Commentary: open source software bridging the technology gap - Storage Networking - Column

Computer Technology Review, May, 2003 by Evan Leibovitch

Give people food and they'll eat for a few days. Teach them how to farm and they can eat for a lifetime.

Remember that old adage? It doesn't just apply to food. In technology, as well, a dramatic shift is taking place in the way the developing world is achieving self-sufficiency rather than dependency. And at the forefront of this shift is the rapidly maturing world of open source software.

Open source--whose better-known implementations include the Linux operating system, the Apache webserver and the OpenOffice desktop suite--ships with complete source code and is freely copyable and redistributable. As much a philosophy as a method of licensing software, open source technology offers an inexpensive source of software. It provides the building blocks for any country to provide the necessary infrastructure for a homegrown IT industry, far less reliant on foreign sources of technology than is currently the case.

Indeed, the benefits offered by open source in this regard go beyond the software itself, and can affect the hardware and service sectors in any country that uses it widely. While this may not be good news for companies that simply export technology without local presence in their target markets, it offers opportunities for those willing to partner with local technology groups to help them provide local infrastructure.

Before and without open source, the gap in national technology capabilities and infrastructure between the developed and less-developed countries--the technology gap--has been widening. Proprietary software companies, some of which have been judged to be illegal monopolies, have been able to dictate proprietary file formats and network protocols. Such imposed standards, controlled by single vendors and deliberately hidden from competitors, stifle real competition and thus innovation. As a result, poorer countries, ironically, must import most of their information technology resources from richer countries, increasing dependence while inhibiting local alternatives.

The emergence of open source software to such proprietary and monopolistic approaches, on the other hand, allows that gap to be closed not just in software but also in hardware and, most important, services.

Hardware

The use of Linux and open source software helps deal with a number of hardware-related facets of the technology gap. Poorer countries don't always have the ability to afford the latest and greatest; the three-to-four year cycle of replacing computers, in most parts of the world, is a dream. Because of severely tight budgets, older computers that would have long ago been tossed out in the developed world must continue to be pressed into service.

Because of this, not only are developing countries far more dependent on older PCs, such as Pentium I and PII systems, but even the larger minicomputers often need to be supported long after their officially supported life is over.

Linux, because of its creation by computer users rather than computer vendors, doesn't exist to help sell new hardware. In fact, the very newest version of Linux runs well on a decade-old 486 system that wouldn't stand a chance of running even Windows NT, let alone the much bigger footprint of XP. While such a 486 system couldn't be expected to efficiently run complex graphic applications, it would be quite suitable as a light-duty firewall or network server.

It's not unusual in the developed world to want a new software application, then find that the application requires a recent version of your operating system, and that new operating system requires brand new hardware. What started with the intent of buying a software package for a few hundred dollars turns into a complete overhaul of the OS and computer hardware. This is a luxury most in the developing world simply cannot tolerate to the same extent.

While the open source world is not without its memory-hungry applications, in many cases small-footprint alternatives are available for users who want to get the most out of older, slower hardware. Not every system is going to run the KDE desktop quickly; however, alternative desktops such as XFCE offer good functionality and work fine in slower (or older) systems.

Open source operating systems (not just Linux, but others such as NetBSD) are designed to run on big computers (like IBM mainframes), small computers (such as embedded systems and Sharp's Zaurus PDA), and everything in between. This allows an organization to run the most current OS and platforms on hardware systems that were long ago given up by the affluent. Most simply put, Linux allows users to do more with less, an absolute requirement in countries that can't always afford the biggest and fastest.

Software

Keeping current with the newest proprietary applications, throughout the developing world, means spending a lot of money and sending it out of the country--either that or turning a blind eye to illegal copies. In many developing countries, software piracy is more a matter of survival than an intent to break the law. Closed file formats and protocols encourage and practically force vendor lock-in, preventing development of alternatives. Such lock-in forces software users to follow the vendor's rules regarding upgrades and support, or invasions of privacy such as software activation. And, just as with the original software purchase, continuing upgrades require sending money out of the country.