The Shuttleworth Foundation, with the help of volunteers, installed 10 new open source computer labs at Cape schools in the space of a few hours yesterday, to mark Youth Day.
The initiative was carried out by the tuXlab programme for schools, an organisation created by the Shuttleworth Foundation with the aim of setting up 80 computer labs by February 2005. The Schools Linux user group, a collection of Linux enthusiasts and volunteers, was also involved in the installations.
Shuttleworth Foundation open source project manager Hilton Theunissen says Youth Day was the ideal day for such an initiative. "When you think of what 16 June means to SA, it's the perfect day to make software and computer freedom available to 10 schools. Overall, it's been an amazing project.
"We started at about 9am, with about 50 people per school, and we were able to do nine-and-a-half jobs by noon. With the last school, there was a simple problem to be rectified, and was completed half an hour later. By 1pm, all the participants were either at home, or enjoying the after-party."
The initiative involved installing 240 computers, and the cost of the hardware totalled R250 000. "But the focus of this is on more than just the computers, it's on open source."
The Shuttleworth Foundation, a non-profit organisation aimed at funding initiatives that improve the availability of education in SA, has a specific focus on open source, and is involved with various initiatives to increase local awareness.
"When people think of computers, they automatically associate it with Microsoft. We want to change that," says Theunissen. He adds that open source is particularly ideal to the local market. "The cost saving would be significant, as software costs would be cut down.
"Also, it makes a lot of decommissioned software available to people. When you look at the costs associated with computing, it is especially high considering how little so many South Africans earn, so keeping costs low is essential."
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