The 13 episode Go_Open will air on SABC 2 every Saturday at 17:30 from 20 November.

The programme will showcase success stories, interviews with the top local and international pioneers, and the latest products and news from the Open Source world.

OSS is the alternative and biggest challenger to closed source or proprietary software.

It generally costs the user nothing, can be distributed freely to anyone, and exists as a result of the combined efforts of computer programmers, users and software vendors from around the world that share their intellectual property freely, believe that software should cost nothing and should enrich the lives of the users.

Contrary to popular belief, OSS is not only the domain of technically and highly skilled users, since it makes a difference in the lives of everyday people from all walks of life, says Mark Shuttleworth, South African Internet billionaire, and investor in Go Open Source.

Another myth is that OSS is niche in its focus. Open Source applications cover the entire spectrum of computer use, consisting of operating systems, productivity suites, Web browsers, e-mail clients, Internet tools and multimedia applications, Shuttleworth continues. Go_Open will aim to blow these myths out of the water once and for all, using real world examples that could not have happened in any other way than through the use of Open Source.

Go_Open's content will consist of everything from news and views, to competitions and user training on using and getting the most out of OSS, Shuttleworth says. An important aspect of the show will be the inclusion of human interest stories, profiling the Open Source leaders' views on the state of the software market and where OSS is being used with success.

Go_Open provides us with a vital channel to begin raising awareness in the local market for this awesome operating system, and a medium through which we can train users to become proficient on Linux, with virtually no previous experience, he adds.

Everything we do on the show will also tie back to the Go Open Source Web site (http://www.go-opensource.org), where more in-depth training and informational content will be available, he says.

Go Open Source's plans for Go_Open go beyond simply raising awareness in this country however.

We have plans to syndicate the programme to as many sources as possible. In the spirit of Open Source, the wider the Open Source message goes, the closer we will be to educating the market about the alternatives, the cost savings, and equipping people to make an empowered decision on what software they will use, Shuttleworth concludes.