"Arabian Linux developers... wearing white robes and headdresses, proudly showing off their new (GPL) software to visitors, lobbying the government to adopt more Linux, and working to build businesses based on open source."

"This article is a bit of an 'introduction to Saudi Arabian society' based on conversations with local Linux developers and advocates. Their names have been left out to keep any of them from getting in trouble with the local law; despite recent liberalizations this is still a country where a man caught driving his sister's friend home can be sentenced to receive a public whipping. "

"This is a "tight" country by world standards... There is (officially) no premarital or extramarital sex, no music, no dating, no alcohol, and no pornography. What else is there to do here but become a great Linux hacker? "

"I counted a maximum of 127 men in the auditorium. A few women attended, but in accordance with Saudi tradition they were in a separate room, watching through closed-circuit TV. Two easily-identified Microsoft trolls were also in the main auditorium audience, asking the same questions Microsoft hirelings ask at open source conferences all over the world, but they didn't make much headway."

"[The] conference in Riyadh was opened with words from Mohammad Jameel bin Ahmad Mulla, Minister of Telecommunications and Information Technology, whose entrance was over a red carpet laid in the lobby of the Riyadh Intercontinental Hotel especially for his arrival (it was removed as soon as he left), and preceded by two gentlemen carrying pots full of fragant, burning incense."

"The Minister himself seemed more like a senior engineering manager (which he once was) than a ceremonial official in a medieval-style monarchy, and his speech was much the same as speeches given everywhere by officials in similar positions... having open source anointed by a gentleman with a fancy title wearing flowing, beautifully fringed robes can't hurt..."

"Dr. Alsanad has degrees in both IT and Islamic law, and has written a treatise on how the GPL and Islamic law fit together. We hope to run a translation of it on NewsForge at some point."

"After a break for prayers and coffee, Khaled and I spoke... Yes, it was a conspiracy. But it was a conspiracy between someone (Khaled) who has been using Linux since he first heard about it in 1992, and someone (me) who writes more articles about open source business successes than almost anyone else in the world, so it was a conspiracy for a worthy cause. (At least, that's what Khaled and I like to think.) "

"the family structure here allows young men to stay with their families well into their 30s without working, to... 'hang around in the coffee house all day, drinking coffee and smoking weed.' (I went briefly to one of these coffeehouses, and if there was ever a fertile ground for recruiting terrorists, this was certainly it: A bunch of bored young men with no girlfriends, no jobs, and essentially meaningless lives. And, we hear, it's even worse for unmarried women. Most of them stay home 90% of the time, go to the mall once in a while with family members, and that's about it.) "

"One advantage the IT industry has over most other businesses on the economic development front, in the context of Saudi society, is that much of its work can be done by telecommuters working from home. This means it can offer opportunities to women without raising the ire of Islamic fundamentalists who tend to get testy (to the point of rock-throwing and rioting) if they see women acting in ways they do not feel are in accordance with their interpretation of Islamic law. " Looking forward to the final article in the series...
Comments 8:21:59 AM    

Chris Gulker's view from Silicon Valley - in words and pictures