Tweet

An Open Source Disc-Burning Kiosk

Written by: Erik Hersman

Article Overview: Springwise is running a story on Freedom Toaster. Backed by the Shuttleworth Foundation (behind Ubuntu Linux, the popular open source option to Windows) it’s a free kiosk that allows anyone to put a disc in it and burn a copy of Linux, OpenOffice, and some e-books. It’s a very interesting concept, and it fits perfectly into low, or spotty, bandwidth areas like Africa.

An Open Source Disc-Burning Kiosk

Springwise is running a story on Freedom Toaster. Backed by the Shuttleworth Foundation (behind Ubuntu Linux, the popular open source option to Windows) it’s a free kiosk that allows anyone to put a disc in it and burn a copy of Linux, OpenOffice, and some e-books. It’s a very interesting concept, and it fits perfectly into low, or spotty, bandwidth areas like Africa.

…a Freedom Toaster is much like a candy vending machine. Users insert a CD, follow the easy instructions on the touch-screen monitor and—presto—a copy of Linux is “toasted” by the unit’s internal CD burner. Since copies of the software come from the kiosk’s own hard drive, there’s no need to hook the Toaster up to the web, a major plus in areas where broadband access is scarce.

Many open source software devotees are trying to push African companies and government institutions into accepting the use of options like Linux and OpenOffice into their organizations. It’s proven and it cuts costs dramatically. Luckily, Freedom Toaster also provides the plans and manuals for you to create your own version and start making it available in your country.

Related Articles
  Kiosks Offer Advantages in Owning a Franchise
  What Small Business Owners Can Learn From Kiosk Salespeople
  The Appeal of the Kiosk Coffee Franchise
  Need for an Interactive Information Kiosk at Malls
  Open Source Software Development Technologies

Article Tags: africa, bandwidth, candy, cd burner, devotees, e books, freedom, government institutions, hard drive, internal cd, kiosk, linux, open source software, openoffice, shuttleworth foundation, source option, toaster, touch screen monitor, ubuntu linux, vending machine



Related Forum Posts
CRM Options - Greetings When I was working within a virtual team we used FreeCRM, it was an easy to access repository for all the information on our clients and how the business was going that any of us could check at any time. One of Australia's leading Web Development companies uses Zimbra an Open Source email/calendar application which is a great alternative to Microsoft Exchange. However it does cost money for a commercial licence but could definitely work out cheaper than a Microsoft Exchange solution depending on your business.
Re: Boomers Are Not Bloggers - [quote="litekepr":2lgtat5y]Source: ThirdAge and JWT Boom, June 2008 Asked whether they visited any sites to connect and engage with others - i.e., social networking sites (MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.) - or might in the future… "Do you visit Social Networking sites to connect and engage with others…" * 53% said no * 22% said yes * 26% said that they did not but might Source: ThirdAge and JWT Boom, June 2008 Among the 53% who said they had not visited such sites: * 47 % cited concerns over privacy and having personal information on the web * 39 % said they are too busy * 32% said they do not see the benefit of spending time social networking Boomers also expressed "little or no interest" in the following activities:[/quote:2lgtat5y] Hi Shri, I totally agree with the findings of the article. Most of the people I play tennis with are over the age of 30 and the vast majority of them do not use Facebook, so I can't even organize a "tennis group" or share my US Open pictures with them. In fact, I typically have to call each "boomer" via cell phone just to plan a tennis match because they're too busy to even reply to their emails.
Why pay a Consultant? - Consultants can bring you into contact with a Funding Source but how do you tell whether a consultant will be successful beforehand? Professional Consultants ALWAYS ask for some kind of retainer so that they can feel they're not being used by a 'chancer'. However, when raising funding, a real consultant will offer to REFUND THAT RETAINER out of the % BROKERAGE he charges, payable once he finds your Funding Source, and payable from initial disbursements. Retainers only cover part of the costs that a consultant has to pay while working on behalf of the Client. Their real wages come from the agreed upon Brokerage, received when they are successful on the Client's behalf.
Re: High price of entertainment - [quote="TheAnonymousMan":dadh8m1p]Kevin, I went to a Justin Timberlake concert recently where the bottled water was selling for $4 a bottle! I'm talking about the average 600ml bottle that sells for about $1.20 in the supermarket, now that's a rip off but people were buying it because they needed water.[/quote:dadh8m1p] Hi TheAnonymousMan, Can I ask how much you paid for the concert tickets? And more importantly, was the show worth the price? At the Tennis US Open, I had to pay $3.25 for a 500ml bottled water, $8.00 for a "travel size" Hawaiian Tropic bottle of sunscreen, and $13.00 for a Carnegie Deli pastrami sandwich, $4.25 for fries and $2.77 for a Sharpie pen (for autographs), etc... And to make things worse, they don't allow you to carry a backpack for security reasons, so it's very inconvenient to bring your own things to the event (keep in mind I was at the US Open for 7 hours). I mean who wants to carry around 10 lbs worth of stuff (if I were to bring my own necessities like food/water/sunscreen/etc. and have to carry a bunch of souvenirs) in a plastic transparent bag for the whole day?! It's an obvious scam for more profit.
Re: Google Chrome is not faster than firefox 3.1 - Just a quick update here for Beat, To copy your bookmarks (and history, passwords etc if you want) from IE to Firefox: Open Firefox, Click File (top left of browser) Click Import Select IE Click Next follow the instructions provided, hope this helps, Carol


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Are You Listening?

Unspoken Yet Important Rules for Book Proposals

Tips for the Novice Traveler

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.