[Sussex] Ubuntu used in the fight against AIDS

[Matthew Macdonald-Wallace]

Morning all,

For those of you who don't subscribe to the fridge RSS feed, I found
this in my inbox this morning:

http://fridge.ubuntu.com/node/820

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iDart, or the intelligent Dispensing of Antiretroviral Treatment, is a
pharmacy system written in Java that is used at antiretroviral (ARV)
pharmacies. Initiated in 2004 as a partnership between Cell-Life and
the Desmond Tutu HIV foundation, iDart is in use as five different
locations around South Africa aiding in the treatment of over 8,500
HIV+ patients.

Cell-Life announced that it has created an iDart-in-a-box system which
was originally implemented and distributed as software for Microsoft
Windows. Due to issues with reliability and security, Cell-Life has
decided instead to do a complete system utilizing Ubuntu Linux. The
iDart-in-a-box includes a mid-range PC, a Zebra label printer, an HP
DeskJet report printer, barcode scanner, a UPS and a GSM modem. The
cost for this system lies within the hardware as there are no software
licensing costs, and one of these systems can be purchased for
approximately R10,000 (1,350 US$)

Cell-Life plans to further its commitment to supplying community
health clinics with systems that work, all of the time, and with Ubuntu

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I think the key phrase here is "[the] iDart-in-a-box system which was
originally implemented and distributed as software for Microsoft
Windows. Due to issues with reliability and security, Cell-Life has
decided instead to do a complete system utilizing Ubuntu Linux."

Surely this is a real-life example that the linux community as a whole
can hold up and say "this is making a huge difference to people's
lives - and look, the FUD from microsoft about TCO and costs is
absolute rubbish!"

Please blog this, link to it, Digg it, what ever you can - this is a
real marketing opportunity for the entire linux community.

M.
-- 
Matthew Macdonald-Wallace
matthew at truthisfreedom.org.uk
"Sed quis custodiet ipsos custodies?"