An Empirical investigation into the Effect of Usability on adoption of Desktop open source software by university students in KenyaBy:John Kamau – Mount Kenya UniversityAndProf. Ian Sanders – University of South Africa

OutlineDefinitionsIntroductionJustificationMethodologySummary of resultsConclusion

What is open source software?Open-source software (OSS)

defined byFeller & Fitzgerald (2002), as where the source code of the program is made freely available for anyone to change and distribute provided that they abide by the accompanying license.

Examples of OSS: Linux, Ubuntu, Open Office , Mozilla Firefox and many more

Market share of OSSInitially, researchers in the area of

Information Systems believed that OSS would overtake proprietary software (PS) in adoption. However, this has not been the case especially in developing counties in Africa.

Recent market share reports reveal that OSS products such as Linux and Firefox are lagging considerably behind in adoption (Applications Net, 2012).

UsabilityOne of the common hindrances given

by many researchers is usability (Nichols & Twindale, 2003). Usability is an important attribute in software and has been defined as ‘the extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction in a specified context of use’ (ISO-9241-11, 1998).

OSS FOR EXPERTS

OSS developed for use by expert users has been widely adopted, in fact apache server has become the most widely used server product (Bretthauer, 2002). There is however, a notable lag in OSS adoption compared to their proprietary counterparts in domains such as client operating systems and office productivity software which is a clear indicator that there may be significant barriers to OSS adoption among some sectors of the user population (Nagy, Yasssin, & Bhattacherjee, 2010).

Objectives of the study To establish the level of adoption

of desktop open source software by university students in Kenya

To establish the effect of usability as a factor in the adoption of desktop open source software by university students in Kenya

JustificationLicensing proprietary software

such as the Windows operating system and the Ms Office is prohibitively high for Economically Developing Countries (EDC). Negash et al.(2007).

OSS adoption is limited despite the emphasis by international non governmental organisations on the benefits of OSS to Developing counties

OSS Competition with PS

A comparison between PS and OSS reveals that one of the main competitive advantages of PS over OSS is usability and if OSS has to compete with PS, the OSS developers need to benchmark with PS software (Sen, 2007

Benefits of OSS

Cost reductionReduction of software piracyAbility to compete with wealthy

countriesReduction of cases of computer

virusesBetter software qualityFlexibilityMany more

OSS UsabilityA comparison between PS and

OSS reveals that one of the main competitive advantages of PS over OSS is usability and if OSS has to compete with PS, the OSS developers need to benchmark with PS software (Sen, A strategic Analysis of Competition Between Open Source and Proprietary Software, 2007).

HypothesisUsability of Open Source software

has a positive correlation with its adoption

OSS USABILITY OSS ADOPTION

PS PIRACY CULTURE

Software piracySoftware piracy is a common

phenomenon that makes PS easily available to personal computer (PC) users, either at a small cost or none at all. A recent study conducted by the Business Software Alliance (2010), shows that PS piracy is rampant and is on the increase in emerging economies such as Kenya. The study also noted that there are indications that piracy is proportional to the number of new PC acquisitions in these economies.

MethodologyDescriptive research designQuestionnaires: Closed ended

questionnaires with a general structure of Likert scale questions was prepared.

A sample population of students in Kenyan universities was used as respondents.

Sample sizeThe total population of Kenyan University

students as at 2010/2011 was 182,253 (Kenya Bureau of Statistics, 2011) .The sample size was 384 based on the formulae below (Kothari, 2004).

Sampling proceduresPurposive sampling was used to identify the

sample. Purposive sampling is a form of non-probability sampling in which decisions regarding the individuals to be used in the sample are taken by the researcher, based upon a variety of criteria which may include specialist knowledge of the research issue (Sage, 2010). This method was used because it was important to identify students who own portable personal computers because they can make decisions about the kind of software to be installed in their computer.

Usability questions Findings

  Usability questionsStrongly Disagree

Disagree Neutral Agree

Strongly Agree

1 Open source software such as Linux and Open Office is more user friendly than the proprietary software such as Microsoft office and Windows.

32.0 43.2 17.4 7.3 0.02 Open source software such as Linux and Open Office has

familiar icons that are easily recognizable than the proprietary software such as Microsoft office and Windows. 21.6 46.4 17.4 14.6 0.0

3 Open source software such as Linux and Open Office has better help facilities, tutorials and wizards than the proprietary software such as Microsoft office and Windows. 26.0 35.7 14.3 24.0 0.0

4 I generally like the user interface of Open source software such as Linux and Open Office than the proprietary software such as Microsoft office and Windows.

20.8 35.9 17.4 14.6 11.25 Navigation while performing tasks in Open source

software such as Linux and Open Office is easier than in the proprietary software such as Microsoft office and Windows. 28.9 39.3 24.5 7.3 0.0

Proprietary software piracy culture

  Proprietary software piracy culture Strongly Disagree

Disagree Neutral Agree

Strongly Agree

1 All the proprietary software I have in my computer has a license that is not shared with other users

20.1 35.4 13.0 19.3 0.02 There is no need to purchase proprietary software

such as Microsoft office and Windows from software stores such as PC world because I can easily get it from my friends. 12.2 10.4 24.2 25.0 28.1

3 I can spend large amounts of money to buy licensed proprietary software such as Microsoft Office 2010 which costs about 15,000 Kshs in my current financial status. 47.9 17.7 5.7 21.4 7.3

4 Proprietary software such as Microsoft office and Windows is too expensive for an ordinary student to afford 0.0 6.2 31.8 62.0 0.0

5 I get the same value from the unlicensed software with a `computer owner who has licensed software

0.0 4.7 7.3 50.0 38.0

OSS Adoption 

OSS Adoption Strongly Disagree

Disagree Neutral Agree

Strongly Agree

1 If your computer has windows operating system, would you be willing to replace it with either Linux or Ubuntu operating system?

26.0 27.6 33.1 13.3 0.02 If you bought a computer without an operating

system, would you install a licensed copy of windows at 15,000 Kshs instead of installing a free Linux or Ubuntu operating system

39.8 18.5 24.0 4.7 13.03 I would recommend to a friend to install the free

Linux or Ubuntu operating system instead of Windows operating system 4.9 46.6 28.9 19.5 0.0

4 The Windows I use was already pre-installed in the computer when I bought the computer

7.0 28.9 13.3 39.8 10.95 My computer is only installed with Proprietary

software such as windows and Ms Office has no Open source software such as Open office and Ubuntu

13.3 10.2 12.2 29.9 34.4

Regression Y = β1 X1 + e

Where Y = OSS Adoption

X1= OSS Usability

e = error term

Variables Β Significance R2

Usability 1.27 0.00 0.765

The above results show that, usability has a positive effect on OSS adoption

The Goodness of fit = 76.5%

Regression Y = β1 X1 + β2 X2 + e

Where

X2 = piracy

Variables Β Significance R2

Usability 0.192 0.000

Piracy 0.817 0.000 0.926

Goodness of fit = 92.6%From the results above, there is a strong indication that piracy has a moderating effect on the relationship between OSS usability and its adoption.

SUMMARY OF FINDINGSUsability of Open Source software has a

positive correlation with its adoptionThe research results strongly indicate that the

adoption of OSS is low among students in the Kenyan Universities.

A high percentage of users feel that OSS is not as usable as the proprietary software and therefore the users are hesitant to adopt the software because of difficulty in use.

The findings also indicate that most of the students do not buy proprietary software but they instead obtain it from their friends which is license reuse.