FLOSS PROFILE: Prem Kumar <a.premkumar at gmail.com
Prajña : Cognizant FLOSS Corps
Courtesy: FSUG-Bangalore

A. Prem Kumar is an assistant manager with Cognizant at
Bangalore. He writes: "Been in Cognizant for the past 7 years
now. I have been involved with FLOSS since 1998, when I did
my first Linux installation :) I maintain a blog on FLOSS in
Cognizant's internal blog to spread its awareness and have
been successful in getting many people interested in it. Some
of my posts there have been sanitised andput in my external
blog. [1]

"I have started a new group (so far unofficial) in Cognizant
which endeavours to help in the upliftment of the rural and
urban poor of India by giving them a digital edge achieved by
implementing and teaching FLOSS based solutions in academic
institutions and self help communities."

They are the Prajña : Cognizant FLOSS Corps. [2]

He writes:

Prajna stands for wisdom, intelligence which we try to
impart and also comes closest to the translation of
Cognizant. I plan to use swan as a mascot. Swan is
closest to Hamsa, Saraswati's vahan & represents wisdom
& knowledge too :)

It is still in its infancy (only two days old) and not
much has been setup, except for securing the help of
some people who have promised help in their personal
capacities. I am sending across a mind map on my plans
for this group and solicit your feedback and
suggestions.

The idea for starting such a group got seeded in my mind
while I was researching for a blog post of mine called
"Satyagrah for Swatantra Software in India"[3]. The blog
has also been posted in Cognizant's internal blogs
(ch1blogs, short for Channel One Blogs) where I maintain
a blog called FLOSS Bites. I was very much impressed &
driven by the recent efforts of ilug-cal to implement
LTSP in rural schools and teaching the MLAs (I have
mentioned it in my post too).

My idea got watered further during my various
discussions on these internal blogs wrt Charity in
Hinduism and Cognizant's Corporate Social Responsibility.

My driving force to start this group is my belief that
the greatest charity we can do in this day & age is to
give somebody a job or teach a job, so that they are
self sufficient as well as strive to provide employment
to others too. And this self sufficiency is what will
provide actual freedom to all our poor. No wonder then
that I choose only Swatantra software (FLOSS).

Also, I will not consider using proprietary solutions
even if given away for free. This might seem extremist
but that's my belief. Teaching people proprietary
solutions for free is a sure fire way to get the people
hooked onto a solution which they will not be able to
afford once they get addicted. This is pretty much like
getting people addicted to drugs for free and then
making them pay heavily.

You can also join in the conversations I am having in
Orkut with the youngsters from college. [4]

I would like to ask for whatever help you all can
provide us, monetary or with knowledge or with contacts
or in any other way you think it will be helpful for us.
And finally, seeking all your blessings and well wishes
too.

--
[1] http://scorpfromhell.blogspot.com/
[2] http://scorpfromhell.blogspot.com/2007/08/praja-cognizant-floss-corps.html
[3]
http://scorpfromhell.blogspot.com/2007/07/satyagrah-for-swatantra-software-in.ht\
ml
[4] http://www.orkut.com/CommMsgs.aspx?cmm=55950&tid=2548591294461293376

--
- Prem

I spent a minute looking at my own code by accident.
I was thinking "What the hell is this guy doing?"
----------------------------------------------------
Prem Kumar Aparanji
M: 00919845226618
[Bangalore, KA, INDIA]

http://scorpfromhell.blogspot.com

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