[fedora-india] Freemedia Help *Needed* in India

[Inderjeet S Sodhi]

Hi all,
I think the idea erupted in Frank's mind after my mail yesterday. After a
brief communication even I looked at the pending requests and was amazed to
see the number of pending requests.

Since most of them are for F15, I'd rather wait for F16 to open up, this
because someone seeking F15 will most likely ask for F16 as well within the
next fortnight.

As for vendors, most of them are not into it because they follow their heart
or because of the spirit that we people have here but because they think
they should "sell". There isn't any exclusive vendor as far as I could
understand from a quick glimpse. The name "Linux Bazar" would imply they
have things/services/products related to Linux but one look at their site
and I knew they are selling "whatever" comes to them. One vendor, copyleft
solutions is in Pakistan, not as listed under India.

As for countrymen not helping fellow countrymen, I disagree. The objective
is to help the needy not the greedy. There is always an element of
skepticism when it comes to someone asking for something for free in India.
Seeker are always manifold higher than givers :-)

I don’t mind contributing back, say 10 DVDs a month just to spread the
cause, because some part of my earning comes from Open Source (thanks FOSS
and the OS community) but that’s not the case with everyone. There is also
no "criteria" to judge genuine requesters. I agree with fellow members that
some requesters wouldn't have "seriously" created the requests. They did so
just "because it was available" or in anticipation of getting a nicer or
"official"  media. I'd personally give preference to requests from areas
that are not in/around metros. Since most of Metro India as well as Tier2
city segment is now under "unlimited data transfer" plans, So if they can go
torrenting, they can download Fedora as well. Jammu/Kashmir would be a good
option because students are keen to get into mainstream learning while
Internet is still intermittent there.

There could be a "I am willing to pay n Rupees as shipping charges" in the
form. Such requests maybe matched to vendors. Contributors may also have
some benchmarks, say 2 DVDs in 6 months (or in 2 releases). Those who are
not upto the standard maybe "suspended". Yes, everyone is a volunteer so
suspension sounds rude, but the system needs to be kept clean and concise.

Well I can go on and on...but enough of it for now. I don't want to you have
a first impression that I am a critic/skeptic or something on those lines.

Thank you for a patient reading. Some functions/ideas I mentioned above may
already be there  in the current system, so please excuse my ignorance. I
have the privilege of being new here you know ;-)

Bye for now.
Inderjeet