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Brazil Mandates Shift to Free Software
truthsearch writes "LinuxToday is reporting news and a response about Brazil making Open Source mandatory for 80% of all computers in state institutions and businesses, setting up a 'Chamber for the Implementation of Software Libre.'" This is a big win for Linux, but is making it mandatory going too far? It would seem wiser to support a solution that favors the best tool for the job, which may not always be an open source product.
'Chamber for the Implementation of Software Libre.'" Libre = Spanish Livre = Portuguese Portuguese, not spanish, is the spoken language in Brazil...
He already met (twice) with Brazil's president (one time before the election, one after, during Davos), and it didn't change our president's mind.
:)
During the campaign some IT newspaper asked the candidates what they would do for the software industry. It went something like this:
José Serra's answer:
"We must support the software industry, make it stronger so it can generate jobs for our citizens, and increases export (export? Sell something to other country)."
Pretty standard, IMHO. This anwer works not only for the software industry, but for any other else.
Lula's answer:
"We should support free software, not only because it's cheaper, but because our country needs a larger tech base, more computer and people that knows how to use it".
And Lula won the dispute. Especifically, when asked about the software industry, he cited free solutions.
So it's not a matter of what Bill Gates think, it's already happening. Cool, isn't?
Ps: I know you made a joke I am just trying to make the topic broader and explain some of the things that are happening.
Buy a Nintendo DS Lite
Sorry replying to myself but I had formatting problems.
As someone who is a software engineer for the Brazillian government in São Paulo, I feel compelled to reply.
Open source is widely used and discussed as an option in almost every reguard. Yet virtually all server-based apps are run on solaris. In most cases you can choose to run linux on the desktop - some even choose bsd. Eclipse is fastly becomming universal. Yet virtually all development is being done in Java - pretty open for a closed standard but not exactly open source. Simple decrees will be hard to change that culture.
Still, the media I've read is not showing direct quotes from high level officials. The IT minister is quoted as speaking in the name of (chief of staff) ministro José Dirceu, and even that President Lula has stated software livre is "polÃtica pÃblica de governo". Pretty loftly claims from a lower level official - hope they are true but still as yet are unconfiremed in higher places recently.
It is my belief that the increasing amount of developers believing software livre is kool will have more impact than any law. I don't believe that software livre is really going to save much money as claimed because of wide piracy. Saying Public governments should use publicly available tools makes more sense to me. But seeing those numbers explains how the Secretaria de Fazenda do Rio (Rio IRS) created those swiss bank accounts.
iksrazal