On Wednesday, October 12, 2011 01:04:12 AM Victor van Reijswoud wrote: <At the risk of being banned, I've changed the subject>
> What a sad and at the same time egocentric conclusion: > "Everybody wants a better quality of life for > *themselves*" (emphasis on "themselves"). Before I sent that e-mail (which was before I found out the thread had been declared closed), I was going to add that "economic correctness" tends to have little business when one is by themselves, with their own thoughts looking at their own budget. > I have always > operated, and spent the last 10 years promoting Linux > and open source, under the impression that there is more > than just the greedy individual. There is a need to > develop a nation, a continent and a majority of people > that cannot afford gadgets. They needs access to > information and data manipulations tools to move to the > next level in development. > > Like Reinier, appropriateness and sustainability have > been my drivers (see also my publications in the area). > Openness is an other important driver (see also my book > on FOSS4D). Apple technology is not sustainable nor open > (moreover, increasingly closed over the past years) and > disqualifies as an appropriate development tool. > > I still believe that open software, open data and > affordable hardware are the way forward for development, > but I increasingly feel alone (especially on this list). You misunderstand - my comment was replying to what Reinier was suggesting; that the global economic conditions in Uganda (and such developing nations, I presume) should dictate that extravagant purchases of seemingly-useless kit is not money well spent. Possibly. But even in economic hardship, folk will desire the better things in life. Whether they can buy them or not is different issue. If, however, they can buy them, then the question we'll ask is whether they can afford it or not. This has nothing to do with Linux, Windows or OS X. People want what they want when it's their money. Mark <= who runs KMail over OpenSuSE over Mac OS X.
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