Brazil's Government Snuggles Up to Linux
Sun November 23, 2003 09:42 AM ET
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By Alberto Alerigi Jr.
SAO PAULO, Brazil (Reuters) - Brazil's government is urging its massive bureaucracy to use free software like Linux on its computer systems in a cost-cutting move that could cost Microsoft (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) millions of dollars in lost revenue.
The initiative seeks to reduce the cost of proprietary software licenses the government needs to use programs like Microsoft's Windows operating system, which runs about 90 percent of the world's computers.
The government says it spends more than 100 million reais, or about $34 million, a year on license payments, an amount deemed too big for the cost-conscious, left-leaning administration of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Lula's pro-Linux policies have put him in line with similar initiatives in China, Japan and South Korea, which launched a campaign to create an open operating system to compete against Windows in September.
Brazil's state-funded National Institute of Information Technology (ITI) also wants the initiative to boost the country's trade balance by exporting more locally developed software and reducing payments abroad for software licenses.
The Brazilian Software Excellence Promotion Society (Softex) estimated that the country imported $1 billion more in software than it exported in 2001.
"We buy 10 times more than we export," said ITI President Sergio Amadeu, who set up the government's guidelines for reducing the use of proprietary software.
Initially, the government is recommending that ministries and federal agencies stop buying computers embedded with operating systems, usually Windows.
Amadeu says the goal is not to change all government software over to Linux but to promote "open software use."
The ITI has launched pilot programs to explore which programs, systems and database software could benefit from free solutions based on Linux, an operating system whose use is growing in corporations around the globe.
Government agencies will have the autonomy to choose whether they want to opt for Linux, but they are being urged to identify specific areas where it can be used.
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