Tools for Change

Information

Information is needed in several areas to better appreciate the status quo and to quantify progress made in this initiative to promote FOSS. These areas are:

The End User

1. How many computers are there in Egyptian homes?
2. What operating system is installed?
3. What software is installed?
4. How many of these operating systems and how much of this software is properly licensed?
5. How many home computer owners are aware of FOSS alternatives?
6. How many home computer owners are aware of the ideological aspects of FOSS?

The Small to Medium Sized Business

1. How many small businesses are there?
2. What does their IT infrastructure look like?
3. What are their IT requirements?
4. How well does their existing infrastructure match their business requirements?
5. How many small businesses are aware of FOSS altenative solutions?
6. How many small businesses are aware of the ideological aspects of FOSS?

Government

1. What does the current government IT infrastructure look like?
2. What public plans exist for IT infrastructure modification and enhancement (such as e-government initiatives)?
3. How is FOSS represented in the infrastructure?
4. What level of awareness exists regarding open source, software commodification, and exchange/interaction based on open standards?

Supporting References

A number of documents will be needed to be able to quantify some of the above-mentioned points.

1. A FOSS Equivalency Document which describes as broad a range as possible of proprietary software actively employed and its FOSS substitute, where the substitute is at least equivalent to the proprietary package.