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Open Economies - RE: [OpenEconomies] Is Linux Right for Africa?

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RE: [OpenEconomies] Is Linux Right for Africa?

  • To: openeconomies(at)cyber.law.harvard.edu
  • Subject: RE: [OpenEconomies] Is Linux Right for Africa?
  • From: Iqbal Mohomed <iqbal_iia(at)yahoo.com>
  • Date: Sat, 20 Jul 2002 20:43:47 -0700 (PDT)
  • In-reply-to: <8BEC443F1D4AD51181B300A0C9840C2819DB28@GEOMAIL>
Hello,

I think you hit the nail James. Today, Linux lacks
high quality educational software. It is interesting
to note that the educational software market on
Windows is famous for being the most cutthroat niche.
We get back to the chicken and the egg problem where
developers don't write high quality applications
because of the lack of a viable user base and that
ends up curtailing the growth of the OS. Java offers a
solution in that you could write applications that
would work well across platforms (in theory) and
deliver these over the web. 

Here’s my question as a software developer ... I buy
the idea of a free OS (no pun intended). However, it
is hard to give away all my applications. I don’t see
support revenue sustaining all the developers required
to create the variety of applications available on
Windows. If we sell the applications, do we not defeat
the purpose of having a free OS? Perhaps government or
NGO funding would make a difference? Recently the US
Army created a Quake-style video game to bolster
recruitment. Do they have enough resources and would
they care to do this? 

I strongly believe that delivering educational content
over the Internet would make huge improvements to the
quality of life of the people of the developing world.
A free OS, bridging the digital divide, etc. are the
pieces of a big puzzle. The logistics are very
challenging but the rewards are immense.

Regards,
Iqbal Mohomed

--- "Moore, James" <jmoore@geopartners.com> wrote:
> In Michael Taylor's article, he wonders whether it
> makes sense to load Linux
> as the sole OS on machines to be used for children
> kindergarten through
> sixth grade--or whether he should make the machines
> dual boot with Windows
> as well as Linux.
> 
> For children k-6 the most likely (and perhaps best)
> use of the computers
> will be to run well-designed educational software
> games--e.g.
> TreasureMathStorm, the ReaderRabbit series,
> TypingTutor, etc., as well as
> word processing.  As far as I know, most mainstream
> educational games will
> not run on Linux.
> 
> This would cause me to want to use Windows.
> 
> Of course there is also the Apple Macintosh
> OS--which will also run all the
> best software for kids--often better than the PC.
> 
> If you really are determined to develop an
> alternative to Windows in
> developing countries, one road would be MAC OS
> (which is a UNIX variant, and
> thus in the same lineage as Linux) for elementary
> schools, and Linux for the
> technical programs in technical schools.
> 
> Of course this would require someone convincing
> Steve Jobs to help seed the
> developing world with MACS....
> 
> An alternative might be a massive, coordinated
> campaign on the part of the
> Linux community to work with educational software
> companies to make the best
> titles Linux-compatible.
> 
> Best, Jim
> 
>  
> Dr. James F. Moore
> Senior Fellow
> Harvard Law School
> Director, Open Economies
> Berkman Center for Internet and Society
> Pound Hall 511
> 1563 Massachusetts Avenue
> Cambridge, MA 02138
>  
> www.openeconomies.org
> jmoore@cyber.law.harvard.edu
> jmoore@geopartners.com
> Office phone number US 1 617 495-7547
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mikael Pawlo [mailto:mikael@pawlo.com] 
> Sent: Monday, July 15, 2002 7:32 PM
> To: openeconomies@eon.law.harvard.edu
> Subject: [OpenEconomies] Is Linux Right for Africa?
> 
> 
> In an article published by LinuxToday volounteer
> Michael Taylor asks if
> Linux is right for Africa. Taylor is going to Ghana
> in two weeks to set up
> IT solutions for schools and clinics. He is now
> seeking advice whether to
> use an open or propietary solution to the African IT
> needs. Taylor is
> anxious not to sacrifice the Ghana children on the
> shrine of the free
> software principle and is looking for input on this
> issue.
> 
> Article (with email address to Taylor):
>
http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2002-07-15-014-26-OP-CY
> 
> Regards
> 
> Mikael
> 
> 
>
_________________________________________________________________________
> 
>   ICQ:35638414                             
> mailto:mikael@pawlo.com
>   +46-704-215825                             
> http://www.pawlo.com/
> 
> 
> 
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