“According to the international media, Brazil is a leader in
free and open source software (FOSS) adoption. The New York Times
describes the country as ‘a tropical outpost of the free software
movement,’ while BBC News claims that ‘Increasingly, Brazil’s
government ministries and state-run enterprises are abandoning
Windows in favour of ‘open-source’ or ‘free’ software.’ However,
FOSS advocates familiar with Brazil describe a less hopeful
situation.“They talk about unsystematic support by the government, and a
business atmosphere in which mention of FOSS is more about hype
than understanding the underlying philosophy. They say violations
of the GNU General Public License are commonplace. Some genuine
FOSS adoption does happen, they say, but, too often, it is marred
by inefficiency, and possibly widespread corruption…”