[ Thanks to Madhu
Menon for this link. ]
“The recent surge in popularity of the Linux operating system in
Third World countries like India is a sign that Linux is here to
stay. The most obvious reason for Linux being so popular is its
inherent “legality”. The average computer user who uses pirated
software is only too happy to use a full fledged operating system
that is not only free, but comes along with a horde of extremely
useful applications that come for free.”
“A recent example of concentrated effort is by the
University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) in Philadelphia. The
Puente Project launched in 1999 aims at closing the “Digital
Divide” that threatens to be the next “caste-system”. Puente
hopes to make a difference by providing new technology and
Internet access to everyone before the Digital Divide sets in.
Funded by independent industry sponsors and spearheaded by UPenn,
Puente has setup two Community Technology Center’s (CTC) or
Internet labs in two needy countries: Ecuador and India.”
“In their most recent project, Puente set up a CTC Internet lab
in Pune, India. … The Community Technology Center lab
will be available to underprivileged students and adult community
members. … Linux has enabled Puente to cut down the project costs
drastically, since if they were using mainstream commercial
operating systems, their budgets would be inflated
unnecessarily.”