Guest post by Cuba recently launched its own answer to Windows this week, or, in the bigger picture, what the Cubans are calling “US Hegemony.” Nova, the new open source OS being offered by the Cuban government, is being made to boot out US-based Microsoft products.
The government of Cuba, following in a round-about way the footsteps of Russia and China, wishes to oust Microsoft products for several reasons, the most prominent of those being that Microsoft is US-based and they therefore fear that US security agencies have access to Microsoft code, also that, due to the embargo by the US, Microsoft software is hard to come by legally and difficult to update.
Hector Rodriguez, dean of the School of Free Software at the University of Information Sciences in Cuba, said that several government ministries as well as the universities have switched to the Linux platform, but there has been some struggle with other government sectors that are worried that the operating system will not be compatible with necessary and unique software.
He also said that he expects half of the computers on the island to be running Nova within five years, as well as:
Also:
The Cuban people apparently need independence from Microsoft and the world at large, and just what Rodriguez means by “soveriegnty…” well, using one’s creativity, that could mean anything from having a superior system to Windows to taking over the world by nuclear force; I’m personally rooting for the former.
…therefore fear that US security agencies have access to Microsoft code, also that, due to the embargo by the US, Microsoft software is hard to come by legally and difficult to update.
Windows is well known to have backdoors for the FBI and CIA and has had them for quite some time. That can be disturbing for them, as both the US government and Microsoft have been shown to have no qualms with using illegal means to achieve their ends.
I am not sure how difficult it is to come by MS software legally in Cuba, but it is difficult for anyone to update, not just our Cuban friends.
Incorrect.
It is the NSA that has “access keys” implanted in all version of Windows since XP. The NSA have the right to spy on whatever the user is doing.
The FBI and CIA do not. They need a court approved warrant to be sent to the NSA to view access.
Back to topic;
Unlike Cuba, who fully understands the problems with proprietary operating systems, my employer, in their great wisdom, has decided to go to a fully Microsoft shop on our works computers, because, and I will quote the memo…..
“Open source software cannot be used on *********’s computer systems as anyone can alter the source code and place a virus inside.
Windows Vista or XP should be used in place of Linux or Solaris on the servers and all personal computers should be running Windows Vista.
No-one across the floor should install any product without the approval of the line manager.”
The funny part was the anyone can stick a virus into the code, because anyone can view the code.
I should point out that the person who sent out the memo is a newly appointed director, he came to us from PC World.
Edited 2009-02-12 08:12 UTC
access key = backdoor.
Considering how easy it is to get warrants (as the RIAA has shown), it should be easy to see why some people are concerned. Besides being an invasion of privacy, it could be used as yet another hole for criminals to use to gain personal information.
Besides, I would think a decently configured stateful firewall would block attempts to access it from outside.
Wrong, the NSA may have the right to spy on US users, but not any user in the world.
Just like wiretaps?
The NSA has always had free reign to spy on the rest of the world. They were restricted from spying on U.S. citizens until the Bush administration lifted that ban in the wake of the WTC/Pentagon incident. Currently, they can and do spy on anyone they want without outside permission.
Edited 2009-02-12 10:03 UTC
In a sense you are correct, but also wrong. They don’t legally have the permission to spy on US citizens. That’s what the whole FICA mess was about. But they have and could again in the future. There was also a tweak made to the policy, if a US based person was speaking with someone outside of the country then they could be listened to as well.
Fica?
The NSA was given the OK to spy on U.S. citizens by the Bush administration. But then the IRS pointed out that the NSA was liable for a hefty “spy tax” for each employee involved in an instance of that, which at least temporarily curtailed the practice while NSA accountants looked for a loop-hole. No further details exist on the resolution. Not surprising, as the inside joke within the department is that NSA stands for “Never Say Anything”.
Sometimes, where PR and political pressure fail, bureaucratic inertia and budgetary complications can succeed.
I think he meant “FISA”. 😉
Edited 2009-02-13 00:03 UTC
You miss my point. The NSA have the USA’s permission to spy on whoever they want, but that only makes it legal in the US
I suspected that was what you meant. But what are you going to do? Ask the NSA, nicely, to please stop it?
We could demand their extradition – but ignoring the fact that they are a government agency (and all the complications that would add), the British/US extradition treaty only goes one way at the moment.
No big surprise. From what I recall of the last time I read PC World, they are mostly still aware that there is anything other than Windows.
You people don’t have any idea of what means to live in Cuba, free software or not. Most Cubans don’t have the RIGHT ( not the possibility ) to use internet ( or many other things ). The government is not doing this because they believe in freedom ( they don’t , any kind ), they are doing it because they are afraid of getting into trouble because of their use of pirated software at all levels.
They’re afraid of getting in trouble?
What would they be afraid of? A U.S. trade embargo? Oh wait…
Yes they are, because many companies has relations with Cuba ( or with cubans institutions ) even with
the embargo. Also they don’t buy anything that can get for free no matter what, that’s why there
is so many pirated software there. In the past ( I imagine that today too ) the ministery of
internal affairs had a department dedicated to that ( called MC ). The embargo has hit them
but don’t believe in all that you heard, for example, the US is Cuba’s 1st food provider.
You have also probably already listened to pirated music from Cuba.
http://www.lawdit.co.uk/reading_room/room/view_article.asp?name=../…
The embargo still stands in the US (not in the UK).
Yes, it goes both ways.
Edited 2009-02-12 10:51 UTC
Or Because the Russians told them it would be a good thing to do. That would be reason enough for them.
You do know that Russia isn’t communist anymore, right?
You know they still spy on us, and we still spy on them, right? You know they have thousands of nuclear weapons, right? Please reply when you’ve passed 7th grade social studies.
No shit, really? They still have spies and weapons? Thanks Prof. Obvious.
Congratulations on missing the point, it being that the ties with Cuba are not as strong as back when the Soviet Union existed and was communist.
Edited 2009-02-13 10:46 UTC
I believe fascist would be the more appropriate term to describe the political system in Russia today under Putin.
Here is a excerpt from Wikipedia on the definition of Fascism.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism
Why would you run Vista or XP on a server? Wouldn’t you run 2003 or 2008? Sounds like this new manager doesn’t know a damn thing about computers, and therefore shouldn’t be making any requests regarding them.
Exactly. IT decisions should always be made by the head of IT department. However, this director has more sway because he is a director…
Incorrect , access key and backdoor into Microsoft OS are accesible in stores and on the street and on the internet everywhere …
The FBI and CIA do not relly on NSA to access into anyone computers , they will get in touch with the NSA to CRACK into security code that they are unable to crack thesmelf.
Can you clarify, do you mean PC World magazine or something else (e.g. in the UK we have a store chain called PC World)?
I only ask because it is not clear where you are posting from – also the latter would make a lot of sense because PC World (stores) is a shop for “windows shops” (I don’t know a great deal about the magazine).
Where on earth did you get such a preposterous idea? If it is so well known, it would be against all current laws and US Federal regulations, and therefore would be shut down. Please post some type of proof in the way of links or whatever, not just conjecture.
Does this mean that the NSA has backdoors in Linux since they wrote and control SELinux??
He was off on the specifics, and it’s not incontrovertible proof, but take a look here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSAKEY
Hahahahaha
Well, I have proof those things are shutdown. Watergate, etc. Conspiracy theories are just that, theories. If you can give me actual proof, I’ll begin to believe you. I don’t do black helicopters.
I didn’t say I had proof, but I had the source of where he got the idea. And if that doesn’t make you wonder, there is something wrong with you. I don’t really get your Watergate comment. It was an actual conspiracy, and a good example of one at that:
1. The government has broken the law knowingly and with impunity.
2. There have been confirmed “conspiracies” to deprive people of rights and privacy.
3. Even if they are badly executed, you might not find out about them unless someone on the inside blabs.
Even rant-happy Schneier doesn’t think it’s an NSA backdoor, which is good enough for me, but the whole point of the NSA is communications intelligence gathering.
Well, Watergate is an example of where the individuals got what they deserved and justice was served. That was not a government conspiracy, but a few individuals who happened to hold positions within the government.
Again, proof please.
And yet more proof needed. If they are confirmed, please supply info.
Agreed. In this case there would be no proof.
Actually , where the internet and computer world is concerned there are very few US law and regulations outside of property laws. Reglementation and standards are not laws …
Your crazy talking here the FBI and CIA wil never be shut down because they break US law or regulation … Neither does Microsoft who brought the entire USDOJ to it’s knee …
Type FBI , CIA , Microsoft , Backdoors in Google …
The NSA did not wrote nor control SELinux … they participated in it , not the same thing. Even then they probably have a way to crack into it , but they will go hardware instead of software.
Fidel is sure a goofy dude.
Free software for NON-FREE people!
I guess dictators don’t like competition.
There is a mention in the article about some people being aversive at the start over compatibility.
This is only a problem if you do not carry out regular audits on your applications, or if you are unaware of alternatives.
Applications are almost always disposable, they can easily be replaced…..
Pause for a few minutes while shills retort that they need this or that feature in Office/Photoshop/Publisher/Quark whatever….
Once you have your applications replaced, there is still the problem with other people sending documents in formats you cannot open.
This is what keeps proprietary software working, and as soon as countries/companies/me and you stop the dependency, then we are no longer addicted.
There is a few governments, ie the UK who will return a tender application unopened unless the attachement is send as an open format.
By “shills,” I take it that you mean “anyone who uses their computer for actual productive, paying work”?
Ah yes, the ‘ol OSS bait-and-switch. I think I know how this goes:
1) Engage in self-righteous posturing about how proprietary software (and anyone who uses it) is somehow evil/immoral/kills kittens/etc.
2) When someone is gullible enough to fall for that, point them to open source “alternatives.”
3) Wait for the user to inevitably complain that the so-called “alternative” is missing features (or is just plain broken) compared to the (evil/immoral/Satan-spawn) proprietary software they had been using.
4) Mock the user’s naiveté for expecting open source applications to be polished, functional, or stable. Or just resort to the standard OSS buck-passing tactic: “it’s open source, just download the code, spend 3 or 4 years learning how to program – and fix the problem yourself. Duh!”
5) ….?
6) PROFIT!!!*
(*that is, profit for the makers of the proprietary software that the user goes back to – after they get tired of the OSS “blame the user” mentality.)
OK, my turn to feed the troll.
You sir are a troll and a shill. No point arguing, just look at your name !
The OP was describing the people who in discussions about something like OpenOffice will complain about features in MSOffice that are used by maybe 0.05% of office users.
The same people who cannot use GIMP because the menus are different than Photoshop.
As far as I am aware, there is nothing in the proprietary world that I cannot do with open source.
Stop trolling and give cold hard examples.
If not STFU
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereignty
Seems like a pretty reasonable working definition to me.
Clearly, in running Windows a government cannot really claim it has sovereignty over its own data. Much of its data will be locked away in obscure proprietary formats …
Yeah, that’s clearly Cuba’s biggest problem.
Roll my eyes. Sigh. You are getting almost as tiresome as you are foolish, Thom.
(a) What does it cost Cuba (government) to use open source software? What risks would it involve?
(b) What does it cost them to use Windows? What risks would it involve?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereignty#External_sovereignty
Clear winner for the first option, from the Cuban government point of view.
Edited 2009-02-12 09:06 UTC
Let me put it this way.
When a man is dying of incurable cancer, would you organise a party with balloons and pinatas when the doctor tells you he cured that man’s ingrown toenail?
Cuba is a totalitarian dictatorship. I find it kind of sad that people apparently find it okay that the Cuban government cares more about possible backdoors in software than it does about the well-being of its own people.
Of course! If the guy is dying, you should be doing anything you can to make him feel better in the time remaining. To write him off simply because he won’t be around sooner rather than later is the height of cruelty.
Sure beats “Yeah, he cured your ingrown toenail but that’s no reason to be happy. You’re gonna die soon anyway”.
Who says anything about it being ok that they care more about one than the other? This posts was about sovereignty, not about what Cuba cares more about.
This is OSNews, we talk about OS.
You have your political view and many people don’t agree with you. No need to start another cold war or propaganda war on OSNews. You probably never went to Cuba anyway.
Edited 2009-02-12 10:53 UTC
A dictatorship yes, totalitarian, I’m not so sure about that.
After the “Special Period”, for instance, collectivism was to a certain extent sacrificed for more private ownership (with the concept of usufruct); basically the government was forced to do that because of the food/agricultural/oil crisis.
I’m sure it’s politically incorrect in many circles, but whatever the flaws and evils of the Cuban government, contrast for example the level of education to that of many other autocratic third world nations. And contrast the way the Cubans coped with their major energy crisis, to what’s going on and what will be going on in North America when the dollar collapses.
And perhaps some people here watched Michael Moore’s Sicko. 😉
Not to justify anything of course, but tell me Thom where the democracy in say the Netherlands is? Or perhaps you’d agree we have a “totalitarian bureaucracy” here? 🙂
Let me put it this way.
When a man is dying of incurable cancer, would you organise a party with balloons and pinatas when the doctor tells you he cured that man’s ingrown toenail?
Cuba is a totalitarian dictatorship. I find it kind of sad that people apparently find it okay that the Cuban government cares more about possible backdoors in software than it does about the well-being of its own people.
Last year Fidel Castro stepped down from the throne and let his son take over. Last year also saw the right for regular citizens to obtain and use personal computers. That’s a start in my opinion. Government support for an OS which whomever citizen can modify to his or her liking is also a step towards some freedom.
Don’t be so anti-Cuba. No one likes dictatorship except the dictators themselves, but every single step towards freedom in any of its forms for the citizens and their data is a step in the right direction.
🙂 You really think that citizens who are just now being allowed to use computers, (and most probably can’t afford them anyhow), will suddenly be able to understand the source code for Linux/Gnome/KDE and modify it?
“Last year Fidel Castro stepped down from the throne and let his son take over.”
Actually it is his brother, not his son.
Brother, who was also a revolutioner, not son.
Well, if Cuba was an evil government, I’d want them focused on the most trivial things that are not directly related to the suppression of their people.
Second, Cuba does have one of the best medical systems in the world.
The truth isn’t one way or the other. They aren’t completely evil nor completely good. No one is. There is no valid reason why they are treated differently than China is.
Cuba as free healthcare , go find the other country , who don’t , first , when talking about well-being of its own people.
Edited 2009-02-12 21:01 UTC
Didn’t Microsoft have a program where someone could pay to look at Windows’ source code? Microsoft is a company; given the right amount of money, they’d likely be happy to do what was asked of them, the same way Microsoft, Yahoo!, and Google bend over backwards to accomodate the Chinese government’s “privacy concerns”.
Yes, but I highly doubt you are given the opportunity to build your system out of the source code you get to see, so basically you’d have to believe that the source code you are seeing is actually the exact source of the binaries you are running.
And you might also want to check that of the compiler.
Edited 2009-02-12 22:41 UTC
The Cuban people first and foremost need independence from the oppressive and exploitative Cuban government. This press release is government propaganda.
Edited 2009-02-12 08:44 UTC
The Etats-Unians ( citizne of USofA ) people first and foremost need independence from the oppressive and exploitative Etats-Unians government. This press release is government propaganda.
The CANADIANS people first and foremost need independence from the oppressive and exploitative CANADIAN government. This press release is government propaganda.
The NETHERLAND people first and foremost need independence from the oppressive and exploitative NETHERLAND government. This press release is government propaganda.
—–
Your words are hollow and empty …
Merriam-Webster defines statism as a “concentration of economic controls and planning in the hands of a highly centralized government.”
Statism is an ideology that many people subscribe to it and many governments are indeed exploitative and oppressive. Cuba isn’t alone in that regard.
Yes the countries you list almost certainly exploit and oppress their populace, but that isn’t the point. Your straw man argument is empty and hollow.
Edited 2009-02-13 01:39 UTC
The Republic of Cuba …
Republicanism :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republicanism
The only valid point was and is that you have no real point. No argumentation was needed then nor now to show that point.
If the regime was that oppressive the cuban people would have found a way to kill castro off long ago.
Well there is a certain amount of indoctrination and “re-education” that comes along with communism. Couple that with the fact that they have a standing army of over a hundred thousand.
Just like the Russians got rid of Stalin, eh?
I’m pretty sure “Nova” means “Doesn’t go” in Spanish. If it didn’t work for a car, it shouldn’t work for a distro.
Perhaps you are thinking of
http://www.snopes.com/business/misxlate/nova.asp
It’s an urban myth.
Although when the snopes article says:
it may be a little overoptimistic – given the fact that Mitsubishi brought out a vehicle named “Pajero”.
Florry
No Va! LOL OH MY GOD! That was freakin’ funny!
“Nova” is “New” in spanish.
You can argue that its about freedom, but in reality they have no guarantee that their Linux system will be any more backdoor-free compared with proprietary products unless they trace every line of code themselves.
Furthermore, for a country where no one (apparently including the government) has any money, they really don’t have much of a choice unless they want to get a pirated windows.
My last take: A country which is so primitive, migration to Linux would be much easier since common people don’t own computers.
That is my question too. If the software comes as binary code only installed on their computers the users have no way of know if there are any hidden backdoors or log files on the systems they are using.
Without a compiler and the source code, users are still using a closed source system no matter where the original code came from.
I wonder what it is about Cuba that so fascinates us. It’s a small country with an awful political system and a pretty modest GDP. Sudan, say, has a higher GDP than Cuba but “Sudan goes open source” would not make any headlines whereas with Cuba it’s news. Is it, I wonder, because Cuba is about the only country left still trying to sell the failed dream of communism whereas Russia, having abandoned that, has nothing left to sell, ideologically anyway. Dunno.
I think it may be because Castro has given the U.S the middle finger right in their face for more than 45 years.
Gotta respect that, if nothing else.
Not really the smartest move considering the effects of the embargo on them. Venezuela can get away with that because they have the oil, but Cuba is just plain screwed.
I didn’t say it was smart. Besides, it’s only the U.S embargo, much of the rest of the world doesn’t really care about their Don Quiote-esque fight against communism and are gladly trading with Cuba.
Is? They’ve been doing it for 45 years. “Is screwed” may be a long time coming.
Yeah, is because just when they got rid of Fidel, along comes Raul.
US Cuban policy has nothing to do with communism. It has everything to do with Florida.
Basically, winning Florida is pretty crucial to winning the Presidency because of the electoral college. Many ex-Cubans live in Florida and they are vehemently anti-Castro. So, our whole Cuban policy is shaped by a relatively small group of people living in Florida.
Anyone who is intellectually honest–regardless of what they think about the Cuban regime–realizes that our trade embargo is absolutely ridiculous. Just look at China. China is just as bad if not worse than Cuba in terms of freedom/human rights and yet they get most favored nation trading status.
Yeah, that does have a lot to do with it. But you know, back in the good ole 80’s it was because of the ultimate evil: communism. At least officially.
Sort of how now it is officially because the Cuban people is opressed and Castro is (was) a dictator.
Plus I wanted to use “Don Quiote-esque”.
Edited 2009-02-12 16:16 UTC
Venezuela can get away with what?
The CIA tried to get rid of Chávez, yet Venezuela is still selling oil to the US. Now who’s getting away with something here? 🙂
Because Cuba is a lot closer to the US than Sudan.
True, but I didn’t mean just the USA, I’d say the same fascination extends to Europe and perhaps to many other places around the world. And I wasn’t think only of Cuba’s politics, in fact more of their art and culture.
So it will be interesting to see whether Cuba produces just another *nix or something altogether more different and original. One wouldn’t expect that from Russia but it might well be the case in Cuba. Necessity does seem to have led the Cubans to come up with clever ideas, such as their urban gardening schemes (for organic food). Maybe, who knows, in five years Ubuntu will have a heady Havana flava …
Edited 2009-02-12 12:46 UTC
“I wonder what it is about Cuba that so fascinates us. It’s a small country with an awful political system and a pretty modest GDP. Sudan, say, has a higher GDP than Cuba but “Sudan goes open source” would not make any headlines whereas with Cuba it’s news.”
Sudan is dangerous but it is not taboo like Cuba. Anything that is taboo fascinates us. Do you know why a lot of counties don’t need porn? Because they are not repressed sexually so they don’t need it. Here in the U.S. sex is taboo (in MOST of the country it really is) which is why there is such heavy demand for pornography. It’s the same in Arab states too. At least for the people that are rich and above the law. Poor people get executed for porn.
Anyway, Cuba is Taboo therefore it fascinates us.
Edited 2009-02-12 15:33 UTC
US are puritans so they like porn hurr. Why then does France have a significant industry? Or Sweden, which is pretty much the most liberated nation in the world? It’s everywhere, which tells me it’s less about breaking taboos than about appealing to some common human urges.
Most “Swedish” porn is made in the U.S.
because it does not follow the herd , like your own country whatever your country might be, if Cuba follow the herd it would be like Haiti. By the way all of south america is going left big time following cuba’s example, the US was right to try to destroy them every which way they can, now we see why. don’t you see this?.
Because Republicans and Conservatives tend to see it as very nice place but Castro keeps most of his people poor. Communism is a joke.
Because Democrates and Liberals tend to see it as a socialistic paradise which works because Castro keeps his people equaly poor.
See Communism works.
It very funny if you think about it. I wish they were free.
Huh! In the end. Most countries will opt out of Microsoft because 1. You will never know if you are secure and 2. You keep your self respect if you roll your own.
Price aside. With standard file formats it doesn’t matter which you choose!
The world is not divided into the good and the bad
Good Cuba standing up against Bad US imperialism and unjust foreign policy
Or
Good USA bastion of freedom standing up against Bad Communist tyranny
Possibly the bad and the worse
Bad US government spying on nations and individuals by using Backdoors etc
Worse drug traffickers, child pornographers state sponsored terrorism.
Or Bad Cuba poor, myopic and oppressive on the one hand on the other Worse the US imposing its will and corrupt un-elected governments on other countries against the will of their peoples
Its difficult sometimes to tell the bad from the worse.
America is the only country that has spies?
You mean like Columbia?
You mean like Austria?
Like say Iran or Syria?
Is that some kind of veiled reference to Iraq where they just had elections?
Yeah, especially if you think all the world’s evil is centered in the U.S. and Cuba.
No and I’m not dividing the world into bad US and good the rest, I have real problems with the UK governments data collection, on it citizens, for example – in fact I rather envy US citizens for the constitution, so if you want US Bad UK worse.
No I was rather thinking of individuals and criminal gangs
No I was rather thinking of individuals and criminal gangs
Possibly – Syria did harbour Ilich Ramirez Sanchez (Carlos the Jackal) but I was thinking Afghanistan under the Taliban or Libyan support for the IRA
No I was thinking of Allende and the Pinochet coup, or possibly US support for Mobutu Sese Seko
Again I’m not dividing the world between the baddies US and Cuba and the goodies the rest. I can think of much worse places than the US (a place I’d like to live and work in) and probably Cuba, one being a day or so North of where I live, in fact in terms of poverty, life expectancy and opportunity much of Africa would be worse.
Worse is common
This is my polite and short reply.
I never get why the US as to be #1 in the bad list for the US citizien to realize they have a huge problem , where as most sane country like CANADA would be in shock just to be on the list in the first place.
In the US your in the top 5 of most of the bad list people can come up with but since your not the #1 on those bad list it’s not a real problem for you why ?
You’ll have to be more specific. Which lists are you referring to, and why do you assume it’s not a problem?
For example, if you’re talking about the crime rate, of course we’re concerned about it.
Edited 2009-02-13 06:04 UTC
Can it be downloaded ? And if so, where? Would like to get it if it’s available outside the country.
Ah! A post related to OSes… I thought I would never see the day…
Totally agree!
And talking about Nova… what is it? Is it based on Ubuntu? on Debian? on… I dunno… Gentoo?
What package manager does it use? apt-get, yum, Portage or pkgsrc?
What desktop manager does it uses?
What application do come bundled into it?
Did the developers of this new distro add something new to the bluesky or just “remixed” an existing distro?
What is the way of distributing it?
I do not know, but politics always hide the essential with demagogy and this article is more about the last thing…. and here in OSnews, we all are interested more in the essential thing: The OS [no matter if Fidel, Evita Perón, Maho… err… Obama or Gandhi developed it]
Edited 2009-02-12 14:47 UTC
My guess, and purely a guess, would be either deb based or rpm based distribution. It would seem strange to go a self compiling src distribution like Gentoo or Sorcerer. It increases complexity, install time and the benefits won’t be seen by most of the users.
No idea if it can be downloaded outside of the country, but I did a half-minutes’ search on Google and found that it’s based off of Gentoo.
http://www.itworld.com/operating-systems/62558/software-libre-cuba-…
There’s also a link to a video that shows the OS in action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTXIzaxfox4
Interesting…
Nice links. Thanks.
I love the spanglish in the video.
+5
In communist Cuba you do not download the operating systen, the operating system downloads you!
First China was enraged against Windows when the WGA was activated, with Chinese state-run TV (CCTV-9) showing angry Chinese users who had lost control of their desktop to a “black screen” and alluding to mass movement to Red Flag Linux (as if it is the ONLY Linux). With the US economy in tatters and the US seeking to borrow trillions from China and other “enemies”, it is no longer in a position to force reciprocal importation of its VERY few, and highly UNWANTED, exports such as MS Software, GM cars, Disney movies, etc.
Cuba, Russia, Iran, Venezuela, North Korea, and the rest of this sphere of influence have strong bilateral ties to China and will follow China’s lead. They will all benefit from being able to use almost free discarded PC’s such as 2.4GHz Pentium IV with 256M RAM and 1G HDD from the EU and USA, which are
forced by so-called “free market forces” to migrate to Vista/Windows 7 with new, faster hardware. Future hardware discards will also be exported instead of being returned to Dell/HP etc. under the “crush old computers prepaid” plan designed to keep these companies and MS from competing against old hardware and old Windows versions. It will be difficult to argue that landfilling these computers is still a good thing with currently increasing global environmental awareness.
Bill Gates monopoly depended on the near absence of any positive examples of Linux adoption, always offering free hardware/software, “Windows Starter Edition”, anything to stop any major adoption by any entity, no matter how small, that might create an example of successful Linux adoption. It also depended on “Windows as free software” piracy availability globally, and in Ballmer’s greed he has cracked this solid monopoly for the sake of a few quarters of slightly higher MSFT stock prices.
http://www.zdnet.fr/actualites/informatique/0,39040745,39387101,00….
(in french)
The report in french is totally different in style than the reuters one.
they don’t talk about the US relationship with Cuba at all and it looks like the cuban government didn’t talk about the US.
they will base it on gentoo, but it does not mean they will compile everything from source. emerge does support binary packages.
Edited 2009-02-12 16:16 UTC
Looks like the Free(dom Fries) Software Movement(tm) has made some interesting bedfellows!
Probably going to see a lot more of this in third world countries. As you pointed, some open source applications may not be suitable for the corporate world, but then again not everybody can afford a copy of Photoshop.
Though I sort of would have expected the Russians and Chinese to come up with their own operating systems if they really wanted to be secure.
Most GNU/Linux vendor are US based or have US offices Red Hat , Novell , Gentoo , etc … The US government is a huge user of GNU/Linux it’s just never mentionned because it’s not what cost the most …
Corporate world mostly use Free Software and Open Source solution , there is more of everything else then there are Microsoft desktop …
Russia and China already started their switch to Free Software a long time ago.
What’s great with Free Software is you can pay someone to adapt it for you and then deploy it once it’s ready.
Edited 2009-02-12 22:34 UTC
I see you conveniently forgot to mention Munich as an example. I wonder why…
Munich is a city first , so you probably meant Germany wich is the country where the city is , they are part of the EU , a founding member at that , witch as open source requirement and they plan on migrating 80% of their workforce for sure :
http://news.cnet.com/Munich-fires-up-Linux-at-last/2100-7344_3-6119…
I did not see the OP discussing it and saw no need to add it …
No, Moulinrouge, I mean Munich. You know, the city that your fellow Freetards were all excited about when it announced its plan to switch to Open Sores? And the same city that you conveniently don’t mention anymore, now that they’re years behind schedule, not to mention hugely over-budget?
Sorry , I don’t know who Moulinrouge is , Since it was below my real life name Moulinneuf , I thought you where talking to me.
There are alternatives to Photoshop. Namely Gimp and Paint.net…
You really cannot help trolling, if it was “Free(dom Fries) Software Movement(tm)”, how is it supporting Freedom by setting itself up with a trademark ?
Give it up man, you really are shit at trolling.
Six more Linux users!! What’s that push the market share to… 0.84%?
Market share has no relevance to the number of users… Dopey
Must be the new Microsoft get the facts …
OMFG, this article talks about Cuba without talking about those f–king commies who eat childrens!
Damn, this is propaganda! Cuba sucks OMG! linux? I don’t care, Cuba OMG it’s CUBA, the COMMIES!:!!!!
Seriously guyz, please grow up…
you should do this long before, but great decision anyway. I’m looking forward to visit this beautiful country and enjoy it clean.
Nobody seems to recognize the technology behind Nova:
– http://planet.sabayonlinux.org/?p=225
There is Sabayon Linux (Entropy Package Manager) behind!
We or the Cuban people should trust an OS designed and developed by a totalitarian dictatorship? That’s insane. That’s like trusting a cell phone designed and distributed by the KGB! All this finger pointing at the NSA/CIA, etc…..over supposed back-doors in Microsoft products. No one is forcing you to use their product. Be thankful that you who are posting on this site have the right to use the OS of your choice as well as access to the rest of the world!
Most Cubans aren’t allowed ANY contact with the world off their little island, internet or otherwise.
How many products in your house is made in China?
Exactly…..and no one is forcing me to use Chinese or Taiwanese products. I have the choice to use whatever I wish and if I’m so paranoid to think that the Chinese government is interested in what I happen to be doing on my computer, then I can buy products made elsewhere.
Cuba’s homegrown OS will be just another tool that the government there will use to spy on and control it’s citizens. They won’t have a choice. They’ll be forced to use “CubaOS” and have the DGI (Directorate General of Intelligence) watching everything they do on a PC.
So I guess you chose to buy them and contribute to the Chinese governments oppression of the people then.
No, I choose to buy their products based on the fair market value. Which I might add, enables their workers to earn a living and pursue a better life. Cuba’s economy is closed and not even China requires their citizens to use a state designed operating system(aka spyware). They can use Linux or whatever……
So if Cuba just allowed American companies to put up sweatshops and exploit the Cuban population all would be fine.
Btw, the notion that it enables them to live a better life is fscking nonsense and it’s the kind of rationalization that we westerners tell ourselves so that we can continue buying cheap stuff.
No, but they do like to spy on what their citizens are doing and they are preventing them from going wherever they want on the internet and they cant speak their mind.
But, the U.S owes them a shitload of money and they allow sweatshops so all is well.