Linux4afrika: An Interview with the Founder

It all began during a routine FreiOSS training program conducted by Hans-Peter Merkel, and has now grown to become one of the very popular initiatives to foster Open Source at an international level, specifically for the third world.

“Linux4afrika has the objective of bridging the digital divide between the developed countries and the disadvantaged countries, especially in Africa, by supporting people getting access to information technology. This is done through the collecting of used computers in Germany, the terminal server project and the ubuntu software which is open source, and by providing support to the involved schools and institutions.”

In this interview with the founder Hans-Peter Merkel, we explore the idea, the support, and the future of this movement.

Who are the chief promoters of this movement?

FreiOSS (established in 2004) with currently about 300 members started the Linux4afrika project in 2006. The input was provided by some african trainees doing their internship at St. Ursula High school in Freiburg where we currently have 2 Terminal servers running. The asked FreiOSS to run similar projects in Africa.

What initiated this vision to bridge the IT gap between the developed and the under developed nations?

During 2002 to 2005 we conducted IT trainings on Open Source products during 3 InWEnt trainings “Information Technology in African business” (see http://www.it-ab.org) with 60 African trainees (20 each year). This made FreiOSS to move OSS out of the local area and include other countries, especially those countries we had participants from.

Can you briefly recount the history of this movement from the time it started to it's popularity till date?

As mentioned before, the Linux4afrika project has its roots with FreiOSS and St. Ursula High school. There itself the idea was born. I conduct Open Source trainings and security trainings in several African countries (see http://www.hpmerkel.com/events). During a training in Dar es Salaam I demonstrated the Terminal Server solution to participants in a security training. One of the participants informed a Minister of Tanzanian Parliament who immediately came to get more information on this idea. He asked whether Linux4afrika could collect about 100 Computers and ship them to Tanzania. Tanzania would cover the shipping costs. After retuning to Germany I informed FreiOSS regarding this, and the collection activity started. We found out more information about the container costs and found that a container would fit about 200 computers for the same price. Therefore we decided to change the number from 100 to 200. One Terminalserver (AMD 64 Dual Core with 2 GB Memory) can run about 20 Thin Clients. This would serve about 10 schools in Tanzania.
The Ubuntu Community Germany heard about our project and invited us to Linuxtag in Berlin (2007). This was a breakthrough for us; many organizations donated hardware. 3SAT TV also added greatly to our popularity by sending a 5 minute broadcast about our project (see http://www.linux4afrika.de). In June we met Markus Feilner from German Linux Magazin who contacted us and also published serveral online reports.
In September Linux4afrika was invited to the German Parliament to join a meeting about education strategies for the under developed countries.
In October Linux4afrika will start collection for a second container which will be shipped end of the year.
In early 2008 about 5 members of FreiOSS will fly to Dar es Salaam on their own costs to conduct a one week training where teachers will be trained. This will be an addon to the service from Agumba Computers Ltd. (see http://www.agumba.biz). Agumba offers support in Tanzania to keep the network running. During the InWEnt trainings from 2002-2005, three employees from Agumba were in that training. Currently, 2 other people from Agumba are here for a three month internship to become familiar with our solution and make the project sustainable.

Who are the major contributors?

Currently FreiOSS in Germany and Agumba Computers in Tanzania are the major contributors.

Do you get any internal support in Tanzania and Mozambique? Do the governments support open source?

Yes, we do. In Tanzania, it's Augumba Computers and in Mozambique we have some support from CENFOSS. All trainings conducted by me on Security and Forensics had a 70 percent part on Open Source in Tanzania. Currently, the Governmental agencies are implementing those technologies mainly on servers.

Do you have any individuals working full-time for this project? If yes, how do the full-time individuals support themselves financially?

All supporters are helping us without any financial support. They all come after work to our meetings which take place about once a month. After some starting problems the group is now able to configure and test about 50 Thin clients per evening meetings.

Tell us something more about the training program: what topics do you cover, how many participants so far etc.?

Tanzania shows a big interest in Security trainings. Agumba computers offers those trainings for about 4-6 weeks a year. Participants come from Tanzania Revenue Authority, Police, Presidents office, banks, water/electricity companies and others. Currently Tanzania Revenue Authority has sent 5 participants to conduct a 3 month Forensic training in Germany.

In Tanzania about 120 participants joined the trainings so far. Sessions for next year will start in January 2007.Packt supported the project by sending some copies of our OpenVPN book.

How will these be used and what do you hope to gain from them?

Markus Feilner is currently in Tanzania. He will conduct a one and a half day training on OpenVPN in Dar es Salaam. The participants in Germany who received the books will receive a practical training on IPCop and OpenVPN for Microsoft and Linux clients. This will help them establish secure Wireless in their country.

What does the future hold for Linux4afrika?

Our current plans include the second container, the visit to Dar early 2008, and Linuxtag 2008. Further actions will be discussed therafter.

We already have a few requests to expand the Terminalserver Solution to other under developed countries. Also, currently we have a request to support Martinique after the hurricane has destroyed huge parts of the island.

Thanks very much Hans-Peter for taking out time for us, and all the very best for your plans.

Content Management Links

opensourceCMS.comThis site allows you to browse and demo a variety of open source content management systems, all in one place. In the words of the founders: The idea behind creating opensourceCMS revolved around the need to have a place where one could completely test content management systems in one place, before taking the time to install one. No one wants to install a CMS only to find it lacked key features or functions you need. Also, you may find a CMS you didn't know about and realize it was exactly what you needed.

DotNetDocDotNetDoc.com is a popular community site based on the open source CMS DotNetNuke. Run by Packt author Daniel N. Egan, the site contains news, first class articles and an excellent forum section.

www.cmsinfo.orgcmsInfo is an internet community of users and developers of Content Management Systems. Dedicated to provide news and information of the Open Source weblog niche. cmsInfo is mightily impressive resource, covering everything and anything on open source Content Management Systems, if you need the latest updates or information on a certain CMS, then it's likely to be here.

cms-forum.orgcms-forum.org is a structured home for the information that circulates on the industry's main mailing lists, they also offer vendor forums, arrangeable in a taxonomy, and aggregation of the major CMS News and CMS Blogs - a quick look at what's happening in content management.

Joomla Designs Joomladesigns has over 100 high quality Joomla templates for the popular Joomla open source CMS.

CMSwireCMSwire is a site dedicated to content management news, reviews and product information. This is a very professional site, updated regularly with articles, links to relevant news stories and information on product updates.

Alfresco - Content Management SoftwareAlfresco offers open source enterprise content management including open source web content management software and document management software (Documentum, Jackrabbit, Sharepoint).

PHP Related Links

The phpMyAdmin ProjectphpMyAdmin is a tool written in PHP intended to handle the administration of MySQL over the Web. This is the home of the phpMyAdmin project, containing all the latest downloads, demos and information.

Oxyscripts.comOxyscripts.com is a PHP development resource site with PHP tutorials, PHP news, PHP articles, PHP forums, and PHP Book Reviews.

phpBBHacksphpBBHacks.com is the premier source for phpBB hacks, templates, related downloads and everything phpBB. We feature the largest database of phpBB related downloads on the Internet including phpBB 2 hacks and phpBB 2 templates.

phpBB DesignOn this site, you will find all the necessary resources to personalize your phpBB forum : Templates, ranks, avatars, smileys and folder images are available here, and they are all free...

Only PHPOnly PHP is one the biggest PHP Programming resources sites housing information on PHP Scripts, books, communities, documentation and web hosting to name a few.

Oracle

Oracle HomeOracleHome contains original book reviews on all areas of computing, as well as tips, scripts and code examples for Oracle database users as well as for other programming languages including CSS, Javascript, MySQL and PHP. OracleHome also have information on computer magazines, hardware and software.

Open Source Telephony & VoIP
Asterisk VoIP News.comDaily News updated regarding Asterisk Platform, VoIP News, Telephony and more. Useful pieces of information to help you expand your knowledge.

FierceVoIPVoIP Business and Technology Report, is an easy to read twice-weekly email service that brings must read VoIP news to senior executives in the Voice over IP and IP telephony industry.

Isdn-World Isdn-world.com has a primary goal to give a synopsis and approach to the world of communication techniques and communication equipment for organisations, companies, institutes and individuals. Isdn-World.com also has the most complete database of PBX manufacturers in the world.

Which VoIP - Compare and Review VoIP Service ProvidersDedicated to Voice over IP & Broadband Phone service. Use our FREE and personalized VoIP provider plan search engine and VoIP reviews to compare a vast number of internet phone service plans. Choose a VoIP solution that meets your particular telephony needs.

Telecom PortalOne of the largest web portals specializing in Telecommunications and IT. www.voipproviderslist.com is constituted by a number of independent projects covering all major topics in the area, and helping to obtain information, build a wider social network, and grow your business

PbxInfo.com A free IT community that welcomes,shares, and contributes knowledge about every facet of telecommunications. PbxInfo.com is comprised of a 360-degree model that is designed to assist telecommunications professionals in every phase of a telecommunications project. IT professionals can perform system comparisons, buy and sell equipment, request system proposals and quotes, ask questions in the forums, find information in the portals, and seek or post jobs.

All About the VoIPEverything you need to know about VoIP. What it is, how it works, best providers, products, and the latest news.
Security

SecurityInfos.comSecurityinfos is a security portal with book reviews, security product reviews and security news.

Help Net SecurityHelp Net Security is an information security portal that started out in 1998. Initially providing its users with the latest news from the InfoSec community, it has grown up to be one of the prime places for various inside information about computer security happenings, news from the InfoSec community and a lot of other additions.

General

Enterprise Open Source ListA human edited directory of professional Open Source Software intended for the IT community.

devReviewUser reviewed directory of computer software development resources, including client development tools, server applications, application frameworks and programming related books.

WEB-DOT-DEVWeb-Dot-Dev is a web development community and Open Source - free article submission, free URL submission, Blogs, books reviews, forums, photo gallery, mailing lists and more.

Virtual Private Networkvpntools.com provides you the details on all aspects of Virtual Private Networks technology besides providing the information on software & hardware choices favourable for VPN and Remote Access VPN.

The Long ReachLong Reach blends real world CRM expertise with commercial open source technologies to develop and deliver cost effective CRM solutions for small/medium business and divisions of large enterprises. Long Reach offers a full range of SugarCRM implementation, customization and training services. Long Reach is also the developer of Info At Hand™, a complete, commercial-grade, customer-centric business management solution built on SugarCRM Open Source.

OSC4BIZOSC4BIZ are the leading provider of quality osCommerce services in the World. They offer full osCommerce services package including osCommerce hosting and search engine optimization. They will supply your business with a convenient and powerful tool, professional osCommerce related services and 24/7 support.

Community AdminsCommunityAdmins.com is a brand new community for designed especially for Community Administrators.

FisherSoftwareFisherSoftware is an India based dynamic Software and Web design house. Their team of talented and highly qualified Software professionals provide clients with exceptional DotNetNuke Customization, Custom Software Programming, Web Programming, Web Design, Search Engine Optimization Services, Software Development and BPO Services.

DevArchive.NET, Delphi/Kylix, Java, ActiveX/VB developers heaven. Free downloads, components, tools, books, links, forums for software developers in .NET, Delphi, Kylix, Java, Visual Basic, ActiveX technologies

Software Developer's Journal At Software Developer's Journal is the most popular magazine for professional programmers and developers in Poland. They publish news and professional information concerning the software world. In their articles, they present ready programming solutions. Software Developer's Journal was Polish in origin, however currently, it is translated and published monthly in: English language in Austria, Morocco, Spain, France, Germany, The Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Canada and the USA and in French language in France, Canada, Luxembourg and Belgium

iFroggy Network The iFroggy Network is an Internet network featuring web service, content and community websites.

HotscriptsHotscripts is the largest PHP, CGI, Perl, JavaScript and ASP script collection and resource web portals on the Net. They currently have 24,955 scripts across 11 different programming languages and 1,240 categories, as well as links to books, articles, programming tips and tutorials.

GadgetopiaGadgetopia's motto is 'Geek and you shall find' which should give you some idea to the content of this great site. Essentially this is author Deane Barker's blog site, however it goes much deeper and is far more incisive than your average blogger's effort. The site contains thoughts and first class articles on topics ranging from content management and development to web culture and geek humor. Gadgetopia is a well written and well maintained site and well worth bookmarking to ensure repeat visits.

OdeToCodeOdeToCode do not want the pressure of providing full life cycle support for a mission statement. Instead, they just want to be a place in the developer community where code fanatics can come to relax, ask questions, find answers, and have a laugh.

ZopeZoneZopeZone.com is a Zope community website geared to both the virgin Zoper and full fledged, bonified Zopistas. The Zope Zone has a lot of information starting with Zope and other news, discussions forums, a growing Zope Zone FAQ and a ton of links that cover anything from Zope hosting to other Zope powered sites.

ScriptDownloadsAt ScriptDownloads.com, you can buy and sell PHP, CGI, java, python and many other scripts. ScriptDownloads.com also have a large directory of free scripts which are stored on their server for ease of downloading the free script.

Big WebmasterBig Webmaster is a great site, covering several different programming languages and resources for webmasters. The site contains everything from applets and tutorials to development software and templates.

ScriptSearchScriptSearch's comprehensive programming directory is more intuitively organized by programming language with subfolders with various script categories. Rating features allow you to find the most popular and most useful resources according to the rest of our visitors. Its even a breeze to bookmark your favorite listings on your own "My Favorites" page, that you can easily return to.

New version of iJoomla DigiStore.

The new version of iJoomla DigiStore is now out. In the two weeks since our release, we've managed to squish a number of small bugs that were reported by our early adopters. So a big thanks to them and to everyone else for your patience! What's next?

iJoomla DigiStore already has all the basic features of a shopping cart, but our goal is to make it even better and to continue adding more features. Based on your feedback so far, we have started work on a few improvements.

You can see a list of bugs fixed and future features here.

All of these improvements are a direct result of the feedback we've received from our users. If there's anything you wish iJoomla DigiStore could do but doesn't, just post it on the forum. You might well see it in our next version. And if you like what you see so far, please post a review on the Joomla extension site. We take all suggestions and feedback very seriously!

How to get our extensions FREE!

We've recently closed a deal with the LunarPages hosting service: Anyone who signs up to a hosting account for 12 months or more will receive any of the iJoomla extensions free. That's a $50 to $70 free gift for a hosting plan of $95!To find out more about this amazing deal, click here.

New version of iJoomla MetaTag Generator, released under GPL.Today we've released a new version of the popular iJoomla MetaTag generator. Version 1.0.3 incorporates a number of fixes and works with Joomla 1.0.13. It's also released under GPL license so the Joomla community is welcome to make changes and improvements. Read more about it here

Live Backend Demo
Front End: http://ijoomlademo.com
Back End (admin): http://ijoomlademo.com/administrator/
Username: testerPassword: tester
Best regards,

Merav Knafo
Founder iJoomla.com
"A better way to Joomla!"
http://www.ijoomla.com

The Open Source Definition (Annotated)

Version 1.9 The indented, italicized sections below appear as annotations to the Open Source Definition (OSD) and are not a part of the OSD. A plain version of the OSD without annotations can be found here.

Introduction

Open source doesn't just mean access to the source code. The distribution terms of open-source software must comply with the following criteria:

1. Free Redistribution

The license shall not restrict any party from selling or giving away the software as a component of an aggregate software distribution containing programs from several different sources. The license shall not require a royalty or other fee for such sale.

Rationale: By constraining the license to require free redistribution, we eliminate the temptation to throw away many long-term gains in order to make a few short-term sales dollars. If we didn't do this, there would be lots of pressure for cooperators to defect.

2. Source Code

The program must include source code, and must allow distribution in source code as well as compiled form. Where some form of a product is not distributed with source code, there must be a well-publicized means of obtaining the source code for no more than a reasonable reproduction cost preferably, downloading via the Internet without charge. The source code must be the preferred form in which a programmer would modify the program. Deliberately obfuscated source code is not allowed. Intermediate forms such as the output of a preprocessor or translator are not allowed.

Rationale: We require access to un-obfuscated source code because you can't evolve programs without modifying them. Since our purpose is to make evolution easy, we require that modification be made easy.

3. Derived Works

The license must allow modifications and derived works, and must allow them to be distributed under the same terms as the license of the original software.

Rationale: The mere ability to read source isn't enough to support independent peer review and rapid evolutionary selection. For rapid evolution to happen, people need to be able to experiment with and redistribute modifications.

4. Integrity of The Author's Source Code

The license may restrict source-code from being distributed in modified form only if the license allows the distribution of "patch files" with the source code for the purpose of modifying the program at build time. The license must explicitly permit distribution of software built from modified source code. The license may require derived works to carry a different name or version number from the original software.

Rationale: Encouraging lots of improvement is a good thing, but users have a right to know who is responsible for the software they are using. Authors and maintainers have reciprocal right to know what they're being asked to support and protect their reputations. Accordingly, an open-source license must guarantee that source be readily available, but may require that it be distributed as pristine base sources plus patches. In this way, "unofficial" changes can be made available but readily distinguished from the base source.

5. No Discrimination Against Persons or Groups

The license must not discriminate against any person or group of persons.

Rationale: In order to get the maximum benefit from the process, the maximum diversity of persons and groups should be equally eligible to contribute to open sources. Therefore we forbid any open-source license from locking anybody out of the process. Some countries, including the United States, have export restrictions for certain types of software. An OSD-conformant license may warn licensees of applicable restrictions and remind them that they are obliged to obey the law; however, it may not incorporate such restrictions itself.

6. No Discrimination Against Fields of Endeavor

The license must not restrict anyone from making use of the program in a specific field of endeavor. For example, it may not restrict the program from being used in a business, or from being used for genetic research.

Rationale: The major intention of this clause is to prohibit license traps that prevent open source from being used commercially. We want commercial users to join our community, not feel excluded from it.

7. Distribution of License

The rights attached to the program must apply to all to whom the program is redistributed without the need for execution of an additional license by those parties.

Rationale: This clause is intended to forbid closing up software by indirect means such as requiring a non-disclosure agreement.

8. License Must Not Be Specific to a Product

The rights attached to the program must not depend on the program's being part of a particular software distribution. If the program is extracted from that distribution and used or distributed within the terms of the program's license, all parties to whom the program is redistributed should have the same rights as those that are granted in conjunction with the original software distribution.

Rationale: This clause forecloses yet another class of license traps.

9. License Must Not Restrict Other Software

The license must not place restrictions on other software that is distributed along with the licensed software. For example, the license must not insist that all other programs distributed on the same medium must be open-source software.

Rationale: Distributors of open-source software have the right to make their own choices about their own software. Yes, the GPL is conformant with this requirement. Software linked with GPLed libraries only inherits the GPL if it forms a single work, not any software with which they are merely distributed.

10. License Must Be Technology-Neutral

No provision of the license may be predicated on any individual technology or style of interface.
Rationale: This provision is aimed specifically at licenses which require an explicit gesture of assent in order to establish a contract between licensor and licensee. Provisions mandating so-called "click-wrap" may conflict with important methods of software distribution such as FTP download, CD-ROM anthologies, and web mirroring; such provisions may also hinder code re-use. Conformant licenses must allow for the possibility that (a) redistribution of the software will take place over non-Web channels that do not support click-wrapping of the download, and that (b) the covered code (or re-used portions of covered code) may run in a non-GUI environment that cannot support popup dialogues.

IBM adds heft to OpenOffice open-source project

IBM said on Monday that it will join the OpenOffice.org project and pledged to further use the open-source software in its own products.

OpenOffice is an open-source alternative to Microsoft's Office desktop applications suite.
IBM will not be offering support for the product to customers. However, it will make technical contributions to the project and use code from the project in its own tools.

Specifically, IBM said that it will have 35 programmers working on the OpenOffice code and it will contribute software to improve the product for people with disabilities--an important feature, particularly to government customers such as Massachusetts.

The move is meant to make OpenOffice a more viable alternative to Microsoft's Office and create more products that support the OpenDocument Format (ODF)--a standard document format which competes with Microsoft's Open XML. ODF is the native file format for OpenOffice.

"We believe that this relationship will improve our ability to deliver innovative value to users of IBM products and services. We also believe that the collaboration will lead to an even broader range of ODF-supporting applications...and solutions that draw from the OpenOffice.org technology," said Mike Rhodin, general manager of IBM's Lotus division.

IBM already supports the OpenDocument formats in its Lotus-branded document editor, spreadsheet, and presentation applications. Engineers created those programs, which are delivered via a Web server rather than locally installed, by forking the OpenOffice code.
An IBM spokesperson on Monday declined to specify which technology it intends to use from the OpenOffice project.