[Fsf-kerala] Linux in Cuba

[kavita philip]

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Linux-and-Open-Source/Cuba-Launches-Own-Linux-Variant-to-Counter-US/?kc=rss

Cuba Launches Own Linux Variant to Counter U.S.
By Reuters
2009-02-11

A Linux operating system variant called Nova, introduced in Cuba at a  
computer conference on technological sovereignty, is part of an effort  
to replace the Microsoft software running most of Cuba's computers.  
The Cuban government views the use of Microsoft systems as a potential  
threat because it says U.S. security agencies have access to Microsoft  
codes.

HAVANA (Reuters)—Cuba launched its own variant of the Linux computer  
operating system this week in the latest front of the communist  
island's battle against what it views as U.S. hegemony.

The Cuban variant, called Nova, was introduced at a Havana computer  
conference on "technological sovereignty" and is central to the Cuban  
government's desire to replace the Microsoft software running most of  
the island's computers.

The government views the use of Microsoft systems, developed by U.S.- 
based Microsoft Corp, as a potential threat because it says U.S.  
security agencies have access to Microsoft codes.

Also, the long-standing U.S. trade embargo against the island makes it  
difficult for Cubans to get Microsoft software legally and to update it.

"Getting greater control over the informatic process is an important  
issue," said Communications Minister Ramiro Valdes, who heads a  
commission pushing Cuba's migration to free software.

Cuba, which is 90 miles from Florida, has been resisting U.S.  
domination in one form or another since Fidel Castro took over Cuba in  
a 1959 revolution.

Younger brother Raul Castro replaced the ailing 82-year-old leader  
last year, but the U.S.-Cuba conflict goes on, now in the world of  
software.

According to Hector Rodriguez, dean of the School of Free Software at  
Cuba's University of Information Sciences, about 20 percent of  
computers in Cuba, where computer sales to the public began only last  
year, are currently using Linux.

Nova is Cuba's own configuration of Linux and bundles various  
applications of the operating system.

Rodriguez said several government ministries and the Cuban university  
system have made the switch to Linux but there has been resistance  
from government companies concerned about its compatibility with their  
specialized applications.

"I would like to think that in five years our country will have more  
than 50 percent migrated (to Linux)," he said.

Unlike Microsoft, Linux is free and has open access that allows users  
to modify its code to fit their needs.

"Private software can have black holes and malicious codes that one  
doesn't know about," Rodriguez said. "That doesn't happen with free  
software."

Apart from security concerns, free software better suits Cuba's world  
view, he said.

"The free software movement is closer to the ideology of the Cuban  
people, above all for the independence and sovereignty."

(By Esteban Israel; Editing by Jeff Franks and Bill Trott)

Copyright Reuters 2009.