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John Barlow Pushes Open Source in Brazil
greysky writes "This story on Foxnews.com reports that as part of the larger World Social Forum, Barlow spoke on how open source software can help alleviate financial problems of developing countries: "Already, Brazil spends more in licensing fees on proprietary software than it spends on hunger"." NPR talks about how Brazil plans to switch 300,000 machines over.
Shouldn't he want the government to spend the same on software as on poverty? $0?
In developing countries, licensing cost are astronomical compared to labor charges, so even if all the MS FUD were true for the US and Europe regarding TCO, it wouldn't be the case in developing countries since the cost of training and paying labor to do upkeep on the systems would be relatively low. I'm not saying I believe TCO is higher for linux, just that it would still be cheaper in developing countries.
NO CARRIER
"Already, Brazil spends more in licensing fees on proprietary software than it spends on hunger"."
A point most modern countries should take note of. When licensing fees make up such a large part of your operating budget, it seems foolish to simply accept it and continue with business and not look for other options.
I'd prefer my country spending a little bit less on licensing fees and a little more on it's people.
Of course, without the newest version of Office, I suppose they couldn't make neato graphs to justify the latest software licenses expenditures.
-Teiresias
By the way, just how long is Barlow going to coast on co-writing some Grateful Dead lyrics forty years ago? Isn't there a statute of limitations or something?
"Already, Brazil spends more in licensing fees on proprietary software than it spends on hunger".
Can anyone provide the numbers to back this up? Also, I would like to see about what the ratio is between the two.
Fly me to the moon Let me sing among those stars Let me see what spring is like On jupiter and mars
Lessig noticed and the computer was quickly disconnected and replaced with a laptop running on open-source software.
They replaced the windows computer as soon as they discovered it. I wonder how long before that becomes common practice all over the world.
You run a government agency in Brasil.
You use your budget to:
A. Pay a team of OSS programmers for IT support and in the meantime create jobs and promote domestic-grown-owned-designed and controlled IT resources.
B. Pay for comercial software licenses and thus cut jobs and have the Brasilian tax-payer money go to some trans-national company and meanwhile turn your back on domestic-grown-own-designed IT resources.
MS will shove enough free or discounted mackerel down your throat so you don't learn how to fish and remain somewhat hungry.
- these are not the droids you are looking for -
"The activists in Brazil are generally united in their oppositon to what many call unbridled capitalism and the policies of the Bush administration." - Something said so often that it's practically a mantra of WSF activists is that they oppose unbridled capitalism (or capitalism, period), and imperialism. It's funny how the US corporate media chokes on printing that word, even when describing what someone else says, and changes it something vague like "the policies of the Bush administration". They won't even print the word when they're reporting on what activists say, it's like the BBC using an actor for Gerry Adams voice. I mean, go to Google News and search for the word imperialism - the first hit is a paleo-conservative web site, the second hit is a communist web site, then a South Korean site talking about Japanese WWII imperialism, then Al-Jazeera. It is one of those words commissars, I mean, editors, excise, even when they're just reporting about what someone said. The thing that gets me is not only do the mainstream corporate media not use the word, they won't even report when others use the word. Fox takes it to the point of ridiculousness, but it's not much different with NBC and so forth (owned by GE, which makes billions as a military contractor by the way).
Brazil is changing all 300,000 of its federal government computers from Windows to open source software like Linux. Brazil's interest in different forms of software could be the beginning of a long term shift in the software market. That has Microsoft's founder Bill Gates wanting to talk to Brazil's president, Luiz Ignacio Lula de Silva. Alex Goldmark reports.
Choosing which software to buy may not seem like a scintillating topic. But, in Brazil, excitement is high about switching to Open Source software like Linux, the free operating system which users are free to copy, modify, and distribute as they wish. Brazil isn't just dropping Windows, but all proprietary software. They want access to the code of the software they buy, and to the information that it provides access to. This could spell trouble for Microsoft's business model, according to Georg Greve, president of the Free Software Foundation Europe, which promotes and coordinates open source software projects.
"Brazil certainly poses one of the largest threats to Microsoft there is right now." Greve took time away from a software reception to talk about the importance of Brazil's decision. "If people take that as an example as they are doing all over the world, people look to Brazil for this. Then, the whole monopoly could actually be in danger. So, for Microsoft, it is a pretty seminal thing to stop this now." Up to now, only 10 percent of the government computers are Windows-free, but proponents of Brazil's plan realize, that if Brazil follows through, and becomes the trendsetter it wants to be this could be the beginning of a critical shift in the software world for developing countries. At the World Social Forum hosted here in Brazil this week, John Perry Barlow, founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a cyberspace civil liberties group, commented on Bill Gates's moves at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
"Where Bill Gates, who may be the most powerful man in the world, sought an audience with Lula. Why did he do that? Because he is afraid of Brazil. Why is he afraid of Brazil? Because the government has taken the initiative to move this country to open source code."
Across town, at a government sponsored event to promote open source software, Brazil's intentions were clear. [translated] "For Brazil, we don't have any interest in supporting proprietary solutions because we are decided on supporting companies that believe in open source models. Sergio Amadeu is the head of the Brazil Open Source Technology Institute. Next to President Lula, he is the final word on Brazil's software choices. [translated] "We are not against any specific companies. But, there are companies like Microsoft that want to fit the world into their business model. We defend open source because it is better for innovation, better for competition, better for security, and better for stability."
Microsoft representatives in Brazil were not available for an interview. In an e-mail, they said Gates and Lula met in Davos two years ago, and the two have many things to talk about, including bringing technology into impoverished communities, and promoting Brazilian industry. Open Source was not mentioned. Sergio Amadeu, however, was eager to talk about Brazil's open source ambitions. He has been in contact with Venezuela, Korea, India, and several African nations promoting his cause. And that is just what Microsoft is worried about.
For NPR, I'm Alex Goldmark, Porto Allegre, Brazil
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transcribed by Thad Beier without permission
thad@hammerhead.com if you wish to complain
I love Mondays. On a Monday, anything is possible.
The budget for the fome-zero (zero-hunger) program of hunger erradication among porr families is R$1.68 billion (around US$630 million)
Source: Orçamento do programa Fome-zero (budget for the zero-hunger program)
http://www.camara.gov.br/internet/diret
its a official document from Camara dos Deputados (brazilian federal legislative house, deputy chamber)
The stimated value spent by the brazilian government (cites, states and federal government) is R$2 billions (around US$ 740 millions). that info is from the consulting firm 4Linux http://www.linuxplace.com.br/sqush_place/10589872
There is a specialized secretary for IT strategies (Secretaria de Logística e Tecnologia de Infraestrutura) that is collecting data to present "official" values expent with licences.