[Fsf-friends] Imagine you are putting water pumps in villages of Africa... (fwd)

Frederick Noronha (FN) fred@bytesforall.org
Sun, 20 Apr 2003 21:49:27 +0530 (IST)


http://danny.oz.au/free-software/advocacy/appropriate.html

   [1]Danny Yee >> [2]Free Software Advocacy

                  Free Software as Appropriate Technology

   Imagine you are putting water pumps into a village in Africa. You have
   a choice between two products:

   Product A vs Product B
     _________________________________________________________________

   Designed by a worldwide community development process open to anyone.
   Sold and supported by thousands of companies, large and small. [vs]
   Produced and sold by a single vendor, a large multinational with a
   long history of unethical business practices. Control maintained by
   aggressive use of intellectual property law.
     _________________________________________________________________

   Comes with complete schematics and a set of tools for making custom
   modifications. If you can't do this yourself, there are hundreds of
   different organisations and companies worldwide who offer
   customisation as a service. [vs] Is a sealed unit. Not only is access
   to its internal workings difficult, but international and national
   laws have been used to make it illegal to even look inside the casing,
   let alone modify the contents.
     _________________________________________________________________

   Uses standard pipe fittings; designed to connect with equipment from
   all suppliers. [vs] Uses proprietary and poorly documented pipe
   fittings - often deliberately designed to prevent connection with
   equipment from other suppliers.
     _________________________________________________________________

   There are no additional licensing costs on top of the cost of the
   equipment. [vs] As well as buying the product itself, you have to
   licence the right to use it. The licence fee increases with the amount
   of water you pump.
     _________________________________________________________________

   A growing number of add-ons are available. [vs] A wider range of
   add-ons are available.
     _________________________________________________________________

   Has maybe 1% of the consumer mass-market, but is used by perhaps 30%
   of specialists in the field. [vs] Has more than 90% of the consumer
   mass-market.
     _________________________________________________________________

   Has a highly configurable control system. [vs] Has a simple standard
   set of controls which are easier to learn.
     _________________________________________________________________

   Is highly resource-efficient; works with older power sources. [vs]
   Requires a large, modern power source.
     _________________________________________________________________

   Often runs for years without any problems. [vs] Is notoriously prone
   to malfunction.

   It is clear that Product A has to be the choice in this situation,
   under any criteria for appropriate technology (or ethical purchasing).

   But this is an analogy - the actual comparison is, of course, between
   GNU/Linux and Microsoft Windows.