Impact in less developed countries

The impact of open source software in less developed countries can be even larger than in regions with well established information technology sectors. Among the many reasons, the following can be cited:

• Easy access to software products. Open source software can be easily available for individuals and companies in less developed countries. It is enough, for instance, that a local organization download the intended software, and burn CDs which can distribute along the whole country at low cost. That organization can be public or private, with money coming from local taxpayers or from international contributions or by expectations of profit. Since there are no per-copy costs (except for distribution costs), the access for low-income population to software can be done in conditions affordable by virtually any country.

• Cost-effective transfer of software technology. Developed countries can make cost-effective contributions to less developed countries by helping them to adopt free software technologies. Since there is no royalty or per-copy fees, the cost of this transfer is really low for the contributor country. Contributions could be focused in training, localization, and adaptation to local needs, with a great multiplier factor.

• Direct access to software technology. Less developed countries can access to leading edge software technologies without having to pay expensive royalties. Usually, these countries do not have easy access to those technologies, at least during the early stages of their deployment. They only get end-user products, at high prices, and without access to the underlying technology. On the contrary, with free software technologies, they get not only the end-user product, but also access to its source code, including all its implementation details.

• Possibilities of making developments in advanced technologies. In the open source world, any developer (be it an individual or a company) in any part of the world has, at least in theory, access to any open source project (provided some minimal infrastructure, like a reasonable Internet access). In fact, it is interesting to note how important free software projects are being leaded from countries with little or no tradition in advanced software development. In the future, we can expect more and more interesting free software developments coming from less developed countries. Since the building blocks available for these developments are accessible to any developer, and since free software distribution channels are almost equally accessible for all projects (for instance, if a given program enters Debian, it is distributed with any Debian-based distribution around the world), these projects have many possibilities of succeeding.

As a conclusion, it can be said that libre software levels the ground, and make it more possible to less developed countries no only to benefit of software technologies, but also to participate in their development. However, the reader should notice that the better general infrastructure available in developed countries (specifically in terms of communications infrastructure, educational system, availability of technical trained people, etc.) gives them a great advantage with respect to free software development and use. However, it is important to notice that even given these advantages, less developed countries still can also get direct advantages of the developments made elsewhere.