Thin Client With OSS for Developing Nations

FridayBob writes "The BBC has a story on a new, ultra-thin client that a group of not-for-profit developers, Ndiyo, hope will open up the potential of computing to people in the developing world. Not surprisingly, their system uses open source software. The system runs Ubuntu Linux with a Gnome/KDE deskto and OpenOffice. From the article: 'Licences for software are often a significant part of expenditure for smaller companies which rely on computers. But a recent UK government study, yet to be formally published, has shown that open source software can significantly reduce school budgets dedicated to computing set-ups.'"

Comments

Re:More of the same NON-SOLUTION.

[grcumb]

"The truth is that in "third world" countries, bare bones PCs that run your choice of Windows or Linux simply don't cost a hell of a lot more than $100, and often less."

Welcome to the land of Generalisation, where one anecdotal observation trumps any need for actual data!

Sorry to be so crude, but what you're saying is so hopelessly wrong that it just about made me jump out of my chair. How do I know it's wrong? Because I'm sitting right now in a developing nation that adds a 40% duty to all imported computer goods. I cannot buy a new PC of any kind for less than USD 1000. (That's about 6 times the legal monthly minimum wage.)

I've spoken with officials from the department of trade, and they've been extremely receptive to the fact that high computing costs are a huge barrier to development. In fact, they're in the process of lowering those barriers. But even then, the best we could expect would be a roughly $4-500 computer, which still represents a huge amount of money for the average person. When you're earning very little money, every dollar has to count.

So guess what? We used 8 year-old Pentiums to operate as thin clients to connect to 'modern' PIII 450s running Ubuntu. Here's the press release we just published.

In fairness, there are a number of countries where computer hardware is cheap. But the fact that some developing countries have cheap computers does not mean that 'the developing world has cheap computers'.

Re: Thin clients cheap?

[Alwin Henseler]

First, the client can be really bare bones (i.e. no HD, minimal RAM, low-end graphics, low processesor speeds, etc) so they can be cheap ($170 + monitor from WalMart or donated machines).

Yep, thin clients are great, when used in the right places. And they have many advantages. But... price isn't one of them. Not yet, anyway.

Where I live, PC's up to around 200 MHz. (original Pentium and below) are effectively free. You want one? Look around, hand over a sixpack of beer, and you have one.

Now with a $170 budget, I can get you a (used) PC that includes monitor, and beats the crap out of any thin client you can find for same money.

How come? Well, we all know electronics today are 'cheap' thanks to the sheer numbers they're produced in. Apparantly in today's world, a standard beige box with off-the-shelf components, is still cheaper (to produce, or second-hand), than a book-sized thin client produced in limited numbers.

For a business, the numbers may differ. If you'd use old hardware in a thin-client like fashion, you might have to hire someone, to manage parts, build and repair boxes fulltime. In that scenario, it may be cheaper to spend $170 once on thin clients, and very little after that on managing the hardware. But the savings here are not hardware, but management costs. Which I think is the advantage of thin clients anyway.

I hope some day (maybe soon) these economics will change, and make smaller/smarter boxes cheaper than equal performing WalMart beige boxes. Because they have many advantages, and I happen to like small+smart boxes. Even if they're still a bit bigger, like Mini-ITX or Shuttle XPC's.

Re:Development begins at home

[Doc Ruby]

I care more about my neighbors than about your neighbors. It's economics and basic recognition of how human empathy actually works in practice. I work with the NY City Council, frequently advising how tech can create opportunities for disadvantaged people. I spend hundreds, thousands of hours a year doing that, which affects literally millions of my poor neighbors directly, and millions farther away indirectly, by example. What do you do, other than posting holier-than-thou comments to Slashdot?