Researching Open Source

philippInAfrica writes "bridges.org just released the software comparison study that looks at free/open source software and proprietary software in community computer labs in Africa. The announcement is on bridges, or you can download the full report in PDF form. To our knowledge, this is the largest field study of its kind in developing countries - we visited 121 computer labs in Namibia, Uganda and South Africa - and we are making all data available to other researchers. Feedback from the international ./ community would be great."

Comments

Key observations from the study (cut n paste)

[emj]

• Both free/open source software and proprietary software can be used to offer
  technology solutions appropriate for African public-access computer labs.
  
• The thin-client model provides a reliable, cost-effective and popular solution
  for public-access computer labs in Africa.
  
• Software license costs for proprietary software are significant in principle, but
  in practice they are not borne by many of the public-access computer labs in
  Africa.
  
• At ground level in Africa, the potential for cost savings gained from the use of
  FOSS depends on many factors.
  
• General ICT skills levels -- especially for installation and maintenance of
  software -- are low overall, and experience with proprietary software is more
  pervasive.
  
• Training courses for PS are more widely available than for FOSS.
  
• The fact that FOSS makes source code available and encourages modifications
  is not exploited by the vast majority of public-access lab staff or users in
  Africa because they lack the necessary skills. However, it does offers an
  opportunity for local service providers to create customised applications.
  
• The availability and quality of local technical support in Africa (for both
  free/open source and proprietary software) is reasonably high overall,
  although FOSS support tends to rely on free services.
  
• While there are a number of projects underway to translate software into
  African languages, these localised versions are not yet widely used in publicaccess
  labs and there is some disagreement about the value of local language
  software.
  
• Most FOSS labs in Africa are set up and supported by a small group of
  enthusiastic implementing organisations, so the success of FOSS labs relies
  heavily on their efforts.
  
• General trends with regard to economic situation, age of the lab, and staff
  experience can be identified among labs that use the same type of software.
  

WSIS related symposium

[mattr]

I recently participated in the Tokyo Ubiquitous Network Conference, part of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), which was intended to develop a draft constitution on development of IT-enhanced society for the 21st century, with attention to north-south and social development issues. Anyway, it included a lot of people who are into open source and a lot of people interested in rural connectivity so you might be interested in some of the documents.

In particular there are maps of African connectivity (Dr. Dzvimbo's) and mentions of use in education (like Dr. Miyagawa from MIT's OpenCourseware).

The U.S. in 2003 (at the first part of this conference) apparently was against the final draft saying anything about open source or choosing open source over commercial software. However this time it seems open source is being explicitly covered.

One interesting person there was Mike Reed, Director of United Nations University's International Institute for Software Technology (UNU-IIST). He talked about their hiring 10 open source developers to develop a standardized desktop distro for learning in the third world. He's a famous mathematician and computer scientist, in particular he wants to mathematically prove that a distro and its programs will "just work" which sounds pretty interesting. Anybody wanting to go to Macau should contact him!

I converted all the pdfs to text and grepped "open source" below FYI.

D-22ChairmansReport.txt: Be development-oriented, ensuring equitable and sustainable distribution of resources Recognize the goal of accessibility for all, emphasizing the needs of people with disabilities and the poor Respect the Internet end-to-end principles and open source, open content, open courseware, and open standards Uphold human rights, rights to self-determination, and particularly the risks to privacy and leakage of personal information

D-23chairmans_report.txt: Be development-oriented, ensuring equitable and sustainable distribution of resources Recognize the goal of accessibility for all, emphasizing the needs of people with disabilities and the poor Respect the Internet end-to-end principles and open source, open content, open courseware, and open standards Uphold human rights, rights to self-determination, and particularly the risks to privacy, for example from the leakage of personal information

S2-3DrDZVIMBO.txt:The possibilities Click to edit Master title style ClickA majorto editinitiativeMasterthattexthasstylesnow emerged is the development of Free Open Source institutions. (e.g. Nairobi, Agadir, Cape African institutions are also developing initiatives to foster the development of Learning Object Repositories by university academics and Research Networks.

S2-5ProfOkamura.txt:Regional Support PEACESAT U.S. establishing Pacific ICT Academy in American Samoa MOODLE implemented in American Samoa, CNMI and Guam Open Source Squid, Apache, others

S2-5ProfOkamura.txt:Regional Support Activities PEACESAT U.S. establishing Pacific ICT Academy in American Samoa Open Source Software

S2-5ProfOkamura.txt:Suggestion #3c ICT Infrastructure 3 Suggestion Open source and other inexpensive technologies should be encouraged. Rationale The cost of software and applications are potential problems. e.g. American Samoa implemented VA Clinical Information System.

S4-1BANKS.txt: Perspectives of marginilised groups, excluded communities, grassroots activists Expertise, skills, experience & knowledge human rights, sustainable development, privacy & security, education, women's empowerment & gender equality, affordable universal access, open standards & interoperability, open source, open content & universal design for all

s4-2FRAU-MEIGSDivinaRev1.txt:Tools for Open Access: An open source backbone An education exemption to IP rights A Universal Service Fund Interoperabil