1. ICT for People's Organizations
Chris Raymaekers | IPHU-Kisumu | April 2010

2. ICT won't solve the
problems of society

3. However

4. ICT can help people's
organizations in their struggle
for social change
● Improving efficiency and productivity
● Improving data collection and data
analysis
● Improving advocacy and campaign

5. ICT for PO's
* Information & communication are
vital aspects of PO's work.
* PO's have always employed
technologies to assist them in their
work.
* However, tools needed today are
different to those of a decade ago.

6. Possibilities & Challenges
* Shift towards 'informationised' society
contains both possibilities and challenges.
* Access to powerful communication &
organizational tools is opened up.
* Making good use of these tools can be a
painful experience.
* The “digital divide”: unequal access and
unequal acquisition of related skills.

7. FOSS & PO's: a natural fit
* FOSS = Free and Open Source Software.
* FOSS tools are developed through shared
collaboration, creating a greater mutual value.
* This practice of cooperation and collaboration
makes the FOSS movement a natural ally of PO's
and social change movements.
* On top of the synergies around 'philosophy',
there is also much practical value in using FOSS
tools.

8. Intro
What is FOSS?
Getting to know FOSS
Making FOSS work for your organization
Demo

9. What is FOSS?
* Free and Open Source Software is designed
to maximize the freedoms of its users.
* Think of 'free' as in 'free speech', not as
in 'free beer'.
* FOSS <> proprietary software (e.g Microsoft,
Adobe, ...).
* FOSS license conditions guarantee that users
can exercise 4 freedoms.

10. Drawings by Lucy Watts (lucywatts.com)

11. Drawings by Lucy Watts (lucywatts.com)

12. * Richard Stallman
founded FSF in 1985 to
promote the freedom to
create, distribute and
modify computer
software
* Initiated the GNU
project to make a free
Operating System (OS)
* Pioneered the concept
of copyleft
Drawings by Lucy Watts (lucywatts.com)

13. FOSS < > Proprietary software
* Free (as in * Intellectual
freedom). Property Rights.
* Sharing. * Profit.
* Collaboration. * Monopoly.
* Transparency. * Chaos.

14. Intro
What is FOSS?
Getting to know FOSS
Demo: Ubuntu
Making FOSS work for your organization

15. Advantages of using FOSS (1)
* Cost effectiveness: software often free
and support is provided by community.
* Legality issue: free to use and distribute
* Increased stability: bugs are found and
eliminated quickly due to open source nature
* No technology lock-in: built using open
standards

16. Advantages of using FOSS (2)
* Increased organizational flexibility: software
can be adapted to needs of organization
* Cooperative culture: less prone to vendor
lock-in
* Extended life span of hardware: FOSS often
less demanding on HW resources, less bloated
software packages
* Ability to attract high level skill at low cost

17. Limitations (1)
* Sometimes badly documented & hard to
use for non tech savvy.
-> Things improved a lot in recent years.
E.g. Ubuntu version of GNU/Linux OS.
-> Also dependent on the specific software.
E.g. Documentation and community support
for the Drupal CMS is as good, if not
better than for proprietary solutions.

18. Limitations (2)
* In places where pirated versions of
proprietary software are easily accessible the
benefits of FOSS can be a hard sell.
-> Most people looking for an instant solution
arenʼt going to care whether a software is
FOSS or not.
* Software availability: it's not always
possible to find FOSS alternatives to
commercial applications

19. Example 1: Mozilla
* Non-profit dedicated to promote open,
shared and innovative web.
* Projects: Firefox (browser), Thunderbird
(e-mail, newsgroups, feeds), SeaMonkey
(Internet application suite), Calendar
project...

20. Mozilla Firefox
* Recognized as a more
secure browser than Internet
Explorer.
* Lots of useful plug-ins
available (thanks to open
architecture).
* Firefox: 25% market share.
* Runs on Windows, Mac and
GNU/Linux.

21. Example 2: OpenOffice.org
* Office productivity suite, including word
processing, spreadsheets, presentations, and
databases.
* Very capable alternative to MS Office.
* Can read and write MS office files.
* Export to PDF out-of-the-box.
* Available for Windows, Mac and
GNU/Linux.

23. Example 3: GNU/Linux
* Operating system
* Desktop market: dominated by Windows
-> Windows (90%), Mac OS X (5%) and Linux (1%).
* Server market: idem.
-> Windows (70%), Linux (20%)
-> 60% of the web servers run Linux (2008).
* Supercomputers: dominated by Linux
-> Linux (86%)

24. GNU/Linux desktop
* Despite low market share, Linux is viable
for desktop use.
-> Ubuntu: popular distro with focus on ease of
use.
-> Some vendors sell GNU/Linux pre-installed,
especially on netbooks (30% market share)
* Choice between many distros can be
overwhelming: Ubuntu, fedora, debian, SuSE,
mandriva, ... → check DistroWatch.com

26. Ubuntu
* Free (as in free beer), stable and secure
operating system (GNU/Linux based).
* Created in 2004 by Mark Shuttleworth, a
SA millionaire. His company, Canonical, is
backing the project.
* Generally acknowledged to be the most
widely used version of Linux (8M users)
* Runs on 32bit (i386) and 64bit (x86_64)
processors

27. Ubuntu Features (1)
* Novice-friendly
* Contains Office Suite (OOo), Email client
(Evolution), Browser (Firefox), IM, photo
management, multimedia, … out of the box.
* Instant access to thousands of FOSS
applications via package manager.
* Accessibility: assistive technologies,
localization, ...

28. Ubuntu Features (2)
* Automatic updates and bug fixes.
* Wealth of documentation, both official
and user-contributed.
* Installable live CD.
* Creative artwork and desktop themes.
* Migration assistant for Windows users.
* Fixed release cycle and support period.

30. Potential drawbacks
* Installation.
-> Not hard but average user will try to avoid.
-> Few retailers sell Linux pre-installed.
* Hardware compatibility.
-> Issues with small number of devices due to
lack of good Linux drivers.
-> Check certified HW list or try LiveCD.
* Proprietary SW with no version for Linux.
-> Emulation can be a solution

31. Ubuntu Offerings
* Ubuntu Desktop Edition: for everyday
office tasks
* Ubuntu Server Edition: for use as file-,
web-, mail-, or database server.
* Ubuntu Netbook Remix (UNR): optimized
for use with netbook (affordable, internet-
centric devices)

32. Ubuntu Derivatives
* Officially supported (by Canonical)
-> Kubuntu: KDE desktop environment for other look &
feel
-> Edubuntu: for education
* Recognized
-> Xubuntu: XFCE desktop environment for use with older
hardware
-> Ubuntu Studio: designed for multimedia editing and
creation
-> Mythbuntu: designed for use as media center

33. Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala (Gnome)

34. Kubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala (KDE)

35. Ubuntu Release Schedule
* New release every 6 months (support for
18 months).
* LTS release every 2 yr (3 yr support for
desktop, 5 yr support for server).
* Upgrade can be performed over the
Internet without reinstall.
* Support for the latest technologies is
guaranteed thanks to regular releases.

37. Intro
What is FOSS?
Getting to know FOSS
Demo: Ubuntu
Making FOSS work for your organization

38. Intro
What is FOSS?
Getting to know FOSS
Demo: Ubuntu
Making FOSS work for your organization

39. Case Study: intal (1)
* intal (belgian partner of PHM)
* Office runs on entirely on Ubuntu
-> 2 application servers (LTSP)
-> 20 workstations
-> 1 file server and 4 shared printers
-> LAMP apps: intranet (Open Atrium), CRM (
CiviCRM), DAM (ResourceSpace)

40. Case Study: intal (2)
* No license fees
* Cheap hardware
-> 2nd hand workstations $30/piece
-> servers $700/piece
* Setup/maintenance done by a experienced
volunteer
* 1 windows box to run proprietary software
-> bookkeeping, donation management

41. Base infrastructure
* Ubuntu Desktop provides a stable, secure and
feature packed desktop for each staff member
* Larger offices may benefit from services
provided by a server:
-> file/print services (also Windows networking)
-> e-mail services
-> LAMP applications (Wiki's, CMS, CRM, ...)
-> backup services

42. Case Study: Karapatan (1)
* Human Rights group (Philippines).
* Cfr Press statement CPU
* Documentation of HR violations using
karapatan-monitor.
-> open source toolkit developed by CPU.
* Web portals based on Drupal CMS
-> Organizational: karapatan.org
-> Campaign: stopthekilllings.org, stopthekillings.be

43. Case Study: Karapatan (2)
* Analysis and visualization of collected data is
vital for advocacy and campaign.
Presentation of analyzed
data of HR violations in
the Philippines. Collection,
analysis and visualization
of data was done with
FOSS tools.

44. Resources
* Tactical Technology Collective
-> NGO in-a-box: powerful tools for the daily work
of NGO's
-> Message in-a-box: tools and tactics for
communicating your cause.
-> Mobiles in-a-box: tools and tactics for mobile
advocacy.
-> Security in-a-box: tools and tactics for your
digital security

46. References
* “The Base Edition of NGO-in-a-box
<base.ngoinabox.org> by Tactical Tech
<tacticaltech.org> and WomenʼsNet
<womensnet.org.za>”
* Choosing and Using Free and Open Source
Software: A primer for nonprofits. (link)
* An Introduction to Ubuntu (link)

47. You are free:
to Share — to copy, distribute and transmit the work
to Remix — to adapt the work
Under the following conditions:
Attribution — You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way
that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).
Noncommercial — You may not use this work for commercial purposes.
Share Alike — If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under the
same or similar license to this one.