In Uganda, and especially Buganda, silence should never be mistaken for incomprehension. Actually it often means something quite different, often lost on you if you don't know the cultural code.
:) P. On Aug 08, 2011, at 13:21, Reinier Battenberg wrote: > > ( > for those of you not familiar with John Lennon > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_lennon > > and the song Tim quoted: > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b7qaSxuZUg > >> >> You're not the only one.. >> >>> Hi Francis, >>> >>> A very interesting post. I think its been obvious over the last week >>> that even the majority of this LUG do not "get" the concepts behind >>> software freedom and that is very depressing. >>> >>> The importance of Free software to a country like Uganda is not that >>> it is a source of cheap - or even zero cost - software. If Uganda >>> keeps importing software, be it Free or proprietary then it will never >>> be able to build a successful software industry of its own. >>> >>> Imagine a scenario where the government actively promotes Free >>> software by only buying Free software from local suppliers, and not >>> spending money on proprietary American products. Imagine (sorry I'm >>> starting to sound like John Lennon here) if they deployed this >>> throughout all the government offices, and government controlled >>> organisations. If all the schools were mandated to use Free software, >>> so that those leaving school/university were educated in the use of >>> Free software, then business would soon see that it was better for >>> them to use Free software than spend money on expensive American >>> imports that their staff hadn't been trained to use. The companies >>> that innovated the most and gave most back to the Free software >>> community would naturally be the one who won the most contracts, >>> encouraging healthy competition and innovation, leading to better >>> quality software engineers. >>> >>> I can already hear people saying that this is far fetched and will >>> never happen. Before you start to attack me again do some research >>> into what is happening in Brazil, a country that really "gets" Free >>> software, right from the top down. They have created a thriving local >>> software industry that is having a knock on effect throughout the rest >>> of their booming economy. >>> >>> However if even the local LUG is against the principles of software >>> freedom, where people say "I just use whatever the best tool is even >>> if it's proprietary" "apple products are super cool" "Google has made >>> Linux closed-source" etc etc then what hope have we of ever convincing >>> the powers that be to adopt Free software? How many millions of >>> dollars does Uganda spend on imported American software per year? >>> Wouldn't it be better if that was spent on a local software industry? >>> You may say I'm a dreamer but............... :-) >>> >>> Thanks >>> Tim >>> >>> >>> On 8 August 2011 06:07, Francis Musinguzi <[email protected]> wrote: >>>> >>>> >>>> 1. Despite successes, FLOSS still misunderstood, villianized (Is it >> possible >>>> to make some money?) http://goo.gl/9ZhmY >>>> 2. Katherine Noyes "One of the great things about open source software > is >>>> that it doesn't just bring a wealth of benefits to businesses. Rather, > by >>>> making low-cost, high-quality software widely available to everyone, it >> also >>>> has the potential to change lives around the world." http://goo.gl/IPrZJ >>>> Francis, >>>> Coordinator, SimuSync >>>> GridWorX Ltd. >>>> Blog: blog.simusync.com | E-Mail: [email protected] | Facebook >>>> ID: SimuSync | FanPage ID: SimuSync1 | Quora ID: Simu-Sync | Twitter >>>> ID: @SimuSync | Website: www.simusync.com >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> The Uganda Linux User Group: http://linux.or.ug >>>> >>>> Send messages to this mailing list by addressing e-mails to: >> [email protected] >>>> Mailing list archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ >>>> Mailing list settings: http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/lug >>>> To unsubscribe: http://kym.net/mailman/options/lug >>>> >>>> The Uganda LUG mailing list is generously hosted by INFOCOM: >>>> http://www.infocom.co.ug/ >>>> >>>> The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including >>>> attachments if any). The mailing list host is not responsible for them > in >>>> any way. >>>> >>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> WebERP Africa Ltd >>> +447710427049 >>> +256752963327 >>> +255758554413 >>> www.weberpafrica.com >>> _______________________________________________ >>> The Uganda Linux User Group: http://linux.or.ug >>> >>> Send messages to this mailing list by addressing e-mails to: > [email protected] >>> Mailing list archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ >>> Mailing list settings: http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/lug >>> To unsubscribe: http://kym.net/mailman/options/lug >>> >>> The Uganda LUG mailing list is generously hosted by INFOCOM: >> http://www.infocom.co.ug/ >>> >>> The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including >> attachments if any). The mailing list host is not responsible for them in > any >> way. >>> >> -- >> rgds, >> >> Reinier Battenberg >> Director >> Mountbatten Ltd. >> +256 758 801 749 >> www.mountbatten.net >> http://twitter.com/batje >> http://twitter.com/mapuganda >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> The Uganda Linux User Group: http://linux.or.ug >> >> Send messages to this mailing list by addressing e-mails to: [email protected] >> Mailing list archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ >> Mailing list settings: http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/lug >> To unsubscribe: http://kym.net/mailman/options/lug >> >> The Uganda LUG mailing list is generously hosted by INFOCOM: > http://www.infocom.co.ug/ >> >> The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including > attachments if any). The mailing list host is not responsible for them in any > way. >> > -- > rgds, > > Reinier Battenberg > Director > Mountbatten Ltd. > +256 758 801 749 > www.mountbatten.net > http://twitter.com/batje > http://twitter.com/mapuganda > > > _______________________________________________ > The Uganda Linux User Group: http://linux.or.ug > > Send messages to this mailing list by addressing e-mails to: [email protected] > Mailing list archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > Mailing list settings: http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/lug > To unsubscribe: http://kym.net/mailman/options/lug > > The Uganda LUG mailing list is generously hosted by INFOCOM: > http://www.infocom.co.ug/ > > The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including > attachments if any). The mailing list host is not responsible for them in any > way. > _______________________________________________ The Uganda Linux User Group: http://linux.or.ug Send messages to this mailing list by addressing e-mails to: [email protected] Mailing list archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Mailing list settings: http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/lug To unsubscribe: http://kym.net/mailman/options/lug The Uganda LUG mailing list is generously hosted by INFOCOM: http://www.infocom.co.ug/ The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including attachments if any). The mailing list host is not responsible for them in any way.
