Breadbin Interactive, a local open source software company, is looking to use its Freedom Toaster platform to promote and expand open source software into the rest of Africa.
The company plans to expand into Africa to make information feely available, particularly in the enterprise and education space.
The aim, says the company, is to make up-to-date relevant information free to the public to download from computer platforms entitled Freedom Toasters.
Brett Simpson, co-founder of the Freedom Toaster, says: “The name Freedom Toaster is derived from the fact that open source software and open content is free and that Linux users refer to burning CDs as 'toasting'; hence The Freedom Toaster.
“We hope to fulfil our first international order into Africa and close development of our smaller, counter-top unit. Our core market and area for greatest social impact is education. So we will be targeting a selection of tertiary educational institutions with which to collaborate.”
Breadbin has already sold Freedom Toasters to Unisa, the Western Cape provincial government, MTN Science Centre and Seda.
The Freedom Toaster is a platform that comes in the form of a touch-screen kiosk, similar to an ATM, allowing users to burn digital information and content onto CD/DVD or USB. This includes free open source software, company information, templates, tenders, legal documents, electronic textbooks, training manuals, photographs, music and movies.
In addition, Breadbin is building open source platforms that transfer information via Bluetooth technology to the cellphone.
The Freedom Toaster concept was developed by Simpson and Jason Hudson, within the Shuttleworth Foundation, five years ago.
Simpson adds: “The concept proved so popular in so far as it was being embraced locally and internationally (we have helped people in Canada, India, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Germany, Kenya and Namibia build their own Freedom Toasters). After three years within the Shuttleworth Foundation, all stakeholders - including Mark Shuttleworth - decided the best way to make this philanthropic project self-sustainable would be to commercialise it.”
This consequently led to the formation of Breadbin Interactive in 2006, and a commercially viable model was developed to make the units available to companies, educational institutions and government departments.
According to Simpson, Breadbin Interactive is working with Seda, the entrepreneurial arm of the government, to distribute information to assist entrepreneurs start their own businesses. It includes business plans, industry information, as well as case studies.
Breadbin Interactive has partnered with Business Connexion, which supports Breadbin's maintenance contracts for its clients.
Gaining popularity
Breadbin Interactive has found a higher frequency of people migrating over to open source operating systems, such as Shuttleworth's Ubuntu.
Simpson believes this is because open source operating systems are more cost-effective and flexible and have anti-virus software built in. He says open source operating systems are usually not the targets of viruses in the first place.
Yossi Hasson, MD of Synaq, says according to Gartner, by 2012 more than 90% of enterprises will use open source in direct or embedded forms.
Hasson claims open source improves local IT skills, cuts costs, has a lower total cost of ownership and can be customised.
He points out: “We are seeing more software being replaced with the alternative of open source software. FNB switched 12 000 desktops from Microsoft Windows to Linux. IBM and HP are putting through funding programmes into open source.
“In an economic downturn, open source software can only grow. Companies are evaluating their spend on IT and are turning to alternatives such as open source.”
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