14 DAY TRIAL // South Africa is the ground of a face-off between open source and Microsoft's software products. At the heart of the confrontation is Mark Shuttleworth, a South African entrepreneur turned magnate. Pioneering products based on open source technology, Shuttleworth aims to shift the public's interest from Microsoft's offerings to its Ubuntu suite of software programs. As Hoary Hedgehog and Warty Warthog, Ubuntu are based on the Linux operating system, and Shuttleworth delivers free software solutions to the African market. While free, Ubuntu is also recognized as the 26th best product of the year in a ranking put together by the PC World magazine.
"Ultimately open source is the platform of the future," stated Shuttleworth. "It's one of those enormous waves that is taking over everything -- like the Internet. Because open source is free, we can share knowledge much faster. If a kid learns to use a program at school she can take it and download it at home, show it to her parents and even her friends."
But the world's poorest continent has received an increased volume of support from the Redmond Company in order to enhance the adoption of its proprietary technology in a move that Ballmer describes as "open choice." Ubuntu has a hard path in front of it, and even more now that Mnicrosoft has released a Zulu version of Windows XP and has confirmed that its strategy is to deliver the software in all 11 official languages of South Africa.