“It’s not yet safe to assume that the world understands the
benefits of open source….“
“On the same day I had the honest joy of watching the look on
people’s faces as the real benefits and opportunities from using
open source software and development techniques sank in. I was
making a presentation in front of a room full of public school
educators, my third Linux session in Jamaica this week, and it
elicited an extremely enthusiastic response. You can almost freeze
the moment when you see the change in people’s eyes as they ‘get
it.’ You see it coming from the kinds of questions, skeptical at
first, then curious, then people nodding while taking an increasing
amount of notes….”
“The answer, of course, is to ensure that Linux and open source
software are perceived as real production alternatives and not
experiments. This change in perception is happening, but not as
fast as Linux enthusiasts might like. Besides seminars like mine,
there are other efforts helping to change perceptions, such as the
Jamaican Linux Users Group (whose website isn’t yet functional but
should be soon)….”
“In addition, I sense an openness (pun intended) on the part of
the Foundation to explore more aggressive initiatives to enhance
the role of Linux as a genuine and trustworthy alternative. And it
certainly doesn’t hurt that the local institute for higher
education, the University of the West Indies, has recently
standardized on Linux for its computer lab.”