge scarcity problem our society faces today and we need to bring back the glory of the 100% literate state.