| Open source project aids South African students |
Feb. 22, 2007
 The non-profit tuXlab program, which provides network connectivity along with tuXlab GNU/Linux desktops and other open-source software to South Africa high schools, integrated 10 more schools into its wireless network on Feb. 9. The project reportedly has now connected tuXlabs in 50 schools near Cape Town.
The wireless project, run by Inkululeko Technologies, allows schools to communicate with one another as well as allowing administrators to perform remote support, a project spokesperson said. tuXlab's networks run "completely on open source software," according to the project's website.
The wireless network connects the schools using Amobia's (a local telecom) backbone of wireless hot spots. Relying on line of sight, the network uses wireless towers that broadcast a quality signal as far as 15 kilometers. Amobia was chosen because of the combination of their coverage and their use Linux, an article published by Tectonic said.
For schools that lie within an eight-kilometer range, all that is needed is a flat-panel antenna with a router board (about the size of an A3 sheet) mounted on an arm outside the school building and in sight of one of the wireless towers.
A tuXlab is an information and communications technology project aligned to the South African national policy, the E-Education Whitepaper, which requires high school students to take computer learning classes.
TuXlab computers run a derivative of Edubuntu and Xubuntu called tuXlab GNU/Linux. A new website, to be based here, will be posted soon to offer more detail about the distribution, the spokesperson said.
 
 
TuXlab screenshots
(Click each image to enlarge)
"TuXlabs is build around the open source philosophy of freedom to share, freedom to use, freedom to replicate, freedom to distribute," the project website reads. "A tuXlab network runs completely on open source software, which offers many benefits technically, but its major component is ownership. The use of open content is also well intrenched into the tuXlab network."
Network usage is free for the students users, and they have use of a browser and email. Other tools and services are plugged in, such as mailing lists, wikis, educator and learner chat groups, VOIP, and IP security surveillance, the TuXlab spokesperson said.
The tuXlab program, initiated in 2002 and financially supported in large part by the Shuttleworth Foundation, now consists of more than 200 school/community partnerships throughout South Africa serving over 160,000 students, according to the project.
The program already has plans to connect another 50 tuXlab schools, according to the Tectonic article.
To read the full Tectonic article, go here.
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