Dear Augusta and other GKD Members, I am not at all surprised. I have heard of similar cases in various parts of Africa, including Congo, Ghana, Cameroon, Tanzania and even here in SA. I used to coordinate a media training course for journalists from around the continent, and this very subject came up during a discussion. It appears that the donors of such "tied" computers and software feel justified in blocking access to open-source software on the basis of "ensuring security". which leads one to question: Whose security? Presumably the financial security of the donor by ensuring the pre-eminence of their software due to familiarity.
On other issues of tying donations, I have seen irrigation pumps lying idle because the spare parts must be bought from a specific country and are too expensive, and fertile soil depleted by GMO maize seeds (which are donated in the first year, but not reusable, and therefore have to be purchased at high cost from the supplier in subsequent years.) Enough said, I guess..... Ayesha Ayesha Kajee Researcher: Democracy and Political Party Systems in Africa SAIIA - South African Institute of International Affairs PO Box 31596 Braamfontein, Johannesburg Tel: +27 11 339-2021 Fax: +27 11 339-2154 Mobile: +27 83 500 7486 www.saiia.org.za "You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give" - Khalil Gibran On December 8, 2005, Augusta Molnar wrote: > I am writing from Oaxaca, Mexico where I am visiting communities in the > highlands. They have been beneficiaries of a very cool project financed > in part by the Gates foundation to install a wireless connection and a > set of computers for the schools. We are working on a network in the > Latin America region for communities for which we use by preference > FireFox as our browser. We suggested they try this browser as Explorer > was causing problems, and discovered to our surprise that the Gates > foundation "gift" comes with tags. > > The computer network does not allow any of the users of the donated > computers to install any software not owned by Microsoft, even any open > source software. The network within which the computers reside will not > allow any individual computers to download software to install, > ostensibly to prevent viruses and incompatible software from > jeopardizing the Microsoft system. ..snip... ------------ ***GKD is solely supported by EDC, a Non-Profit Organization*** To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at: <http://www.edc.org/GLG/gkd/>
