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Cuba Switching to Linux

Posted by Zonk on from the comrade-tux dept.

Tony Montana writes "According to several news sites the government of Cuba is dumping Windows in favour of Linux. Cuba's director of information technology, Roberto del Puerto, says that Cuba already has approximately 1500 computers running on Linux, and is working towards replacing Windows on all state owned computers."

38 of 1,149 comments (clear)

  1. Lets start counting by __aahlyu4518 · · Score: 5, Funny

    how many people will make a comment about communism and linux....

    this is 1

    1. Re:Lets start counting by elasticwings · · Score: 1, Funny

      Cuba the country??? I thought they were talking about Cuba Gooding Jr. Damn, for a minute there, I thought we could use his celebrity power to start convincing people that Linux really is cool.

    2. Re:Lets start counting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      This is Slashdot. Don't you mean:

      this is 0

    3. Re:Lets start counting by CommunistTroll · · Score: 2, Funny

      This whole story is just *too* easy.

    4. Re:Lets start counting by ssj_195 · · Score: 4, Funny
      Damn, for a minute there, I thought we could use his celebrity power to start convincing people that Linux really is cool.
      Nah - that's Wil Wheaton's job! ;)
    5. Re:Lets start counting by nacturation · · Score: 1, Funny

      ... or the physical similarities between Stallman and Castro. :)

      --
      Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
    6. Re:Lets start counting by DenDave · · Score: 4, Funny

      Communix?

      Marxism Linism?

      The Shining PATH?

      Mao's Red Hat?

      chkguevarra?

      This is the sound of C..

      --
      -if at first you don't succeed, stay the heck away from paragliding.
    7. Re:Lets start counting by Trigun · · Score: 2, Funny

      And with yesterday's article about Cuban shooting off his mouth, I don't know what to believe. I thought it was a dupe.

    8. Re:Lets start counting by Megane · · Score: 2, Funny
      Where can I get the Tux Guevara T-shirt? It ought to look good with my Red Hat cap.

      /viva la revolution!

      --
      #naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
    9. Re:Lets start counting by smchris · · Score: 4, Funny


      They already have a health care system that costs a fraction of U.S. care and provides a similar mean population longevity. Linux seems like a natural complement to that efficiency.

      But what if they decide to host the North American linux conference some year and nobody in the U.S. can go?

    10. Re:Lets start counting by Spy+der+Mann · · Score: 4, Funny

      Damn, for a minute there, I thought we could use his celebrity power to start convincing people that Linux really is cool.

      I can Imagine Castro doing a commercial for Linux:

      "Linux. Works for computers as old as myself!" (smokes cigar)

  2. whoo hoo 1500 ! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny


    yeah 1500 computers !!, eat that AMIGA !!

    1. Re:whoo hoo 1500 ! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      "The remaining 25 computers in the country will be upgraded to linux as time permits."

      -Fidel

  3. Viva by FidelCatsro · · Score: 1, Funny

    Yay for me.
    Not that we could import windows due to the trade sanctions anyway ;)

    (btw yes its a joke , my name is a pun)

    --
    The only things certain in war are Propaganda and Death. You can never be sure which is which though
    1. Re:Viva by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      I don't think that word means what you think it does.

  4. And that children by Timesprout · · Score: 5, Funny

    is how the Bay of Penguins incident began...

    --
    Do not try to read the dupe, thats impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth
    What truth?
    There is no dupe
  5. At least one by Udo+Schmitz · · Score: 3, Funny

    In communist Cuba Linux switches you! Oh my ...

  6. Positive Image by datadriven · · Score: 5, Funny

    That's great Cuba has such a positive image. This is bound to make people switch to linux in droves.

    --
    GETPKG - Package Management for Slackware
  7. Che Tux Revolution! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Can I get my Che Tux Revolution TShirt signed by Fidel?

  8. OS is Communism by larjon · · Score: 2, Funny

    Well, we all know that OpenSource is Communism :)

    --
    $> cd /pub
    $> more beer
  9. Another communications barrier by jsheedy · · Score: 3, Funny

    Man, not only do the illegals have to deal with never speaking the language when they boat over, but now they will have the deal with not being able to use the computers that are here either.

    --
    Quid Pro Quo, nothing more, nothing less.
  10. So much for spying by jocknerd · · Score: 5, Funny

    How are we ever going to spy on these countries if they stop using Windows?

  11. Re:Communists! by zero_offset · · Score: 2, Funny

    Middle America? Step away from the Tolkien, laddie.

    --

    Slashdot quality declines as the number of hot grits posts decreases. - Provolt's Law, Apr-09-2005

  12. Re:WMDs by CommunistTroll · · Score: 3, Funny

    Who? Cuba? Cuba has about as many WMD as Iraq did.

  13. hmmmm by Chaos_Thoery · · Score: 3, Funny

    This has got me thinkning. If Cuba is switching to Linux, there is a greater possibility that North Korea uses or will switch to Linux too. This is actually good because imagine at some super secret North Korea nuclear missile silo, some Windows box displays: "A fatal exception 0E has occurred at 0028:C0011E36 in VXD VMM(01)+00010E36. The current application, 'missiles standby', will be terminated." So actually, there IS a reason they call it the blue screen of DEATH.

  14. Re:Go Cuba! by Pig+Hogger · · Score: 1, Funny
    I expect Castro feels safer with Linux anyway as he's problaby concerned about all those NSA-mandated backdoors in Windows.
    Windoze is so pathetically full of holes it doesn't need a NSA-mandate...
  15. Free as in...? by jferguson · · Score: 2, Funny

    One pictures Castro saying over and over, "No, that's 'free' as in 'beer'..."

  16. Re:Can Microsoft even legally sell Windows in Cuba by Intron · · Score: 2, Funny

    That's only US law, not something with real teeth like the MS EULA.

    --
    Intron: the portion of DNA which expresses nothing useful.
  17. Re:WMDs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    For instance, you can't take your Cuban girlfriend up to your hotel room without paying a bribe.


    Cuban girlfriends - yeah, that's another area where capitalism works nicely ;)
  18. Free as in beer, then by sita · · Score: 3, Funny

    The free as in speach surely doesn't appeal to Fidelito.

  19. He's a good actor, but ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Cuba's a good actor and all (not too sure about Radio though), but I had NO IDEA he was such a computer geek!

  20. Bill Gates... by RoadkillBunny · · Score: 2, Funny

    Big G should have shut up when he was saying that Linux is made by communists... They are loosing business because of that now.

    --
    Cheers,
    RoadkillBunny
  21. Re:Nice Anti-Usian Propaganda, Now Some Facts by Simonetta · · Score: 4, Funny

    Overall, Cuba has a national GDP of $33.92 billion,

    The reality simply is that Cuba is run by a corrupt and incompetant military dictator whose only prior qualification was being a spoiled rich kid and lawyer.

    It sounds to me like Big Bill would be quite comfortable here, when he decides to retire. At only $33 Billion, he could just buy the whole place. Imagine him growing out his hair and having his image replacing all those of Che.

    He could be just as corrupt and incompetent as he wants to be and no one would notice the difference. He'd have to get used to making eight hour speeches about the evil imperialist Linux worms, but we got pills now that make that no problem.

    As for the rest of us, we'd finally get a real high quality English/Spanish translator built into
    Windows!

  22. On the greater metaphor of Cuba switching to Linux by Haiku+4+U · · Score: 1, Funny

    Windows is a poor
    OS. Like an MP3,
    No Fidel-ity.

  23. Re:I am just curious to know... by Filip22012005 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Isn't it a win-lin situation?

    --
    When the policeman of the tie, rule you violate, hello punishment of the kitty?
  24. Why not NetBSD? by amdg · · Score: 2, Funny

    It seems like NetBSD would have been a better choice to install on the hardware available in Cuba. Hopefully they will comply with the GPL and release the changes necessary to make these ports.

    (Laugh. It's funny.)

  25. Re:Nice Anti-Usian Propaganda, Now Some Facts by Pomme+de+Terre! · · Score: 2, Funny

    "Wherever there is a jackboot stomping on a human face there will be a well-heeled Western liberal to explain that the face does, after all, enjoy free health care and 100 percent literacy." - John Derbyshire

  26. Re:Nice Anti-Usian Propaganda, Now Some Facts by kent_eh · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...whose only prior qualification was being a spoiled rich kid and lawyer.

    And that makes him different from most politicians in most countries how?

    --

    ---
    "I can't complain, but sometimes still do..." Joe Walsh