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Microsoft Thinks Africa Doesn't Need Free Software

Posted by samzenpus on from the cough-up-the-cash dept.

DIY News writes "Microsoft has claimed the cost of software is not an important issue in the developing world. According to MS, while you can give people free software or computers, they won't have the expertise to use it."

14 of 729 comments (clear)

  1. No, they don't need free software by Sir+Joltalot · · Score: 5, Insightful

    In many cases, what they need is food, clean drinking water, and shelter. Let's get those bases covered before we start doling out the software, shall we?

    --
    "Caffeine is not an option. Caffeine is a way of life."
    1. Re:No, they don't need free software by BlueCodeWarrior · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You could argue that the people of Africa may not, but the governments may.

      We wouldn't want all of that aid money to be spent on expensive software to create the country's infrastructure when it could just be free in both senses of the word.

      Just playing devil's advocate.

    2. Re:No, they don't need free software by eericson · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Actually, what they really need now is a stable agrarian economy. Once they've got a handle on that, we'll talk information age.

      --
      The evil monkey commands you to dance.
    3. Re:No, they don't need free software by killjoe · · Score: 5, Insightful

      This is the typical American response. Apparently Americans believe everybody in africa is starving, has no water and is living outside.

      Let me be the first one to tell you that there are people in africa who have have houses, clean water and food. Furthermore there are people in America who have no clean water, no food and live outside.

      So people in Africa need computers, they need industry, they need commerce, they need an economy. WIthout those they will never get enough food for everybody. Of course not everybody will be fed, just like in America not everybody is fed, but you can't wait till everybody has enough food to start your economy.

      --
      evil is as evil does
  2. They know... by axonal · · Score: 5, Funny

    They seem to know how to use computers already! Excuse me while I go fax my banking information to the attorney of an imprisoned Prince whose country recently went into anarchy, I need to help transfer funds for him!

  3. Errr? by Solra+Bizna · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Well, sure, if you give them the software for free they might lack the expertise to use it.

    But if you charge them for it instead, then you've gotten a tiny amount of cash, they've lost (~)months of their savings, and they STILL lack the expertise to use it!

    -:sigma.SB

    P.S. Interesting. Firefox "parses" </?P> tags. :S

    --
    WARN
    THERE IS ANOTHER SYSTEM
  4. Not just Microsoft are poorly-informed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Let's just wait for the flood of misinformed replies flooding in here on Slashdot like they do every time a story about Africa is posted. I expect to see many stupid posts by slashdotters arguing "what's the use for computers if you don't have food?"

    Newsflash: Most Africans do not live in huts on the savannah.

    They live in cities and towns. They have access to technology. They're just as smart as you and I.

    While I did attend a few hours of BASIC training way back in the dark ages of computing, I learned most of it myself by just having access to my computer. These days, computers are (more) user friendly so the story just strikes me as being stupid bordering to racist.

  5. uhm yes by tepzepi · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And by keeping the software expensive you drain resources from training. And its not the case that all africans are computer illiterate. Many, especially the well educated, know damn well how a computer works. I hate this Western arrogance and ignorance, treating Africa like one giant homogenous mess. That's not true. Ok, so we need IT training, but we also need cheap software, roads, medical infrastructure, improved schooling, decent terms of trade, and much much more. Not because we're a basketcase, but because the west screwed us over. an angry african

    1. Re:uhm yes by bm_luethke · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Not to mention that even if they are rural that doesn't necessarily mean uneducated. Maybe not "worldly" or familiar with pop culture and current slang, but that isn't raelly education.

      I have a very small hadful of relatives that have no electricity and no running water. They live in the mountains of East Tennessee (Appalachia). But, they are far from uneducated. While they are not too up on modern stuff - theater, pop culture, music, and generally "new" stuff I would bet on them for reading, math, and history over the average "educated" person in any western world (not the top, but the average). It may not be hard to beat me (see my sig), but they are quite good at the basics and thier idea of basics are higher than the vast majority of high schools.

      All of them have homemade generators, water purification systems, a good personal library (no TV means lots of reading), and working vehicles (including farming stuff) that they totally maintain themselves. They have a pretty good understanding of biology and botany - better than quite a few "educated" people I've known. In short, they are humans - just as smart as anyone else just not educated in the same way we are. In fact, given that they do not have access to alot of our non-brain usage past times they seem to be beter adaptable. They understand advanced Comp Sci algorithms MUCH faster than my other non-CS friends, they find uses for them that would never occur to me, and many other things. They interact with the "modern" world quite a bit - a few of them electricity is just a few hunderd yards away (the terrain precludes them from getting it though), they are not backwards. If you ever met them you wouldn't know, other than they don't really know much about survivor, Microsoft, or other popular culture bits. However they are very knowledgable about things that are covered in periodicals, newspapers, and other written material - much more than the standard American.

      I have little to no experience with rural Africans, in high school I had a friend from Ghana and in college a person from Nigeria - both were amongst the most intelligent and educated I've ever known. But, given that humans tend to be, well, humans, I would expect that the vast majority are fairly intelligent and not far from my relatives. Maybe not educated from a perspective of a city person, but then in many ways better than those from the city (just as a country person wouldn't get along in a city, the city person doesn't really get along in the country either - they are just different).

      --
      ------- Sorry about the spelling, I suffer from two problems. Dyslexia makes it difficult to spell well, lazy makes it
  6. Re:It's just a new way of stupidity brewing by FidelCatsro · · Score: 5, Informative

    Ubuntu is a good example . Developed in South Africa

    --
    The only things certain in war are Propaganda and Death. You can never be sure which is which though
  7. In other News... by c0l0 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Nestle's CEO states that "Africa does not need bread and water, but Butterfinger and Nescafe".

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    :%s/Open Source/Free Software/g

    YTARY!
  8. Typical Slashdot Sensationalism by wan-fu · · Score: 5, Insightful

    RTFA. It's about how even after giving the people the software, it's not the important part, the training is and how Microsoft is spending efforts on training the people in Africa to use information technology. It's not about how Microsoft hates Africans or anything like that. It's not about how Microsoft is trying to exploit poor Africans by selling them software. It's simply bringing up the surprising fact that the primary barrier in Africa isn't the cost (though cost is a barrier), it's the fact that the people need training that is the main barrier to adoption according to MS. Considering how often people complain about FUD, it's quite annoying to see it from the /. crowd as well.

  9. Re:What does Africa Need? by patro · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Why can't African states bootstrap?

    Maybe because of the aid we're giving to them:

    "For God's Sake, Please Stop the Aid!"

  10. Microsoft's Got it all wrong! by folababa · · Score: 5, Interesting

    To start, I’m African, in fact a Nigerian. To say Africa does not need open source or lacks the necessary expertise to support opensource or other licensed platforms, is a total MISCONCEPTION. I'm also disappointed @ Gerald Ilukwe, the general manager of Microsoft Nigeria claims. I have worked as a freelancer programer both in the grassroots and the corporate level, and I can tell all not to be misconstrued by the "poverty commercials".

    There are people, i mean professionals, who can match up. So much development has been happening here in Nigeria, Much of the business processes these days are computer streamlined and backup by either local and Open source software.

    Almost all web applications used in Nigeria are developed locally. Almost all customised software, including Opensourced is developed locally, so what’s Microsoft’s problem?

    Africans are survivors. African can survive and would do anything to survive. We do not have Natural Disasters like the west; all we have is Human disasters. The Govts have been criminal these years past, leaving Africa impoverished.

    The poverty level is high, but that’s stale news. Most Nigerians have put that (poverty issue) behind them, in a bid move on. So they result to different mediums like software piracy (Apart from Spam and scam mailing, Nigeria is a den of software piracy), spamming using advance-fee fraud and so and so.

    Would you say that someone who knows how to hack and crack a piece of software with a long list, and someone who goes to buy this software knowing its use the implications and how to bypass it, IT Illiterate?

    Or would you categorise some one who knows how to cook-up a good story, sniff out a looooooooong email list and start a criminal spamming business as illiterate?

    In the wake of the millennium, SPAM was king here in Nigeria (This has dropped drastically, as govt is out with different schemes as a crackdown). In those days when there where no Law enforcements, you would see young people, aged 16, 17, in their teens sending spam mails in cybercafés. a lot of them.

    I am not saying these criminal activities are justifiable, but does Microsoft expect Nigerians to buy software with their entire monthly salary? Microsoft claims to be supportive through NEPAD; I’m sorry, i disagree! Microsoft Makes a lot of money from direct sales to corporate office in Nigeria (NO WONDER THEY ONLY OPENED A SALES OFFICE IN NIGERIA NOT EVEN ONE FOR SUPPORT), they also have anti-piracy networks and other surveillance systems. They make Money from their sale of software! A lot of it. So for them its all about more sales!

    The grassroots are not affected in anyway! How many people can claim they benefited from Microsoft generous offers? Rather people scramble for pirated windows software that they can afford, scramble for junk computers and IT components gladly donated by the west at a price or buy IT components all brought in from Taiwan. Let microsuck make these softwares affordable and people would buy!Let them get involved in grassroots support, projects, and people would appreciate them.

    The openSource Cloud here is enormous for example close to 80% of cybercafes in Nigeria use LINUX boxes for their routers. If Microsoft says they want to keep their pitch, let them go ahead, the open source is an alternative with a lot of local support.