So I call myself an open source enthusiast or supporter and often it can be hard to make the next person understand why [I bother]. I hope this will make a compelling case as to why we (myself included) should take open source or Free Open Source Software (FOSS) or Free Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) seriously [I mean even more seriously] in South Africa.
To begin with, some great companies have been built using FOSS. If you are not sure which companies I’m referring to, I am talking about Google, Facebook, Yahoo, to mention a few.
Imagine a student starting a company from his dormitory, which ends up making him millions in US dollars. How did he do it? By using open source software to build one of the greatest social networking sites to date.
This is but one story out of many stories, which lead me to believe that even someone from South Africa is able to achieve this. The interesting thing is that the benefits are not reserved only for the geeky entrepreneur but if you browse this collection you will see that even kids aged 2 can gain. It is a well-known fact that education through entertainment raises interest.
Do not get me wrong, it could be achieved using proprietary software but you would have to have lots of money to cover the licensing costs.
The digital divide.
Today in South Africa, we have an issue, a situation that needs addressing and that is the digital divide. It is so because of the high cost of hardware (computers) as well as required software to run those computers. What if the only expense was the hardware and all the software required to operate the computer was free?
You will be pleasantly surprised to find that the answer lies with one South African called Mark Shuttleworth. Yes the guy who made big bucks when he sold his company (Thawte) to Verisign.
Ubuntu, a flavour of Linux, is a free operating system for all to use, developed by Canonical, one of Shuttleworth’s companies and a bunch of volunteers. Actually it's WAY MORE THAN JUST A BUNCH, anyway... Using Ubuntu lowers the cost of [computer] ownership substantially.
So now this family has a computer, running an operating system to make the darn thing work. Great! But wait, when the novelty wears off, they realize they need the computer to do more than just write documents, play music, maybe watch dvd’s, etc. But where shall they get the additional software with no Internet and not much access to the world outside of the township?
Oh ye of little faith, our dear Shuttleworth provides yet again. Enter the freedom toaster.
What is that you ask?
“Like vending machines, preloaded to dispense confectionery, Freedom Toasters are preloaded to dispense free digital products, including software, photography, music and literature.”
With a freedom toaster installed, say at the nearest general dealer store or police station, all this family needs to do is bring a blank CD, choose the software and material [including educational] they need, go home and do their thing.
So the computer just became more useful, enough to get the family, youngsters more specifically, to be even more computer literate and more interested in other subjects.
Say we have a dozen or two families with these computers after a while. You would agree with me in saying the youngsters can derive more value if these computers were linked to a network and they could communicate electronically.
Enter the wireless mesh network.
The people at CSIR's Meraka Institute are truly awesome ☺. We should thank them, and the giants whose shoulders they stood on, for their Wireless Africa research project.
By adding special wireless routers to the paraphernalia, these households will now have a network, which allows them to share files, communicate via chat or even make free calls to one another using voice over IP.
Lastly what if we made resources like Wikipedia and open education available to this network?
Have you heard of:
Is this attainable I ask you? Do share your ideas by commenting below...
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