“… where would Africa fit in with the Linux picture? There
are any number of reasons…”
“First,… the OS is free. This means that users… will not
have to lay out a huge investment which would be restrictive for
many people in Africa. Staying with the notion of free, the
software and utilities that run on the platform are also free.”
“The other major plus of Linux for Africa is that it will run on
80386 platforms, which means that hardware such as those old 386s
can be put to use. This would again remove a barrier to entry, as
people would not necessarily need a Pentium machine…”
“Staying with the plus factor, still there is the chance to get
your hands dirty in learning more details about computers as
opposed to other platforms. Linux is, by its very nature, a
platform that demands that the user get more than familiar with the
workings of the system.”
“… the major barrier to entry would be the learning curve,
which if tackled in the right frame of mind could be easily
overcome and start the continent off on the road to a computing
renaissance, which is badly needed in the region.”