The Brazilian Public Sector to Choose Free Software
Date: Saturday, June 07 @ 01:24:07 EDT
Topic: News and Information


Translated Summary by Gonzalo Porcel (http://www.gporcel.net)

Original Story can be read here:
http://www.hispalinux.es/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=209

Rio de Janeiro, 2 June (EFE) The Brazilian government plans to migrate from Windows to Linux 80% of all computers in state institutions and state-owned businesses, informed the daily newspaper "Valor". This will be a gradual migration, that will begin with a pilot project in one ministry and which will be completed over a period of three years, according to official sources cited by the financial daily.

The goal of the migration is to save money by finding alternatives to expensive proprietary licenses. Highlighting the gradual phase-in approach that the Brazilian government has adopted, Sergio Amadeu de Silveira, the president of the National Institute of Information Technology, stated that "We are not just going to do a hasty migration". He proceeded to say that "our main concern is the security and the trust of our citizens. The biggest resistance to any change comes from the existing cultural inertia".

The government, De Silveira explained, created two weeks ago the "Chamber for the Implementation of Software Libre" to pave the way for the upcoming migration.

A small part of the 2,095 million reals (about USD $700 million) that the Brazilian government budgeted for information technology spending goes to Microsoft, owner of the Windows OS. The government's decision to adopt Linux, according to De Silveira, will boost the popularity of the operating system among businesses and consumers. Moreover, it will foster the production of local software and "democratize access to knowledge", said De Silveira.

Great news. Thanks for the translation!



This article comes from PCLinuxOnline
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