[gnulinuxinasia] Licence fees and GDP per capita: The case for open source in developing countries by Rishab Aiyer Ghosh

  • From: "Frederick Noronha [फ़रेदरिक नोरोनया]" <fred@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: gnulinuxinasia@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Mon, 6 Aug 2007 23:23:29 +0530

Abstract
There is a strong case for free software (also known as open source or
libre software) being deployed widely in developing countries. This
paper describes three reasons in particular: free software is a skills
enabling platform; it is far cheaper; and it is more adaptable to
local needs. The free software development community provides an
environment of intensive interactive skills development at little
explicit cost, which is particularly useful for local development of
skills, especially in economically disadvantaged regions. Meanwhile,
the controversy over total costs of ownership (TCO) of free vs.
proprietary software is not applicable to developing countries and
other regions with low labour costs, where the TCO advantage lies with
free software, and the share of licence fees in TCO is much higher
than in (richer) high labour cost countries. The note concludes with a
table comparing license fees for proprietary software against GDP per
capita for 176 countries.

Contents
Free software communities — a platform for skills development
Informal apprenticeships — Employers benefit, but don't pay the cost
But do we all want to program?
Building local ICT competencies
Total cost of ownership and low labour costs
Conclusion
http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue8_12/ghosh/

Editorial history
Paper received 25 November 2003; accepted 28 November 2003; revised 7 May 2004.
Contents Index
Copyright (c)2003, First Monday
Copyright (c)2003, Rishab Aiyer Ghosh
Licence fees and GDP per capita: The case for open source in
developing countries by Rishab Aiyer Ghosh
First Monday, volume 8, number 12 (December 2003),
URL: http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue8_12/ghosh/index.html
-- 
Frederick Noronha  Journalist http://fn.goa-india.org
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