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SA govt joins Software Freedom Day
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| One of the key proponents of open source software within the South African
| government, the department of science and technology is joining in this
| year’s Software Freedom Day celebrations with a dedicated programme on OSS
| during its Insite show this week.
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http://www.tectonic.co.za/?p=3042
Recent:
Free software, freely available
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| 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."
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http://www.news24.com/News24/Technology/News/0,,2-13-1443_2381616,00.html
Unisa toasts open source success
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| It uses a customised open source operating system that allows the kiosks to
| burn multiple disks at once.
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http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/software/2008/0807181034.asp?O=FPTOP&S=Open%20Source&A=LIN
Bridging the African digital divide - with a ‘toaster’
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| 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.
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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
Welcome to the Freedom Toaster Website
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| Freedom Toasters are conveniently located, self-contained,
| computer-based, 'Bring 'n Burn' facilities.
|
| [...]
|
| The Freedom Toaster project began as a means of overcoming the
| difficulty in obtaining Linux and Open Source software due to
| the restrictive telecommunications environment in South Africa,
| where the easy downloading of large pieces of software is just
| not possible for everyone.
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http://www.freedomtoaster.org/
Channel welcomes Red Hat
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| 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.
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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
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| 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.
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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
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| Brazilian ICT companies are keen to capitalise on the South African
| government's latest e-government push.
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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
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| 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
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http://www.tectonic.co.za/?p=2448
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