Swecha

Last updated

Swecha [1]
స్వేచ్ఛ
Formation2005
Type Non-profit organization
HeadquartersHyderabad
Region served
Andhra Pradesh & Telangana
Official language
Telugu
Main organ
Executive Committee
Affiliations Free Software Movement of India
Website swecha.org
Formerly called
Free Software Foundation, Andhra Pradhesh

Swecha is a non-profit organization formerly called Free Software Foundation Andhra Pradesh (FSF-AP). It is a Telugu Operating System released in the year 2005, and is a part of Free Software Movement of India (FSMI). [1] [2] The organization is a social movement working towards educating the masses with the essence of Free Software and to provide knowledge to the commoners. [1]

Contents

Swecha organizes workshops and seminars [3] in the Indian state of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Presently Swecha is active GLUG (GNU/Linux User Group) in many engineering colleges like International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad, Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology, [4] [5] St. Martin's Engineering College, Sridevi Women's Engineering College, Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Technology, SCIENT Institute of Technology, CMR Institute of Technology, Hyderabad, Jyothishmathi College of Engineering and Technology, [6] MVGR College of Engineering, K L University and Ace Engineering College.[ citation needed ]

Objectives

The main objectives of the organization are as follows:

Activities

Projects

Swecha is a free software project [20] aimed at coming out with a localised version of Linux Operating System in Telugu and providing global software solutions to the local people with the Free Software development model by working together with the community of developers and users all over. The prime objective of Swecha OS is to provide a complete computing solution to a population that speaks and understands only Telugu. The target users of the Distro being the entire community that is a prey of the digital divide. This project helps in coming out with a solution for the digital divide and allows the possibility of digital unite becoming a reality. The project aims at bridging the gap between the computer technology that exists predominantly in English and the Telugu-speaking community of India. The project also aims at providing a framework for development and maintenance of Free Software projects taken up by the community.

Bala Swecha is a free software project, [21] initiated by the Swecha for tiny tots, It is a school distro with many of the useful interactive applications for the school goers. Its stack is filled with educational suites for all the standards right from elementary to tenth standards. They cover a wide range of applications which make the student learn Maths, Physics, Geography, Chemistry etc., very easily. Swecha has taken up many activities in training the school teachers, computer instructors of several government schools. [22] [23] The aim of the Distro is to deliver a Free Software-based operating system for the project of "Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan" initiated by the government. There isn't such operating system till now which gives full freedom with an educational stack. Swecha has the plans of localizing BalaSwecha for the benefit of Telugu medium students.

E-Swecha is a free software project initiated by the Swecha and is aimed at developing a free Operating System, which is not built by a software firm.. neither is it built by a few programmers.. it is a collaborative work of hundreds of Swecha Volunteers/engineering students in and around Hyderabad to, for and by the engineering students.

Activism

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">K. Viswanath</span> Indian director, screenwriter, and actor (1930–2023)

Kasinadhuni Viswanath, popularly known as "Kalatapasvi", was an Indian film director, screenwriter, lyricist and actor. One of the greatest auteurs of Telugu cinema, he received international recognition for his works, and is known for blending parallel cinema with mainstream cinema. He was honored with the "Prize of the Public" at the "Besançon Film Festival of France" in 1981. In 1992, he received the Andhra Pradesh state Raghupathi Venkaiah Award, and the civilian honour Padma Shri for his contribution to the field of arts. In 2017, he was conferred with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest award in Indian cinema.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">College of Engineering, Guindy</span> Engineering college in Chennai, India

The College of Engineering, Guindy (CEG) is a public engineering college situated in Chennai, India. It is Asia's oldest technical institution, founded in 1794. It is also the oldest technical institution to be established outside Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Free-culture movement</span> Social movement promoting the freedom to distribute and modify the creative works of others

The free-culture movement is a social movement that promotes the freedom to distribute and modify the creative works of others in the form of free content or open content without compensation to, or the consent of, the work's original creators, by using the Internet and other forms of media.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Stallman</span> American free software activist and GNU Project founder (born 1953)

Richard Matthew Stallman, 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 use, study, distribute, and modify that software. Software that ensures these freedoms is termed free software. Stallman launched the GNU Project, founded the Free Software Foundation (FSF) in October 1985, developed the GNU Compiler Collection and GNU Emacs, and wrote all versions of the GNU General Public License.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology</span> Engineering college in Gandipet, Telangana, India

Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology (CBIT) is a private engineering college located in Gandipet, near Financial District, Hyderabad, Telangana, India. The college is affiliated to Osmania University and is accredited by the National Board of Accreditation. The institute received an autonomous status in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Krishna (Telugu actor)</span> Indian film actor, director and producer (1943–2022)

Ghattamaneni Siva Rama Krishna Murthy, known mononymously as Krishna, was an Indian actor, director and producer known for his work predominantly in Telugu cinema. In a career spanning more than five decades, he starred in over 350 films in a variety of roles. He is referred to as "Superstar" in the Telugu media. In 2009, the government of India honoured him with the Padma Bhushan for his contributions to Indian cinema. He was elected as a Member of Parliament for the Congress party in 1989. In 1997, he received the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award – South in addition to Honorary doctorate from Andhra University in 2008. He died on 15 November 2022 due to cardiac arrest.

<i>Happy Days</i> (2007 film) 2007 Telugu film directed by Sekhar Kammula

Happy Days is a 2007 Indian Telugu-language musical coming of age film written, produced and directed by Sekhar Kammula. The film features Varun Sandesh, Tamannaah Bhatia, Rahul Haridas, Nikhil Siddharth, Vamsee Krishna, Sonia Deepti, Gayatri Rao, and Monali Chowdhary in the lead roles. The plot explores the college life and experiences of eight friends.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Government Engineering College, Kozhikode</span> Public engineering institute in Kerala, India

Government Engineering College, Kozhikode (GECK), is a public engineering institute established by the Department of Technical Education under the Government of Kerala in India. It was one of the five public engineering institutes sanctioned in 1999 by the Government of Kerala. It is one of the 138 institutes affiliated to the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University since 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CVR College of Engineering</span> College near Hyderabad, India

The CVR College of Engineering was established in 2000. It is approved by the All India Council for Technical Education and accredited by the National Board of Accreditation, India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani – Hyderabad Campus</span> University campus in Telangana, India

Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani – Hyderabad Campus is one of the five constituent campuses of the BITS Pilani located in Hyderabad. BITS opened its campus in Hyderabad upon invitation by the Government of Andhra Pradesh in 2008 with the first batch of campus graduating in 2012. It is a technical and research institute with focus on Engineering and Sciences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Free Software Movement of India</span>

Free Software Movement of India (FSMI) is a national coalition of various regional and sectoral free software movements operating in different parts of India. The formation of FSMI was announced in the valedictory function of the National Free Software Conference - 2010 held in Bangalore during 20–21 March 2010. FSMI is a pan Indian level initiative to propagate the ideology of free software and to popularize the usage of the free software. One of the declared aims of the movement is to take Free Software and its ideological implications to computer users “across the digital divide”, to under-privileged sections of society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Y. S. Chowdary</span> Indian politician

Yalamanchili Satyanarayana Chowdary, popularly known as Sujana Chowdary or Srujana Chowdary, is an Indian politician and former Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, elected from the Telugu Desam Party and later moved to Bharatiya Janata Party. He was the Indian union Minister of State for Science, Technology from 9 November 2014 to 8 March 2018. He was an entrepreneur and headed the Hyderabad-based Sujana Group of Industries before retiring from business to join politics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Free Software Foundation Tamil Nadu</span> Not-for-profit foundation promoting free software in India

Free Software Foundation Tamil Nadu is a not-for-profit organisation formed in 2008 as a part of Free Software Movement of India (FSMI). This organisation is a social movement that works towards enlightening the masses with the essence of free software and to liberate knowledge. FSFTN organises different workshops and seminars in Tamil Nadu among the youth to spread the idea of knowledge liberation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Free Software Movement of Karnataka</span> Non-profit organization for support for the free software movement

Free Software Movement Karnataka (FSMK) is a non-profit organization working for spreading free software and its ideals. The movement is inspired by software freedom visionaries like Richard Stallman and Eben Moglen. FSMK is one of the member organizations of Free Software Movement of India.

Swatantra 2014 was the fifth international free software conference organized by the International Centre for Free and Open Source Software (ICFOSS), an autonomous organization set up by the Government of Kerala, India for the propagation of FOSS. It was held in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India during 18–20 December 2014. Among supporting organizations of the conference were the Free Software Foundation of India, Centre for Internet and Society (India), Software Freedom Law Center (India) and Swathantra Malayalam Computing.

ATMOS is the annual techno-management festival of BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus, located in Hyderabad, India. It is known for a wide range of events, such as workshops, quizzes, lectures, technical exhibitions and competitions. Among the notable events conducted annually during it are the national level quiz Enigma and BITS MUN Hyderabad. Started in 2012, ATMOS aims at improving the technical culture among Indian colleges as well as providing a platform to showcase their abilities. In its sixth year now, ATMOS is growing rapidly with participation from students, academicians, entrepreneurs and speakers from all over India.

The state of Kerala, in India has had an active Free software community since early 1980s. The initial users were those who started using TeX in the city of Thiruvananthapuram. Subsequently Free software users groups were formed in some of the different cities like Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and around engineering colleges in the state. The Free software community in Kerala was instrumental in creating a policy environment at the state government level that was biased towards Free software. The government of Kerala policy on Free software gives first preference to Free and Open Source software for its IT requirements. The state claims to be the only state in the world where IT education is imparted over a Free software operating system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Engineering & Management, Kolkata</span>

The University of Engineering & Management (UEM), Kolkata is a private university located in New Town, Kolkata. It provides engineering, technological & management education. It was established in 2015 by IEM Trust, Act no. 25 and it is the third engineering institution founded by the University of Engineering and Management(UEM) and the Institute of Engineering and management(IEM) Group. This university is administrated by the Institute of Engineering and Management (IEM) education group trust.

The origins of the Free software community in Thiruvananthapuram can be traced back to the group of TeX users around the University of Kerala in early 1980s. The community then later named themselves Thiruvananthapuram LUG, GNU/Linux Users Group, Thiruvananthapuram and then ultimately Free Software Users Group, Thiruvananthapuram. The community has worked with the government in helping with key Free software initiatives in the government and also in promoting and supporting Free software among the general public. The community has also been instrumental in creating an IT policy favorable to Free software in the state of Kerala.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Priyadarshi Pulikonda</span> Indian actor

Priyadarshi Pulikonda is an Indian actor and comedian who works in Telugu films. He gained recognition for his role in Pelli Choopulu (2016). In addition to supporting roles, Priyadarshi played the lead in films such as Mallesham (2019), Mithai (2019), and Mail (2021). His performance in Mallesham (2019) appeared in the "100 Greatest Performances of the Decade" by Film Companion.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "About". Swecha. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  2. ↑ "National Free Software coalition formed". The Hindu . 22 March 2010. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  3. ↑ "Run up to NCAR 2010: Women In Research workshop held". Women in Research - the FOSS paradigm. Archived from the original on 26 December 2010. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  4. 1 2 "Workshop on free software". The Hindu . 20 June 2011. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
  5. ↑ "15 Day's Software Industry Oriented Training Camp". 15 Days Camp at CBIT. 18 March 2011. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  6. ↑ "Free software movement spreads in universities". Jits Karimnagar. 18 June 2013. Archived from the original on 25 September 2013. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  7. ↑ Kurup, Deepa (17 December 2010). "Embrace open source philosophy, Kalam tells scientists, researchers". The Hindu . Retrieved 17 December 2010.
  8. ↑ "Mozilla Firefox 3.5 launch celebrated". The Hindu . 11 July 2009. Retrieved 15 July 2009.
  9. ↑ "Free software movement in AU". The Hindu . 2 August 2010. Retrieved 8 August 2010.
  10. ↑ Ranjith, Viswanath (9 March 2014). "Freedom Fest evokes good response from students". The Hindu . Guntur, India. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  11. ↑ "Freedom Fest, Hyderabad: An Eye-Opening Experience". ThoughtWorks. Hyderabad, India. 21 March 2010.
  12. ↑ "I hope India stands up to US domination of the Internet". The Hindu . Hyderabad, India. 24 January 2014.
  13. ↑ "Facebook is evil! An absolutely terrible thing!". The Hindu . Hyderabad, India. 8 February 2014.
  14. ↑ "Freedom Fest by Swecha". 10TV . Hyderabad, India. 4 February 2014.
  15. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 March 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  16. ↑ "Home". CBIT. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  17. ↑ "Industry Oriented Summer Training Camp 2014 by Swecha". allevents.in.
  18. ↑ "Campus Festivals in India,Fresher Jobs In Bangalore - BtechJosh". www.btechjosh.com. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  19. ↑ "Workshop by Swecha". The Hindu. 13 May 2013 – via www.thehindu.com.
  20. ↑ "A Telugu Os". Deccan Chronicle. 24 September 2013. Archived from the original on 22 February 2015. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
  21. ↑ "Bridging Digital Divide In Underprivileged Communities". ThoughtWorks . 27 November 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  22. ↑ "Bala Swecha Operating System for Telugu Medium Students". Computerising Government schools. 4 December 2013. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  23. ↑ "Bala Swecha Operating System for Students". Bala Swecha. 2 October 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  24. ↑ Ranjith, Viswanath (30 June 2011). "Half of India's children suffering from malnourishment". The Hindu. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
  25. ↑ Ranjith, Viswanath (1 December 2012). "Protests over Facebook arrests reach Hyderabad". The Hindu. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
  26. ↑ Ranjith, Viswanath (30 March 2014). "FSMI representation to AICTE against the deal with Microsoft". fsmi. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
  27. ↑ Ranjith, Viswanath (16 April 2014). "XP shutdown: Switch to free software, say FSMI activists". The Hindu Business Line. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
  28. ↑ Ranjith, Viswanath (17 September 2014). "XP shutdown: Switch to free software, say FSMI activists". The Hindu. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  29. ↑ Ranjith, Viswanath (24 January 2014). "XP shutdown: Switch to free software, say FSMI activists". The Hindu. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  30. ↑ Ranjith, Viswanath (16 January 2014). "Digital snooping biggest threat to democracy: software activist". The Hindu. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  31. ↑ Ranjith, Viswanath (16 January 2014). "Mobile manufacturing units need of the hour". The Hindu. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.