Essay: Perspectives of African FOSS developers 132
philipp_at_bridges_dot_org writes "Bridges.org has just released an essay about FOSS issues in Africa, Straight from the Source: Perspectives from the African Free and Open Source Software Movement. It highlights a perspective that is often overlooked in the discussion of how FOSS can benefit developing countries: that of software developers themselves. The essay describes the conditions African FOSS developers work in and the difficulties they face, mostly letting quotes and personal impressions speak for themselves. The issues are very different from what I am reading in the typical slashdot discussions. It maybe an interesting perspective for your audience to see what others, who share the believe in freedom of source code are struggling with - hopefully to encourage thinking around solutions for these problems."
Zimbabwe (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Zimbabwe/Uganda (Score:4, Interesting)
Cb..
Re:Zimbabwe/Uganda (Score:1)
Perhaps, but keep in mind that they don't have the telecom infrastructure you do in N. America or most of Europe and Asia. There is substantial cost involved in developing and maintaining that infrastructure. Plus, there is less population (particularly in terms of users) density to offset those higher costs.
Re:Morocco (Score:5, Informative)
Oh and by the way I am surfing on a DSL connection, we have DSL since the begining of 2004. 128 kbs/s costs 30$ without any in volume limitation
Alas Microsoft is very very strong here, and 99% of the people still believe that Bill Gates invented the Internet. MS is very strong in goverenement too and they have recently offered bargain prices to install Linux in schools.
But overall things are not that bad, and I see a very bright future for Linux and open source here, as MS Office price nearly equals a middle wage here.
Re:Morocco (Score:2)
I reply to myslef sorry ! of course, read to install Windows in schools
Re:Morocco (Score:2)
Re:Zimbabwe (Score:4, Informative)
I would prefer the US model, but would like it even more if NTL, who have been ripping me off with a digital cable TV box for several years now, would finally deliver their promise of broadband. Now, that would be somewhat more expensive, but not timed, although they have been rumoured to be capping the monthly download.
None of us has a perfect system, but I do feel sorry for these guys in Zimbabwe, with a useless, malevolent dictator like Mugabe, who is at least as evil as Saddam, they are not likely to get their internet arrangements improved any time soon.
I hope someone discovers oil in Zimbabwe, so the cretin Dubya and his puppet Tony B. Liar have an excuse to rid the world of him, preferably with a single bullet, without involving the country in a war. The people of Zimbabwe deserve to have the same human rights as anyone else, they should be able to rely on someone to rid them of that monster. Now, we say the other day that in Lithuania, internet access is regarded as a basic human right.....
Re:Zimbabwe (Score:2, Funny)
"I hope someone discovers oil in Zimbabwe, so the cretin Dubya and his puppet Tony B. Liar have an excuse to rid the world of him, preferably with a single bullet, without involving the country in a war"
God it feels so good to see that people actually think GWB is a cretin !
Re:Zimbabwe (Score:2, Insightful)
MOD PARENT UP, YOU COCKS!
Africa's a third-world dirthole because at the end of the day, we *and* our government find it all too easy to write off a whole continent than look at the ugly truth about what's going on over there. We got our asses handed to us in Somalia and ever since then it's been "see no evil, hear no evil" towards ANYTHING that happens in Africa as long as it's south of Libya. How many people were killed in the Hutu/Tutsi conflict? A fucking MILLION? And what did we do for them? Hell, we
Re:Zimbabwe (Score:1, Insightful)
Yes, and USA and Europe both have both fsckd up African people. When you look at the powerty and dictatorship stemming from power vacuum left by the European colonialists, lack of interest (except from the oil) and denial, you essentially get a 3rd world continent created by you. I think it's about time we t
Issues not limited to FOSS (Score:5, Insightful)
Slightly misleading spin, but very interesting information.
RD
Re:Issues not limited to FOSS (Score:3, Insightful)
I will always consider a self-made programmer before I consider some fuck with a degree.
Re:Issues not limited to FOSS (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Issues not limited to FOSS (Score:2)
But yah, your response WAS funny anyway
Re:Issues not limited to FOSS (Score:1)
A for profit small scale software shop could theoretically get a loan that would be paid off through sales.
However, a well organized team of FLOSS developers could apply for grants th
Summary (Score:4, Informative)
Straight from the Source: Perspectives from the African Free and Open Source Software Movement
A bridges.org article in collaboration with the Tactical Technology Collective.
For a software developer working in Africa, Philip Mbogo's problem is as basic as it gets: "I don't have a computer," he said. "I have to go for unpaid work in order just to get on a computer." Internet access is also an expensive rarity, so he counts himself fortunate to work as an intern at an Internet service provider where he takes as much advantage of the bandwidth as he can. "Anything I can get I download. I even got [a Linux distribution called] Debian, which takes two days [to download]."
African software developers face many obstacles as they struggle to work in this field. But these "coders", as a group, form a community marked less by their frustration and isolation than by their perseverance and resolve. This theme dominated AfricaSource, a workshop held in Namibia in March 2004 and organised by the Tactical Technology Collective, AllAfrica Foundation and SchoolNet Namibia. The meeting in the small town of Okahandja of 40 software developers from 25 countries was for many the first chance to collaborate and compare notes.
Lack of access to the means and tools of production is the issue African programmers most commonly identify as the greatest barrier to success in their work. But at this event, coders got a chance to share the innovative ways they work around the problem. "We buy computer parts bit by bit. In the space of three or four months we have a computer," says Ayeni Samuel Olaoluwa, a web developer from Nigeria, who saves up to 50% this way. Another method he has devised is keeping his freelance clients' work on computers he uses as part of his day job. "I am able to hide stuff on the server, but when I leave the company I'm in trouble."
The prohibitive costs of bandwidth and hardware are an obstruction most programmers face, but it affects coders most seriously at the time they are preparing to enter the job market. Without the opportunity to earn salaries that would help them afford equipment of their own, ambitious market entrants eager for work face the prospect of successive, often unpaid, internships just to prove their skills.
This predicament is widespread across Africa, says Ghanaian Guido Sohne, "There are not enough projects available to work on to employ the available talent.... In most African countries IT is not part of the economic production process. It's actually more expensive to computerise your accounting system than to hire more people to do it manually." So when programmers do find jobs, a large percentage tend to find themselves ushered into system administration and technical roles, where they are overworked and their skills are underutilised.
This situation might be a consequence of the fact that a coder's skill is not accorded the value it deserves. Isaiah Makwakwa finds himself in this bind. When the computer science graduate first joined SDNP Malawi, the UN's sustainable development program, his work stimulated him. He automated a billing system for the administration of the
The flood of work helping people solve problems on their desktops gradually overshadowed his programming duties, but Makwakwa's manager failed to implement a plan that would have protected and leveraged the value of Makwakwa's skills, which are rarer and far less transferable than the troubleshooting talent he was being called upon to use.
Makwakwa's case is not unique, and it certainly is not exclusive to Africa. As the number of computerised workpl
Whoa (Score:5, Insightful)
- They buy computers in pieces over a 3-4 month timespan.
- Internet access is hard to find, though one happy guys states he got Debian, "after a two day download".
I will never complain about my computer or net access ever again.
Re:Whoa (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Whoa (Score:1, Informative)
Too bad that people from "the land of the free" aren't allowed to visit Cuba.
Re:Whoa (Score:4, Informative)
lots of Canadians go to Cuba each year, and last I heard, a lot of Americans go too, but they have to pretend they're going to Mexico instead. Alternatively, if said Americans are from States that border Canada, they can come here to catch a flight to Cuba.
Cuban customs officer routinely avoid stamping US passports so Americans wont get in trouble with their own government for visiting Cuba and bringing in much needed US currency there.
And if you bring software CDs there, make sure you "forget" them in a place they're likely to be found by people who will appreciate them.
Re:Whoa (Score:2)
Re:Whoa (Score:1, Interesting)
It is your government that blocks business and technology transfer with Cuba.
People use Linux in Cuba, They teach it at university, use it work and for research.
Do you think more people in Haiti use Linux? Dominican Republic? No.
Cuba has the highest literacy of any of those countries. If you can't even read you definitely can't use Linux.
You need to stop your silly anti-communist sterotypes.
Actually they are having Stallman give a speech on free soft
Re:Whoa (Score:2)
Cuba law tightens internet access
Stephen Gibbs
BBC News, Havana
The Cuban Government is tightening its control over internet access.
A new law coming into force on Saturday makes it impossible for many Cubans to dial up the internet from their home telephone lines.
The move has been criticised by the human rights group Amnesty International.
Cuba says that, given its limited resources, it needs to ensure that the internet is primarily used for the social good.
D
Re:Whoa (Score:1)
Re:Whoa (Score:1)
All hell will break loose when Castro dies. The U.S. should take steps now to ease the transition, rather than pretend the Bay of Pigs was recent history.
Re:Whoa (Score:4, Interesting)
It's so true.
Back when I was working in Zambia on a development project with a government agency, the internet access was awful. I'd say that they're probably about ten years behind north america in terms of bandwidth availibility down there.
As for two days spent downloading Debian - that sounds very reasonable. At the place I was working, we had a microwave link with a local ISP who were OK. DSL links were about $1000USD/Month - way out of the budget of most organizations there. As to buying in pieces, I never really had to deal with that. All the computers that were bought where I was working were done with aid money so they all came together. Still, issues with the power system and so on did undermine the full potential of IT.
Re:Whoa (Score:1)
That isn't so strange really, I've been buying my computers in the same manner for about six years now. Every three or four months I buy a piece of hardware and put it in my machine, and sooner or later I end up with enough "old" parts that I have another computer. You could argue that I am just upgrading my current computer, but by the time I've upgraded everything in it I've bought a new one, right?
Re:Whoa (Score:2)
Re:Whoa (Score:2)
Re:Whoa (Score:2)
Nice Quote (Score:5, Funny)
"They don't ask if you can program. They ask, 'do you know (Microsoft) Visual Basic?'"
Good to see they differentiate between the two there as well.
Don't want to hear it. (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Don't want to hear it. (Score:4, Insightful)
But that is the great thing about OSS, both sides can get (and give) what they want. The resource-hog, include-every-last-imaginable-feature crew can program what they want, and the I-only-have-this-solar-powered-TRS-80 can take the parts they need and recompile.
The ones that really do not want to hear from these people are the closed source, make-a-buck-from-every-line-of-code companies.
South Africa (Score:1)
Hopefully the government can take a cue from India (Score:5, Insightful)
It's not exactly an identical situation though. The problems facing Africa are different from those facing India. Decades of civil wars, the devastation of AIDS, and inability to gather wealth from their vast raw materials, and a poor education system in large parts of the continent(people cannot even read their own language, let alone English) have left Africa the poorest area on earth.
Hopefully with a bit of investment in broadband, electr and some donations of usable hardware, the Africans can use FOSS to help mitigate some of the problems facing their continent.
Re:Hopefully the government can take a cue from In (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Hopefully the government can take a cue from In (Score:2)
Re:Hopefully the government can take a cue from In (Score:4, Insightful)
A standard configuration of Linux with OpenOffice, Mozilla, and other useful things could be put together quite easily, volunteers could copy a few CDs to help the effort.....
Give them network cards and they can learn about networking, even if they don't have a decent link to the outside world, the local community can still have its own web server. It would have educational use, particularly health education. I don't think that there are all that many developers yet in Africa, but give them the tools and in a few years the next generation will be. But first, or in parallel with this, they need to be rid of murderous scumbags like Mugabe, they need reliable supplies of water and food, etc.
It would not actually cost the western world very much to set the ball rolling in these areas. The African continent is fully capable of being self-sufficient if it was allowed to be, with a bit of guidance along the way. They have the potential for producing food, energy and vital raw materials.
Preventing atrocities? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Preventing atrocities? (Score:1)
Re:Preventing atrocities? (Score:2)
As someone pointed out, the problems are not that we don't know 'who needs aid where' or where problems are flaring up. We have that information. The problem is not technological, it's sociological - people just do not give a f*(k. The developed world doesn't care, and it's time to stop this annoying pretense that we really care, because we don't. The world was full well aware of what was happening in Rwanda 10 years ago, and did nothing anyway. And this was not an isolated incident, it's endemic, and occur
Slashdot needs more articles like this (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Slashdot needs more articles like this (Score:5, Insightful)
The tale of natural resources in poor countries is similar to the tales of evil kings... In those tales, the parents with beautiful children suffer (the children suffer too) because the local king takes fancy to them and makes them concubines.
Things will not be very different if the economies develop "intellectual property" too. Property is easily stolen and can be restricted (for example, the patenting of turmeric and basmati rice). A well educated population with diverse skill set is a way forward because then the local people themselves are the assets, and multinational corporations have a vested interest in aiding peace in such regions. If it's just a matter of resources, multinational companies benefit more if there is poverty and bloodshed -- if the local people kill themselves, the corporation can just keep the resources to themselves!
S
Re:Slashdot needs more articles like this (Score:1)
Too bad your otherwise insightful post will be shouted down because you dared to use the words "intellectual property".
Re:Slashdot needs more articles like this (Score:2)
The first step for Third W
Re:Slashdot needs more articles like this (Score:2)
Re:Slashdot needs more articles like this (Score:5, Insightful)
How will you feed, house, deliver basic utilities to, and do the hundred other things that this new workforce needs to do their jobs? What happens in five, ten, twenty years when the equipment they've invested in is hopelessly obsolete and these countries are once again on the brink of disaster? How will new handouts be paid for? And who says they're even going to be interested in doing IT in the first place? No, I think that's one of the worst ways to go about helping Africa.
The first step for Third World recovery is to write off the debts as they stand right now. Next, instead of subsidizing Midwest farmers to grow weeds instead of food, have them grow actual food and ship it overseas; the destination countries only pay transportation costs (a way to collect even just a little on the previous debts). Then take any funds earmarked for high-tech investment and put them towards basic sanitation facilities instead and you'd have a good start.
Eeek. I was born in Zimbabwe and have lived there and South Africa. Please whatever you do, DONT do what you suggest above.
One of the MAJOR things holding back Africa is foreign aid. The two strongest economies in Southern Africa were at their peak during sanctions. The problem boils down to the following:
1) Forgiving debt wont make any difference, because any spare cash will be stolen by corrupt government officials. They will waste any money available and demand you forgive their debt again.
2) Foreign aid is encouraged by African government officials because the checks and balances on stealing that aid for personal gain are much lower. This is exacerbated by aid people holding the opinion "that as long as something gets through, we're helping". This is not the case.
3) The best way to ensure that local farmers will not grow food is to ship them food, and by so doing, completely destroy local market prices for that food.
4) Much foreign aid is provided through organisations that benefit from skimming a small amount of the aid for "operating costs". Those organisations do not want to help people - they want people to be dependent on them, so they can ship more aid next year. "Give a man a fish a day for a week, and he'll forget how to fish"
Your suggestion of rerouting aid for high tech investment to sanitation is an awful idea. Africa needs investment, not aid. Investment of real money by people that expect real returns, meaning that kleptocrats will not be tolerated. The people that die for lack of sanitation often do so for culteral reasons, not lack of facilities.
One of the problems in Africa is that modern health care guarantees a low death rate amongst children. Coupled with a third world cultural outlook on children, this results in an explosion of young people, which strains education systems. The only real solution to this is to bring the standard of living up to a point where people decide they would rather have a few well-educated children rather than many children to till farmland.
Those children will be there regardless. If they are somehow drawn in real industry instead of subsistance farming, their children and their country benefits. Don't forget that they can support themselves and their families for a year on a hundredth of your salary.
Africa does not need people destroying their markets, and paying their officials to be corrupt and cling to power. It needs:
a) A cessation of foreign aid, unless it is foreign aid with extremely harsh strings attached, and it is provided in such a way that it does not damage local economies, or prop up corrupt governments.
b) Strong investment in countries that make strong attempts to rein in kleptocrats. Hopefully this should end a positive feedback loop.
c) Nothing for nothing and nothing for free, coupled with very harsh criticism and diplomatic pressure when an official is caught embezzling. Put strings on everything.
d) Very strong international criticism of non-democratic govern
Re:Slashdot needs more articles like this (Score:4, Interesting)
In addition, won't what you suggest only help countries which already have the basic facilities to support foreign investment? IT requires quite a large infrastructure behind it, and I had assumed that the discussion here was supposed to discuss only the poorest of African countries. For example, the only country mentioned in the article (Uganda) qualified for Highly Indebted Poor Countries relief; South Africa and Nigeria (the only African countries I can think of off the top of my head with a sizable telecom base, sorry) are not in nearly as bad a shape. Admittedly I don't know a whole lot about African socioeconomics, but wouldn't basic necessities take precedence over things like Internet presence?
Re:Slashdot needs more articles like this (Score:3, Informative)
Thanks for your reply. Well, a reasonable estimate of the percentage of aid that gets diverted is around 90 - 95 %. This is f
Mod Parent Up (Score:2)
Re:Slashdot needs more articles like this (Score:1, Interesting)
I'm a bit surprised this wasn't modded as flamebait. Although focusing only on short term issues like food is not in fact a good idea, I don't see any argument here for why promoting the IT business is so great either.
Perhaps y
Re:Slashdot needs more articles like this (Score:1)
Of course, it is; but that is true anywhere, even in the US. They are not mutually exclusive. I can only see it as a positive for the African countries that they are advancing technologically.
IMHO, if "the west" wants to help, they should concentrate on helping them grow their own food. Teach a man to fish.
Perhaps I am clueless, but I can't help but think that c
IQ (Score:2)
Guess what? IQ doesn't mean shit, except that you can do IQ tests really well.
Re:IQ (Score:2)
I hate the acronym FOSS (Score:4, Interesting)
Man 1: What do you do?
Man 2: I'm a FOSS developer
Man 1: Yeh... that, um, well... great.
Carry it out a little farther (Score:4, Funny)
Man 2: I'm a FOSS developer
Man 1: Yeh... that, um, well... great.
Man 2: Got any spare change?
Re:I hate the acronym FOSS (Score:2)
It makes guys who develop non-commercial obscure and buggy software in their basement feel "important."
Re:I hate the acronym FOSS (Score:2)
Relevant Wired Article (Score:4, Informative)
Though it may take years for any software platform in a Third World continent -- whether open source or proprietary -- to become commercially viable on the same scale as in the United States and European markets, some of the factors that have impeded the fast adoption of Linux will make Africa an interesting battleground for the open-source movement.
Do you know Visual Basic? (Score:4, Funny)
I feel African already.
Africa and America: Much in Common (Score:2)
Same problem in America: not enough projects to employ the available talent.
-kgj
Whoa! (Score:2)
Progress in South Africa (Score:1)
Racism Holds South Africa Back [wired.com]
South Africa Struggles to Rebuild [wired.com]
Re:Progress in South Africa (Score:2)
Some rather overly negative (sensation to grab readers?) article headlines there. The articles themselves are a bit more rational though.
The best thing - You don't have to start from zero (Score:2, Interesting)
It sounds like most of their projects are marginal as far a revenue. Having something close from to start from would be big plus.
Second point. Do the developers realy need a go between to connect them with users? Maybe they need tech fairs for getting the geeks and the non-geeks togeather.
Third point. If there is little money for anything in thier market, all the more reason for promoting respect for IP. The way
Internet access is the key (Score:5, Informative)
If someone in the Department of Communication reads this: Stop over regulating communications. Set it free and let it thrive, PLEASE.
Re:Internet access is the key (Score:2)
You're right, Telkom is putting something of 'handbrake' on the South African economy with their monopoly pricing, terrible and slow service roll-out, and artificially created bandwidth scarcity (they have a lot of international bandwidth on an undersea fiber cable that is literally unused because they heavily limit ISPs access to the bandwidth in order to drive up prices). But:
If someone in the Department of Communication reads this: Stop over regulating communications.
Writing on /. is not going to help
Another diss for FOSS documentation volunteers. (Score:2, Insightful)
> From the article: "Documentation is mostly done by geeks and testers, yet... it's useless... [The task of] documentation must be given to professionals."
One question... Where are all of these paid Open Source documentation jobs?
The road to better Open Source documentation begins with respect for the volunteers. Just replace "documentation" with "software" in the quoted text and see how you like it!
Microsoft vs Open Source (Score:2, Insightful)
1.Broadband internet connection. Anything else is too cumbersome and time consuming if not expensive. In Africa broadband still has a long way to go. If its there its terribly expensive. The use of wireless connections
I'm disappointed (Score:2)
I've been informed that corruption is inherent in some countries (Nigeria was specifically mentioned by an ex-resident) and believe it or not, this is the "front line" for market share with pirated Windows 2000 and Linux boxes. But 46 posts at a +2 threshold? That's low.
Is that it? Slashbots are happy to whinge that C# isn't as crap as they hoped yet they're not willing to post about Linux's future mindshare?
This is why I post less on Slashdot than I used
Priorities... (Score:1)
Kunta Kinte (Score:2)
For those of you too young to know/remember, there was a marvelous miniseries on television back in the 70's about Kunta Kinte, showing his life in Africa, how he got caught and brought to America to be a slave, etc. That was the show that started Levar Burton's success as an actor.
Funny, I was just thinking about that today.
Mod parent troll (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:New category, please (Score:3, Insightful)
It is far too late to stop the perceived problems sprea
Re:New category, please (Score:2)
That's an interesting suspicion. The only people whom I have ever heard use the term ``nigger'' were American blacks, so I might have suspected something else.
You're right that the original post was a nasty troll, but not just for the racism. I'd say that the second paragraph ``Africa is lost. Build an electric fence around the entire continent ... is really more hateful than the first.
Re:New category, please (Score:2)
Re:Free Open Source Software Independent Laborator (Score:2)