[Fsf-india] NEWS: Peru discovers Machu penguin

Frederick Noronha fred@bytesforall.org
Thu, 25 Apr 2002 11:49:54 +0530 (IST) 

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   Peru Discovers Machu Penguin
   By [22]Julia Scheeres 
   [23]Print this   o   [24]E-mail it
   2:00 a.m. April 22, 2002 PDT
   With  a  bill on the table that would mandate the use of free software
   in  government  computers,  Peru  has become the latest Latin American
   country  to seek alternatives to what some call another form of Yankee
   imperialism: proprietary software.

   Mexico,  Argentina  and  Brazil have all pursued similar measures in a
   government-led  movement  that is sweeping the region and carries both
   pragmatic and philosophical overtones.

   [spacer.gif]
       See also:
   o   [25]Linux and Office: What a Concept
   o   [26]Mexican Schools Embrace Windows
   o   [27]Cure for South Africa's Ills
   o   [28]Open Source Is on the Air
   o   News from the [29]Linux front
   On a practical level, proponents say that switching to [30]open-source
   programs  --  which allow users to view and modify the underlying code
   that  makes  the  computer  operate  -- can save countries millions of
   dollars  that  are now spent on licenses for [31]proprietary software,
   whose code is hidden.

   In  a loftier sense, many view open-source or free software as the key
   to  the  region's technological future and its widespread use a matter
   of national pride and autonomy. Government use of open source -- which
   would encourage developers to write their own software -- would foment
   a  homegrown  software industry that could compete with giants such as
   Microsoft, the thinking goes.

   Microsoft  reciprocates  the  feelings  of  revulsion  in its attitude
   toward the open-source community, with top Microsoft execs calling the
   open-source movement both a [32]cancer and -- the worst epithet of all
   --[33]Un-American.

   "Linux  is  a  cancer that attaches itself in an intellectual property
   sense  to everything it touches," Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told the
   Chicago Sun-Times last year.

   What  threat  does  a  band  of  loosely organized zealots pose to the
   multi-billion dollar software giant? A big one, apparently.

   "Once  these  governments create their own industry it liberates them,
   gives  them  an  income  source  and allows them to tap into the world
   economy like nothing else, because software is the highest value-added
   product  out  there,"  said  Tony  Stanco,  a senior policy analyst at
   George Washington University's [34]Cyberspace Policy Institute and the
   founder   of  [35]Free  Developers.net,  a  group  that  promotes  the
   universal adoption of free software.

   In a [36]speech before the World Bank in December, Stanco defined free
   software  drive  as  "an international social movement that touches on
   the fundamental human rights of freedom and democracy."

   Indeed,  the wording of Peru's bill -- which is making its way through
   the Peruvian legislature -- is spiced liberally with the word freedom:
   Freedom  to use, freedom to modify, freedom to distribute and "freedom
   to  publish without restrictions for the benefit of all humanity." The
   bill  also  posits  that  government  use of proprietary software is a
   national  security  risk; that hidden code could contain "back doors,"
   programs  that  allow remote control of computers and reveal sensitive
   state information open to prying eyes.

   Microsoft  has  not  watched  the  flurry  of legislation and interest
   passively.  When local evangelists push for politicians to incorporate
   free  software  in  their  e-government  and  cost-saving initiatives,
   Microsoft  leaps  in  with  a  few freebies to keep the powers-that-be
   hooked  on  their  product.  (Afterward  the  company  sends out press
   releases  publicizing  the  donation  and  Microsoft's mission to help
   "bridge the digital divide.")

   "That's  their  strategy,  they throw money at these projects and hope
   that  the movement goes away," said Stanco. "But they won't be able to
   spend their way out of this. More countries are realizing that if they
   want to be an IT player worldwide, they need to promote open source at
   home."

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