[school-discuss] Request for comments: Global Knowledge for Development Digest V1#634

[FN <fred@bytesforall.org>]

Your comments/responses to these arguments are welcome....

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Date: Mon, 24 Feb 2003 18:37:58 -0600
From: "Daryl Martyris" <daryl_martyris@ksg04.harvard.edu>
Subject: [GKD] Limitations of Open-source Software

Sam Lanfranco <lanfran@yorku.ca> wrote:

> For software the open source platforms are both available at all levels
> (i.e., operating systems, browsers, email, server software, OpenOffice
> application suite, etc. etc.) and there are thousands of open source
> people online who will help you - at a distance and usually for free -.


While I am a believer in open-source, I have to say that in the case of
my project in Goa, India - GSCP, the above has definitely not been true.
In general Linux folks are always ready to answer a quick question or
two, but anything more complicated requires paid support.

The case I want to share is our need for educational software compatible
with the RH 7.2 distro (GNOME desktop) we use in our schools. While
there is tons of available educational software on sites like seul.org,
it is a mishmash of different distributions, different desktops etc, and
very little of it actually works on our distro. We've tried very hard to
get online volunteers (including netaid) to help with compiling RPM's
etc, but have had almost zero success.

Consequently, as schoools begin to experiment with computer assisted
teaching, we are facing a losing battle, as schools realize that there
is no Linux compatible educational software and switch over to MS. 
Anyone on a modest budget planning on using Linux should be aware of
this limitation.

Sincerely,

Daryl