Conceding that open source software has a role to play, Microsoft has defended its deals with African governments, following a strongly-worded warning by the Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa (Fossfa).
Fossfa issued a warning to African governments earlier this week that entering into "deals" with Microsoft would jeopardise their own software industries and limit their countries` ICT growth. Microsoft rejects this claim, saying there is place for both commercial and open source software in Africa, and that both will contribute to the continent`s ICT growth.
Fossfa co-ordinator Bildad Kagai said in a letter to open source advocates in Africa that recent agreements and partnerships that African governments had been signing with Microsoft were "in essence, killing [the] local software industry and inhibiting the potential of developing local human capacity in the field of ICT".
Kagai added that the African ICT industry was worth over $25 billion and it would be unfair to effectively "give away this industry to already rich corporations when local talent exists".
South African open source news service Tectonic reports that Kagai is a founder of Fossfa and an outspoken critic of proprietary software. Fossfa called on African governments to "emulate the Asian tigers who realised the benefits of promoting local products and local talent".
Albie Bester, Microsoft strategic platform manager, says in response: "The software industry is large and there is a place for many different business and development models. Both open source and commercial software are critical parts of the software ecosystem, and both have important roles to play in fostering ICT growth in developing countries.
"Microsoft believes the commercial software development model is the core engine for the development of the software industry around the world. This is not to the exclusion of the open source development model, but it is important to recognise the central importance of the commercial development model."
Bester says the deals do not "unfairly give away the African ICT industry" to Microsoft, since a recent International Data Corporation report shows that for every dollar earned by Microsoft, eight dollars are earned by its partners throughout the world. "While the majority of our products and services are maintained by our partner community (+750 000 worldwide) that includes local businesses, whose work directly benefits the local economies," Bester says.
"The bottom line is that users of technology, be they governments, small or large businesses, schools, hospitals, or remote rural villages, should choose what works best for their specific needs, and have the freedom to do so.
"We believe proprietary software, including our own, provides a great value proposition. Let`s allow the consumer and market to decide on that."
Share