Brazil Mandates Shift to Free Software 503
truthsearch writes "LinuxToday is reporting news and a response about Brazil making Open Source mandatory for 80% of all computers in state institutions and businesses, setting up a 'Chamber for the Implementation of Software Libre.'" This is a big win for Linux, but is making it mandatory going too far? It would seem wiser to support a solution that favors the best tool for the job, which may not always be an open source product.
It's the economy, stupid! (Score:2, Informative)
I don't think so. I think the main thing here is that stuff needs to be cheap (Brazil's a poor country), and has to be able to do the job - not necessaraly in the best way possible. FS is definetly free money-wise, and because techs can get the source too, any specific needs Brazil might have can cheaply be added. Also, don't forget, the sooner the mass of the people use open source, the sooner those open source apps will become the "best for the job", as people start contributing.
Oh yes, with Brazil's *new* president/goverment, it wouldn't suprise me if there's an ideological bit involved, too, which, I think, is good.
Portuguese, please (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Mr. Gates? (Score:5, Informative)
During the campaign some IT newspaper asked the candidates what they would do for the software industry. It went something like this:
José Serra's answer:
"We must support the software industry, make it stronger so it can generate jobs for our citizens, and increases export (export? Sell something to other country)."
Pretty standard, IMHO. This anwer works not only for the software industry, but for any other else.
Lula's answer:
"We should support free software, not only because it's cheaper, but because our country needs a larger tech base, more computer and people that knows how to use it".
And Lula won the dispute. Especifically, when asked about the software industry, he cited free solutions.
So it's not a matter of what Bill Gates think, it's already happening. Cool, isn't?
Ps: I know you made a joke I am just trying to make the topic broader and explain some of the things that are happening.
Re:Then they'll have to develop an O/S one (Score:1, Informative)
Smart nations (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Good news for all (Score:1, Informative)
As a Brazillian, all I can say is... (Score:2, Informative)
Brazil is NOT moving its computers to Open Source, and we are not even close to having a law or even a government decision about mandatory Open Source Software.
This article is based on a translation from a translation and contains a lot os misleading and untruthful information.
BTW, it would cost us billions to make a mass-move to *any* other software system, why we would do that in the middle of a BIG recession (4% decrease in industrial production)?
Bootstrapping (Score:3, Informative)
They can even hire abroad or take solutions from abroad as long as these solutions can be audited. That's just one of the things that makes this decision great. Think about this, why does a government like the United States pay lip service to M$ and permit them to go unpunished for monopolistic practices? Because it's in the interest of USGOV to see the majority of the world's domestic, business, and government networks running software which is easily crackable (easy to break at the TCP/IP stack-namespace and overflow/crack apps and kernels). Want a clue? Go check the Openbsd.org site's front page.
Now we have a government that can spend that money on hardening it's networks and liberating itself from long-term information retrival issues because some corporate clowns own their ass on document protocols. The USGOV also feels threatened when they have to view another government as a competitior (any government that can safeguard its information is no longer their bitch). Face it, we live in a world where secrets are like bombs. The more you don't share, the more chilly relations become. Imagine the NSA having actually create another specialized team to snoop Brazillian networks because they can't use the typical toolz which work almost everwhere else? The next thing you know, the State Department is sending icy messages, making 3am flights, sending mouthpieces with nasty little messages for face-to-face snarl and purr sessions, and dropping notes off at the IMF.
But even though these things will happen (and have probably been happening to some degree already) behind the scenes, this decision at a governmental level will have only as many teeth as is required to make the people in charge happy. Until we hear independent voices in the Open-source/Free software community talking at length about the trials and tribulations and the victories made towards freeing Brazil of closed-source/Lock-in solutions in government programs we should probably relax. Government is a lumbering beast, it can take a long time to turn it in any direction no matter what decision has been made, no matter what the desired outcome is.
Maybe what this topic needs is a good illumination of what happened with Mexico...anyone packing Free-software/open-source stories about Mexico?
More jobs for us! (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Mandatory defies the nature of open source.... (Score:2, Informative)
I may be wrong, but I seem to remember the Brazilian economy not being that hot. That being said the *mandatory* switch could just be a cost cutting decision... Perhaps the 20% that the decision leaves open to choice (commercial or open source) is that window which is for the small amount of situations where commercial would be preferable...
I don't think that the government could have said, "yeah
just an opinion
Direction for Government is ok (Score:2, Informative)
The open source community shouldn't second guess themselves when they score a win.
Re:Could the specter of bribes be a reason? (Score:2, Informative)
Sadly, yes. And a lot. Right now politicians are trying to cover an investigation of more then US$ 30 Billion (that's right, THIRTY BILLION DOLLARS) from a bank. It's going downhill because it's said that some big names from our administration are involved (up to ministers, perhaps even the president).
But generally, the current dominant party (PT) fights against corruption. Its members are passionate against, for historical and ideological reasons. It's something that deeply matters to them. So, even if there are cases where some scandals are trying to be ignored, generally, I belive it's harder to corrupt a PT memeber than from other parties.
To complement (Score:2, Informative)
The project that gave birth to the Software Livre Brasil was Software Livre RS, at http://www.softwarelivre.org [softwarelivre.org] , and announced in the end of the IV FISL [softwarelivre.org] (Miguel de Icaza was there :) ).
This is a great thing; it's our money that was used to buy proprietary software; now it will be used to invest in our knowledge.
And to all guys who are saying this isn't a good thing: f*ck you! You are all envious! HAHAHA!
Re:Still skeptical (Score:4, Informative)
As someone who is a software engineer for the Brazillian government in São Paulo, I feel compelled to reply.
Open source is widely used and discussed as an option in almost every reguard. Yet virtually all server-based apps are run on solaris. In most cases you can choose to run linux on the desktop - some even choose bsd. Eclipse is fastly becomming universal. Yet virtually all development is being done in Java - pretty open for a closed standard but not exactly open source. Simple decrees will be hard to change that culture.
Still, the media I've read is not showing direct quotes from high level officials. The IT minister is quoted as speaking in the name of (chief of staff) ministro José Dirceu, and even that President Lula has stated software livre is "polÃtica pÃblica de governo". Pretty loftly claims from a lower level official - hope they are true but still as yet are unconfiremed in higher places recently.
It is my belief that the increasing amount of developers believing software livre is kool will have more impact than any law. I don't believe that software livre is really going to save much money as claimed because of wide piracy. Saying Public governments should use publicly available tools makes more sense to me. But seeing those numbers explains how the Secretaria de Fazenda do Rio (Rio IRS) created those swiss bank accounts. [estadao.com.br]
iksrazal
You are mistaken. (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Mandatory (Score:3, Informative)
In theory Brazil could continue to use Oracle, Corel, or any other Non-OSS they so chose, assuming they did so on a Linux platform.
This isn't a business philosophy decision, or even a broad software purchasing decision. This is just an OS decision, and one that can be viewed as a wise choice by the Government of Brazil. They chose the best tool for the job.
Re:Portuguese, please (Score:4, Informative)
This is not to say that proprietary software is banned in the government. The policy will shift to allow companies that use free software solutions partipate in public concurrences. And every software used by the government, regardless of its platform, should be interoperable. No government website may carry a tag "best viewed with browser x or Y". The software developed by the brazilian IRS, that today is avaliable only for Windows, will have a Linux port. Sergio Amadeu told me this policy can be summarized in one sentence: "the brazilian government will not force anyone to use proprietary or free software". That is 100% on the spirit of free software and open source.
Nowadays the use of Windows is predominant in the brazilian government, but that will change. Many governments [slashdot.org] are considering [com.com] this direction [oreillynet.com], and Brazil is just another case. The government is not anti-Microsoft, is just considering a better option for the country.
As a coincidence, I am a brasilian journalist and I have wrote a story about it. On monday you can check it out in www.jb.com.br/internet [jb.com.br] (those that don't speak portuguese will have to use Babel Fish).
It´s all about savaing money (Score:3, Informative)
ItÂs not an anti-US action, it is all about trying to have the most affordable solution. Brazil is a poor country and we are currently cutting costs everywere. ItÂs better doing this by saving money with M$ licenses than saving money with education and health care.
Brazil is also a large country with population about 180,000,000 distributed over an area 8,511,965 sq km (which is more than US, if you donÂt consider Alaska). I donÂt have many estimates about how many computers our government has, or how many M$ licenses per year are acquired, but I hope it will save us mony and improve our IT knowledge and skills.
We are not India, but we are ready for that. After all IT local costs are low. I have a MSc and BSc degree in CS on a top brazilian university [icmc.usp.br] and my salary is less than U$ 15,000 per year. And I am currently unemployed, I think if our government invests in local techonology it will help our country as a whole.
Re:Agreed (Score:3, Informative)
That is not what I said. 95% of the documents I get from Windows boxes open fine. In the other 5% people have no objection to storing the file in an alternative format. I communicate with them just fine.
My problem with Windows (which is also shared by a lot of governments) is the proprietary file format may not be accessable at some time in the future. To me that makes Windows unacceptable for business use where the lifetime of a corporation may exceed 100 years.
In the course of my business career I have had need to access 50 year old documents related to critical employee health issues related to workspace chemical exposure. If people were using proprietary storage methods 50 years ago I would not have access to this information. That would have had a negative impact on issues like medical treatment.
And Yes, MacOSX and Windows CAN.
If you think Mac OS X is seamless with Windows, you are incorrect.
but not just any old printer out there works with linux.
That may be important to a hobbyist rummaging through a junk bin, but not to a business environment where there is always an approved hardware list.
KDE & GNOME crash as much if not more than Windows 95. I'm sorry.
Now I know you are out of touch with reality.
and lack of good SOLID multi-processor support.
Even if I agreed with you, which I don't, how is multiprocessor support relevent the the desktop business user? You are grasping at straws.
If you ever want to get into some of the latest applications, you spend HOURS updating libraries which seem to have endless dependancy trees.
Theoretically that is possible. However these days very few applications are distributed in a manner that would require this. In the context of the business user, the fact is that a roll-out of a new application would be handled using a pre-built package.
I am sorry, but you are out of it. The fact of life is that major organizations are starting to realize that there are some very important issues to being tied to a single vendor using using proprietary data storage formats, and that there is a way out.
Missing point: mandate for OSS is not religious!! (Score:2, Informative)
The Brazilian government decision was very simple: OSS is cheaper than MS (90% or more from the computers in Brazil use a MS OS). The government needs is cutting costs from all areas to have more money to spend in social programs. The external debt from Brazil is enormous, it must be paid but people here need some assistance due a fantastic desintegration of all social areas in the last 20 years (social including education, health, habitation, infra-structure, eletricity generation, you name it...)
An added bonus: the largest MS supplier is TBA, a MS representant from Brasilia (Brazil's capital).
TBA is the largest MS distributor in Brazil, due a very curious clause among MS resellers in Brazil: TBA was the only distributor authorized to sell MS products to Brazil's government due to territorial restriction clauses that gave TBA a virtual monopoly to sell MS products to the government.
That clause was imposed by Microsoft itself to the others MS LARs (Large Account Resellers).
MS and TBA were sued by the Secretaria de Direito EconÃmico (a department of Brazil's Ministry of Justice) and were fined due to abusive prices, inclusion of services in the software price's, artificially high prices for government sellings.
With a problem like that, a strong lobby from MS to push it's products among schools, the "donation"programs were the software is given "for free" but an annual renovation license is needed and a financial problem to solve the mandate seems a logic way to go, since nobody wants to change to OSS due financial advantages for some involved parts.
Re:Brazil's reasons are not Villanueva's (Score:2, Informative)
The problem is economical. And the Brazilian governemnt already have a troubled history with Microsoft. Until last year the only authorized dealer by MS to deal with the B government was TBA (a MS reseller from Brasilia - Brazil's capital). Due to territorial restrictions imposed by Microsoft TBA had a virtual monopoly to sell to the government, with higher prices than the general market in the software and services. TBA and MS were sued and fine by illegal and abusive commercial tactics. TBA lost it's "monopoly".
With a "partner" like MS/TBA is natural that the government wants to broadens it's software options.
OSS and Free Software had enough qualities to justify it's uses. They don't need "strong commitment". It's software, not religion.
I translated the piece into English... (Score:3, Informative)