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Venezuela Embraces Linux and FOSS 22

Posted by timothy from the that-you-see-is-a-sensible-policy dept.
Voline writes "In the past few years the Venezuelan government has pursued a policy of 'Open source whenever possible, propietary software only when necesary.' This article from Venezuelanalysis.com provides a good overview of recent efforts on this front. Pres Chávez sees FOSS as a way to save money, develop the domestic software industry, and to reduce dependence on foreign (mostly US) suppliers. One of Chávez's advisors, José Luis Rey, is the former president of the Venezuela Linux Users Group."
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Venezuela Embraces Linux and FOSS More

Venezuela Embraces Linux and FOSS

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  • Anyone? Anyone?

    Is there anyone from Venezuela who can tell us what's really going on over there? Is the government really switching to OSS, or is it just a ploy to get discounts from Microsoft? If the switch to OSS has already happened, is it a support nightmare like Microsoft would have us believe?

    • Re:Hello, world? (Score:3, Informative)

      by Espectr0 ( 577637 )
      It's sad to tell you that i am here, are a member of VELUG, and don't know much. This article was posted 2 years ago (the one included to use OSS when we could), yet we used Windows inside the electoral machines sold by Smartmatic.

      Some things i do know, is that the initial backer for this project was Felipe Perez Marti, which was the Minister of Science and Technology.

      Appearing from nowhere, Microsoft gave the goverment a new deal, and seems we were back to "normal". The minister was let go a few months l
    • I'm from Venezuela and I'm on the VELUGs developer's list. I can tell you that there are quite a few developments in the server area in most government departments/ministries.

      One cool thing that happened not so long ago, was one of their IT people posting questions to our mailing list asking stuff about PostgreSQL and PHP.

      I think Linux has a lot of potential on the private sector, we just need more help from the BSA, so that they can bust pirated copies of Windows. When people start spending so much mone
  • Why isn't everyone else doing this? It just seems so obviously reasonable.
    • Because some people just KNOW that free stuff can NEVER be as good as or better than stuff you pay for. Since it's free there must be hook somewhere!
    • 1. Best tool for the job. Open or closed, BEST tool.
      2. Support. Forums and mailing-lists do not (officially) count, enterprise-level support REQUIRES a phone number that can get a live trained tech to fix the problem.

      Does Debian or Gentoo have that?

      • Well I don't know about Gentoo (although I doubt it's any different), but my company provides "a phone number that can get a live trained tech to fix the problem" for Debian users.

        This is a service that we offer to our clients, and it works well. After all, we have full access to the source code, so why should we not be able to fix the problem? There are companies all over the world who happily provide this kind of service - what we do is not unusual.

        So-called "enterprise-level" support in the Microsof

  • in Venezuela, I suppose.
    7 posts so far.

    It's a shame, because VZ is one of South America's most interesting countries. I've traveled the country from Valencia to Parima, and it has a lot going for it. If you ever have the chance, go there. You won't be disappointed.
    • You just like Venezuela cuz it's got S. America's hottest women.
    • Why come to my country to visit the big cities? You have probably been in big cities yourself.

      Venezuela's tourism resides in other landscapes. For example, we have the highest waterfall in the world, called Salto Angel (angel falls).

      We have some beautiful beaches on Archipielago Los Roques, and tourists from all the world in Margarita Island.

      We have every kind of soil and climate you can imagine. Climate is mostly hot, but you can visit Merida and Peak Bolivar (~5000 meters) for some cold snow. Or visit
      • My primary travel interest is nature, so of course I've seen everything in between too (including Morrocoy, the Gran Sabana and both halves of Margarita).

        I only missed the Andes and the llanos, but I'll be back someday. It's an amazing country, and extremely undertravelled.

        BTW I didn't find the climate overly hot; at 30C it's really rather nice except when you have to do physical exercise. Try places like Phoenix, Cairo, Sevilla and parts of India for a really hot climate...

        You are priviledged to live t
        • You are priviledged to live there - the only negatives are the lousy politics, the slums in Caracas (the result of an uneven wealth distribution) and the ever present sandflies - but maybe you can add more...

          Sure. Congress just approved a law that will put people in jail if they give bad input about how they see the goverment. The media is terrorized and the main news channel has changed most of its programming.

          A law will be approved in congress soon, that contains some gems as this:

          "It is OK to steal
  • ...which would be nice, seeing that he may believe more in free software than he does in a free society.

  • No freedom here! (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Soroths ( 701517 )
    I am from Venezuela and I can tell you that this *dictator* does not believe in anything that has to do with freedom.... what else could you expect from a failed military whose only jump into popularity were two disastrous, bloody and failed coupes? And he calls the oppsition "coup plotters"..... hahahahahahaha!!!! Well, more on the linux front, I have no faith what so ever on the initiative, everything they've done has always had a "reason behind it", if you know what I mean... maybe it is getting more di

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