Open source software in cyber cafe's in Kenya: A survey of cyber cafe's in Nairobi

Abstract

Open source is a concept that encourages access to a producer’s source or raw materials. In the Information Technology field it means allowing software users to access the programming code and empowering them alter this code to improve on the performance of the software. The main benefits that arise from adopting the open source concept in software development include: cost effectiveness, enhanced system stability, security and flexibility. In Kenya cyber cafés provide access to internet services to a majority of the population. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether cyber café s in Nairobi have adopted open source software, and the benefits as well as the challenges that have resulted from open source software. The study incorporated the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) framework in evaluating the adoption of open source, with perceived ease of use being one of the variables in the study. This was a case study covering cyber café s within the Nairobi CBD; with the population data set comprising of 47 cyber cafés that are listed in Mocality and the Yellow Pages online directory websites. The data collection was through structured questionnaires administered using the drop and pick approach. The data was analysed using means and standard deviation as a measure of variation in responses. A majority of cyber cafés have adopted open source software especially the browsing applications and operating systems such as Linux. Price, security and availability were cited by the respondents as the major benefits resulting from using open source software. The study recommends that the government develops an open source policy framework to govern its use, and also advocates for open source to be incorporated in the Information Technology curriculum especially in public institutions. This will enable users and organizations to fully exploit the potential of open source software.