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."

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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.
  

The ? community

[tquinlan]

Feedback from the international ./ community would be great."

The dotslash community? Are we a bunch of shell scripts now? ;)

arrogance of free software developers

[lkcl]

got your attention? good.

in 1997, i did a talk on samba. when the question asked was "why should we bother to interoperate with proprietary protocols when we are [clever enough] to write our own and we don't _need_ to interoperate [with microsoft]", everybody clapped.

that was a _very_ interesting and defining moment, because it told me that everyone in that room lacked any sense of responsibility associated with their intelligence, capabilities, and the opportunities that their education and environment had presented them.

now, there's someone here at bridges.org pointing out that Free Software is pretty much useless to people who need it the most.

i hope that this article will bring that home more clearly - that the ignorance and ego [definition of arrogance] of free software developers needs to go.

if you HAVE the ability, ACCEPT the responsibility.

Unlicensed copies of proprietary software?

[KingSkippus]

From the "Key ground-level findings":

...the fact that FOSS is available free of license costs has little financial benefits for African labs, which almost never pay for the software they use because of donations and unlicensed copies.

Donations, fine, but unlicensed copies? So they're saying that one consideration in the FOSS versus proprietary software situation is the willingness of the public labs to break international copyright laws?

Okay, maybe I can accept that from an informational standpoint, but are decisions on how to proceed and what software is going to be used going to be made based on this information?

[This study] was published this week to provide needed background information and advice to people who want to make sound software choices that are right for their local environments...

Oh, I guess indeed they are.