Title: Why South Africans don’t FLOSS?
Abstract: This paper is an attempt to identify
the factors that influence and limit the usage and intended usage of Free/Libre
Open Source Software (FLOSS) and Open Source Software (OSS) within South
African organisations. Organisations in the private and public sectors were
examined. In-depth interviews were conducted with senior staff in organisations
that were considering or evaluating OSS as an alternative to proprietary
software. Specific issues, constraints, criteria and factors in selecting
and using OSS were identified through analysing the interviews. This paper
draws extensively on the paper presented by Johnston et al (2003). Throughout
the interviews and investigations, a current reluctance in South Africa to
convert to OSS was identified. Perceptions of poor service quality such as
weak OSS support structure and scarce OSS skills were identified. System
or information quality issues were not raised by the interviewees. This report
undertakes an objective approach by considering both proprietary and OSS
perspectives. The report highlights that lack of awareness remains a key
obstacle to OSS adoption in the commercial environment in South Africa.
Author: Kevin Johnston
and Lisa Seymour