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Pretoria Wireless Users Group is a South African wireless users group. It is non-profit community organisation providing a Wireless community network in Pretoria, the capital of South Africa. PTAWUG has been created as the community’s answer to South Africa’s restrictive telecommunications environment. The South African telecommunications industry has been marked by poor service delivery, monopolistic practices and prohibitively high prices.〔(PTAWUG provides city-wide free IP communications to its user community for non-profit use )〕 Founded on 28 July 2007, PTAWUG embodies the African spirit of Ubuntu. Its constitution guarantees openness, free participation and equality to all members of the Wireless User Group. PTAWUG is exclusively funded by donations from the community. Highsite installation and maintenance is conducted by volunteers in their spare time. PTAWUG exemplifies the proverbial open source Bazaar – no management team, no hierarchies, equal participation. PTAWUG is the 3rd largest wireless network organisation in the world, behind AWMN (Greece), TWMN (Greece). These two networks provide internet as well, which PTAWUG doesn't, so counting community networks that don't provide internet - PTAWUG is the largest on earth. The aim of the network is to provide free TCP/IP communications in and around South Africa’s capital to hobbyists, researchers and other non-commercial users. The network is used for gaming, voip, file transfers and various other IP based services. PTAWUG connects members from vastly different backgrounds and social standings and provides a sandbox for technology experimentation and community skills development. == Community == PTAWUG unites a number of people in the IT field, sharing of information as well as learning helps member to progress. The community is responsible for the network - volunteers maintain the highsites physically as well as the software configuration thereof. This knowledge and these skills which are learnt by "playing" with WiFi networks is very valuable to South Africa and Africa as there is a great skills shortage in South Africa and on the continent. PTAWUG is an inclusive network, no one is denied access, it is built totally on openness and collaboration between members. There is no hierarchy on the network, all users are equal. The ages of members connected to PTAWUG range from teens to 60+, different income groups and races are represented as well. There is an administration team that keeps the technical side of the network running, consisting of about 25 people. Regular meetings are held where new developments are discussed, the great South African tradition of a braai is part of these meetings. The main communication medium on PTAWUG is IRC as this technology enables all the 'wuggers' to speak to each other, using PCs or cellphones, at the same time to easily plan expansion or discuss hardware/software problems on the network. Many of the skills members learn by using and being involved in the network they apply in their careers.〔(Free networks grow )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Pretoria Wireless Users Group」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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