A bill has been introduced in Peru which would require the government to use free software.
Microsoft is of course outraged, and has complained. Here is the utterly amazing reply from Dr. Edgar David Villanueva Nunez, Congressman of the Republica of Peru. He says, in part:To guarantee the free access of citizens to public information, it is indespensable that the encoding of data is not tied to a single provider. The use of standard and open formats gives a guarantee of this free access, if necessary through the creation of compatible free software.
To guarantee the permanence of public data, it is necessary that the usability and maintenance of the software does not depend on the goodwill of the suppliers, or on the monopoly conditions imposed by them. For this reason the State needs systems the development of which can be guaranteed due to the availability of the source code. Amen. The whole letter is worth a read. (from MeFi)
right on!!!
The letter looks like it's been taken off the www.gnu.org.pe site. If anyone has a copy of the reply in their cache, please email it to me, thanks!
He's right. It seems to be gone. Maybe they got slashdotted. I'll bet it's on the gnu.org site but I haven't checked yet.
Here's a good follow up (round up) from linux today. When asked if there was anything he would like to add, Villanueva showed beyond the shadow of a doubt that he was the author of the letter: "I'd like to say to the people who are interested in free software, and also [those interested in] proprietary software, that really we should have a market economy; but a market economy where it isn't ruled by monopolies or 'Leo-polies'--where you don't have a situation where one guy is the Lion and leaves the Rat role for the others. So, that it [is] open, that it [is] democratic, that there [is] real competition, and that above all people are allowed to participate in technology. This is what I'm interested in, the philosophy that drives me, and as I've mentioned, I am a person that sees the enormous need for the youth to be brought closer to technology."
Note: the original letter is now archived here.
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Microsoft is of course outraged, and has complained. Here is the utterly amazing reply from Dr. Edgar David Villanueva Nunez, Congressman of the Republica of Peru. He says, in part:Amen. The whole letter is worth a read. (from MeFi)
- jim 5-03-2002 7:41 pm
right on!!!
- Skinny 5-04-2002 6:09 pm
The letter looks like it's been taken off the www.gnu.org.pe site. If anyone has a copy of the reply in their cache, please email it to me, thanks!
- merc1@superlink.net (guest) 5-06-2002 5:13 pm
He's right. It seems to be gone. Maybe they got slashdotted. I'll bet it's on the gnu.org site but I haven't checked yet.
- jim 5-06-2002 7:06 pm
Here's a good follow up (round up) from linux today.
- jim 5-21-2002 6:52 pm
Note: the original letter is now archived here.
- jim 5-21-2002 6:54 pm