Abstract
This work is an upgrade of the "Use of Open Software on Developing Countries" I presented at 2002 inux.conf.au. This time I bring a very sucessfull story on the subject: the Digital Copybook Project LTS . The Digital Copybook is a project involving the government, corporations and people aiming to bring computers to the public schools and narrow the (in)famous "digital gap", using Open Software and cheap hardware and lots of love and dedication. The project's intent is to give students from public schools, a simple but efective hardware, software and communication infrastructure, to allow them to use it at home, serving as an entry point to the whole family and at same time it works as a terminal for (Linux Terminal Server) servers at school. Besides the common applications as spreadsheets and text processors, as educational framework allow students and teachers to prepare classes, chat and interact, use the internet, etc. The final goal is to cover the whole country, creating a live educational community. By telling how this dream is becoming true, describing the hardware, sofware and logistics, is my intention to show that with some good will and coordination we, from poor or rich countries, can help other people. Right now a prototype class is running with 40 students but for the next year we already have more them 10000 points to be done and the number is growing. |
