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Bring 'n burn
,----[ Quote ]
| Designed initially to provide access to open source software at grass-roots
| levels, the Freedom Toaster is a computer kiosk that allows anyone to copy
| from its library of open source software and operating systems onto blank
| CDs – referred to as toasting in the Linux community. The concept proved so
| popular that the Foundation decided to make the operating design available
| for free in its quest to bridge the digital divide and provide ever present
| access to information. Locally the relatively high cost of computer equipment
| still proved a stumbling block and the organisation decided it needed to
| develop a sustainable business strategy to better meet the demand for
| toasters.
|
| [...]
|
| Will Freedom Toasters one day be as accessible as cash machines? Who knows?
| What is for certain is that I will be following the evolution of what is fast
| becoming an ‘open source icon’ with interest in the future.
`----
http://www.instrumentation.co.za/regular.aspx?pklRegularId=3685
The managing director of Microsoft South Africa recently left. The company
is 'under fire' there. Must be the all that burning [pun].
Recent:
Unisa toasts open source success
,----[ Quote ]
| It uses a customised open source operating system that allows the kiosks to
| burn multiple disks at once.
`----
http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/software/2008/0807181034.asp?O=FPTOP&S=Open%20Source&A=LIN
Free software, freely available
,----[ Quote ]
| Open source software costs nothing to own, and now costs nothing to obtain
| thanks to a group of entrepreneurs determined to get around the problem of
| expensive bandwidth in South Africa.
|
| The Freedom Toaster originally started in 2005 as a project by the
| Shuttleworth Foundation as a software kiosk where anyone can burn -
| or "toast" in Linux jargon - open source software such as Linux and other
| information onto CDs and DVDs.
|
| "One challenge in developing countries is that free software is generally
| distributed online, and in those countries the bandwidth is often expensive
| or non-existent so free software does not reach those communities that most
| stand to benefit from it," said Mark Shuttleworth. "The Freedom Toaster is a
| way of making free software, and in fact many forms of free content,
| available in these places."
`----
http://www.news24.com/News24/Technology/News/0,,2-13-1443_2381616,00.html
Bridging the African digital divide - with a ‘toaster’
,----[ Quote ]
| The foundation was convincing schools and even government offices to switch
| to Linux, the open-source equivalent of Microsoft Windows or Mac OS.
|
| “We were getting a lot of people excited about it,” Hudson says. But when new
| fans asked how to get their hands on the newest version of Linux, the answer
| was always the same: Download it. “We’d see their shoulders slump,” he
| says. “We had a clear message, we were getting out there and talking to
| people, but we were clearly falling short.”
|
| Then he started thinking – why not make a software vending machine where,
| instead of having to download large files, a user could just burn them to a
| CD?
|
| It so happened that the MTN Sciencentre in Cape Town was about to have an
| exhibition on open-source computing, and Hudson convinced his bosses to let
| him try to design a prototype that would burn a small selection of
| open-source software, including Linux, to CDs.
`----
http://features.csmonitor.com/innovation/2008/06/17/bridging-the-african-digital-divide-%E2%80%93-with-a-%E2%80%98toaster%E2%80%99/
http://tinyurl.com/5geddf
Channel welcomes Red Hat
,----[ Quote ]
| Commercial open source software (OSS) vendor Red Hat has opened a South
| African office, which will be headed by Louis Seyffert.
|
| Paul Holt, EMEA regional director at Red Hat, says there has been strong
| demand for open source skills and methodologies in the local market.
`----
http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/channel/2008/0806121034.asp?A=CON&S=Consulting%20and%20IT%20Services&T=Section&O=ST
SITA braves open source
,----[ Quote ]
| SITA has chosen Ubuntu for its desktop operating environment. Running on top
| of this will be open office, as well as several other FOSS applications,
| aimed at improving SITA's collaborative and engagement environments.
`----
http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/software/2008/0806111200.asp?A=ITG&S=IT%20in%20Government&O=FPLEAD
Brazil explores SA open source push - ITWeb
,----[ Quote ]
| Brazilian ICT companies are keen to capitalise on the South African
| government's latest e-government push.
`----
http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/business/2008/0806111038.asp%3FO%3DFPTOP%26S%3DIT%2520in%2520government%26A%3DITG&cid=0&ei=neFPSIHnLYa2xAH1hcmlCA&usg=AFQjCNEin3h_kSV-VxAK7DAthBrbgJUZQg
CSIR to switch 2300 users to Ubuntu Linux
,----[ Quote ]
| Parastal CSIR, South Africa’s national science and technology research
| organisation, is readying to switch most of its more than 2300 staff to using
| Ubuntu Linux as their default desktop
`----
http://www.tectonic.co.za/?p=2448
Government, NGOs 'turning to Linux'
,----[ Quote ]
| "It's extremely easy - basically anyone can install Linux now."
|
| Organisations such as the Shuttleworth Foundation, which help provide
| computers to underprivileged schools, use Linux instead of Windows to cut
| costs.
`----
http://www.ioltechnology.co.za/article_page.php?from=rss_IOLTechHome&iSectionId=2883&iArticleId=4366559
South Africa adopts ODF as a national standard
,----[ Quote ]
| The South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) on Friday approved the Open
| Document Format (ODF) as an official national South African standard. The
| adoption of ODF by South Africa opens the way for the businesses and
| government to adopt ODF more widely in their processes.
`----
http://www.tectonic.co.za/?p=2365
Related:
SA Government's OSS plans revealed
,----[ Quote ]
| Migration of current systems is also planned. This will be done in a phased
| approach, beginning with applications such as replacing MS Office with Open
| Office or KOffice and replacing Internet Explorer with Firefox. This will in
| time lead up to the operating system, replacing Windows with a Linux
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| distribution. Migration to Apache for the running of government websites has
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^
| already occurred within a number of departments.
`----
http://www.tectonic.co.za/view.php?src=rss&id=1684
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