MDLF commissioned Dream based on its experience in working with print publishers in more than 30 countries worldwide, where it provides support to independent media in the form of financing, training and technology. In many of these countries, print distribution is one of the biggest difficulties independent publishers face because it is tightly controlled. Many countries have print distribution monopolies or cartels, which are either politically tied to the government, corrupt or incompetent.
“Independent publishers are in the difficult position of having to either work with print distribution companies or come up with their own alternatives,†said Sava Tatic, Managing Director of MDLF’s Center for Advanced Media Prague (CAMP), which specializes in providing technical solutions to independent media organizations. “We wanted to give them a tool that would give them leverage.â€
Dream helps publishers by:
Dream is free and open source software, and is built upon other free and open source tools such as the Linux operating system, Postgres database server and Tomcat application server. Publishers and system integrators are free to make any changes in its program code to better adapt the system to individual needs.
“Because Dream is free and open source, publishers don’t have to pay for any of the software licenses needed to make it run,†Tatic explained. “The only expense publishers will have is in the time it takes to install and set up,†he added. “This goes directly to MDLF’s mission to provide service to independent media worldwide,†Tatic said.
About the Media Development Loan Fund
The Media Development Loan Fund is a 501(c)3 public charity registered in New York City that specializes in support to independent media in transition countries. Its home page is at http://www.mdlf.org.
About the Campware Initiative
The Campware Initiative commissions and releases open source software projects for media. Dream is the Campware’s fourth software project. A companion project, the Cream customer relationship management (CRM) system, was released last November. All Campware projects are released under the GNU General Public License, and software developers are encouraged to contribute their efforts. Its home page is at http://www.campware.org“
Link: campware.org
