“Open source is good for Namibia”

It’s always encouraging to see some good open source advocacy and Namibia’s Elizabeth Asino-Joseph doesn’t disappoint with a recent piece on Namibia’s New Era news website.

There’s a great justification in the opening paragraph, which reads:

Namibia has limited resources to carry out government programs such as computerizing schools, providing universal access to information technology and the list goes on… On the other hand, Namibian institutions are loaded with proprietary software such Microsoft products most of which they do not utilize. The excessive amount of money used to purchase the proprietary software would be better utilized to improve computer usage in Namibia if only we could give Open Source Software (OSS) a chance.

The advantages of open source are then listed – enhanced security, quality, skills development and freedom.

Elizabeth Asino-Joseph’s piece ends with challenge to readers too (and sounds like it’s based on personal experience. Ed.), as well as a promise of more to come.

These are some of the reasons why you, dear reader, should switch to Open Source Software. I challenge you to start right away! Download Open Office (www.openoffice.org) and start using. You will find that it has relevant functionality and it is super easy to use.

Next week I will continue to enumerate the advantages of Open Source Software.

We recommend reading the original post in full and are looking forward to reading Elizabeth’s next piece with interest.

Hat tip: Mark Taylor of Sirius