[ubuntu-in] Time to look inwards.

[stereotactic]

Hi All.

C-DAC is promoting it's BOSS Linux through newspaper advertisements. 
While it is a good thing, but mere promotion is not good enough. I find 
their advertisements insipid (released through the Government of India 
machinery) and fails to communicate the importance of Open Source.

On a more personal note, I do find the issues being "out of tune" here. 
Imagine singling out a person because he has supposedly used dubious 
means to promote himself on Launchpad.

More than the personal attacks, it would be worthwhile to discuss ideas, 
brainstorm on bug discussions and bring out something new. This reflects 
in our attitudes when we interact with others and barring few people on 
this list, most of us have failed to contribute in any manner towards a 
lasting project.

Can anyone name ANY project, managed solely by Indians and being 
featured on the popular sites as "must have"? It is a collaborative 
effort, no doubt, but why do we see ourselves working on existing ideas? 
Slave labor anyone?

Most of the people also fail to grasp the import of existing 
technologies or how the could be mashed up and deliver something of 
value. Hence, we Indians are always "laggards", be it anything- IT, Open 
Source, Gnome, KDE or any other flavor- nothing is distinctly Indian.

Hence more than the localization efforts and spending energies in 
hammering the "riff raff" on the mailing lists, it would be more 
instructive to hammer out ideas, find out what needs to be corrected in 
the system and overcome those issues.

I don't code. I don't work in the IT industry. I only believe in open 
access. But at the same time, it's also important to have a cohesive 
approach and kick some ass.

Hence, while initiatives like boss linux (www.bosslinux.in) are good, we 
ought to rejig our efforts to have a world class project designed to be 
better than the incumbents.