The eye speaks

Bridging the Digital Divide with Linuxä?

Okay, I'll admit I was scared at first. I'd heard all the horror stories: "Never install Linux alone" admonished a New York Times article. And just the 2 years before, I gave up while attempting to install Linux on a laboratory workstation at my old job. However, undaunted by this setback, I decided last year to try again--this time on my home PC an aging Pentium 133. If I failed this time, not only was my money at stake ($40 for my copy of Linux on CD-ROM), but my credibility as a African-American computer geek was also on the line!

Linux is the operating system (OS) that anyone can download from the Internet for free, copy or purchase inexpensively on CD-ROM. (An operating system is software that sits between you and the computer hardware; e.g., Windows®, UNIX, MS-DOS, and Linux.) Linux is typically distributed as a bundle or "distribution" that includes the operating system , installation program, development tool software, applications, and documentation in a single package. Red Hat®, SuSE, and Linux-Mandrakeä are some of the more popular brand-name distributions.

Initially, Linux attracted my attention because it can be downloaded free of charge, and because I am familiar with its older sibling, UNIX, through a job I had at Bell Laboratories. However, the main reason Linux intrigued me is because a community of hackers who volunteer their time and software design talents developed it. Essentially, Linux is a product of a grassroots movement that believes that software should be free and readily modifiable by anyone. This open source movement and its products, I believe, could be a boon to African-Americans and other folks caught in the so-called digital divide.

The subtly racist and dehumanizing language swirling around in some of the digital divide punditry troubles me.

African-Americans are told that we are the information "have-nots." We are described by the finger-wagging media as an obsolete, technologically-adverse, mute "sub-culture" that requires fixing, and that only an Herculean effort by big business can rescue us from ourselves. Of course, while rescuing us, many of these companies hope to create a very profitable addiction to their expensive products within our communities.

What happens after the CEOs, and politicians in their nicely pressed khakis and logo embossed golf shirts, finish pulling cables through the walls and ceilings, and installing computers in our crumbling schools? Many of these schools can't afford equipment for their science labs, supplies for their art classes, or--in some cases--toilet paper for their bathrooms. After all the attention and money leaves how can teachers and students maintain their computers and networks?

Are we daring enough to create a different vision for our children: a vision that is much larger than that of perpetual consumer? Can we create a paradigm that prepares our kids to become future technical leaders and developers? I believe we can.

A well-designed program with Linux as the OS of choice could offer a viable alternative to the current expensive and unsustainable approach to the digital divide. I believe we could use Linux to create an environment in which teachers and kids could learn how to install and maintain their own systems without fear of the violating end user agreements or getting caught in the costly software upgrade game. Such a community designed project would be self-sustaining and self-supporting. Projects like the free software initiative in New York City public schools and The Beacon School (see below) may provide excellent models.

Linux, after all, is community developed--software of, by, and for the people. Bringing a community based operating system together with a community of people who need inexpensive computers and access to the Internet seems only logical--if not inevitable.

Well, to make a long story short: I was successful. My Linux distribution (Linux-Mandrakeä) was relatively easy to install on my old PC. Of course I had some initial problems. But while seeking help I discovered an enthusiastic Linux community on the Internet. And, with their guidance, I was able to bring my system up and keep it running for nearly a year so far without a single crash.

In fact, I composed this essay using the StarOfficeä word processor running on Linux. Pretty cool, huh?

For more information...

• Linux is a registered trademark of Linux Torvalds.

• Linux-Mandrake and Mandrake are registered trademarks of Mandrake Soft SA and Makdrake Soft Inc.

• Windows, MS-DOS are trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation.

• Red Hat is a registered trademark of Red Hat, Inc.

• SuSE is a trademark of SuSE GmbH.

• StarOffice is a trademark of Sun Microsystems.

• Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

© 2000 Jesse N. Alexander