[smc-discuss] Re: FSFS conference - some issues which are not raised.

[ashik salahudeen]

Hi , I am a community member who was present at the venue.

> 1. widespread use of proprietoty packages(like MS office, VISTA) at
> the conference. i think nobody resisted this at the conference venue

This , as the organizers have already pointed out the ilug-tvm
mailinglist , was a mistake on their part. IMHO though , we shouldn't
force our opinions on anyone.  Be it a speaker

> 2. regarding the sponsors - there were sponsors like smartcity. what
> is the role of smart city here at FSFS. they are all the way promoting
> all the proprietory people in a big way at all the parks promoted by
> them.

I am not for or against smart city. But i am curious as to who all are
the proprietory companies being promoted by smart city.

> 3. the amount of money spent for the seminar. i came to know that the
> total expenditure of the event is around 80 lakhs. i understand that
> the government has spent huge money for the event.. then why spnsors
> like smart city? what is the result of this huge expenditure? was it
> an event for some guys to "become smart"

They ( organizers ) are planning for an open audit , with community
members included. Already this has been announced in ilug-tvm
mailinglist, where the issue was raised.

> 4. apart from all this heavy funding, the registration charges were
> high. there was an announcement that the dinner will be served. and
> the coupens were also supplied. but the dinner was denied. "who ate my
> dinner ?"

Yeah , we are also curious about it. Volunteers didnt get any food.

> 5. at the linux install fest at exhibition hall, there were
> advertisements of Novel and Suselinux. Why no body objected it. i
> understand that this stall was organised by lug - trivandrum. i
> remember the big protest happened at CUSAT conference

Since SMC's stall operated next to FSUG tvm ( ilug-tvm) stall and i
was manning the stall for two days , i can confirm that Novell and
Suse were not seen anywhere on the premises. This is either based on
hearsay or is a blatant lie. The only Suse present was inside the
Freedom Toaster.


> 6. Many glamourous speakers were not from FOSS community. One of the
> main speakers is running a company which has most of their development
> is Microsoft ( and they are a partner of microsoft). why nobody
> noticed it.

Free and Open Source doesn't mean Non Microsoft . There are many FOSS
applications that run on Microsoft Windows. Iam curious as to who this
main speaker is. If you are hinting at Neville Roy Singham ( Cheif of
Thoughtworks ) i think you havent heard his keynote or do not know
much about Thoughtworks. wikipedia says " ThoughtWorks is a global IT
consultancy which focuses on Agile software development. The company
has contributed a range of open source products, including
CruiseControl, NUnit 2.0, and Selenium"  . I will upload relevant
parts of it to youtube over the weekend.

> my basic doubt is that, what our key people including anivar were
> silent there.
Anivar did raise his concern when the situation demanded it.

i am having a great admiration towards our members who
> present there. but no body resisted. are we fearing somebody. Or are
> we trying to please somebody. it looks very suspecious. The champs who
> made big noices and protests earlier were all silent here. what does
> it mean? the ealier protests were all "just media show". I wonder. v
> can't blame the organisers. they are goverment officials. but what
> about our volunteers
I am now wondering about why you are being vitriolic. I did not see
you at SMC's community stall , volunteering for anything. Please do
read about what happened at CUSAT and why an issue occurred there. It
has been discussed in this mailinglist before and SMC has issued a
statement regarding it (
http://fci.wikia.com/wiki/SMC/StatementOnNCFS2008Kochi )

Regards,
Ashik S

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