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Mexico City Adopting Linux; Software Rent Savings Go to Fight Poverty
"Anonymous coward south of the border" sent in this: "Check this article in the mexican online newspaper Reforma (a liitle bit of spanish language knowledge required). It's an interview with the Technical coordinator of the Distrito Federal goverment (Mexico's capital of the country) where they say why choose Linux over MSWindows and make the change of all their systems in a period of 2 years to Linux. All the money saved from the MSWindows licenses will be reallocated to programs for fighting poverty. Sounds good that part of our taxes won't be in Microsoft hands anymore and the Mexican Goverment giving Linux a chance." Maybe someone will post a decent translation - the web-based services make a hash of it. But the interviewee notes that they will save tens of millions of pesos by switching away from rented software.
Yep, you are exactly right.
The meeting might go something like:
MS: "Please reconsider your position. It's not the upfront costs, but the long term support and management that counts. Look at windows 2000 and all the management wizzbangs it has. Yes it costs $1000 per server, but it will save you $750/yr/user, much more than what you save with linux"
Mexican bigwig: "Yes, but we do not have $1000 for each server"
MS: "You will not be able to run all of the wonderful windows applications out there on linux."
Mex: "You mean those expensive applications we cannot afford to buy anyway?"
MS: "But, You will not be able to process industry standard office documents created by micrsoft products."
Mex: "Silly Microsoft, everyone will be using Linux in the mexican government, who will be creating Word Documents? "
MS: "Well, If you feel our products are so expensive, perhaps we can cut a deal... How about we get a tax free XBox factory in Mexico, and you get 10000 free government user licenses and free support for the next two years."
Mex: "Well, now your are speaking our language, but still, I do not know..."
MS: "Oh, and we have brought some very nice cigars with us, compliments of our Dictatorial Carribean neighbor, Mr. Castro."
Mex: "Yes, all very nice, but really, what might I myself gain from this 'deal'"
MS: "And I believe the concierge has arranged some 'entertainment' for you gentleman tonight on the Microsoft Corporate Yacht in the Gulf - said Yacht could possibly be on loan to you for an extended period of time if you wish - there are also some interesting, very heavy suitcases on board..."
Mex: "Yes, Yes, very nice..."
Next day the newspapers declare the government's reversal on the Linux implementation. And Mexico is locked into Microsoft for the coming decades of .NET.
-josh
(Disclaimer: I'm not native, but this should get the gist of it. I ran into a few phrases where I am nearly certain that the article had typos, but I don't have enough ability with the language to figure out what they were really trying to say. I left most of the run-on sentances as they were, but some I corrected.)
Local Government will avoid buying Windows
The technical coordinator of the capital's administration, Jose Barberan, informed [us?] that with the new computer system it will be possible to implement a database program that will be used in the replacement that will begin in the middle of the year.
by Alejandra Bordon
Mexico City, Mexico - (March 12, 2001) The information revolution, the seed of which was planted by a young programmer from Finland, Linus Torvalds, has arrived at the Distrito Federal's [Mexico's equivalent of Washington D.C., the area surrounding Mexico City] government.
The method: use Linux un all areas of the capitol's administration, an open, free [cost], and free [license] operating system created by Torvalds in 1991 and continually spreading over the entire world.
The objective: save 10's of millions of pesos [millions of dollars] in license fees for the use of commercial programs - like Windows - and use the money for poor-assistance programs that the Government leader, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has initiated.
In charge of the project is Jose Barberan, Technical Coordinator of the capital administration, who informed [us] in an interview that Linux will be used un the program for the database replacement that will begin in the middle of the year.
The design of the program for the free [cost] replacement - for which the contributors have brought themselves up-to-date in their payment [?] - began in September 2000 and through several meetings headed by the Technical Coordination, is currently in the process of making legal [?] the computer goods.
Among the first steps, they have already taken the step of moving from commercial systems to open systems in some of the driver's-licence offices, where Linux is already working.
The goal, as Barberan explained in the interview, is to bring all of the systems in the City Government to Linux in one or two years, in a gradual process that avoids risks in the administration's operation.
Among the areas that in the near future will see their systems changed are the ones in charge of tax collection, databases that have to do with the transition and the new programs, as it is the one with the elderly [referring to the poverty programs].
Is it true that you plan to use and improve the Linux environment for use in the government?
Use and improve Linux? No, we aren't going to improve it ourselves, there are people all over the world improving it, but yes we want to bring the Distrito Federal [DF] Government's systems, as far as is possible and as long as the process doesn't interfere with basic functions, to open [source] systems, beginning with Linux as the OS. Not only Linux, but all of the free [cost] software that revolves around Linux systems.
The DF government, like all governments and like all companies, spends a significant amount of money on software, and we want to make this more efficient, because we have the instruction [? my guess is "we are an example to"] all areas of the government, of the most efficient way to set up the government, to create savings that will create something easy to understand that is more support for, say, support of the elderly, of the disabled, the single mothers, etc.
Will this be a substitute for Windows, which is that which is currently used in all of the offices?
Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
Just to reiterate, this is not the entire Mexican government that's making the switch (at least, not yet). This is only the government of Mexico City itself, not the whole nation.
Granted, this is still a cause for Much Rejoicing, but there's still a long way to go.
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Tell that to the judge as he ships your butt off to federal prison.
The law is the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, or FCPA. Where I work, we get an annual briefing on this law and business ethics in general.
Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
Over 1/4 of the population of Mexico lives in Mexico City. With 24 million people officially, and an estimated 30 million unofficially, Mexico City is the largest city in the world. Its population is greater than that of many countries, or most US states.
Well, the people running the projects are the friends I worked with a few years ago (Patrick Vielle and Jose Barberan). I am glad the government has followed up on this.
I was in Mexico City this weekend trying to get the eMexico project to adopt free software as well. You can read the paper I presented here: http://primates.ximian.com/~miguel/emexico.html
Miguel.
Nope:b .h tm
http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/fraud/fcpa/dojdoc
"Foreign Corrupt Practices Act"
From the article:
The FCPA makes it unlawful to bribe foreign government officials to obtain or retain business.
Surfing the net and other cliches...
Surfing the net and other cliches...
(Who Meta-Meta-Moderates the Meta-Moderators?)
Usage of linux will save Government money
The information revolution, whose seed was planted by the young Finlandic programmer Linus Torvalds, has reached the district federal governer.
The reason: they wish to use Linux in all the areas of the capital's administration. Linux is an open source system, free and Free, created by Torvalds in 1991, and has spread around the world.
The end: to save tens of millions of pesos that would be spent paying for commercial software -like Windows - and to use the saved funds to pay for programs to combat poverty.
The project was an idea of the capital administration technical co-ordinator, José Barberán, who told interviewers that linux was used in the program for the database of replacements that would begin in the middle of the week.
The program's design for the free replacement - in exchange for which the contributors bring their payments up to date - began in September 2000. After several meetings headed by the Technical Coordination, the program is now in a phase of bidding for the computer hardware.
After taking the first steps, Barberán went to change the commercial systems to the open-source one in some offices. The goal, according to the following interview, is to change all the City's Governement systems City to Linux in one or two years, in a gradual process that avoids risks in the operation of the administration.
Some of the areas that will see changes in the future are those in charge of the collection of taxes, and databases that have to do with transport, and the new anti-poverty programs.
It is true that they will try to improve Linux to use it in the government?
To improve Linux, no, we are not going to try to improve it, for many around the world are improving it continously. But we want to take to the Federal District's systems as far as possible and ensure that basic functions are compatible with free software. It's not just the Linux OS - it's all the free software that makes Linux what it is.
The government of DF, like all governments and like all companies, spends a large amount of very money on software, and we want to be more efficient with that because we have the instruction that all the areas of the government, of a complete government system, to produce savings that will benefit everyone.
Will you be able to replace the omnipresent Windows, the OS that is used in all the offices?
If we're careful, yes. Windows is not the only system that is used - the Government of the Federal District uses other operating systems in many important machines. To be replaced are all operating systems for which a fees are paid. Then we will advancing towards the use of open-software in all areas. Taking precautions, ofcourse, to ensure that the changes don't interrupt the operating parts of the government.
Isn't it risky to change the systems?
It is a problem of qualifications, and to make a transitionary program to upgrade - in an orderly manner - the things we do today to use the new systems
In what level of the process is the project?
It is currently in the design phase, because we also need to redesign the Government's computer structure.
Does this open source licence mean that the creators are not paid for use?
Yes. And it also means that we have access to the all the programs' source code. So we can adapt it to the needs of our systems. This is something that we can't do with commercial systems, which don't grant access to the source code. This is a very important point: the access to the source codes that allows us, with skilled programmers, to adapt the systems to our needs.
How much will the government save?
I don't have an exact figure, but it is a lot of money. Many tens of millions of pesos are spent, unnecessarily in my opinion, on software.
It's very nice to see this (as I mentioned in another post).
The savings are going to be significant; not only do they not have to spend the annual licensing fees for the useless OS's, they can also need not upgrade their hardware as often.
HOWEVER: With the old Mexican regime's propensity towards graft and embezzlement, my concern is that 'the poor' will be redefined to be 'friends of the bureaucrats'.
two cents worth
d.valued
Ruling The World, One Moron At A Time(tm)
"As Kosher As A Bacon-Cheeseburger"(tmp)
I used to be someone else. Now I'm someone better.
Real life is underrated.
It might be more than a coincidence that Miguel de Icaza (from Gnome fame) was a highly placed computer consultant for the political party from which the City Major belongs to.
(Loose Translation Follows) Local Government Will Avoid Buying Windows The Technical Coordinatos of the city administration, José barberán, informed that with the new computer system (sic) they can do the database program that will be used for the replacement of car's plates that will begin at the middle of the year.
/End of article/
/.rs who suggested the change to the city government of I-don't-remember-which-one US city who got an audit from Microsoft a few months ago and didn't have all the licenses ?
By Alejandra Bordon
Mexico City, Mexico (March 12, 2001)
The informatic revolution which seed was planted by a young finnish programmer, Linus Torvalds, has come to the Distrito Federal's Government.
The media: to use Linux in all the areas of the city administration, an open operative system, free and with freedom, created by torvalds in 1991 and more disseminated every day all around the world.
The goal: To save tens of millions of pesos (1 dlls = 9.65 pesos) in the payment of services in the use of commercial programs - like Window - and instead use those resources to support the programs against poverty that have been put in operation by the Chief of Government (kind of a Super-Mayor), Andres Manuel López Obrador.
José Barberán, Technical Coordinator for the city administration is in charge of the project, who informed in an interview that Linux will be used in the database program of the replacement of the car's plates which will begin in the middle of the year.
The design of the program for the free replacement of plates will be free - if the cars owners don't have any due payments in the tenencia (a yearly car possession's tax) began since september of 2000 after several meetings headed by the technical Coordination, is in the stage of licitation of the computer goods.
FYI
The government of Mexico City is a from a left-wing party, and it's in the second administration from it. In regards to the IT departmen, there was a scandal three or four years ago when the first government of this then-opposition party assumed, when they found some "shadow opperations" between some people of the last government and IBM salespeople, but not in the same level as the Argentinean case. Don't remember more especifics by the moment, but I think IBM had to pay something back, but I'm not sure.
In the other hand, it's the same city government who doesn't want to be under the federal summer-time/energy savings schedule (I don't remember the US exact term for this.) which is more a populist stand than for technical reasons.
Now my comments:
Somebody said: "Now, what is free software going to do except put professional programmers out of business? Then they'll be some of the poor needing a hand-out. It's self-defeating; you can't help the economic status of people by destroying the economy they live in!"
What kind of moron says that ? They're replacing WINDOWS, the last time I looked, WINDOWS is not a mexican-developed OS, so who is affected by this ?
In fact, it's more probable they'll need a little more programmers to do this.
No, giving away money it's not a way to fight poverty, but stopping giving away money to some companies when you can avoid it by using free alternatives and spend that money otherwise is not a stupid thing. Sheesh!
Somebody said "damn commies" ? What difference is it between this actually happening replacement of Windows to the countless proposals of
Get real!
How big is Mexico City? Try the 3rd largest city in the WORLD, with 18 million people, and you begin to see where the savings could add up.
In practice, "piracy" is easier elsewhere, and intellectual property laws much weaker and poorly enforced.