An empirical study of Factors contributing to the adoption of Free Desktop Open Source Software in Africa: A case of Kenya university students

Open source software has been in existence for some timebut its adoption among non-expert users has not been realized especially in developing countries. A number of critical factors such as performance expectancy, effort expectancy and facilitating conditions have been suggested as the determinants of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) adoption in general. This study aimed to establishthe factors that determinethe adoption of free desktop open source software among university students in a developing country in Africa, in this case Kenya.Data was collected from 384 students from 17 different universities in Kenya. Based on technology adoption related studies in the literature six factors were used in designing the conceptual framework of this study which largely borrowed from the Extended Unified theory of acceptance and use of Technology (EUTAUT). The adjusted conceptual framework included indigenous factors in the Kenyan context that were found to influence the adoption of free desktop OSS. The six factors are user training, usability, compatibility, social influence, and social economic status.The empirical study revealed that user training, usability, OSS compatibility, social influence, prior experience and social economic status have significant combined effect on OSS adoption. The study further established that user training, OSS compatibility and social economic status have significant individual influence on OSS adoption at 10% level of significance. Keywords:Freedesktop open source software, adoption, developing countries, voluntary technology adoption.