Transcript المحاضر أ . د . حسن السيد مركز تقنية المعلومات مستشار للجامعة االفتراضية السورية دمشق – فاكس 4462103 هاتف 4457731 Email: [email protected]

‫المحاضر‬
‫أ‪ .‬د‪ .‬حسن السيد‬
‫مركز تقنية المعلومات‬
‫مستشار للجامعة االفتراضية السورية‬
‫دمشق – فاكس ‪4462103‬‬
‫هاتف ‪4457731‬‬
‫‪Email: [email protected]‬‬
PIECING OUT FOSS ACTIVITIES
in the Arab World
There have been genuine and serious
but scattered FOSS Activities in the
Arab World; e.g. Almost All the 21
Arab Countries have at least some
kind of LINUX group.
Google lists about 20 million entries
under “Arab Open Source Software”
Taking only five millionth of the
entries as NOT RELATED (major)
ones, result in about 100 independent
activities scattered around the Arab
World.
Some of those may have developed very
significant FOSS Applications which
many of us do not know about.
COOPERATION is a MUST
for Gearing up MOMENTUM for FOSS
I claim therefore that there is an urgent
need for an integrated FOSS SUPPORT
STRATEGY for the region as a whole, and
a need for coordinating and streamlining
various Arab Foss Activities.
ISN’T THAT THE HEART OF FOSS
PHILOSOPHY ? ??
ALECSO PIONEERING
CONTRIBUTIONS
The Arab League Educational, Cultural &
Scientific Organization (ALECSO) has
already taken steps towards Identifying,
Coordinating and Supporting FOSS
Activities in the Arab World.
THEY have carried out a number of very
important FOSS Activities:
1-ALECSO has conducted an elaborate
survey to IDENTIFY organizations,
firms & individuals who are/ have been
or willing to be actively involved in FOSS
Activities in The ARAB world.
The Survey consisted of:
- Introduction to FOSS Concepts
- PART I: Companies/Institutes/Organizations
Survey (25 questions)
- PART II: Developers’ Survey ( 19 questions)
A Pan-Arab FOSS meeting was held at
ALECSO’s headquarters (Dec.2005) in
cooperation with UNESCO Cairo Office.
The meeting included formal representatives
of 11 Arab Countries, ESCWA, private
Arab companies and individuals working
in the field.
In addition reports about the state of FOSS
activities in various Arab countries, the 3day meeting covered the following topics:
a) Overview of FOSS; initiation and
Activities
b) Open Source Electronic Designs
c) FOSS and the Arabic Language
d) FOSS in support of E & Distance
Learning
e) Building up a Guide for FOSS
activities in the Arab World
f) Creating a reference website for the
FOSS activities in the Arab World.
2-ALECSO is carrying out a Landmark
FOSS Project for serving the Arabic
Language and Culture.
The Project is carried out in 2 phases
(2007/2008 Financial Cycles : 2006 & 2007-8)
a) A Computer-assisted Derivation &
Inflection System for the Arabic
Language. It is almost complete (by a
group of Linguistics & IT experts).
A Progress-Assessment meeting was
held in Damascus (3 - 4/12/2006).
b) A robust reference high caliber Arabic
Digital (prototype) Dictionary (similar to
Dictionaries like OXFORD, WEBSTER
and LAROUSSE).
Apart from its comprehensiveness, the
dictionary will tremendously help
Machine-Assisted translation, Arabic
Learning and Teaching and Arabic
Language integrity.
For more Information:
Visit: http://www.alecso.org.tn
OR Contact
Dr. Amin Kalak at:
[email protected] or
[email protected]
‫مشروع‬
‫استراتيجية عربية‬
‫لنشر استعمال البرمجيات الحرة ودعم تطويرها‬
‫‪A REGIONAL STRATEGY FOR‬‬
‫‪PROMOTING THE USE AND‬‬
‫‪DEVELOPMENT OF FOSS‬‬
3 major ojectives:
1. Raise awareness about FOSS
2. Identify FOSS packages equivalent to
commonly-used proprietary software
packages and implement them wherever
possible (at attractive fees), by very welltrained staff.
3. Promote the development of FOSS
Applications and breed related expertise
and human resources.
COMMON SENSE RULES FOR
CARRYING OUT THE CHALLENGE
1-Even the very best software may not fit
the specific needs of some users..
2- It is foolish to claim that all FOSS
packages are better than the equivalent
proprietary software.
3 - However, FOSS packages equivalent to
commonly-used proprietary software, have
proven to be at least as good as or better
than their proprietary competitors.
Raising awareness requires:
a) Media tools (websites, journals,
newsletters, lectures, TV-Tutorials)
b) Educators (trained, knowledgeable &
well versed advocates) to preach
Open Source
c) Educational Materials
The promotional FOSS software bundle of
commonly used software may include:
-The operating system GNU/Linux,
- The Apache web server,
- The Mozilla Firefox web browser, and the
OpenOffice.org office suite.
These programs have proven (for the past 5
years or so) to be superior to their
proprietary counterparts (mainly the widely
used Microsoft products).
a) For Educational Material we need:
i. A TEAM for compiling an electronic
repository for every bit of information,
website, link, journal, newsletter, special
interest group, books which deal with
FOSS.
ii. A TEAM for extracting and translating
whatever necessary & possible of the
collected material (for the monolingual Arabic user)
BREEDING EXPERTISE AND
HUMAN RESOURCES
• Introduce the Concept at an early level of IT Education
(Middle/High Schools).
• Institute FOSS Courses at IT Colleges and Programs.
• Sponsor FOSS Development Activities in Research
Centers.
• Encourage/Sponsor the Formation of FOSS Societies,
Groups and Application-Specific User Groups.
• Institute National (& Regional Awards) for FOSS
Innovations.
• Identify & Develop FOSS Applications to serve the
needs of local Communities.
Executing The strategy needs:
- MONEY (the Driving Energy) to carry
out the 3 Tasks mentioned above.
- A PATRON (Management); i.e. devoted
believers in FOSS & their cause to
implement, manage and maintain the
momentum of the process.
FINANCIAL SUPPORT
Financing may come from:
1. 0.5 – 1 % of the budget of Arab
Communication Establishments &
Companies to be allocated annually to
the Plan.
2. Donations, Scientific & Cultural
Endowments
3. Contributions and Support from the
Private Sector
4. Regional & International Aid
5. Sales & Support Services of FOSS
The BIG Battle
It’s not a secret that GIANT proprietary
Software companies have been viciously
generous to some Arab Countries in
return for making the countries drop
any and every FOSS activity from their
development plans.
It is very essential to educate decisionmakers about the critical importance of
resisting those malicious temptations.
THE PATRON
(Management)
A Regional BODY (Consortium-like
W3C/Organization/Council/Association/
Committee) which will have direct
Channels to Top Executives in Arab
Countries.
The BODY should include active
representations from all Civil Groups
and individuals showing interest or
working in the field of FOSS.
Must-Read references
WheelerD-WhyOSS.stw (ww.dwheeler.com)
RishabGhoshPapers.stw
(ww.infonomics.nl/FLOSS)
whitepaper_Kefah_arabicfinal/
arabic_gpl.pdf/kutayyeb-alhurriya.pdf
from:www.linux-maroc.org
Selected Websites
www.fsf.org/www.gnu.org
www.warshah.org /www.aietf.org
/www.arabeyes.org
www.linuxsyria.org/ www.linuxegypt.org/
www.linuxsaudia.org/ www.handasa-arabia.org
‫‪THANK YOU‬‬
‫شكرا إلصغائكم‬