PCLinuxOnline/HispaLinux: The Brazilian Public Sector to Choose
Free Software
“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…'”
Stanco: Opinion on Brazil Making Open Source Mandatory in
Government
By Tony Stanco
Founding Director
The Center of Open Source & Government
According to the report [linked above], Brazil is making Open
Source mandatory for 80% of all computers in state institutions and
businesses, setting up a “Chamber for the Implementation of
Software Libre.”
While I think that Open Source in government is a good thing and
have been working towards that goal for many years, making it
mandatory is an industrial policy that may not succeed, which will
hurt Open Source in the long run.
It is much better for governments to set up a real level playing
field in procurement policy and then let the market decide on
merit. If a product can’t make it in the market without government
mandates, then history has shown that it won’t make it with
government mandates either. Brazil would have been better off to
have a policy to buy the best software for its technical needs,
whether it is Open Source or proprietary. In my opinion, Open
Source would succeed on the merits in most cases without the market
distortions that government preference programs cause. Ironically,
if Brazil buys Open Source just because it is Open Source rather
than the best product, their citizens will likely suffer long
term.
If governments want to create a culture of Open Source in their
country to create an indigenous software industry (a noble goal),
they are much better off working in the area of Education Policy,
rather than Procurement Policy. To use a sports metaphor,
Procurement Policy should be a race where the best win, so it needs
to be a scrupulously fair competition for all. Whereas Education
Policy is the practice and training exercises for the big race.
Using Procurement Policy for Open Source, ensures that Open Source
wins because they “knee cap” the competition, a morally
unsatisfying “win.” Using Education Policy for Open Source ensures
that Open Source wins because it produces the best developers and
software product.
Brazil should reconsider its strategy.