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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the state higher secondary directorate introducing free software-based curriculum for higher secondary commerce stream as well, proprietary software products have almost made a final exit from the school and higher secondary education. The department had earlier shown doors to proprietary software products for education in Class I to X and also in computer science and humanity streams in Plus One and Plus Two. But since the proprietary software Tally was used for teaching accounting in commerce stream students, the particular stream was using Windows and Tally for their studies. "We had earlier asked Tally people to customise their product in such a fashion that we can use it in free software-based operating system. But they were not interested in the same. It was then we started scouting for a free software-based accounting software and chose one that fit for our requirement," said IT@School director Anvar Sadath. The search ended at GNUKhata, a free software based accounting software which is user friendly as Tally. According to a directive issued by the state higher secondary directorate, the commerce students can start using the free software and other class 12 students may use either the proprietary or free software for the year. In August 2008, government had instructed all institutions under general education department to strictly use free software alone in all future teaching and training activities and a government order in this regard is in effect. But in the commerce section (computerised accounting system), there was the Tally package in use, which is operational only on a Microsoft Windows platform. This practise often resulted in deployment of pirated software in schools which was not only illegal but also created a Cyber Security threat.

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Free software marks end of Tally in Plus Two commerce ... - Times of India

Who knows the meaning of the word freedom more than Richard Stallman? His Free Software Foundation certifies devices under a program called Respects Your Freedom (RYF). And if we look at the list of accepted devices, the lineup is mostly ruled by a single hardware maker, Technoethical based in Romania.

In an announcement made last week, FSF has certified 15 devices including laptops, Wireless cards, Bluetooth adapters, printers, etc. RYF was first materialized in 2012 and till now the number of devices to get a green signal can count on our fingers.

The list now has a total of six laptops which can tap their back, as FSF thinks they wont cause a dent in peoples personal lives and allow them to control every bit.

These devices from Technoethical are actually refurbished Lenovo Thinkpads running GNU/Linux-libre and Libreboot (a free software boot system) to show a true sense to freedom to the buyer.

New Technoethical laptops in the list:

Other laptops:

Many of these devices might seem outdated in terms of looks and specifications, but they adhere to the freedom standards set forth by the FSF.

Unfortunately, hardware manufacturers have until now relied on close cooperation with proprietary software companies that demanded control over their users, the Foundation argues.

As citizens and their customers, we need to promote our desires for a new class of hardware hardware that anyone can support because it respects your freedom.

You can check out the complete list of devices here. It also includes the devices from other brands accepted in the past.

Got something to add? Drop your thoughts and feedback.

See the rest here:
Nine Most Privacy-Loving Laptops You Can Buy Today Got Stamped By FSF - Fossbytes

Summary: But since the proprietary software Tally was used for teaching accounting in commerce stream students, the particular stream was using Windows and Tally for their studies. The search ended at GNUKhata, a free software based accounting software which is user friendly as Tally.According to a directive issued by the state higher secondary directorate, the commerce students can start using the free software and other class 12 students may use either the proprietary or free software for the year. It was then we started scouting for a free software-based accounting software and chose one that fit for our requirement," said IT@School director Anvar Sadath. Thiruvananthapuram: With the state higher secondary directorate introducing free software-based curriculum for higher secondary commerce stream as well, proprietary software products have almost made a final exit from the school and higher secondary education.The department had earlier shown doors to proprietary software products for education in Class I to X and also in computer science and humanity streams in Plus One and Plus Two . "We had earlier asked Tally people to customise their product in such a fashion that we can use it in free software-based operating system.

Thiruvananthapuram: With the state higher secondary directorate introducing free software-based curriculum for higher secondary commerce stream as well, proprietary software products have almost made a final exit from the school and higher secondary education.The department had earlier shown doors to proprietary software products for education in Class I to X and also in computer science and humanity streams in Plus One and Plus Two . But since the proprietary software Tally was used for teaching accounting in commerce stream students, the particular stream was using Windows and Tally for their studies."We had earlier asked Tally people to customise their product in such a fashion that we can use it in free software-based operating system. But they were not interested in the same.

It was then we started scouting for a free software-based accounting software and chose one that fit for our requirement," said IT@School director Anvar Sadath. The search ended at GNUKhata, a free software based accounting software which is user friendly as Tally.According to a directive issued by the state higher secondary directorate, the commerce students can start using the free software and other class 12 students may use either the proprietary or free software for the year. In August 2008, government had instructed all institutions under general education department to strictly use free software alone in all future teaching and training activities and a government order in this regard is in effect.But in the commerce section (computerised accounting system), there was the Tally package in use, which is operational only on a Microsoft Windows platform.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/thiruvananthapuram/free-software-marks-end-of-tally-in-plus-two-commerce/articleshow/59415126.cms

See more here:
Free software marks end of Tally in Plus Two commerce - NYOOOZ

How to be smart about open source

Open source is everywhere in government, but many agencies still struggle with the specifics of choosing, contracting for and contributing to open-source software projects. GCN spoke with open-source advocates in government and industry, and came away with five fundamental lessons.

1. Be clear about your end goal

The most important thing when selecting a [free and open-source] project is picking one that aligns with your business goals, said Marc Jones, an attorney and longtime systems architect in state government. You do not want to pick a project and then realize you now need to invest a lot of effort into modifications to meet your needs. In that respect, it is very similar to acquiring proprietary software.

Tom Cochran, chief digital strategist and vice president for public sector at Acquia, agreed. It would be myopic for any organization to say, Were going to default to open source for everything, said Cochran, who previously worked at the State Department and the White House. Open source should be considered as part of the suite of possible solutions.... It really needs to be done on a case-by-case basis.

CivicActions CEO Henry Poole, however, argued that open source can and should be an end goal for government. Public funds are paying for the public good, he said. Having that code be publicly available, in my opinion, is the right thing to do, just from the point of view of the taxpayer.... You really want to move your acquisition strategy to paying for new technology, not paying for something that already exists.

At the White House, we actually did plant a flag in the ground saying, It had to be open source, Cochran said. Some of that was in reaction to such poor closed-source systems that we had that we didnt want to be boxed into yet another sort of bad procurement.

Avoiding vendor lock-in is a good reason to seriously consider open source, he added. Theres a massive number of small and midsize companies that can do this. And if you dont like the work or support youre getting, you dont have to re-platform.

Everyone interviewed for this article agreed, however: Each open-source solution should be viewed as a potential tool, but the agency mission must drive the decision about which tool to choose.

2. Know what a healthy open-source project looks like

First make sure the software in question is actually a free and open-source project and that all of the features you want to use are also free and open source, said Jones, who now works at CivicActions. Especially in niche markets, companies will offer what is known as open core, where the base features are FOSS, but the valuable stuff that sets them apart in the market is proprietary.

Even worse, some allegedly open-source projects carry restrictive proprietary licenses. They simply mean that you can view the source code, he said.

Once potential open-source solutions have been identified, ProudCity CEO Luke Fretwell said his firm offers a short checklist to gauge viability.

First, he asked, are there maintainers who are true leaders in the community? Brian Behlendorf and Matt Mullenweg, for example, are the highly collaborative faces of the Apache web server and WordPress, respectively. Thats one litmus test because they are banking their personas and careers on those projects.

Second, Fretwell asked, is there a sustainable business that is basing its primary business model off of this product? If there is, thats another check.

Third is use. The consumption side is important a broad user base means theres demand for continued development but what he looks for is the number of contributing software developers, both individuals and businesses.

Fretwell also said he checks to see whether the open-source project has the standard aspects of any sort of industry. Does it have annual events or local communities that are engaging? Are those active?

Poole echoed those points and stressed the need to analyze the ecosystem around the code.

For the web efforts for former President Barack Obamas White House, Cochran said, Drupal was picked largely because of the community. The bigger the support community is, thats how youre magnifying and amplifying your own engineering team.

3. Pick your vendors wisely

The first and most important thing is to have someone on staff who knows what theyre doing and what theyre talking about, Cochran said. Its even more important to have someone who knows what they dont know.

Honestly, it just comes down to relationships and finding the right people who can help you navigate whichever community it is youre trying to get into, he added.

Fretwell said a contractors qualifications boil down to two things: Show me your code, [and then] how involved are you with the community?

Any organization serious about its open-source contributions will have an active GitHub presence where that work can be examined, he added. And a firm whose employees are maintaining components of an open-source project, speaking at conferences and engaging with other contributors will have the expertise and connections to deliver for an agency.

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How to be smart about open source - GCN.com

If you want a dramatic illustration of how much the industry has changed over the past few years, the free version of Avid Media Composer is as good a starting point as any.

Avid Media Composer | First is not the first high-profile non-linear editor to be reincarnated into a free version. Lightworks has had a free version for years, Media 100 (remember that?) can be had for free, and there are any number of freemium editing tools now hitting the marketplace. But it is possibly the most important, with Avids own figures suggesting that 95% of mainstream movies released in 2016 were edited on the software.

It might not be the totally dominant force it once was, but it is still considered industry-leading by many and is probably the most important free version of a post tool since Blackmagic bought daVinci and set Resolve off down the same path,

Avids been down this path before too, releasing a free version of its ProTools audio software last year. And obviously that all went well enough for it to consider doing it all over again.

So what do you get? Well, for anyone who cut their teeth on the bad old days of free software, a surprisingly large amount. Avid itself likes to say that First goes where other free editing applications leave off. Certainly theres a lot of high level stuff in there, including multicam editing, audio ducking, and the ability to reframe high res sources. It is essentially the same as the paid version, only with a set of limitations that will either bother you hugely or not matter at all depending on where you're coming from.

The main limitation is the number of tracks. MC First is limited to four video, and eight audio tracks as opposed to the full versions 24 and 64 respectively. Data tracks are not supported in First and fully supported in MC. File, value and third-party export is not supported, output tops out at 1080p, colour space is limited to 601/709, and there are a whole bunch of other things in there from the number of bins (5 versus unlimited) to a limited core set of video effects, all of which is designed to funnel users to the paid version.

Even that though is not what it was, with subscription-based pricing starting at $49 a month. Elsewhere in the industry Adobe just posted record figures, its creative division revenue exceeding $1 billion in Q2 of this year, with much of that being driven in turn by its move to a subscription model. In other words: pitch it right and these things work incredibly well.

Media Composer | First is available as a free download now and Avid will be hoping that it has the right mix of free features and nagging limitations to grow the user base while simultaneously enticing increasing numbers into the paid version. It will be interesting to see if it succeeds.

See the article here:
Avid's free Media Composer | First hits the servers - RedShark News (press release)