Originally developed to run on Microsoft Windows, iDART's use of the platform-independent Java programming language and open source components has made it possible enable it to run on the open source Ubuntu Linux operating system.

iDART (Intelligent Dispensing of Antiretroviral Treatment), is a tool designed to help pharmacists and pharmacy assistants with the monthly dispensing of antiretroviral drugs. iDART was developed as a collaboration between Cell-Life and the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation, and is currently in use at the Desmond Tutu Centre Pharmacy as well as at clinics in Masiphumelele, Gugulethu and the Northwest Province. 

iDART is an open source project released under the Gnu Public License (GPL). This means its source code is freely available at no cost, and can be downloaded, changed and reused by any person or organisation. While originally developed to run on Microsoft Windows, iDART's use of the platform-independent Java programming language and open source components such as Hibernate and PostgreSQL meant that only minor changes to the code were required to make the tool run on the open source Ubuntu Linux operating system.

Ubuntu is also available at no cost, and is widely seen as a user-friendly desktop computing alternative to Windows. It comes with a full-featured productivity suite (OpenOffice) as well as email and calendar software, the Firefox internet browser, and many other utilities. A comparable system using Microsoft products would cost over R2500. In addition, Ubuntu is far less vulnerable to viruses, spam and spyware than similar proprietary systems, which is particularly valuable when confidentiality is an issue.

We hope that the release of iDART for Ubuntu will encourage the health care sector to consider open source alternatives to proprietary software as and when it may be applicable and appropriate.