Bonum Certa Men Certa

Friendly 'Boycott Novell' Supportes Robbed of Voice

[was: "Novell Does Not Like Being Criticised," but corrected later]

Achtung Polizei

Protest in India



WHY WOULD Novell and/or its affiliates organisers of a Free sofwtare conference suppress friendly opposition to Novell? A group of Free software supporters spread material that explains why Novell is harmful to freedom, but they needed to confront policemen just to voice their views.

What ever happened this world we're living in? Arky has some photos and a concise explanation.

Here is blow by blow account of trouble that brewed up on the second day of National Conference on Free Software 2008 in Cochin university. The activists put up posters against the Novell Corp (the main sponsor of this event) at the Free Software exhibition complex.

The organisers called up Kochi police and man handled the Anivar Aravind a former student of the Cochin University and a well known free software activist.



Here are some comments that add to the overall message.

In theory anyone should be free to promote free software; in practice what's happening is quite alarming. What's free software without free speech and free thought and its own brand of dissent and how can this conference's organizers miss that?

I'm glad Anivar and others stood up. Conference organizers' discomfort with them is understandable, but they clearly don't "get" free software, which is clearly a grassroots movement that has nothing to do with police state. They don't get it at all when they send police to handle known faces in the community.

[...]

I'm willing to be corrected of all this "prejudice", but what just happened has only substantiated my worries. I'm glad you were there to report this incidence, let's now look forward to the organizer's version of The Truth (TM).


With censorship and control, it is easier to tell one's twisted version of the 'truth'.

The following addendum also adds rather disturbing information:

I updated the blog and posted few more photos from the main venue of the event and preparations for the protest.

Most of the mobile phones were taken and pictures deleted, I was lucky enough to get out in time.


"Quickly. Quickly. Got to destroy the evidence."

Fortunately, the word is spreading pretty fast.

Free Software Activist Anivar Aravind is mishandled by police at National Conference on Free Software 2008 organized in Cochin university. The Free Software activists where protesting against the biggest enemies of Free Software, Novell who is the sponsor of the event !!!!


This is also discussed in local mailing lists. Here are some early messages.







On Sun, Nov 16, 2008 at 2:04 PM, Praveen A <pravi.a@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > > From: Rakesh 'arky' Ambati <rakesh_ambati@yahoo.com> > > Date: 2008/11/15 > > Subject: [FSUG-Bangalore] Boycott Novell Protesters Man-handled at > > National Conference on Free Software 2008 > > To: fsf-friends@mm.gnu.org.in, fsug-bangalore@mm.gnu.org.in

"Novell offers enterprise infrastructure software and services that help customers leverage proprietary and open source solutions. These solutions lower cost ..." www.novell.com

It is evident that the services from Novell Corp do not respect nor appreciate "freedom", as conceived and promoted by Free Software Foundation.

Whose agenda are being protected, when Free Software activists' are refused to register their disagreement through non-violent means of protest ?

What is wrong in voicing objections to concerns about hijacking the services of Free Software communities where the ends and means do not justify any of the principles of Free Software ?

CK Raju, IIT Kharagpur






There is more from Delhi.







From: Linux Lingam <linuxlingam@gmail.com> Date: 2008/11/16 Subject: Re: [ilugd] Fwd: [FSUG-Bangalore] Boycott Novell Protesters Man-handled at National Conference on Free Software 2008 To: The Linux-Delhi mailing list <ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org>, rahul@efyindia.com, pkr@cybermedia.co.in

that is the *first* instance of an MNC taking a visibly hostile and tangible stance against foss and foss-supporters in india. does not bode too well if that MNC also happens to be a partner of microsoft.

novell owes an apology to the indian foss community. meanwhile, i don't know about you, but i haven't touched openSUSE or any novell product since their controversial tie-in with microsoft.

regards niyam






Thanks to all those who organised this awareness campaign. We were not informed about this until after the act.

The actions taken against innocent dissemination of information speak volume about suppressors of Freedom. It makes them look intolerant and desperate for control of minds.

Boycott Novell in India

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Comparing U.E.F.I. to B.I.O.S. (Bloat and Insecurity to K.I.S.S.)
By Sami Tikkanen
New 'Slides' From Stallman Support (stallmansupport.org) Site
"In celebration of RMS's birthday, we've been playing a bit. We extracted some quotes from the various articles, comments, letters, writings, etc. and put them in the form of a slideshow in the home page."
Thailand: GNU/Linux Up to 6% of Desktops/Laptops, According to statCounter
Desktop Operating System Market Share Thailand
António Campinos is Still 'The Fucking President' (in His Own Words) After a Fake 'Election' in 2022 (He Bribed All the Voters to Keep His Seat)
António Campinos and the Administrative Council, whose delegates he clearly bribed with EPO budget in exchange for votes
Adrian von Bidder, homeworking & Debian unexplained deaths
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Sainsbury’s Epic Downtime Seems to be Microsoft's Fault and Might Even Constitute a Data Breach (Legal Liability)
one of Britain's largest groceries (and beyond) chains
 
People Don't Just Kill Themselves (Same for Other Animals)
And recent reports about Boeing whistleblower John Barnett
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 18, 2024
IRC logs for Monday, March 18, 2024
Suicide Cluster Cover-up tactics & Debian exposed
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 19/03/2024: A Society That Lost Focus and Abandoning Social Control Media
Links for the day
Matthias Kirschner, FSFE: Plagiarism & Child labour in YH4F
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Linux Foundation Boasting About Being Connected to Bill Gates
Examples of boasting about the association
Alexandre Oliva's Article on Monstering Cults
"I'm told an earlier draft version of this post got published elsewhere. Please consider this IMHO improved version instead."
[Meme] 'Russian' Elections in Munich (Bavaria, Germany)
fake elections
Sainsbury's to Techrights: Yes, Our Web Site Broke Down, But We Cannot Say Which Part or Why
Windows TCO?
Plagiarism: Axel Beckert (ETH Zurich) & Debian Developer list hacking
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 18/03/2024: Putin Cements Power
Links for the day
Flashback 2003: Debian has always had a toxic culture
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
[Meme] You Know You're Winning the Argument When...
EPO management starts cursing at everybody (which is what's happening)
Catspaw With Attitude
The posts "they" complain about merely point out the facts about this harassment and doxing
'Clown Computing' Businesses Are Waning and the Same Will Happen to 'G.A.I.' Businesses (the 'Hey Hi' Fame)
decrease in "HEY HI" (AI) hype
Free Software Needs Watchdogs, Too
Gentle lapdogs prevent self-regulation and transparency
Matthias Kirschner, FSFE analogous to identity fraud
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 18/03/2024: LLM Inference and Can We Survive Technology?
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 17, 2024
IRC logs for Sunday, March 17, 2024
Links 17/03/2024: Microsoft Windows Shoves Ads Into Third-Party Software, More Countries Explore TikTok Ban
Links for the day
Molly Russell suicide & Debian Frans Pop, Lucy Wayland, social media deaths
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Our Plans for Spring
Later this year we turn 18 and a few months from now our IRC community turns 16
Open Invention Network (OIN) Fails to Explain If Linux is Safe From Microsoft's Software Patent Royalties (Charges)
Keith Bergelt has not replied to queries on this very important matter
RedHat.com, Brought to You by Microsoft Staff
This is totally normal, right?
USPTO Corruption: People Who Don't Use Microsoft Will Be Penalised ~$400 for Each Patent Filing
Not joking!
The Hobbyists of Mozilla, Where the CEO is a Bigger Liability Than All Liabilities Combined
the hobbyist in chief earns much more than colleagues, to say the least; the number quadrupled in a matter of years
Jim Zemlin Says Linux Foundation Should Combat Fraud Together With the Gates Foundation. Maybe They Should Start With Jim's Wife.
There's a class action lawsuit for securities fraud
Not About Linux at All!
nobody bothers with the site anymore; it's marketing, and now even Linux
Links 17/03/2024: Abuses Against Human Rights, Tesla Settlement (and Crash)
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, March 16, 2024
IRC logs for Saturday, March 16, 2024
Under Taliban, GNU/Linux Share Nearly Doubled in Afghanistan, Windows Sank From About 90% to 68.5%
Suffice to say, we're not meaning to imply Taliban is "good"
Debian aggression: woman asked about her profession
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 17/03/2024: Winter Can't Hurt Us Anymore and Playstation Plus
Links for the day