Here's a yet-to-be-proven thesis: the visibility of a country's achievements in Free Software is directly related to its English-language skills. Sound unrealistic? Not really. Fact is that to talk about what you're doing, in a largely English-speaking globalised world, you really need English language skills.

It's therefore no surprise that countries like India and the Philippines have a larger-than-life image about what they're doing in the world of FLOSS (Free/Libre and Open Source Software). In reality, of course, other countries might be doing quite a bit more. China surely is. So is South Korea. But we seldom hear about those.

Nevertheless, there was this interesting study recently put out by Delfin Jay M Sabido IX and Paulino Tan offering an 'Update on Open Source Initiatives in the Philippines'.

Surely a lot of things are happening there. GNU/Linux adoption is increasing; call centres are using PHP, Perl and MySQL. Debian is working on the localisation of a Talalog language installer. NGOs, or non-government institutions, are getting a further FLOSS orientation. New organisations like 'OpenMinds' have been registered. In the absence of any policy, FLOSS is also being looked on "as an option".

There has been a petition against software patents. And OpenMinds has been lobbying with the government to make the bidding process more FLOSS-friendly. Red Hat is one of the partners in the E-Governance Centre of Excellence.

Sabido and Tan see upcoming possibilities for FLOSS in the Philippines. Including in areas like community e-centres (meant to be one-stop shops for the local communities or barangays, with Internet cafe, telephone and phone services), a low-cost PC program, and the GILAS project which aims at gearing-up Internet literacy and access for students. (GILAS's aim is to provide computer labs to all public secondary schools, run by the private sector and NGOs).

The Philippines has its own local distribution -- Bayanihan Linux Versions 1 to 3. This also now includes a Bluetooth Developers Kit, and a Bayanihan Linux Terminal Server Project. See http://www.bayanihan.gov.ph Version 3.1 can run MS Windows applications, offers remote desktop access, and has interoperability with MS Windows machines on a network. Its pitch to users is that it offers a "secure and nearly virus-proof" option and a "complete desktop operating system and productivity suite in one easy-to-install CD".

From this archipelago of about 7100 islands with a population of 77 million, reports say iBillboard works well with Bayanihan Linux. This became a hit at the November 2004 Philippine Association of National Advertisers convention. Pariticipants sent in questions via mobile phones, PDAs or laptops to the iBillboard system via Bluetooth or SMS. Questions were processed, and together with the live video feed, were projected onto a large screen using a customized layout.

Bayanihan has been working on a thin client manager. Its target: all levels of government, academia (from schools to colleges, and universities), small and medium enterprises, not-for-profits, libraries, and original equipment manufacturers. Bayanihan has had roadshows in Metro Manila, Cebu and Davao.

There are some initiatives in higher education, with FLOSS being considered as part of the curriculim. Groups like the Foundation for Media Alternatives (FMA) have been promoting the idea of FLOSS orientation for NGOs (non-government organisations). GNU/Linux training for computer vendors is also being seen as key part of the strategy.

You can have it PLUG-ged or Un-PLUGged... there are a range of organisations promoting Free Software in this remote part of the globe. PLUG is the Philippine Linux Users Group, while UnPLUG is the University of the Philippines' Linux User Group. The latter has built a FLOSS application for the student elections.

There's also the Advanced Software Foundation Inc, the Diliman Computer Science Foundation, the Davao-based non-stock, non-profit DabaweGNU, Inc, Pampanga Open Source eXchange (POSX), among others.

Of course, there are challenges too, as Sabido and Tan point out -- FLOSS growth remains vendor-driver and programmer-dependent. PC penetration is itself yet to sufficiently grow. Matching the demand for skills with supply available is always a challenge. FLOSS and ICTs (information and communication technologies) need to be "institutionalised" within the government. Overall, there's still a lack of awareness and a lot more needs to be done. Getting the 'policy environment' right is still a major, major challenge for all of us in this continent.