There’s an interesting article by Adam Davidson in Linux Journal about two Iraqi Linux advocates who are trying to preach the benefits of Open Source to their compatriots before proprietary software lock-in occurs.

Ashraf Tariq and Hasanen Nawfal are the founders of the Linux Users Group of Iraq, and are asking for any help that people can provide. Follow the link above to Davidson’s article for more specifics.

It sounds like a great idea to me, but I suspect they might find the struggle quite difficult. After all, founding a new Iraqi IT infrastructure on Free Software might be just a little bit more freedom than some might like.