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30 January 2010

How to encrypt and decrypt a directory content using gpg

How to use these simple script

$ ./encryptdir.sh
$ ./decryptdir.sh

Example
$ ./encryptdir.sh /home/narendra/test mypassword
$ ./decryptdir.sh /home/narendra/test mypassword

========== encryptdir.sh =========
#!/bin/bash
SOURCEDIR=$1
PASSWORD=$2
if [ -z $1 ]
then
echo "./encryptdir.sh "
exit 1
fi

if [ -z $2 ]
then
echo "./encryptdir.sh "
exit 1
fi


find "$SOURCEDIR" -not -name "*.gpg" -type f -print |while read Filename ;
do
echo encrypting == "$Filename" ;
gpg -c --passphrase $PASSWORD "$Filename" ;
rm "$Filename";
done
exit 0
========== decryptdir.sh ==========
#!/bin/bash
SOURCEDIR=$1
PASSWORD=$2
if [ -z $1 ]
then
echo "./decryptdir.sh "
exit 1
fi

if [ -z $2 ]
then
echo "./decryptdir.sh "
exit 1
fi


find "$SOURCEDIR" -name "*.gpg" -type f -print |while read Filename ;
do
echo encrypting == "$Filename" ;
gpg --passphrase $PASSWORD "$Filename" ;
rm "$Filename";
done
exit 0

===============================================


┌─────────────────────────┐
│ Narendra Sisodiya ( नरेन्द्र सिसोदिया )
│ Society for Knowledge Commons
│ Web : http://narendra.techfandu.org
└─────────────────────────┘

Click here to download:
encryptdir.sh (0 KB)

Click here to download:
decryptdir.sh (0 KB)

Posted via email from LUG@IITD Community Blog

21 January 2010

Specific issues with version 2.4 of Draft Policy on Open Standards for e­Governance (India)

Specific issues with version 2.4 of Draft Policy on Open Standards for e­Governance (India)

This document examines the Draft Policy on Open Standards for e­Government v2.4 dated 25.11.2009 and the process followed in adopting the same. You can download from http://fosscomm.in/OpenStandards .
 
If v2.4 is adopted as official policy, it will result in:

  1. The legitimization of proprietary standards that entail the payment of royalty fees and huge foreign exchange outflows. This cost will be paid by Indian taxpayers and pocketed by monopolistic vendors located in foreign countries, since most proprietary standards are controlled by entities outside India. Unlike royalty­free open standards, the usage of proprietary standards will mean that users will, directly or indirectly, pay a royalty to a private entity for the privilege of communicating with the government.
  2. Reduce e­Government in India to a mess of incompatible systems that cannot communicate with each other, thus defeating the very purpose of e­Government, if multiple standards for the same purpose are allowed.

Logical inconsistencies in v2.4
            This section points out some of the most apparent flaws in v2.4 though it is not an exhaustive list. In particular, we would like to draw attention to the utterly lax manner in which one of the key clauses in section 4.1 titled "Mandatory Characteristics," has been drafted. "4.1.2 The essential patent claims necessary to implement the Identified Standard should preferably be available on a Royalty­Free (no payment and no restrictions) basis for the life time of the standard. However, if such Standards are not found feasible and in the wider public interest, then RF on Fair, Reasonable and Non Discriminatory terms and conditions (FRAND) or Reasonable and Non Discriminatory terms and conditions (RAND) could be considered."

Inconsistency #1: The use of a phrase like, "should preferably be available on a Royalty­Free (no payment and no restrictions) basis," contradicts the title of the section, which is, "Mandatory Characteristics" and makes the usage of the Identified Standard non­binding. This renders the entire policy meaningless. By wording this clause in such a casual manner, the government is surrendering its policy making responsibilities to market forces that are driven to extract maximum profits from tax payers.

Inconsistency #2: The government has a serious long­term responsibility of safeguarding its citizens data. E­government data remains valid for decades, if not centuries and the archival and preservation of this data is critical. In this context, we would like to point out that v2.4 does not even explain or define "essential patent claims," which is one of the most important terms in this policy. The implementation of a standard cannot be bifurcated into "essential" and non­essential" parts. The policy v2.4 is also silent on how the government will distinguish "essential patent claims" from non­essential patent claims. E­government data stored in formats with such unclear rights could be subject to litigation. Therefore, we would like to submit that ALL patent claims on a standard should be made available on a royalty­free basis so that there are no problems in the foreseeable future.

Procedural issues with v2.4

  1. Apart from these above mentioned inconsistencies, there is also no change log that explains the reasons for introducing new terms in v2.4 and the major directional changes made in this version, as compared to v2.0.
  2. It has also been brought to our notice that the expert committee constituted by Department of Information Technology that was involved in drafting this policy since 2007 and was responsible for creating v2.0 that was acclaimed by Civil Society Organizations, was not even informed of the creation and adoption of v2.4. This is a significant disservice to the expert committee Such undemocratic actions will only dissuade public spirited citizens from participating in national policy making processes, especially if these process are marked by lack of transparency and accountability on the part of the government.
  3. While Department of Information Technology has invited industry lobbies and trade associations to be part of Apex Committee on Open Standards, it has given no representation to Civil Society Organizations. In fact, the inputs sent in by organizations like National Campaign for People's Right to Information, IT For Change, Center for Internet and Society, Knowledge Commons and others have been completely ignored by Department of Information Technology.
Financial Issues
          From an e­Government perspective, when royalty­free standards are available, or can be created, it is perfectly rational, economic behavior to opt for such standards. There are very few situations where the government will be able to justify the use of proprietary standards that are controlled by monopolies and entail the payment of huge royalties. Our national data should not be stored in formats that are trade secrets of vendors or controlled by vendors through patents and other forms of protection that enable them to extract royalties and other rents. Furthermore, it has to be recognized that open standards do not preclude anyone from implementing them. If India's e­gov data is stored in proprietary data formats, the cost of using these formats will grow as we get more and more invested in e­governance. Therefore the government must draw strict rules in favor of open, royalty­free standards and mandate that ALL stakeholders involved in e­ Governance adhere strictly to these standards.

Policy issues

             As an emerging software superpower, the IT policies formulated in India are closely monitored and emulated. If a poorly worded, logically inconsistent draft like v2.4 becomes national policy, India will be a laughing stock in the community of nations. From a policy­making perspective, the government has repeatedly appealed to educated Indians to contribute to national goals and policy making. However, if software monopolies can so easily defeat policies that are aimed at protecting national interests, this is a serious discouragement to all the public spirited academics and citizens who have volunteered their time and effort to drafting this policy. This will send a strong negative signal to those who wish to contribute to policy making and dissuade them from participating in such policy making processes.

             We therefore request urgent corrective steps to ensure that the Draft Policy on Open Standards for e­ Government results in the creation of a meaningful policy that protects the interests of the country.

┌─────────────────────────┐
│    Narendra Sisodiya ( नरेन्द्र सिसोदिया )
│    Society for Knowledge Commons
│    Web : http://narendra.techfandu.org
└─────────────────────────┘

Posted via email from LUG@IITD Community Blog

18 January 2010

Draft Recommended policy on Open Standards for e-Governance include RAND

Here I am attaching the latest draft on Indian Open Standard Policy.
Here is a quick review and the *Loopholes in Policy*

1) This policy is a backdoor for M$ and other vendor to push RAND
based standards (see Para 4.1.2)
2) 4.3 is paragraph which accept alternate standard for temporal.
There are many field where we do not have any clear open standard.
Govt must develop standards in that case. section 4.4 must remove
"Specifications as per published proprietary extensions or sub­sets"
condition from it
3) section 5 , allow multiple standard.

I request to have a look at policy and please upload your comment at
fosscomm website -
http://lists.fosscom.in/pipermail/network-fosscom.in/2010-January/002102.html

┌─────────────────────────┐
│ Narendra Sisodiya ( नरेन्द्र सिसोदिया )
│ Society for Knowledge Commons
│ Web : http://narendra.techfandu.org
└─────────────────────────┘

Posted via email from LUG@IITD Community Blog

14 January 2010

Live webcam stream with Theora #ogg

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Basil Mohamed Gohar
Date: Wed, Jan 13, 2010 at 9:27 PM
Subject: [theora] Live webcam stream with Theora
To: theora@xiph.org


Hey all,

I've setup a simple page that just displays a live webcam stream of me
at work, and it supposedly falls back onto Cortado if your browser
doesn't support the tag.  The URL is here:

http://media.basilgohar.com/stream/

There's been a lot of talk about live streaming and low bitrate
streams.  Here is my command line (I've posted this before):

time ffmpeg -f video4linux2 -s 640x480 -r 15 -i /dev/video0 -pix_fmt
yuv420p -f yuv4mpegpipe - 2>/dev/null |
~/packages/theora/examples/encoder_example --video-rate-target 150
--soft-target - | tee /home/basil.gohar/Videos/webcam-capture-`date
+%F-%T`.ogv | oggfwd -d 'Live webcam view of me at work' -g 'Webcam' -n
'Basil at work' aalimraan.hidayahonline.net 8000 ***secret***
/basil-at-work.ogv

As you can see from that, the stream is 640x480 at 15 fps.  I capture it
with ffmpeg, convert it to a 4:2:0 YUV4MPEG2 stream, which I then pipe
to the example_encoder bundled with libtheora.  I am encoding the stream
to 150 kbps (150/8 = 18.75 kB/s).  I am NOT doing any audio encoding,
since I'm at work, so that does save me some bits.  Take a look at the
video and see what you think.  I'll try to keep it on for the duration
of my stay at work today.

If you cannot get it to play in the browser, then you can use the direct
link from my IceCast2 server, which is here:

http://media.basilgohar.com:8000/basil-at-work.ogv

That should play in most media players that support Ogg Theora video
streams.

Posted via email from LUG@IITD Community Blog

13 January 2010

TCFE (The Copyleft Freedom Effort) license discussion

On Tue, Jan 12, 2010 at 9:20 PM, drew Roberts <zotz@100jamz.com> wrote:
> On Tuesday 12 January 2010 10:11:13 jason-sage@creativetrax.com wrote:
>> drew Roberts wrote:
>> > On Tuesday 12 January 2010 07:10:25 narendra sisodiya wrote:
>> >> So IMO, We must have some sort of "Pool License" where
>> >> * You are free to copy/share/sell/adapt work
>> >> * Any remix must released under same "Pool License"
>> >
>> > Let me see if I can use different words...
>> >
>> > Would a BY-SA license modified to require attribution, not to any chosen
>> > specific group, site, or creator, but rather to "The Copyleft Freedom
>> > Effort" do the trick.
>> >
>> > Any original works using this license would be attributed to "The
>> > Copyleft Freedom Effort" by the original authors. This would be a choice
>> > they make on deciding to use the license for their works.
>> >
>> > Any derived works using this license would be attributed to "The Copyleft
>> > Freedom Effort" as per the Share Alike aspects of the license.
>> >
>> > No one ever has to research the attribution requirements of works under
>> > such a license as they are fixed in the license itself. "The Copyleft
>> > Freedom Effort"
>> >
>> > Is that sort of what you want to accomplish?
>>
>> What if I came along then and started an organization named "The
>> Copyleft Freedom Effort".  Would I be able to do anything with those
>> materials that the general public couldn't do?
> I don't see why if done right. The copyrights would still rest with the
> copyright holders, it is just that there would be a common attribution.
>
> At least, that's what I think is being suggested... (And I am not sure it
> would really be helpful. Many would still want to do their due diligence and
> would need to follow that creation / copyright holder chain despite the
> simpler attribution requirements.

Yes, you got better words - "The Copyleft Freedom Effort"
IMO, this can be done via 2 ways,
1) as you said, common attribution, but copyright remains with individuals. -- not possible
2) copyright goes to a central body - may be TCFE foundation. license must be Viral. something like

==========
(C) 2010 TCFE Foundation,
Permission here by granted to reuse this work for any purpose (remix, print, copy, share) provided following conditions are met while using the work

1)  You must not modify the Text of License (The Copyright Notice). This means the any new modification goes under the copyrights of TCFE foundation. However you are always allow to modify the article and you can include your name as contributor in modified article (and not in the copyright notice).

2)  You can only merge/remix this TCFE article with another TCFE licensed article. Any such remix/merging will result a new TCFE licensed article. Repetition of "Copyright Notice" which may result form remixing is not suggested. you need to retain Copyright Notice from once article.

3)  Any Derived/modified work must be release under this License itself. Releasing it under other License is not allowed.

4) Every remixing/modification must be uploaded to TCFE website. The Whole TCFE website is Licensed under TCFE licensed.

#Article Start
      Hello TCFE. We trust you.
#Article End
=========

The point is very simple. Putting you name in copyright notice matter when you use the word -- "All right reserved". If you are making article under CC Or permissive license, then you will not get anything by putting you name in the list of copyright holder for derived work/reprint. If we leave "copyright notice as it ease" (like the above copyright notice), remixing can be a great easy thing. You can just take out the printout and sell copy this "Open Knowldge" from TCFE website, by doing so, you need not to worry about the attribution and permissions. (you are allowed to do anything).

IMO, the above copyright notice is more or less equal/similar to public domain. TCFE is just a tag to make sure derived work remain under publicly reusable.

The problem which i see, is TCFE is like a name-space. Other guys/company may start same thing. Article from difference name-space may not be compatible with eachother. World must understand, TCFE is another form of public domain. Nobody will gain to create any similar License (yes, everybody has freedom to do so.)

PS: Once my neighbor told to give me a printed copy of one wikipedia article. It took me some time to understand how I can reuse/reprint that article. Doing such thing with TCFE license is just simple, - "Just do it and do not worry about anything"

Posted via email from Narendra Sisodiya's posterous

11 January 2010

A Response Letter to the Word Attachments

From: The Reverend Father Martin Sylvester

Sorry I was unable to read your attachment. I hope the following is useful!

You sent me an email with an attachment in Microsoft Word format,
which is not a standard Internet format, but a proprietary one owned
by Microsoft, and protected by them so people can't be sure of reading
it properly unless they buy expensive Microsoft software. If you had
sent me your text inside a plain email (instead of as an attachment to
an email), or as a plain text, rich text, HTML, or PDF attachment,
then I would have been able to read it.

read more at - http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/sylvester-response.html

┌─────────────────────────┐
│ Narendra Sisodiya ( नरेन्द्र सिसोदिया )
│ Society for Knowledge Commons
│ Web : http://narendra.techfandu.org
└─────────────────────────┘

Posted via email from LUG@IITD Community Blog

An appeal to python and PostgreSQL Community #Python #PostgreSQL

We as a team working for writing a CC-By-SA licensed textbook for
class 11th. You can look for syllabus here
http://code.google.com/p/cbse-065/wiki/syllabus , syllabus include
Java/MySQL .
I would like to make a request to Python and PostgreSQL
community to design a new syllabus for CBSE class 11th which include
python and PostgreSQL in place of Java/MySQL . Community members can
join http://code.google.com/p/cbse-065 to start this initiative too.
http://code.google.com/p/cbse-065/wiki/Alternate_Syllabus
I as a educationalist believe that we must teach "vendor neutral
education". At the same time we must teach multiple community based
products (like MySQL with PostgreSQL, GTK , Phthon with Java).
You can join our project and start making book/syllabus. These
changes in syllabus may be included in future. At the same time even
if these things are not there in syllabus, If book is ready with
alternate tools , student might get better exposure to FOSS world.

just 2 more cents in FOSS world

Posted via email from LUG@IITD Community Blog

10 January 2010

How can i make a new document license ?

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: narendra sisodiya
Date: Sun, Jan 10, 2010 at 4:53 AM
Subject: How can i make a new document license ?
To: discuss@lists.flossmanuals.net


may somebody share his knowledge to know more about creating license for wiki.
May be this is not a suitable forum but I know Adam and other guys who
has studied CC well (sorry if i am wrong)

Basically,  I am trying to start a printing facility for wiki type
book in India ( http://wikipress.in ) , So I like CC-By-SA from heart
but in my opinion CC is not good license for wiki. infact i am unable
to find suitable license till date (and GUI too).

Here are my questions

1) How can I create a new license ?
2) is CC-SA is a valid license scheme ?
3) If my content is present on web under CC-By-SA then what happen
after my death ? does it goes under public domain ?
4) I do not think 'public domain' really exist.
4.1) If I put some article under public domain, anybody can modify
small spelling mistake and make a new copyright notice "(c) new
brother, All right reserved" ! is it true ?
5) I want to have some sort of Viral Licensing scheme which allow user
to copy/paste/remix without attribution. For example If wikibooks and
Flossmannual follow this license, then users from wikibook can take
any portion of text/image and paste/remix/modify at Flossmannuals.
This is something like creating a "Pool Or Sea" of commons/knowledge.
So in nutshell, any modification to pool/sea increase its size.
Because attribution is not recorded at individual level, there will be
any difficulty to remix. This type of 'zero attribution' scheme is
most suitable for wiki contents where user add a very little. But
license has to be copyrighted with somebodies name, we can take a
centralized name like (c) GOD Or (c) fsf.org etc.


PS: read discussion at
http://lists.flossmanuals.net/pipermail/discuss-flossmanuals.net/2010-January/002808.html

┌─────────────────────────┐
│ Narendra Sisodiya ( नरेन्द्र सिसोदिया )
│ Society for Knowledge Commons
│ Web : http://narendra.techfandu.org
└─────────────────────────┘

Posted via email from Narendra Sisodiya's posterous

07 January 2010

Final schedule of the workshop on 8-9 Jan.2010 At ANDC

Final schedule of the workshop on FOSS on 8-9 Jan. 2010.

8th Jan.
Morning session (9:00  to 11:00 am) - Drupal by Abhishek Nandakumar
                                Tea Break;
Morning session (11:00 to 1:00 pm) - System programming by Mr. Atul
Jha and Mr. Mohit Singh
                                Lunch Break;
Afternoon session (2:00 to 5:00 pm) - Network/Socket programming by
Mr. Mohit Singh

9th Jan.
Morning session (9:00 to 11:00 am) - Career prospects and Linux for
programmers by Mr. Satyaakam Goswami
                                Tea Break;
Morning session (11:00 to 1:00 pm) - Career prospects and Linux for
programmers  (to be contd.) by Mr. Satyaakam Goswami
                                Lunch Break;
Afternoon session (2:00 - 5:00 pm) - JQuery by Narendra Sisodiya

All the students and interested teachers are requested to register
themselves at 9:00 am on 8th Jan. in the conference hall.

Workshop Charge : 100 RS/ Student (lunch will be provided)
Open To all , anybody can attend.


Venue of Workshop : http://andcollege.du.ac.in/ , ANDC, Kalkaji,
Govindpuri, NewDelhi,

PS: data/notification has been confirmed by Organiser. Sorry for delay
in posting.


┌─────────────────────────┐
│ Narendra Sisodiya ( नरेन्द्र सिसोदिया )
│ Society for Knowledge Commons
│ Web : http://narendra.techfandu.org
└─────────────────────────┘

Posted via email from LUG@IITD Community Blog

04 January 2010

CBSE 11-12 books for IP - new books based open source syllabus

In meeting , we have discussed that there is a urgent need to provide
a "CC-by-SA"/Or may be open booklet before 30 Jan Or 15 Feb 2010.
(First version) ,
We need members who can edit/work 1Hr-3 Hr per day to write
booklet/book of CBSE.
Please reply me offline if you want to be a member of this team.

Also, I need a project manager for this purpose who can track the
progress and give us feedback about progress at event 3 days.

please contact me offlist with gmail id so that I can add you on the project.


┌─────────────────────────┐
│ Narendra Sisodiya ( नरेन्द्र सिसोदिया )
│ Society for Knowledge Commons
│ Web : http://narendra.techfandu.org
└─────────────────────────┘

Posted via email from LUG@IITD Community Blog

LUG@IITD Delhi Geek Meetup pics #dgm1

So finally we have some pics from our latest Geek meetup at IIT Delhi -














Posted via email from LUG@IITD Community Blog