What does South Africa think about Ubuntu?

[atrus123]

I'm curious what sort of press Shuttleworth and Ubuntu receive in South Africa and what South Africans think about him? He seems like he might be a favored son, maybe a celebrity of a sort, or am I wrong?

Just curious.

[aysiu]

Here are some South African headlines about Mark Shuttleworth (http://www.mg.co.za/mg_search_results.aspx?keywords=mark+shuttleworth&PrintEdition=PrintEdition&DailyNews=DailyNews&SearchSection=&StartDay=1&StartMonth=1&StartYear=1994&EndDay=13&EndMonth=8&EndYear=2006&x=25&y=18). It seems most are about his travel to space.

[RAV TUX]

Here are some South African headlines about Mark Shuttleworth (http://www.mg.co.za/mg_search_results.aspx?keywords=mark+shuttleworth&PrintEdition=PrintEdition&DailyNews=DailyNews&SearchSection=&StartDay=1&StartMonth=1&StartYear=1994&EndDay=13&EndMonth=8&EndYear=2006&x=25&y=18). It seems most are about his travel to space.

Shuttleworth was the first African in space.

[K.Mandla]

You should ask Biltong (Dee) (http://www.ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=89915). S/He is a Capetonian and might have an opinion to share.

[beercz]

What does South Africa think about Ubuntu?
What a good question!! Wish I'd thought of it ;-)

[Biltong (Dee)]

So is Mips :-)

Mark Shuttleworth is known in South Africa, firstly as the "First African in Space" and also by his is Hip2b2 line of thought (Education is the way to the future - www.hip2b2.com).

Ubuntu does not figure highly at all.

Personal opinion is this - Microsoft donate heavily to schools in South Africa and this in a weird sort of way fits in with Shuttleworth's Hip2b2 philosophy.

If he promotes Linux as well he could rock the boat, and despite MS being the enemy they ARE doing a lot of good here.

[atrus123]

So is Mips :-)

Mark Shuttleworth is known in South Africa, firstly as the "First African in Space" and also by his is Hip2b2 line of thought (Education is the way to the future - www.hip2b2.com).

Ubuntu does not figure highly at all.

Personal opinion is this - Microsoft donate heavily to schools in South Africa and this in a weird sort of way fits in with Shuttleworth's Hip2b2 philosophy.

If he promotes Linux as well he could rock the boat, and despite MS being the enemy they ARE doing a lot of good here.

Huh, that sort of surprises me that Ubuntu doesn't figure a bit more into the equasion. Until Ubuntu, most major distros (with the exception of Turbo Linux) were of either American or European ancestory. Now one of the three major operating systems hails from South Africa, which is cool but also a bit surprising.


What a good question!! Wish I'd thought of it

The question makes a lot of sense to me, if you're interested in the points of view from countries other than your own. I was, however, thinking that there might be more people on this board from South Africa.

[dvarsam]

Wow!

Nice Thread!

I also thought that Ubuntu was kicking some M$ "butt" in South Africa...

Then:


If this is not true, then is there ANY country where Ubuntu is kicking M$'s butt?


Thanks.

P.S.> This could mean that Ubuntu may never reach mass adoption...:(

[mips]

Mark first became well known for selling his software company for a stupid sum of money.

He then became famous when he went to space/ISS as this interested basically the whole of SA.

Ubuntu though is not well known at all I must say. If you asked the average citizen what Ubuntu OS is they would not have a frigging clue. They know who MS is but no other OS other than that exists as far as they are concerned.

As Dee mentioned he is also kinda known for the hip2b2 program.

Our Government also made big noise about using & encouraging OSS and then the next day you here them sighning $$$$$$$ MS contracts.

[mips]

Now one of the three major operating systems hails from South Africa, which is cool but also a bit surprising.


I actually don't think you could call Ubuntu South African. The only thing SA about it is that Mark is from SA. Canonical is not a SA company, Mark is not based in SA, I don't think there are any devs from SA. The word Ubuntu is not regional to SA but most of Africa.

[Gordone]

Hi,

I'm a student at the University of Cape Town ,which is where Mark studied.

In the fledgling IT and Software industries there is great enthusiasm for OSS, although currently there is an over reliance in the mainstream (especially the large financial sector) on Microsoft Software, although much of it is pirated (hehe), Microsoft does give away a lot of software, which in a strange way stops them from being the enemy. The real enemy being scientific and mathematical illiteracy, coupled the inaccessibility of the Internet and Computers in general. The high price of "broadband (1Mb lines are unheard of for personal use)" is a serious limitation in the use of Ubuntu.

Mark is generally seen as a hero, as much as you can be a hero in South Africa (we are pretty cynical, as a nation:) ). In computing circles, his spotting of the niche in terms of authentication is lauded.

The Shuttleworth foundation (http://wiki.tsf.org.za/) has done good work in promoting Linux in general, especially Ubuntu, by providing Computer Labs which run Ubuntu and Freedom Toasters (public terminals for burning OSS including most Linux distros). Ubuntu is by far the OS of choice for Computer Science Majors (at UCT). Penetration into other faculties and departments is slow, but constant.

In general society, I think the trend is moving towards OSS, maybe slightly ahead of what I am seeing in the rest of the world.

Hope this provides some insight.

Cheers

[Phil Airtime]

I actually don't think you could call Ubuntu South African. The only thing SA about it is that Mark is from SA. Canonical is not a SA company, Mark is not based in SA, I don't think there are any devs from SA. The word Ubuntu is not regional to SA but most of Africa.

If anything, Ubuntu is British; after all, Canonical has its HQ in London. The Isle of Man, bizarrely, also has a claim to the OS.

But I say it's an international effort, rather than from any one country.

[RAV TUX]

What does South Africa think about Ubuntu?Impi Linux (http://www.impi.org.za/)

[flarkit]

As stated, most (average) computer-users in SA are most familiar with Windows. Linux is "that free OS that you need to use complicated command-line instructions with" and therefore Ubuntu is not known too well outside of OSS-enthusiast circles.

Speaking as someone who's tried a few distros in the past 5 years, Ubuntu is a glowing gem IMO. Having enjoyed the marked improvements that Feisty had over Dapper, I haven't even bothered to try alternatives such as Linux Mint or the newly-popular PcLinuxOS. Ubuntu has steadily been improving on features which make it more accessible to average users, in-as-much that that it eases the installation and configuration process.

Unfortunately, we're still struggling with backward telecomms and broadband access costs too much for most people and entry-level packages simply don't provide suffient data capacity to allow everyone to install the OS. Considering that one requires some form of broadband access to have a functional Ubuntu installation, this hampers the uptake somewhat.

The FreedomToasters provide some respite, but still having to download the majority of software for Ubuntu (or else resort to CLI-based procedures), again highlights the previous point about hampering the uptake. If OpenSuse and Mandriva can provide an installation-DVD with large amounts of software, why doesn't our beloved Ubuntu?

[TeaSwigger]

Also appreciate the insight from those in SA. :) I've also wondered what is thought of him.

Apologies in advance for the semi-digression, can't help it I guess:


In the fledgling IT and Software industries there is great enthusiasm for OSS, although currently there is an over reliance in the mainstream (especially the large financial sector) on Microsoft Software, although much of it is pirated (hehe), Microsoft does give away a lot of software, which in a strange way stops them from being the enemy. The real enemy being scientific and mathematical illiteracy, coupled the inaccessibility of the Internet and Computers in general. The high price of "broadband (1Mb lines are unheard of for personal use)" is a serious limitation in the use of Ubuntu.

Ah but as the "included software" (or bundled software) with premade computers and components in the US, many folks perceived and may very well still perceive MS's Windows as simply a feature given away with their computer; the distinction being in "I'm buying the computer and it comes with Windows Vista" as opposed to "I'm buying Windows Vista." So tied with the hardware suppliers are they that a Dell with Windows sells for less than the comparable unit with the free ubuntu. It's not owing to generosity on the part of MicroSoft, it's a part of the larger marketing strategy. The majority of buyers just don't hear let alone know much about an ubuntu option. e.g. my overheard line, "you need windows to run your computer."

Windows is only a (probably shrinking) percentile of MicroSoft's global revenue streams. The cynic - or perhaps the concerned samaritan - in me suggests that this is the US market's equivalent to their "charity" in Africa: establishing themselves both physically and culturally as the ubiquitous software and technology brand. Simply adapting and applying the method which created their dominant power in the first place to Africa. Building a market base and not what's in the best interests of Africa being the underlining point of interest.

[Dixon Bainbridge]

The Isle of Man, bizarrely, also has a claim to the OS.



Business tax breaks. Registering a company there is a good idea from that perspective.

[ellis rowell]

Mark Shuttleworth is known in South Africa, firstly as the "First African in Space"

I wonder if he is related to the Shuttleworths of Old Warden, Bedfordshire, England? I seem to remember that Mrs Shuttleworth was an intrepid pilot in the 1930's, believe she was killed in an aircrash.