This is an RFC 1153 digest. (B(1 message) (B---------------------------------------------------------------------- (B (BMessage-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> (BFrom: Soenke Zehle <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> (BSender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (BTo: "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> (BSubject: [ox-en] Bloor, South America warms to Open Source (BDate: Sat, 19 Feb 2005 19:12:17 +0100 (B (BSouth America warms to Open Source (BBy Robin Bloor, IT-Analysis (B (BPublished Thursday 10th February 2005 11:06 GMT (B<http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/02/10/south_america_open_source/> (B (BComment The trend to Open Source in South America seems to be stronger (Bthan it is anywhere else. Almost all governments there seem to be (Bsetting an Open Source agenda. (B (BBrazil, with 170 million or so citizens and by far the largest South (BAmerican economy (the economy of Sao Paolo on its own is roughly as big (Bas the economy of Mexico), is leading the way. Brazil's President, Luiz (BInacio da Silva, is keen to bridge what he perceives to be a huge (Btechnology gap between Brazil and more advanced economies, and sees Open (BSource as an important means of doing so. He appointed Sergio Amadeu, a (Bformer economics professor and Open Source enthusiast, to head Brazil's (BNational Information Technology Institute, after taking office last (Byear. Amadeu wants Open Source to permeate government software usage, (Beducational software usage and home computer usage. (BClick Here (B (BAmadeu is a crusader of a kind, having written a book entitled "Digital (BExclusion: Misery in the Information Era", which argues that technology (Bbroadens the gap between the wealthy (the digitally enabled) and the (Bneedy (the digital paupers). He gained fame in Brazil through launching (Ba network of 86 free computer centers running Open Source software in (BSao Paulo. In Brazil only about 10 per cent of the population have home (Bcomputers. Brazil's Open Source leanings may become a role model for (Bother Latin American countries, but most need little encouragement. (B (BArgentina, having recently undergone an economic collapse, is also a (Blover of Open Source. The enthusiasm for it there has engulfed much of (Bthe private sector, where according to a 2004 survey from (BArgentina-based Trends Consulting, 42 per cent of Argentine companies (Buse Linux and many of these are planning to use Open Source for all new (Bapplications. (B (BIn Chile, Open Source is being deployed extensively in schools through (Bthe government's high school internet access network, Enlaces, which now (Bimplements the Edulinux system. This is server–based with PCs (including (Bold PCs) primarily acting as terminals. The PCs run OpenOffice and the (BMozilla browser, FireFox. Chile hopes to use this to increase the (Bpupil-to-PC ratio to 30 to 1. (B (BIn Venezuela, President Chavez issued a decree, in December 2004, (Bmandating Venezuela's public administration to switch to Open Source in (Bthe course of the next two years. All ministries are required to come up (Bwith migration plans to meet the target date. (B (BMost interesting of all, perhaps, is Peru, where the government recently (Bintroduced a bill mandating the use of Open Source software by the (Bstate. It is an interesting development because the emphasis within the (Bbill is specifically on the idea of openness. In Peru, Open Source in (Bgovernment is being viewed as a citizen's right – in order to deliver: (B (B * Free access to public information for the citizen (B * A permanent record of public data (B * Security, both for the State and its citizens (B (BThe bill clearly classifies software as "information" of a kind. Thus (Bthe bill specifically does not: (B (B * forbid the production or sale of proprietary software (B * mandate the use of any specific software (B * mandate in favour of or against any named supplier (local or foreign) (B * limit software license terms in any way other than that the (Bsource must be open (B (BNot surprisingly, Microsoft is lobbying hard against the passing of this (Bbill, but it looks as though the bill won't be stopped by anything short (Bof a coup. A translation of an interesting letter from Peruvian (Bcongressman Dr Edgar David Villanueva Nunez to Microsoft's Peruvian (Bgeneral manager, Señor Juan Alberto Gonzalez, can be found on this website. (B (BIt is a long letter, but well worth a read. Here are a few quotes from it: (B (B For software to be acceptable for the state it is not enough that (Bit is technically capable of fulfilling a task, but that further, the (Bcontractual conditions must satisfy a series of requirements regarding (Bthe license, without which the State cannot guarantee the citizen (Badequate processing of his data, watching over its integrity, (Bconfidentiality, and accessibility throughout time, as these are very (Bcritical aspects for its normal functioning. (B (Band (B (B Nothing in the text of the Bill would prevent your company (B[Microsoft] offering the State bodies an office 'suite', under the (Bconditions defined in the Bill and setting the price that you consider (Bsatisfactory. If you did not, it would not be due to restrictions (Bimposed by the law, but to business decisions relative to the method of (Bcommercializing your products, decisions with which the State is not (Binvolved. (B (Band (B (B Relative to the security of the software itself, it is well known (Bthat all software (whether proprietary or free) contains errors or (B"bugs" (in programmers' slang). But it is also well known that the bugs (Bin free software are fewer, and are fixed much more quickly, than in (Bproprietary software. (B (BIn South American countries, as in most other areas of the world, the (Bgovernment is by far the biggest purchaser of software. Thus the Open (BSource trend that is now established in the government sector across the (Bcontinent will doubtless spur Open Source adoption in the private sector. (B (BThere are a variety of motives for Open Source adoption in play in (Bthere, from the reduction in software costs to the desire to provide a (B"leg-up" to the local software industry. However, the motivation of the (BPeruvian government is unique in that the Peruvian supporters of the (Bbill see "Open Source" as a citizen's right. The ownership and (Bresponsibility for the use of data and software have become a political (Bissue in Peru. (B (BThis is an idea that is unlikely to go away. (B (B© IT-analysis.com (B_________________________________ (BWeb-Site: http://www.oekonux.org/ (BOrganization: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (B (B------------------------------ (B (BEnd of this Digest (B****************** (B (B-- (BRaj Mathur [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://kandalaya.org/ (B GPG: 78D4 FC67 367F 40E2 0DD5 0FEF C968 D0EF CC68 D17F (B It is the mind that moves (B (B_______________________________________________ (Bilugd mailinglist -- ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org (Bhttp://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd (BArchives at: http://news.gmane.org/gmane.user-groups.linux.delhi (Bhttp://www.mail-archive.com/ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org/
