UN Supports OSS/Free Software In Developing World

headisdead writes "This BBC report has details of the IOSN's (International Open Source Network) role in yesterday's Software Freedom Day. As the article rightly points out, the economic potential of these new markets for large tech corporations like MS makes this a real battle in the making. Question is, can Free Software really stem the tide when other sustainal development projects are struggling so much?"

Comments

officail site !

[phreakv6]

Here is their official website since the article
fails to mention it anywhere

FAIR, using FOSS (skolelinux)

[Anonymous Coward]

Some organisations are already using open source software in their work. Look at FAIR (http://www.fair.no/english/home.htm), a norwegain project that are bringing ICT-equipment to development countries. They are aming to use Skolelinux (http://www.skolelinux.org/) in their projects.

Re:A fundamental question..

[HenrikOxUK]

This story has just been getting way out of hand. The UN has alsmost nothing to do with this, appart from being a regular supporter of one of the over 60 teams world-wide.

Re:Money

[krymsin01]

A lot of third world countries do not recognize copyright, so it wouldn't acutaly be pirated software there.

Re:US has an important stake in the UN, right ?

[Anonymous Coward]

Last I checked IBM, SUN, Oracle, HP, etc were all US companies, so what exactly is your point here?

Dupe of old, misleading article

[helarno]

Argh. This is a dupe (though not Timothy's fault). The BBC picked up on and added to the original article by David Lugard, that Slashdot previously linked to here. The IOSN guys contacted them, requested a correction and in the process supplied BBC with additional information about what was done. However, the article, like all those based on the original IDG/Infoworld article, is misleading. The IOSN was merely publicizing the event and if you clicked through the link, you would see that. (Assuming it's not /.'ed. It was down the whole of last week due to two consecutive postings onto Slashdot.)

Software Freedom Day's true website is at www.softwarefreedomday.org and credit should go to the great guys there who did so much to organize and publicize it, including the OpenCD people (Henrik) and others.

Re:Money

[zerblat]

Actually, currently 156 states have signed the Berne Convention. I can't find a list of non-signees, but at least Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Nepal, Ethiopia and Somaila are missing. Anyway, I doubt there are many non-Berne countries with any significant computer usage.

Of course, signing a convention and actually complying it are two different things...

[link] Microsoft _wants_ you to "pirate" software

[leonbrooks]

c|net interview 2 jul 1998

Key phrase: "As long as they are going to steal it, we want them to steal ours. They'll get sort of addicted, and then we'll somehow figure out how to collect sometime in the next decade."

Re:Money

[The Cydonian]

A lot of third world countries do not recognize copyright, so it wouldn't acutaly be pirated software there.

There's this 1985 study by the World Bank on exactly this issue. Turned out the actual graph of nations versus IPR protections (ie, copyrights, trademarks AND patents, although not necessarily software patents) was an inverse bell-curve; that is, the more improverished nations (sub-Saharan Africa?) actually had protection-levels equivalent to that of the (so-called) First World nations. Essentially, all their IPR laws were colonial-era laws; with other pressing issues taking center-stage, their governments didn't fiddle around with them. It was only nations that were (are) developing economies, notably countries such as Malaysia, China (?) and India (drugs industry as an example), that had lesser IPR protection because their industries needed tech fast.

Of course, the WTO changes all that; now the graph is more or less a straight line. That is to say, that Windows XP SP2 CD you bought off Kuala Lumpur's streets for 8 ringgits is still illegal, even if it's affordable.