[Discussioni] software libero per i paesi in via di sviluppo

[Andrea Glorioso]

Ciao a tutti.

All'interno di CPSR (Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility)
Africa (Africa :) )  e' stato proposto  di creare un gruppo  di lavoro
per  discutere   e  incentivare concretamente l'adozione   di software
libero nell'ambito della risoluzione del cosiddetto "Digital Divide".

L'idea e' stata accolta  con    un certo  entusiasmo, cosi' come    la
proposta di   cambiare  il   nome      originario della   lista     da
opensource a africa.cpsr.org    a softwarelibre a africa.cpsr.org,     per
sottolineare il valore non meramente tecnico della scelta.

E' stato  buttato  giu' una bozza   di "manifesto" di quali siano  gli
intenti del gruppo di  lavoro.  E' in  inglese (ho inviato il testo ad
un madrelingua per   una revisione) e lo  posto  qui in lista sia  per
conoscenza, sia  per discuterne  il  contenuto e   apportare eventuali
correzioni.

Ciao,

Andrea Glorioso

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Much   has been already said   about  the potential  role  and  benefits of ICT
(Information and Communication Technologies) being used in developing countries
to gap the so called "Digital Divide".  A lot of research, both at "official" -
such  as the G8  created Dot  Force  (http://www.dotforce.org/) - and grassroot
levels  -  such as  the  work  done  by CPSR (http://www.cpsr.org/)  and  other
organizations  -  has been  conducted on  the  subject.  We  won't repeat their
results here.

The  theoretical  and practical work  done   by  countless researchers,  social
scientists,  economists, IT managers and  software developers in this variegate
field    is of the utmost  importance   for us:  they  are the  giants on whose
shoulders   we can stand  and  look  farther.  But we   feel  that there is the
necessity to focus a part of the ongoing discussion and plans  of action on the
subject of Software Libre.

What is Software Libre? [1] The term refers to software - those long strings of
1's and  0's that give the "breath  of life" to the   hardware we commonly use,
even when we are not aware of it - which is legally protected  by a license [2]
granting some basic freedoms:

. the freedom to use the software

. the freedom to examine the software [3]

. the freedom to modify the software to suit one's own needs

. the freedom to  redistribute the software, whether  modified or not, applying
the economic conditions one prefers (including giving it away for free)

We deem the above freedoms having the utmost importance in the context of using
Information  and  Communication   Technologies  to help   developing  countries
overcome their social,  economical and political  problems.  It's not useful to
overcome a dependence just to  become entangled in another  one.  We think that
proprietary software poses a significant threat in this respect.

Why do we think Software Libre is so important?

On one hand,  Software Libre empowers developing  countries in the real meaning
of the word.  It  gives them the power  to decide for themselves, not depending
on   some  foreign company's decisions;   the  advantage of participating  in a
transnational and borderless community of  scientists, developers, writers, who
have decided to share their work in such a way that  the "Return Of Investment"
is  fairly divided between the individual  and the society;  the freedom to use
their own brainpower to address their own problems.

On the other hand, Software Libre comes with significant economical advantages.
Although  not  the primary motivation  for  choosing Software Libre, economical
considerations certainly take  a  pivot role  when dealing with  underdeveloped
and/or developing countries.  Software Libre usually comes with a significantly
reduced "price tag" compared to proprietary software (when not for free).  Ease
of use, and the related  costs of training, have improved  greatly, and we  can
now  see      projects    like  GNOME    (http://www.gnome.org/)       and  KDE
(http://www.kde.org/)  [4]  being  used as  a  valid  alternative to commercial
Graphical   User   Interfaces.    Technical   assistance,   whether   voluntary
(newsgroups, mailing lists,  documentation)  or paid (single professionals  and
consulting firms) is comparable  to  the world  of  proprietary software -  and
often, more reactive and useful.  The lack  of exasperated marketing techniques
- such  as adding redundant  and substantially unuseful features  to subsequent
versions of the  same software,  forcing users to  upgrade  their software  and
hardware -  makes  even  old and  cheap computers   an  appetible platform  for
Software Libre.

Recognizing its technical merits and social usefulness, CPSR Africa has decided
to dedicate a part of its resources to study the various ways in which Software
Libre can be used in  helping developing countries overcome their difficulties.
Our aim is to act as a point of reference, inside a web of cooperating parties,
to:

- devise solutions based on Software Libre for practical ICT problems;

- find  Software Libre  based   alternatives to already  existing   proprietary
solutions, keeping in mind that  the transition from one  system to another has
specific costs which must be dealt with;

- act  as a point  of  information for  people  who would  like  to start using
Software  Libre but  lack a sufficient   knowledge of its   technical and legal
aspects;

We hope that this mailing list will become the first step of a general adoption
of Software  Libre philosophy and technical  achievements in Africa  and in all
developing countries.

CPSR Africa

[1] We  prefer  to use the  term  "Software Libre" rather  than the historical
"Free Software" because of the double meaning which the word "Free" has in
english.  As it will be clear later on, the "Free" in  Free Software stands for
freedom, not for price: but to avoid confusion and countless explanations which
can become tiresome both for who explains  and for who  listens, we'll stick to
saying "Software Libre" - a term  which has gained  an official momentum thanks
to the work of the EU commission on software libre (http://eu.conecta.org/).

[2] The  GNU  General Public License  (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html) is
perhaps the most  famous license granting such rights;  and the pioneering  GNU
Manifesto (http://www.gnu.org/manifesto.html/) is  one of the best documents to
understand why Software Libre is  not just a  matter of price  (and as such  we
prefer to use this name rather than "Free Software").

[3] This must be a  _real_ freedom: i.e.  it's possibile,  with much effort, to
"reverse engineer" or "disassemble"  a computer program  of which we  only have
the binary code and understand what it's doing.   But, legal hurdles apart (the
vast  majority of proprietary software licenses  explicitly deny  this right to
the users), this is such a tremendous effort  that it would cancel the benefits
granted by this freedom.  "Examining the software" refers to the possibility of
*legally* examining the "source  code",  i.e.   the sequence of   instructions,
written in a "High Level" or "Very High Level"  language (C, Java, Python, Perl
are all  examples  of  such languages),  which,  when  compiled or interpreted,
become the sequence of 1's and 0's we refer to as "computer programs".

[4] It's  worth noticing that  the  software KDE was  built  on top of,  the Qt
libraries,  was originally licensed  by TrollTech AS  under  the QPL (Qt Public
License) which wasn't a  "libre software license".   After much public pressure
and after   a thorough consideration of  the  pros and cons of  software libre,
TrollTech decided to use a double-license approach,  using both the QPL and the
GPL for the latest  version  of their flagship  product.  Although  some doubts
about the  possibility of  legal pitfalls in  using  two licenses for  the same
product still exists, TrollTech's decision is  a great achievement for software
libre and an example   of both its  influence  and its strategic importance  in
business realities, where economic losses are not an option.

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