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Followup on MS and Brazil in NY Times
putko was one of dozens to submit a story running on the NY Times about Open Source and Brazil. The choice quote is
"We're not going to spend taxpayers' money on a program so that Microsoft can further consolidate its monopoly..."
Brazil: Free Software's Biggest and Best Friend
By TODD BENSON
SÃO PAULO, Brazil, March 28 - Since taking office two years ago, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has turned Brazil into a tropical outpost of the free software movement.
Looking to save millions of dollars in royalties and licensing fees, Mr. da Silva has instructed government ministries and state-run companies to gradually switch from costly operating systems made by Microsoft and others to free operating systems, like Linux. On Mr. da Silva's watch, Brazil has also become the first country to require any company or research institute that receives government financing to develop software to license it as open-source, meaning the underlying software code must be free to all.
Now Brazil's government looks poised to take its free software campaign to the masses. And once again Microsoft may end up on the sidelines.
By the end of April, the government plans to roll out a much ballyhooed program called PC Conectado, or Connected PC, aimed at helping millions of low-income Brazilians buy their first computers.
And if the president's top technology adviser gets his way, the program may end up offering computers with only free software, including the operating system, handpicked by the government instead of giving consumers the option of paying more for, say, a basic edition of Microsoft Windows.
"For this program to be viable, it has to be with free software," said Sérgio Amadeu, president of Brazil's National Institute of Information Technology, the agency that oversees the government's technology initiatives. "We're not going to spend taxpayers' money on a program so that Microsoft can further consolidate its monopoly. It's the government's responsibility to ensure that there is competition, and that means giving alternative software platforms a chance to prosper."
Microsoft has offered to provide a simplified, discounted version of Windows for the program. Though a final decision on which software to install has been delayed several times, as has the program's rollout, Mr. Amadeu and some other government officials have publicly criticized Microsoft's proposal, calling the version's abilities too limited.
Still, Microsoft has not given up just yet. The company, which declined to make an executive available for an interview, said in a statement that it was still "working with the PC Conectado project to see if there's a way Microsoft can help."
Under the program, which is expected to offer tax incentives for computer makers to cut prices and a generous payment plan for consumers, the government hopes to offer desktops for around 1,400 reais ($509) or less. The machines will be comparable to those costing almost twice that outside the program.
Buyers will be able to pay in 24 installments of 50 to 60 reais, or about $18 to $21.80 a month, an amount affordable for many working poor. The country's top three fixed-line telephone companies - Telefónica of Spain; Tele Norte Leste Participações, or Telemar; and Brasil Telecom - have agreed to provide a dial-up Internet connection to participants for 7.50 reais, or less than $3, a month, allowing 15 hours of Web surfing.
The program aims at households and small-business owners earning three to seven times the minimum monthly wage, or about $284 to $662. The government says seven million qualify, and it hopes to reach a million of them by year-end.
That may seem ambitious in a developing country of 183 million people where only 10 percent of all households have Internet access and just 900,000 computers are sold legally each year. (Including black-market sales, the number is closer to four million, still a small fraction of the number sold in the United States last year, according to the International Data Corporation, a technology research firm.)
"We're well aware that we're talking about doubling the domestic market for personal compu
One word: Ouch.
The right to offend is far more important than the right not to be offended. (Rowan Atkinson)
I agree with one of the sentiments in the article:-
Others say the government should focus its technology initiatives elsewhere, especially in schools. Only 19 percent of Brazil's public schools have computers.
This is where technology can be most wisely spent, where it will have the greatest benefit, and where kids will actually learn about computers.
Of course it'll also be most effective at creating a mindset that isn't geared towards using MS products.
If only other politicians had enough backbone to use tax money in ways that benefit all the people who paid for it, instead of ingraining a monopoly ...
A computer without Microsoft is like ice cream without ketchup.
Brazil has also become the first country to require any company or research institute that receives government financing to develop software to license it as open-source, meaning the underlying software code must be free to all.
This is really a wonderful, wonderful idea. It's a shame more governments haven't adopted this philosophy. Lots of governments just find it so easy to spend money that they didn't "earn". I have to congratulate Brazil on this!
I store my recipes online (the way nature intended)
HEH, why do they assume it wil be use for power....MS could use it for other things too
- killing small animals
- searching for the lost city of gold
- etc
Not only do they have the hottest women in the world, but they have a government with a working brain too!
If you mod me down, I *will* introduce you to my sister!
News.com
International Herald Tribune
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Btw, does anyone know why does the link from slashdot asks me for registration, but not the one from Google News?
It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile
Be yourself no matter what they say
It's really amazing how we(Americans) take broadband for granted now. I don't see how I could go back to using dialup; it would seem like cruel and unusual punishment. Yet, to these people, many of whom are poor, just having a computer or internet access would be a boon.
Let alone only having 15 hours a month online! Note, the article says "allowing 15 hours"; I'm assumin that means per month. I download GIGS of stuff every day, and my computers are online 24/7/36[56]. Half an hour a day wouldn't even make me wake up in the morning.
It's all about perspective.
... if the equipment will come with Linux pre-installed. They will end up being replaced by the user by an easily bought U$2 pirated version of Windows XP anyway, sold in every corner of São Paulo. Or do you expect everyone will care to install Wine to play starcraft of use MSN? :D
P.S. - I'm Brazilian and despite the fear of fraud, like it is happing with the Zero Hunger program, I strongly support this initiative.
Robert DeNiro will rappel into your living room and install a Linux machine, then set up your internet connection, while discussing the problems with Microsoft. That would so rock.
There's a Starman, waiting in the sky / He'd like to come and meet us, but he hasn't got the time.
Just thought it up, though others may have done the same...sort of a take on Apple's "1984" commercial:
In 2005 the country of Brazil will start using Linux as it's prefered operating system and you'll see why Brazil won't be like Brazil
"Leo Fender was in a 'state of grace' when he designed the Stratocaster." -- Paul Reed Smith
Eventually, just to preserve their monopoly, Microsoft makes an offer they can't refuse -- computers with Windows for less than the price of the computers alone.
"That the masses cannot be allowed to make their own choices, because their choices might include Microsoft?"
The *government* are not the masses. They choose to opt for a cheaper solution, whats the problem?
Its pure capitalism, Microsoft are free to offer Windows free and open source to Brazil, if Microsoft can't compete why should Brazil make a special exception for them?
That would be bad - how the hell are england supposed to win the european cup with brazil in the UEFA group?
seriously though: YEAH!!!
Consider what Brazil has done in the recent past:
- Photo-ed and fingerprinted incoming American citizens in
response to America's change in visa policies.
- Charged fairly hefty import tariffs for PCs to promote
local industry.
- Promotes Brazilian music, and indirectly, interest in
Brazilian culture and tourism, via the encouragement of
free music downloads [I read this in a magazine, but
can't anything online confirming it. Can anyone help?]
I'm not saying that these are necessarily all good things. I just want to say that Brazil tends to do it their way, in spite external pressure.It's nice to see a country actually withstand to pressure from the multi-nationals and try to implement a policy for the benefit of all its citizens, rather than the usual vested interests. Let's just hope it doesn't become corrupted.
Also, recognize that Brazil is interested making their population computer literate. This includes the longer term goal of developing a viable computer software industry. Open Source is an inexpensive and suitable platform for giving everyone a software development environment. Why only a few may actually use it, I'm sure it will create a lot of talented programmers.
---- It won't be as bad as you fear or as good as you hope, but it will take twice as long as you plan.
FTA: But the preference for open-source software has been controversial, with critics inside and outside the government saying Mr. da Silva's administration is letting leftist ideology trump the laws of supply and demand.
I really fucking hate this. This is the typical newspeak propaganda used by companies terrified of losing their stranglehold on consumers by loudly bleating "Communist" into the air in order to get support from the more paranoid fringes of society, such as politicians who get kick backs from such companies.
What Supply and Demand is this guy talking about? Does he mean to infer that all those people should remain uneducated because they can't afford to buy some bullshit company's overpriced product? Tell that to the people yourself, you cunt. Also tell them that buying Microsoft's Windows will make them even poorer than they currently are, since the only way Microsoft is ever going to sell Windows at a low price is to sell some ultra crippled piece of shit such as the Starter Edition which no one wants.
Still, Microsoft has not given up just yet. The company, which declined to make an executive available for an interview, said in a statement that it was still "working with the PC Conectado project to see if there's a way Microsoft can help... "...to further consolidate our Monopoly. Oops? DId I say that out loud? You can edit that, right. Thanks."
Jesus, just read the article for once. You already posted this exact same sentence further up as if you found something you could complain about and ran with it without actually thinking.
Again, I repeat FTA: "Buyers will be able to pay in 24 installments of 50 to 60 reais, or about $18 to $21.80 a month,"
Does Dell allow you to pay over 24 months? No, I didn't think so. Is the Brazillian government forcing people to buy these cheap computers? No, you can buy HPs, Dells and even Macs in Brazil, and the government certainly doesn't care about those who can afford it, but is offering a cheap solution for poor people, of which there are a lot in Brazil. It's not the USA and American principles don't reign supreme everywhere, much to the chagrin of people like you.
Something more to think about: Microsoft Office XP Standard costs $479.95.
$479.95 isn't that much in USA. I bet most of the people here make *at least* this over a week - probably much more. However, right here, getting that much money *a month* is considered more than average. The minimum wage is like 1/10th of that.
This is not to say 'the country is a poor country, boo-hoo sell us cheap software' (although it *is* a poor country). The thing is, values here are different; a software like that is *too expensive*. You can buy food here for a tiny fraction of how you'd pay for in on USA. Wages here are also a lot cheaper than they are in the States - even for the same job with the same qualifications. It's just that not only the country is poor, but living cost is also low; the values and the scales are different. You can get to a really good grill restaurant and get totally wasted with so much good food - and spending less than us$ 10. The same thing would cost around us$ 150 on USA - with the same restaurant chain! (Fogo de Chão - there's one around Detroit I think).
When selling software, people don't think "ho well, I'll use one third/half/quarter of my salary to pay for this software..".. they usually think "ho well, I'll use 1/2/3 months worth of salary to pay for this software.. well nevermind, I'll just buy a copy next corner for $3".
There are lots of wrong stuff going on the government of this country. And one of them is the coice for Microsoft Software. My dad used to work for the state a while ago.. Basically the entire office ran on pirated win95 with microsoft office, and of course, they had no 'central' support or IT management so I used to go there fix their computers. Switching to some linux based solution with open office (or whatever) would pose an obstacle at first but would be just as it was before on the long run. With less virus and trojans, that is (I remember I spent an entire weekend getting the entire office rid of macro template virii - man that was fucked up).
I, for one, commend them on this choice. On the long run, this will prove to be the best choice, contrary to the FUD the local Microsoft is spreading.
Of course, money saved from going to Microsoft's pockets will end up going to some politician's bank account, so who am I fooling. Nothing of this matters.