Hi,
On Tue, Nov 1, 2011 at 11:32 AM, Jake Markhus <[email protected]> wrote: > McTim, > > I admit I over generalised the notion of “the internet”. What I meant is the > services we take for granted like > email and access to certain services like news. I know for a fact that > certain core services in Uganda would > halt if yahoo, gmail and Hotmail were no longer reachable in Uganda. This is sub-optimal. This > despite the fact that we had a working > email server in Uganda as early as 1999 (at least I had access to one thanks > to open source)!! > > As a former bank employee, it astounded me that an email from ministry of > finance would get sent via yahoo to bank of > Uganda! I recall a day when “the internet” was down (OKAY FINE!! The fibre > optic cable was broken AS USUAL) and the > only internet service we had at the bank was RTGS thanks mainly to the > existence of the IXP (God bless them). But services > > Like swift (international wire transfer) were down because that other thing > was down (“the internet”). I was dumbfounded that > I could not send a TT 100m to Barclays because a cable in Kenya (Kenya is a > foreign country right?) was damaged. FOR CHRISSAKES!! It IS a best-effort network! but you are correct, it's not rocket science. > > I could have run a patch cable that distance (100m to barclays) or used > sneakernet (which I told the manager to do but that is another > story)!! > > What I was calling for is a robust and cheap (free or self-funding) network > within Uganda to handle communication within Uganda. Didn't the Chinese already build one ;-/ Ecommerce > > And websites hosted in Uganda. Information at district or constituency level > available within Uganda cheaply. We in FOSS are not constrained > by money or time. It is just interest and motivation. I bet if we were so > inclined we could network the whole of Kampala with free wireless just > by having each member here plugin an extra wireless router (separate from > the worknet OF COURSE) If we started on a small scale then talked > to telcos to DONATE bandwidth for larger distances, then it could work. By all means, fire up a mesh in UG, you can use some Mesh Potatoes or UBQN Nano's/whatever you have flashed with DD-WRT. Inveneo has been doing that in loads of places around the world. > Think about it ;-) We tried it Muyenga a few years back, couldn't get enough folk in proximity to each other. -- Cheers, McTim "A name indicates what we seek. An address indicates where it is. A route indicates how we get there." Jon Postel _______________________________________________ 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.
