Date: Thu, 9 Nov 2000 12:33:21 -0600 (CST) From: BWS - Offwhite <brennan@offwhite.net> To: Mark Rowlands <mark.rowlands@minmail.net> Cc: Daniel Taghioff <Daniel.Taghioff@btinternet.com>, freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: A simplified operating system for developing countries. Message-ID: <Pine.BSF.4.21.0011091212460.52515-100000@home.offwhite.net> In-Reply-To: <00110918594401.28899@marbsd.tninet.se>
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A rant would have very much out of place. Access to information is just as important than food and shelter in the long run. Through my access to the internet I was able to learn Perl and now I am able to make a very nice living doing that. I now maintain multiple servers as a sys/database admin. It all started with me learning on my parents 486 PC. If I were in a country with limited resources I would appreciate access to a system which allowed me to learn and to become aware of opportunities which were not there before. You have to start somewhere. So, to get started with your search for a easy to install OS, I would really try Linux if you are not all too familiar with the hardware. It does a great deal of auto-detecting for you. But if you have a decent understanding of the hardware you could easily use FreeBSD as well. You can purchase a copy for $40 and duplicate it as much as you like. http://www.freebsdmall.com/software/ You may also want to look over EasyBSD. It is a new branch off FreeBSD which aims to make BSD easy for everyday users. http://easybsd.sourceforge.net/ There is also Pico BSD, another FreeBSD branch which is supposed to fit on a floppy. You can boot right off it, but I am not sure the status of that project. http://people.FreeBSD.org/~picobsd/ It seems that project is progressing nicely. I am not sure if you could install a text browser with the dial-up version, but that seems to be a typical user for it. Good Luck! Brennan Stehling - web developer and sys admin projects: www.greasydaemon.com | www.onmilwaukee.com | www.sncalumni.com Do you ever find it is easier to explain an idea if you put it into Star Trek terms? On Thu, 9 Nov 2000, Mark Rowlands wrote: > On Tuesday 07 November 2000 22:58, Daniel Taghioff wrote: > > > > I am studying development studies in London, and I am interested in low > > cost internet technologies as a tool for allowing people to organise > > themselves to improve their social situation, espaecially in the third > > world. > > > > I am looking around at low cost networking solutions like Linux, freebsd > > and netbsd. What I am looking for is the simplest possible operating > > system, which takes the least possible disk space, and will run on a the > > largest possible range of 486 and pentium hardware, allowing text download > > form the internet and simple spreadsheet and wordprocessing functions. > > > > The idea is that with a few floppy disks and a refurbished computer (with a > > modem), people with access to a phone line (not as simple as it sounds) in > > the developing world will, with very little previous experience of > > computers, be able to install such a system and access information from the > > internet in a text format, without outside support. > > > > Is this possible? > > Is anyone already doing this? > > Is anyone interested in doing this? > > I was going to write a long rant but this aint the place. I think > food, water, shelter, democracy, rule of law, freedom from interference by > well meaning western technocrats, come a little higher up the list than the > ability to surf Slashdot. > > > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org > with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
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