Wednesday, November 12, 2003
Just decided sometime back that the implementation and roll out of IT in schools and other places needs to be structured. Time is too precious to be lost in experimenting with methods and models in order to adapt and adopt them to the current locale. The best way of getting people to exchange ideas is through a mailing list, and thus utilised Freelists.Org www.freelists.org to set one up. The following is the initial mail to the Free Software Foundation of India - West Bengal list and of course that very dear FLOSSToday.
Hi,
One of the most important means of ushering in a change in social dynamics is to ensure that the 'digital chasm' is bridged. There are many lists dedicated to record and comment on the processes and studies. Thus the question might arise - 'Why another one ?' I feel, as do many others, that making IT available at the school level is the key to dissemination of knowledge and bringing about a change in the power matrices. Low Cost Computing is the cornerstone of ICT4D implementations. Keeping this objective in mind, this list has been
created to address the very niche domain of 'Low Cost Computing'
At the beginning the motivating factor was the intended rollout of F/L OSS based low cost computing technology based on local language in West Bengal. But, I hope that this small step will lead to a healthy exchange of ideas, models, case studies and processes on a global scale ensuring that a true community of knowledge sharing is created.
The aim behind FLOSSToday was to bring about a cohesive nature to the fragmented world of F/L OSS developers, enthusiasts and volunteers. The aim of Low Cost Computing can be stated to bring about a group of like minded individuals to share knowledge and tools, exchange technological insights and analyse processes in making IT happen at schools and related levels with minimum invasiveness and cost.
The list somewhat deliberately encourages ideation from the worlds of F/L Software and Open Source Software development models with the hope that a synergy can be attained for a greater good.
Some important starter info:
- Users can subscribe to your list by sending email to lowcostcomputing-request@freelists.org with 'subscribe' in the Subject field
- To post on this mailing list, simply send email to lowcostcomputing@freelists.org.
- Users can unsubscribe from your list by sending email to lowcostcomputing-request@freelists.org with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field
- View the list's information at http://www.freelists.org/list/lowcostcomputing and your list's webpage (once it is setup, sometime soon) at http://www.freelists.org/webpage/lowcostcomputing
- Online, searchable archives of your list are available at http://www.freelists.org/archives/lowcostcomputing Each list's archive is automatically updated as new messages come in.
- There's a FAQ at http://www.freelists.org/help/faq.html that might be helpful for first time users
I would request you to kindly spread the word and let us all pool in our resources, talent and energies to integrate ideas about Low Cost Computing. At the end of the day, the following quote seems relevant and pertinent :
Collecting data is only the first step towards wisdom, but sharing data is the first step towards community. - Henry Louis Gates Jr.
Thank you,
Warm regards
Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay
(sankarshanmukhopadhyay at vsnl dot net)
- posted by sankarshan @ 11/12/2003 08:39:00 PM
