Paul Swider wrote: > neither I in Washington, DC, nor someone in a village in Africa has to > merely take what is given in terms of software function, we can make > what we need. This not only translates into better IT, it can also > translate into real jobs
As another regular user and sometimes OS developer, I don't wish to throw a wet-blanket over your vision of an OS driven utopia, but I do wonder if the vision fits reality... This would be wonderful, but I do wonder how the person located in this African village, with everything involved in terms of literacy, economy etc., would determine exactly what is needed from the latest version of Red Hat or Debian, let alone build it? - To begin with, who is compiling these systems into African village dialects? Also, it's perhaps a sad reality, but reality nonetheless that commercial software is that which creates jobs - business culture drives commercial purchases, which in turn drives employment opportunities. Very few companies are comfortable with the concept of open source... it flies in the face of such basic business concepts as intellectual ownership, copyright, the inherent aspects of support, system sustainability, ownership, as well as the most basic concept of purchases generating employment. Paul also commented on the way by which OS can turn an old computer into something perhaps 'larger' than that available through commercial software - but of course modern versions of open-source systems are just as reliant on a P4 chip as anything else, and older OS versions will not run the newer OS applications - it's not a 'win-win', the old trade-off still applies. Even if our African village friend were to gain the necessary education, secure the old 486, find an old (full of bug's) copy of Debian suitable for the 486, learn how to use OS... and compile something useful... it wouldn't have a place in the western world because it would be archaic... it wouldn't bridge the divide... it wouldn't create employment. It would just be another old piece of software. Unfortunately it's the IT industry itself that is most aware of the benefits, and more importantly, of the shortcomings of OS... It does play a very important role... It does offer many opportunities... but it is not a solution to the world's problems - far from it. Rgds, Don ------------ ***GKD is solely supported by EDC, an NGO that is a GKP member*** 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/>
