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Ask the Egyptian Installfest Organizers

Posted by Roblimo on from the linux-for-the-masses dept.

The Linux-Egypt group recently held an amazingly successful installfest. This event was a milestone both for Linux installfests in general (was it the largest one ever held?) and for Linux in the Arabic world. Alaa Abd El Fatah, one of the organizers, has offered to answer your questions with help from other Linux-Egypt members. We'll post their answers to 10 or 12 of the highest-moderated questions as soon as we get them back.

13 of 281 comments (clear)

  1. Motives for switching by XCorvis · · Score: 5, Interesting

    What were some of the reasons that people gave for trying/switching to linux? Was it as simple as better language support or saving money? Or were there political motives as well, such as a resistance toward Microsoft because of its nation of origin?

  2. the competition by TeamLive · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I am wondering what the competition is for an operating system in the arab world. Is windows as big as it is here? Or do people use other operating systems (BSD, OSX, Solaris, Linux) most of the time?

    Also, what is the most widely used distro in that part of the world?

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    one world | many people
  3. Politics, religion and software by CdBee · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Have the recent military actions taken by Western countries in the Islamic world affected attitudes towards software, bearing in mind the US-centric nature (Microsoft, Intel, Adobe) of commercial, closed-source software?

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    I have been a user for about 10 years. This ends Feb 2014. The site's been ruined. I'm off. Dice, FU
  4. Popular Culture by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    How ingrained is technology/computing (including OSS) into popular culture in Egypt? In North America it is everpresent and accepted as part of the culture, as it were, but I seldom see the same side of other societies. Are geek topics common 'water-cooler' discussions?

  5. Native language support by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Are there any technical restrictions in current Arabic language support in Linux? Also, how big role do language support and translations play in adoption of Linux there? I suppose there are quite many people who don't speak English at all.

  6. Positive contribution? by acceber · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Do you feel events such as InstallFest have contributed positively to the growing awareness of computer technology in non-western countries?

  7. Distro? by lacrymology.com · · Score: 5, Interesting

    What is the most popular distro in Egypt?
    -m

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    #
    # Modus Ponens
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  8. Net access shop by carvalhao · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I've been recently to Egipt and couldn't help noticing the large number of shops that offer net access for a small (European standards) fee. Do these shops usually run Linux or Windows?

    I also know the government has it's troubles raising money to put computers in your administrative structure. Is the government setting up Windows (paying the required licences) or Linux?

    I would like to congratulate you on your initiative, as it may contribute to reduce the electronic divide.

  9. Women. by Mateito · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I didn't look through all the installfest photos, but I didn't see a lot of women there. Okay, so hanging out with a lot of geeks configuring network services isn't most chicks idea of a hot date. But, nevertheless, how many females are involved with the open source crowd, and in the IT industry in general, in Egypt?

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    Norman Cook's Ode to Sl
  10. Pre-install questions or misconceptions by dkh2 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    What were the most common misunderstandings among new or potential Linux users? Did you provide a place for newbie questions and answers?

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    My office has been taken over by iPod people.
  11. American nerds want to know... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny



    What do Egyptian nerds wear? Black horn-rimmed kaffiyehs? And do you wear Star Trek robes, or wear the shirts underneath regular robes and stick a little Star Fleet pin on your lapel? Do robes *have* lapels? How do you say "bite my shiny metal ass" in Egyptian? What's the ancient heiroglyph for "FR15T P05T!?" How awesome would it be if you took that cord that holds your kaffiyeh on your head and modded it with EL wire? Do Egyptian nerds survive off of Cheetos and Mountain Dew, or is it more like big mouthfuls of qat and Pyramid Dew? When you're playing Tomb Raider what do you say - "Nice rack!" or "Dude! You can totally see my house in this level!" What kind of beer do Egyptian nerds drink? Do chicks dig Egyptian nerds, or are you all in the same boat as us? Do you guys freak out over Japanese chicks and pocky? How do you keep all the fucking sand out of your case mods? Do you have "Type-R" camels? Do you have low-rider camels with neon on their nuts? Do you guys know the Icy Hot Stuntaz? Do hot Egyptian girls come to LAN parties? Are you as excited about Half-Life 2 as we are?

    (And I'm only slightly kidding about these. We'll learn more about each other by talking like nerds than we will by pretending to be politians...)

  12. Computers in Egypt? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Can you give us some idea of the state of computing in your country? For example, are computers common in general home use, are middle-class types able to afford them, and so forth. I'm also curious about how the heat and sand are handled - are they problems?

  13. Linux is free. What about the hardware? by solojony · · Score: 5, Interesting

    How much of an egyptian income takes buying a computer? What is the computer/population ratio? How is the average hardware? PIII? PIV?