- Amit Sen Gupta
- by Michele Boldrinand & David K. Levine
Articles
The Google and the CHINA story
- Prabir Purkayastha
The media has covered the Google story as one of an intrepid new age company fighting an authoritarian Chinese state in its quest for privacy data of Google users in China. What is left unsaid in this story is that the US has complete access to all Google privacy data of all gmail account holders. There is a great deal of hypocrisy in Google’s account of how they are fighting censorship and jealously guarding the private data of their users
The Open-PC: one step closer to open-hardware
At the Gran Canaria Open Desktop Summit in July 2009, the Open-PC project was announced. The statement said the project aimed to “cooperatively design a Free Software based computer by and for the community”. Further this PC would use only hardware for which there are free software drivers available. This would be a PC with the minimal compromise required for running a free desktop. In January 2010 the project announced the launch of its first product.
Cloud computing is a trap, warns GNU founder Richard Stallman
Richard Stallman on cloud computing: "It's stupidity. It's worse than stupidity: it's a marketing hype campaign." Photograph: www.stallman.org
Interview with Richard Stallman
Please find below an excerpt of the interview byJeremy Andrews with Richard Stallman.
JA: The story of your encounter with non-free printer software in the early 80's is very well known. This incident ultimately resulted in your founding the GNU Project in 1984, and the Free Software Foundation in 1985. You have remained quite active in this movement ever since, as a public speaker and a prolific author of free software. Of which of your many achievements in the past two decades are you the most proud?
Bio-Tech Patents and Developing countries
We have been seeing Scientific inventions in the form of drugs from animals and plants for few decades. These inventions are either done with genetic breeding or ordinary cross-breeding. From these inventions comes new life forms. Just the way we Human-beings are one of the life form. Well, creating a life-form is something i.e very enthralling and fun. But owning it, is questionable and definately a matter for debate. Putting such a huge power in the hands of few is not only dangerous, it is also un-acceptable.
GNU/Linux and Decentralized development
What is unique about Free Software is not just its Four Freedoms which ‘govern’ it but also its development model - Decentralised development. Not having a central authority to govern the development and the happenings would lead to a weak organization, but on the contrary in the Software paradigm Not-having-a-central-authority have become its strength. When the question is asked, why should there be a central authority? the most reasonable answer can be for-coordination.
Patenting of Software - II
Indian mathematicians came up with the concept of the “zero” — often touted as India’s greatest contribution to civilization, and if they would have got patent for it - by now they would have accumulated inestimable sum of money in royalty. Seems absurd? Free Software community say that patenting every other algorithm, computer programs and most important one - the ideas, would be somewhat in the same league.
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