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Brazil And Linux Open Source on the way I heard an interesting story on NPR this morning (link not yet available) which reported that Brazil will be converting all government computers to open source operating systems, which I assume means Linux. I think the story said that would mean 300-thousand computers. Brazil, of course, is embarked on a new wave of socialism following the election of President Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva. (Don't think he's a socialist? Here's where he swooped into the World Social Conference in Puerto Alegre and called for an international effort to eliminate global poverty.) I would think the switch to open source would kind of fit the socialist mindset, and the NPR reporter couldn't keep the glee out of her voice as she reported that Microsoft is upset with the move. She also reported that Brazil was working with Venezuela and Korea (sic) to also make the switch. Or maybe I'm unfair with the sic - maybe even NPR figures there are not enough computers in North Korea to consider switching. I turned my thoughts to whether this is a good idea or not. If I were running an office that did only simple chores, such as word processing, or which used a proprietary program that had to be written anyway, I might chose Linux as an O/S. If nothing else, it would keep the employees from installing programs on the work computers. But what about productivity? Is there an organizer for Linux that works as well as ACT? My boss couldn't function without that program. And we'd be completely unable to work without Final Cut Pro, an Apple program for editing digital video. I've seen nothing remotely like this for Linux. What will be Bill Gates response? Will he make Windows open source? Probably not. Will he be forced to make Windows better? And what about viruses? With 300-thousand new computers in Brazil, more in Venezuela, and even more in "Korea" will the fat, virus writing kids be writing viruses for Linux? There's some debate about whether a Linux virus can be written, but it seems to me that someone, properly motivated, will find a way. It'll be interesting to see what happens. I wonder if Joe has any thoughts. Update - The NPR story is now online. Second Update - Joe does have some thoughts - including the best explanation I've seen of just what the Windows security problem is.
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