Computers for Uganda?

Shadowfax0 asks: "Recently, when I was attending the International Scout Jamboree in Sattahip, Thailand, I became friends with a fellow Scout from Uganda. One day we decided to both visit one of the small internet cafes that had been set up at the jamboree. I went in, and for only a few baht, was on the internet. My friend from Uganda was amazed, 'How do they do this?' he asked. I told him that in a lot of places in the world these are quite common; he was awe. "'ot in Uganda' he said to me. He told me that at the university he attends there are only three computers; and only one of them has the ability to get on the internet. In the spirit of the jamboree and of scouting, I told him that I would very gladly help him set up something similar at his university. Herein lies my question to the readers of Slashdot: How can I set up a small network for my friend in Uganda where the only fast internet connection may be a DSL line?"

" I was hoping to use thin-clients because they are very durable and create very little load for a server, however, I am not experienced enough to administer them properly using Linux (the same going for Solaris), and do not have enough money for Windows licensing (and also hope to have them be as reliable as possible). I would like to use Apple computers because that is the OS I am most well-versed in, and know that when I leave Uganda and if a problem were to arise, that there would be hope of the problem being rectified. I'm more looking to donate these computers to his school as opposed to set up an internet cafe; so I would be looking to have 6-20 computers and a server. I have never set up a network on a large scale and will need to know about what type of router/hub/network configurations would be plausible (I have a very basic knowledge of administering networks, something I hope to fix soon).

I thank all of you for your input, I hope we can make this happen!"

Comments

What!?!?

[Bluesman]

I thought the VI effect certainly would have kicked in by now.

Proxies...

[kwench]

Remeber the times of slow internet? A proxy might (or might not) save some load on a singe DSL or whatever line to the rest of the world.

+1 Good Point

[eugene ts wong]

I agree with you. I think that this idea that the fellow has is not as easy as it looks. He admits to not knowing much about networking. I don't understand how he even hopes to get the computer(s) set up. Instead of us teaching him from scratch, why doesn't he gather up some of his own money & send it to a professional. Of course, once that's done, he can deal with the electricity problems.

Not only that; he has to bear in mind that free hand outs are the exact opposite of what these people need. Think about that for a moment. Everybody should try to imagine what the black friend [he was black wasn't he? I'm not trying to be racist; I'm trying to keep tabs on the people involved] will do once he can afford his own computer(s). I doubt that the friend will want to donate them to a university. Besides, who said that the friend really wanted to have a computer? There is the "Wow! Can I have that for free?" type of desire, & then there's the "Cool! I'll buy 1." type of desire. In the case of the former, when the person is asked to pay, he'll often sing a different song: "Uh, not now. Maybe later."; or "A foobar for that price? It's not worth it.". I think that there needs to be a lot of changing in the mind sets of the recepients.

Before we start sending computers over there, we really need to ask ourselves how much benefit people will get out the devices. It's not as if dead tree texts are going to hinder their learning of reading, writing, arithmatic, other pressing subjects.