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Brazil: Free Software's Biggest and Best Friend
soneca writes "From the last two years, Brazil's president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has turned the country into a tropical outpost of the free software movement. The government is switching from costly operating systems made by Microsoft and others to free operating systems."
Google news (includes reg-free nytimes link).
I hope nothing under the GPL is being used, as Brazil has a pretty sketchy record of recognising intellectual property rights.
The article you link to is about breaking patents and manufacturing their own AIDS medication. Before someone jumps up and down screaming "so it's OK if it's medicine?", read the linked article to realize that this is A-OK according to a UN rule stating that nations can break the patent and produce their own medications in the case of an emergency. From the numbers I've read, it wouldn't be un-reasonable to say Brazil does have an emergency.
Brazil has demonstrated that they have tried to play fair, and have paid for the medications from multinationals until now, despite being vocally against the said multinational corporation's tactics. They also make clear that they are "breaking" the patent, not outright ignoring it, in accordance to UN rules.
I think we can jump up and down and throw a fit after some other more serious, blatant and un-ethical IP violations are put under the light. So far I don't think there's anything wrong with the Brazilian gov't using OSS. Or home-brewed HIV/AIDS medication.
That is not entirely correct. Brazil does have very strong software companies that build business apps; invoicing, accounts receivable/payable, supply management, tax automation and the whole nine yards. Only that software tend to be targeted at Brazilian companies mostly (Portuguese language, sometimes Spanish as an option) and to small to mid-sized businesses.
We don't have anyone writing operating systems (out of academia, that is) and office applications, so it's natural that FOSS look appealing in those areas.
Other than that, IT is very strong in services, support and custom apps, here, and in that realm FOSS is again a very good fit, as it allows one company to fully customize a package to suit special needs, while not being encumbered by proprietary licenses.