Group: Freedom in Technology Supporter and Developer Network (FTSDN)
FTSDN stands as an acronym for Freedom in Technology Supporter and Developer Network. The aim for forming such network in 2008 was to unite the strength of all Freedom in Technology supporters (not only users but supporters) and developers to produce better technology solutions by understanding the requirements of general users and recommendations of free technology supporters. The network is supposed to help Govt. and Non-Govt. organizations in adopting Free Technology Alternatives.
Summary
- Name :: FTSDN
- List :: http://groups.google.com/group/tp4f
- Website :: http://www.passion4freedom.org and http://p4f.in
- Contact :: admin@p4f.in
- Description :: Freedom in Technology Supporter and Developer Network
- Current_status :: Active
Concept
In 2008 the Free Software Movement already had begun to show up in the frontline. But there was a problem. And that is a problem even today. Many people are using free softwares, reporting bugs either knowing about free software philosophy or without even noticing it. Some think that free software is open source software and both the terms are equivalent. Some think they are serving to open source community and some even advocate for "open source" in public although they are basically fond of the philosophy of free software. The problem is that often the cause for developing a free software is not conveyed to people properly. Then people start to think "Why are they giving it free of cost? Perhaps they are fools. I will not do this when I develop something!" or "Freeware and free software are same, but this thing is different because here we get access to source code!". Now this sort of thinking leads to misconception among those who get influenced by these people. This way people start forgetting the core values of free technology movement and start to admire open source movement. One main reason for such propagation of misconception may be the lesser visibility of places that talk of freedom directly. Hence this effort was taken up to include all supporters and developers of free technology in one network and plan collaboratively to reach out more to the basic users and make them aware of core values.
The formation was officially done through a gathering of some motivated free software groups in West Bengal, India after a speech by RMS (in the year 2008). The network was named Passion4Freedom for easy calling and the groups decided to collaborate as FTSDG-s in the FTSDN.
