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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?"
This all comes down to money.
How can you compete against free, when the customers have little or no money.
A school in an underdeveloped country buys 100 old PCs.
Would you use 100 licenced copies of XP, or just download a linux iso for free?
The system had the verbosity of HTML combined with all the readability of compiled assembly viewed as bitmap images
Here is their official website since the article
fails to mention it anywhere
fifteen jugglers, five believers
What role does the UN play in deciding what type of software gets used / bought in the World? Is the UN a sort of marketing organisation? Does the UN make no distinction between promoting democracy and promoting capitalism?
-
If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
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.
I hope this will increase the use of free standards like Ogg Vorbis, XViD, PNG etc and it is only healthy to have many different operating systems.
Who is John Galt?
It certainly won't be easy for free software in these developing countries, especially considering how inexperienced with computers many of the users will be. Love it or hate it, any idiot can use Windows.
It's certainly an oppurtunity to introduce many new people to the Free Software philosophy. This can only be a good thing and give MS cause for concern. in these new markets.
Patriotism - the last resort of scoundrels.
I apologise to our Danish friends for Slashdotting their server, but I just had to share this gallery from the Copenhagen event (It was a world-wide day, not just Asia). Check the penguin and devil suits :)
They write in the SFD wiki:
Update: Our Local event was a huge success!
We handed out 300 CD's in little less than an hour.... We also had 500 balloons promoting the day, and we gave out balloons to every stroller, child and adult who wanted one - in fact people came over to our booth asking for free balloons....
The balloons were red with white text, saying Software Freedom Day 2004 on the front and having penguin footprints on the back.
We had help from about 25 volunteers, a large Tux, a little Tux and a daemon
All the volunteers were wearing red t-shirts with white text, saying Software Freedom Day 2004 on the front and "Free Software er foran" at the back. The text in Danish has two meanings, first "Free Software is at the frontier" (we are ahead), second - you could get your free copy of the CDs, at the front of the person wearing the t-shirt....
It was very fun - and its not the last time we are willing to do this!
The Boston team handed out 450 CD packs in the park, in Goa, India 200 people got together to celebrate, etc. (reports are still coming in)
They want to make sure that more people are ingrained with the "need" for Windows, so that they will keep using it. Almost like a drug addiction. So they came out with Windows XP Starter Edition, in an effort to target the low end markets. However, as a Google News Search shows, XP Starter Edition is a bust... Sure, they are selling it "cheap", but honestly, according to reviews of features, it's worse than crippled shareware that is given away for free.
;)
Overall, I'm happy that people in those countries will not be starting life addicted to the drug Microsoft sells, and start with a clean slate. And when 2 billion users in China are using Linux, maybe we'll get more games that run under it.
@Whee
So the US will simply, in the long term, block or veto stuff like this; at the behest of its own software industry. It also means that the MS and buddies will pony up a little bit of cash to lobby UN people. And if you're really cynical, then you could argue that this is a veiled attempt by the UN to start taxing an industry for its money: 'give us so many lobby dollars or we will promote free software in the developing world.' Not unlike the scare tactics used by some of the (local/national) governments of this world recently.
Frederick Noronha in Goa writes:
On August 28, 2004 -- the last Saturday in the month -- some 200 students gathered to mark Software Freedom Day at the Rayeshwar Institute of Technology, in Goa.
This three-years young engineering college is seated atop a hilltop at the seemingly remote village of Shiroda, about 40 kilometres from Goa's state-capital Panaji (also called Panjim). Goa has 1.4 million inhabitants, and is a former Portuguese colony along the Indian west coast.
...
Among the speakers was former Goa education minister Subhash Shirodkar, who said: "The idea of freedom needs to be strong in this country of Mahatma Gandhi. I would never tolerate the clutches of bondage -- whether it is economic or educational,"
Isn't empowering people one of the main ideas of free software? So giving people that until now had no means to use modern information systems the opportunity to finally participate is great and somehow at the heart of the free software movement.
Don't get me wrong, I think it is great that Linux (or rather GNU/Linux) is making inroads in corporate environments and has a lot of backing from big business like IBM, HP, etc., but I sometimes got the impression that the most important idea behind free software, giving the people means to make more of their lives, somehow slipped into the background recently.
So in this sense this is really going back to the roots of free software and that's a good thing.
I would say Bill Gates doesn't mind. In fact, he might even give away a special edition of Window just so he "indoctrinate" the youth and thus lead that generation to the life of Microsoft. Think about it. Once your a Windows user, most people stay that way. But if you started off using Mac, then that will be your religious..err..I mean..user friendly path in life.
Life is not for the lazy.
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.
The primary advantage of F/OSS compared with proprietary software is that it can be acquired without cost. That's a big advantage. Once acquired, though, very real costs are incurred in installing, training, and maintaining. Sys admins do not work for free, regardless of the development model used by their OS.
Microsoft could, presumably, reduce the cost advantage of F/OSS by cutting the price of Windows. While the loss of potential revenue would be large in countries as populous as India or China, it would be much easier to absorb in small countries like Bhutan, Lesotho, or Gambia.
The consequence is that MS is in a position to make Windows cheaper to acquire, and, potentially, to reduce the cost of support it provides directly. F/OSS, on the other hand, cannot reduce the acquisition cost of its products and has no real control over the cost of support.
Many Western eyes typically fail to see the differences throughout the underdeveloped world. Some nations have a burgeoning IT sector and a veneer of prosperity riding atop massive poverty. Opprtunities for indivudal economic success are present in some countries, while in others opportunity is stifled by ideology or religion, corruption, and incompetence.
Many nations cannot (or do not care enough to) provide their populations with safe drinking water, minimal health care, and sufficient caloric intake. Rather than conjuring visions of besting Microsoft in these markets, the F/OSS community would be of better service if it conjured ways to use its products to enable these nations to tackle those more pressing problems.
-- Slashdot: When Public Access TV Says "No"
I think that the developing countries in this area have a real advantage: Since the dependency of IT in the public sector is far behind the industrial countries, they have not been locked in! They have the full freedom to choose without having to consider huge migration costs.
Microsoft is aware of this, I guess that's why they have made light versions available in some asian countries and are planning to sell this product in more countries. Also, they will probably benefit from the lockin due to software piracy.
Even if pirate copies are available, or Microsoft offers software for free, there are numerous examples of developing countries taking a step in direction of OSS. They have seen the long term consequences of M$ lockin.
Question is, can Free Software really stem the tide when other sustainal development projects are struggling so much?"
Yes, it can. OSS development models can also solve problems where traditional development can't. Such as: localized software for non-latin languages.
Another great potential use of free software could happen in the field of maschine translation.
A friend's daughter (13 years old) was at our house this weekend, and wanted to "play on the computer", which is loaded with straight-up Debian.
She watched me click on the menus to pull up a couple of games, and then she was good to go. She played and had a good time all afternoon, exploring the selection of games (Frozen Bubbles and Defenguin were her favorites).
Her comment at the end of the day was "you sure have a cool computer to play on". I think inexperience actually -helps-, as there is nothing to unlearn. Clicking on icons is clicking on icons, I have watched a lot of people sit down on my Deb system and just start "doing stuff". I have noticed that the hard-core Windows users have the hardest time, but the casual users really have no problem.
A house divided against itself cannot stand.
as part of the trade agreement to ensure that the sri lankan garment industry gets a good deal in the multi-fiber agreement, SLGOV signed an IP protection treaty with the US.
a friend of my father's when to meet one fo the signers of both 'agreements' and asked "you signed that agreement to save the garment industry, and did you ever stop to think what would happen to the village/smalltown kid who wants to buy a bootleg copy of windows for 100rs (1usd), do you want him to have to pay 100USD for it??"
the response was "i didn't know about that side of it"
morons
anyway as a celebration for FSD (free software day) we didn't do JACK SHIT as far as i know (despite the post on it stating that something was supposed to happen). so in order to maintain the theme, i went and shoplifted myself a free beer
Suchetha
(and i know i know, they should be getting free linux cd's instead of bootlegging windows, but frell it.. they wanna play games, they DON'T want to spend time compiling kernels, they barely speak ENGLISH for fuck's sake)
learn from yesterday, plan for tomorrow, party tonight
or one out of three ain't bad
Open Letter to Hobbyists
Top line: "Who can afford to do professional work for nothing?" Boy, has that one been thoroughly answered! (-:
Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
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."
Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
Jan 2000 transcript of 1980 interview
"If something's expensive to develop, and somebody's not going to get paid, it won't get developed. So you decide: Do you want software to be written, or not?"
We've decided, Bill, now stop hogging The Road Ahead, OK? (-:
Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
You must have been reading some of those M$ "Get the Facts" publications to think that free software ever costs more than Microsoft based junk. I can't think of anyplace that's true.
Many nations cannot (or do not care enough to) provide their populations with safe drinking water, minimal health care, and sufficient caloric intake. Rather than conjuring visions of besting Microsoft in these markets, the F/OSS community would be of better service if it conjured ways to use its products to enable these nations to tackle those more pressing problems.
Free software provides tools for people to solve their own problems and does so with much leaner hardware. Once a free driver for a piece of hardware is made, that hardware is never obsoleted by an OS version change. Free compilers for working hardware are useful in providing food, water and health care. From administration and records keeping to equipment automation, free software can do anything and more than Microsoft can, but better and cheaper. That's why the UN is starting to push it over commercial software.
Free software use may be another area, like cell phones instead of POTS, where developing markets are more efficient than developed ones.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
Salve, ;)
Open Source for the (developing) world would be good. One idee of mine is to broadcast a distribution via the Air (www.drm.org) or Satellite. Digital Radio Mondal allows to stream 16-24 kBit/s and Reciever should get RS232 or IrDA interfaces to receive Data like Programm infos, weather maps or vocabulary for languages.
-IMHO it would be nice to broadcaste once a year a selection of Debian all over the world, and security updates from time to time.
-A free DVB-S broadcast is IMHO realy no problem (e.g. every Sundy mornig 3:00h to 7:00h a.m.) Encrypted confing files and data could refinanciate such a broadcast.
-A sw drm broadcast would be more expensive and would take more time, some weeks/month to broadcast the Debian selection - but it could be an alternative beside burning CDs and sending them with snail-mail all over the world.
-Such a broadcastsystem would it make possible to install new software on manless wetherstations, "surface marker buoys" - scientists would have only to pay for ther config-files and own scripts and programs.
-Beside open source Software the Broacast should include documentations, tutorials, important webpages, mailing-lists, newsgroups and even radio shows about open software
What do you think about this?
rob
Bill Gates has donated perhaps $1G but his organization's attempts to lock in countries is worth much more.. and possibly his donations support that. Developing countries have 2 needs - they need to satisfy potentially destructive political realities, and once they've gotten beyond that they need to best leverage their assets to develop their future. If a country is being given official aid, so long as there is a viable free alternative (or lower cost when tco calculated), commercial interests have no business selling to them. Even giving it away for free is bad if it is done by a known rapacious monopoly, and risky even if done by other companies with lock-in tactics, for what is then really going on is a bargaining away of that country's potential, either by hapless individuals or far more likely, someone who intends to make a profit. Of course if Gates wants to invest a cool billion in cash altruistically that is another story. Perhaps a story we'd like to hear.. how do organizations in fact organize that level of giving and make sure it goes to good use? How can we believe Gates is altruistic when his company is the corporate equivalent of a gang-backed serial killer?
My point about support costs, as I said, is that MS is in a postion to both lower the cost of acquiring its software and of lowering the cost of buying its support, if it chooses to do that. The free software community cannot do that, because its product is already free and it provides no direct support.
I am getting so tired of hearing this old canard.
I spend a lot of time supporting commercial software, and I support my own FOSS system, so I think I am in a position to argue this.
Commercial software support (even paid support) in general is no better than FOSS support. In fact, FOSS support is usually better. If you know how to ask, you can usually at least get a dialog with the actual developer of a FOSS product. If he says "fix it yourself", you can usually get someone with the capability to fix/enhance it at a fraction of the cost of a commercial support contract that doesn't provide anything beyond idiot help desk stuff. With a commercial product, you usually get the outsourced idiot help line, or even with a company that keeps that in house, you get third-line lackeys who can't/won't give you the straight story or real support. And customization? No comparison, with commercial software, this is a pipe dream, with FOSS, it is a concrete possibility.
My experience with developing countries is that there are a lot of young, smart people who are eager to do the coding that needs to be done. These countries don't have the resources to put into the abstracted RIP-OFF that most commercial "support" actually is.
A house divided against itself cannot stand.
If the U.S. economy depends on selling Windows to third-world nations, we have far worse problems than even the deepest, darkest pessimist could ever have imagined.
Two of my kids are in the same age group. Each has computer in their room. I installed Mandrake (first 9.1, then 10.0) on it about 9 months ago. They use it for homework, Neopets, games, playing MP3, and chatting with friends (using GAIM). I even introduced them to FreeCiv the other day and they played it for a while (and understood what a server and a client is, ...etc).
Homework and important stuff is stored on a server and directories are shared via NFS.
They complain every now and then that such and such site does not work (Shockwave or MS specific ActiveX perhaps), but they can do most of the Windows stuff on it.
The computers are second hand Pentium II bought on the cheap.
I don't have to deal with spyware, viruses, or spend big money on games, software, ...etc.
2bits.com, Inc: Drupal, WordPress, and LAMP performance tuning.
BBC seem to think 'free' means 'worse than cheap'. Not so; there is nothing inferior about Free Software. I think they know really, though; look at their proposed Free video codec