IBM is proposing to score points against Microsoft, bridge the digital divide and maybe even cure piracy by teaming up with Canonical and pushing Ubuntu-based netbooks fitted with either locally run or cloud-based IBM applications in Africa, a small but growing market.

It is the pair's first cloud- and premise-based Linux netbook software scheme.

IBM and Canonical have an existing pact with Virtual Bridges whose Verde software creates a virtual desktop infrastructure that runs the proposed application bundle on thin clients. IBM claims it can save business, government and educational institutions up to 50% a seat compared to Microsoft's more ensconced desktops.

IBM contends that its software's use of the Open Document Format (ODF) lowers licensing, administration and maintenance costs, a debatable claim.

Pushing its price argument, IBM says reducing PC costs may let governments transfer the money they save on IT to mission-critical initiatives such as crisis management, education and health care.

The IBM-Canonical recipe will be taken to other emerging markets as well. Pilots are said to be in training.

The base ingredient is the so-called IBM Client for SmartWork, which includes e-mail, word processing, spreadsheet, unified communications and social networking applications designed for netbooks, laptops and mobile devices.

The standard Ubuntu-based package includes Lotus Notes or the SaaS iNotes, IBM's free Lotus Symphony and Sametime and LotusLive components. IBM says the package can be modified to include WebSphere Portal intranet software, Lotus Connections for on-premise social networking and Lotus Quickr for file and repository management.

LotusLive, which delivers software as a service and is meant for file sharing, online meetings, instant messaging and social networking, is supposed let users create cloud-based communities with partners, suppliers and customers, tickling business opportunities for African concerns.

LotusLive can be accessed through Ubuntu-based netbook computers, thin hardware clients or even older desktops and laptops. Its pricing starts at $10 a month a head.

Local service providers such as Inkululeko and ZSL Inc have been brought in to push the widgetry.

IBM will also work with leading universities such as Makerere University and academic consortiums.

Professor Venansius Barya Baryamureeba, dean of the Faculty of Computing and IT at Makerere, remarked that "Most of the good software is unaffordable by most of the users in developing countries, hence most users in developing countries have resorted to pirated software and free software. But most free software packages can be a nightmare of setup woes, training costs, and processes that just don't fit your organization. The hope lies in affordable software that is as good as proprietary software, which benefits from economies of scales as a result of targeting a mass market."