AfricaOS

A free system for school computers

AfricaOS is a free operating system for the computers in a school's lab and offices. It updates with one button, from the internet or from a flash drive.

Try it in your school
The AfricaOS desktop: a dawn over teal hills, a bar along the top and a dock of four programs along the bottom

Students log in and save work. The technician updates the lab. The school pays nothing.

The AfricaOS desktop with the dawn wallpaper

See it running

Our own wallpaper, Dawn over the hills. A bar along the top and a dock along the bottom, like the computers students will meet later.

One update, three steps

Brought in Over the internet, or on one flash drive the technician carries from computer to computer.
Checked Each computer checks the update's signature. One that was changed, or never signed, is refused.
The AfricaOS desktop after an update and a restart
Switched at restart The new version starts next time the computer starts. The old one is kept, so going back takes one restart.

How would the update reach your lab?

30

Internet at the school
Lab computers joined by a network

Each computer downloads it

About 31 GB of data in all: 30 computers, about 1 GB each. If data is costly, download it once onto a flash drive instead.

Based on a real update of 1.04 GB measured in testing. Updates vary in size, and older computers take longer.

Made for labs like these

Most school labs in Africa run donated computers that are years old, on unsteady power, with little or no internet. AfricaOS is designed for exactly that.

Secondary school students in green jumpers sitting at computers in a classroom with blue walls
Students in the computer lab at Nala Secondary School, Tanzania.
A school computer lab with a row of desktop computers on wooden desks and a blackboard behind
A school computer lab in Lundazi, Zambia.

Tested before any school gets it

50 of 50times the power was cut during an update, the computer started again by itself.
RefusedEvery update that was unsigned, or changed after it was signed.
One restartto go back to the last version if a new one goes wrong.
No internetAn update from a flash drive worked with the network switched off.
Our own copyAfricaOS rebuilt from our own copy, with outside servers blocked.
FreeOn every computer, with no licence and no yearly fee.

Tested on a virtual computer in November 2026. Next, the same tests run on real school computers, including old ones with slow hard disks.

Programs for lessons and the office

Matched to what Uganda's ICT syllabus asks students to learn. Files open and save in Microsoft formats, so work moves between AfricaOS and Windows. These are planned for the first release.

For lessons

6 programs

  • Documentsfor word processing

    LibreOffice Writer. Letters, reports and essays; opens and saves Word files.

  • Spreadsheetsfor tables and sums

    LibreOffice Calc. Formulas, charts and class lists; opens and saves Excel files.

  • Slidesfor presentations

    LibreOffice Impress. Opens and saves PowerPoint files.

  • Databasefor records

    LibreOffice Base. Tables, forms and queries, as the syllabus asks.

  • Publishingfor posters and newsletters

    Page layout for the desktop publishing topic.

  • Web designfor first web pages

    A simple editor for HTML and a web browser to see the result.

For the office

4 tools

  • One person's computerfor the bursar

    A computer with its own password, for the bursar or the administrator.

  • The same office programsfor letters and accounts

    Documents and Spreadsheets, as in the lab.

  • Printingfor reports and letters

    Set up for the printers schools already have, where drivers exist.

  • Back up to a flash drivefor safety

    One step to copy the office's files onto a flash drive.

Questions schools ask

Is it really free?

Yes. There is no licence to buy and no yearly fee, for any number of computers. AfricaOS is built from free and open-source software.

Will it run on our old computers?

That is what it is for. We will visit schools to record the computers they really have, and will publish the smallest computer it supports before the first release. Very old computers may need a lighter version, which is planned for later.

Does it cover the ICT syllabus and UNEB exams?

The syllabus and the UNEB practical paper name Microsoft programs only as examples. AfricaOS has a program for each area they ask for: word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, databases, desktop publishing and web design. We will confirm the details with teachers and UNEB.

Can it open Word and Excel files?

Yes. The office programs open and save Microsoft's file formats, so a student's work can be printed or opened on a Windows computer elsewhere.

What if the power goes off during an update?

The computer keeps the old version until the new one is fully ready, so it starts again on one or the other. In our tests we cut the power 50 times during updates, and it started again every time. We will repeat that test on real school computers.

We have no internet. Can we still update?

Yes. The technician copies the update onto one flash drive, wherever there is internet, and updates each computer from it. Updating a whole lab from one computer over the lab's own network is planned for the pilot.

Will students break the computers?

Not easily. In the lab setup, settings go back to clean each time a student logs out, so a change made in one lesson is gone by the next. Students' saved work is kept.

When can our school get it?

AfricaOS is being built now. First, two or three schools in Uganda will use it for one school term. A public release follows once those schools have used it through a full term of updates.

Try AfricaOS at

We are looking for two or three schools in Uganda to try AfricaOS for one school term. Pressing Ask opens your email with a message ready to send.