Namibia Wisely Spurns M$ 'gift' in favor of Linux (fw)

Namibia wisely spurns M$ 'gift' in favor of Linux
By Thomas C Greene in Washington
Posted: 31/10/2002 at 22:27 GMT
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/27878.html

The African nation of Namibia is large in area and small in population wi=
th
considerable distances between communities. Imagine the challenges of
getting its schools wired to the Net. SchoolNet Namibia, a chiefly volunt=
eer
organization, struggles to do precisely that with a free ISP and numerous
other initiatives to get the nation's schools, many of which lack any
library resources at all, on-line.

Imagine the pleasure with which SchoolNet would initially have confronted=
 a
charitable overture from Microsoft involving free software. Now imagine t=
he
disappointment of learning that accepting the 'gift' would entail outlays=
 of
money in the range of fifteen times the value of the M$ Trojan horse.

The idea was to obtain fifty inexpensive laptop computers from Acer and f=
or
Redmond to donate some of its Great Software. It appears that SchoolNet h=
ad
at least briefly labored under the illusion that the operating system
software would be donated as well, but this was not to be. The company wa=
s
willing to donate only free licensing for Office Pro, valued at $2,000,"
while SchoolNet would have to lay out an extra $9,000 for OS licensing in
order to exploit the privilege of using the office software.

It gets better. Redmond had also made a generous offer to provide network=
ing
hardware and software, presumably to get SchoolNet off Linux, which it us=
es
for both its networking and client services. It would be another 'Big Win=
'
for Brian Valentine to bleat about in his mass mailings; but there were a
few rough spots in this deal as well.

According to a letter from SchoolNet Namibia Executive Director Joris Kom=
en
to Microsoft South and East Africa Regional Manager George Ferreira, the
cost of allowing Microsoft to exercise its generosity would be ironically
prohibitive.

"From the outset of our consultative meetings with Microsoft, it was made
abundantly clear that SchoolNet and NetDay would be happy to provide
Microsoft with an opportunity to develop a potential alternative to our
viable Open Source LTSP refurbished LAN and stand-alone Linux-PC solution=
s
for schools and teachers in Namibia and further afield in Africa. The
original understanding was that each of five pilot schools would be
furnished with a 20 refurbished diskless thin-client computer + contempor=
ary
server laboratory, at Microsoft's cost, to show and tell Microsoft's
extraordinary commitment to affordable LAN computer technologies for
education in Namibia."

Unfortunately, as Komen explains, Redmond's understanding of the deal was=
 a
bit out of sync with his own.

"It became imminently clear that the development of a potential Microsoft
alternative to our viable Open Source LTSP refurbished LAN solution at fi=
ve
pilot schools in Katutura would incur considerable cost for SchoolNet, gi=
ven
the revised understanding that Microsoft would not be paying for the
refurbished hardware, but would only provide the software platform at som=
e
unknown Research & Development (!!) cost resulting from co-opting experti=
se
from other third-party Microsoft partners.

"Such a change of direction would result in SchoolNet having to pay out i=
n
the order of US $4,500 per school to provide Microsoft with a significant
educational branding opportunity in Namibia, coupled with free technical
support service obligated by SchoolNet to all its school clients, in an
extraordinary deviation from SchoolNet's commitment to provide skills
development, technical support and helpdesk services to its Open Source L=
TSP
LAN school clients and Linux-PC teacher clients."

Komen says he has no desire to turn his organization into a platform for
Microsoft publicity, especially when the networking deal would cost the
organization something like $22,000 by his reckoning, in addition to the
$9,000 he would need to accept Redmond's incredibly generous $2,000 offer
regarding the laptops.

SchoolNet Namibia will, obviously, be sticking with Linux.

Judging from this example it would appear that the obscenely rich Beast
intends to use non-profit organizations in desperately poor countries to
subsidize its promotional ambitions and its sales strategy.

No wonder Gates has more money than God. =AE

Note: many thanks to Reg reader Phil Driscoll for the tip --tcg.