The Free Software Foundation of India (FSFI) is the Indian sister organisation to the US-based

Free Software Foundation The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded by Richard Stallman on October 4, 1985, to support the free software movement, with the organization's preference for software being distributed under copyleft (" ...

. It was founded in

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

(Trivandrum) (the capital of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

) in 2001 as a

non-profit Company A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

. The FSFI advocates to promote the use and development of free software in India. This includes educating people about

free software Free software or libre software is computer software distributed under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, and distribute it and any adapted versions. Free software is a matter of liberty, no ...

, including how it can help the

economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...

of a developing country like

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. FSF India regards

non-free software Proprietary software is software that is deemed within the free and open-source software to be non-free because its creator, publisher, or other rightsholder or rightsholder partner exercises a legal monopoly afforded by modern copyright and inte ...

as not a solution, but a problem to be solved. Free software is sometimes locally called swatantra software in India. In 2003, after meeting with FSF founder

Richard Stallman Richard Matthew Stallman (; born March 16, 1953), also known by his initials, rms, is an American free software movement activist and programmer. He campaigns for software to be distributed in such a manner that its users have the freedom to ...

, the President of India Dr. Abdul Kalam urged Indian computer scientists and professionals to use free and

open-source software Open-source software (OSS) is computer software that is released under a license in which the copyright holder grants users the rights to use, study, change, and distribute the software and its source code to anyone and for any purpose. Op ...

in research and development.Opt for open source codes for better software security: Kalam
/ref>

Logo

The left side of the FSF India logo resembles the famed

Ashoka Chakra Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, s ...

, that also appears on the

Indian national flag The national flag of India, colloquially called the tricolour, is a horizontal rectangular tricolour flag of India saffron, white and India green; with the ', a 24-spoke wheel, in navy blue at its centre. It was adopted in its present form ...

, while its right half is a depiction of a

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in Oc ...

. The combination of both symbols is intended to draw attention to the similarity between political freedom and

, the latter of which the FSF promotes. The

, in addition to being a long-standing

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

symbol depicting the ''wheel of time'', also resembles Charkha of India's Freedom Struggle and thus in the current context, may symbolize the

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...

which resulted in India's freedom from

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

occupation.

References

External links

Free Software Foundation of India

A LinuxJournal interview with FSF-India team members

Slashdot
an

articles (dated 2002) regarding Stallman's visit to India.
Slashdot
an

articles (dated 2002) regarding Dr. Kalam's endorsement of free software.
A Blue-GNU interview: FSF India's Impact Far-Reaching
{{DEFAULTSORT:Free Software Foundation Of India Free Software Foundation Organisations based in Thiruvananthapuram Software industry in India Information technology organisations based in India Organizations established in 2001 2001 establishments in Kerala

Logo

See also

References

External links