[ILUG-BOM] Free Software for NGOs

[Siddhesh Poyarekar]

On 1/17/07, Gabin Kattukaran <boon at vsnl.com> wrote:
> Somewhere along the way an NGO would need to factor in the cost of
> having someone with enough clue to run the FOSS setup. Today, an NGO's
> (or any non-IT setup's) best bet is to go with whatever the hardware guy
> is willing to support. Those NGO's that have the budget/contacts to
> hire/sucker/involve a geek may consider going in for a FOSS setup. I
> remember Childline having their email and web gateway setup for them on
> linux by one of my friends only because his then girlfriend worked
> there.

I was actually thinking on the lines of FOSS software for vocational
training schools for the poor. I know someone who works in an NGO that
supports low-budget schools. These schools have basic computer
training for their students. If this was done on FOSS platform then
not only will the school cut costs of the software, but the curious
ones can look under the hood if they want to.

I know my thought sounds Utopian at best, but I had seen something on
these lines on a show in BBC (Open Sources was it?). The show talked
about an African school that does this. The support of the computer
systems was also voluntary, with some of the students themselves
pitching in.


Regards,
-- 
Siddhesh Poyarekar
http://siddhesh.tk