Open Source in the developing world

Thu, 26 Jun 2003 14:09:00 -0400
/technology

It’s a pleasant surprise to see MSNBC (via Newsweek) laying into one of their proprietors so harshly, but it needs to be said.

After the South African government threw its support behind the open-source movement last year, Microsoft offered to supply free software to government-run schools in South Africa. Hilton Theunissen, the project manager at Nooitgedacht Primary School, is skeptical of Microsoft’s sudden altruism. “For years and years I was writing letters to Microsoft, always asking for software donations,” he says. “What I ended up receiving was either a negative reply or no reply at all.”

Microsoft is behaving like a crack dealer.