12.29.10
Inkululeko Technologies — Once Funded by the Shuttleworth Foundation — Has Gone Rogue
Summary: Sangari sells antagonism to freedom, delivering to schools exactly the opposite of what Mark Shuttleworth had in mind when he supported Inkululeko Technologies, which now redirects to Sangari
“I found something fishy,” wrote to us a person who goes by the name SA dude, “Inkululeko Technologies, a company in South Africa that originated from the Shuttleworth tuxLabs linux-schools project’s site now redirects to a Sangari Worldwide website, a seller of closed source education software such as “how to use windows vista”" (we have looked at the sites to verify these claims).
Earlier in the year we transcribed a South African podcast where Microsoft’s dirty tricks in this nation were revisited and explained. We have already done a lot to show how Microsoft derailed GNU/Linux migrations in South African schools. To give some more links of relevance:
- How Microsoft (and Other Proprietary Software Companies) Derail Free/Libre Software in South Africa and New Zealand
- South Africa Gets an Offer Too Hard to Refuse, Taken Over by Microsoft Lobbyists
- Microsoft Goes Visiting South Africa Shortly After Pro-ODF Policies (Updated)
- Fraser-Moleketi, South African Minister, Slams OOXML and Software Patents
- OpenDocument Format Victorious in South Africa
- Updates on Microsoft OOXML in the UK and South Africa
- It’s Confirmed: Microsoft Went Down to South Africa to Fight ODF
- Microsoft Lies and Insults South Africans to ‘Sell’ OOXML
- Another Formal Complaint About ISO/Microsoft: South Africa’s Turn
- OOXML Roadblock Now in Place; Please Contact Your National Standards Body Within Days
- The Big Stories Behind the ‘Story’ of OOXML
- India Appeals Against OOXML, Joining Brazil, South Africa, Maybe More
- The OOXML Fiasco: Updates from 3 Countries That Protested
For background about the tuXlab project:
The tuXlab project was initiated by the Shuttleworth Foundation in 2002 aiming to open up new opportunities and to encourage sharing of information and resources in the education sector. Between 2004 and 2006, after the success of the pilot, tuXlabs were rolled out to more than a 100 Western Cape schools.
The Foundation encourages successful pilot projects to become self-sustainable and leave the Foundation stable. The tuXlab programme was identified as one such project. Inkululeko Technologies was formed in June 2006 and the tuXlab team moved to this new entity. Inkululeko became responsible for the day-to-day operational management of the tuXlab programme, including the sustainability of the tuXlab programme as a model. The Foundation exited from its direct involvement in the tuXlab programme at this point. Against this background the Shuttleworth Foundation commissioned a report on the state of tuXlabs.
Just look what happened after intervention from proprietary giants that want to indoctrinate children at taxpayers’ expense, with schoolteachers as their training staff whom they need not pay for. What an appalling sight. █
