[Ubuntu-ni] Fwd: Cuba and its own Linux, NOVA

[Rodrigo Peñalba]

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From: Renata Avila <renata.avila.pinto en gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Feb 11, 2009 at 2:41 PM
Subject: Cuba and its own Linux, NOVA
To: gv-americas <GV-Americas en googlegroups.com>


Puede ser interesante para los fans de Free Software de GV-Americas.
Cuba launches own Linux variant to counter U.S. Wed Feb 11, 2009 7:41pm GMT

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By Esteban Israel

HAVANA, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Cuba launched its own variant of the Linux
computer operating system this week in the latest front of the communist
island's battle against what it views as U.S. hegemony.

The Cuban variant, called Nova, was introduced at a Havana computer
conference on "technological sovereignty" and is central to the Cuban
government's desire to replace the Microsoft software running most of the
island's computers.

The government views the use of Microsoft systems, developed by U.S.-based
Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O<http://uk.reuters.com/business/quotes/quote?symbol=MSFT.O>),
as a potential threat because it says U.S. security agencies have access to
Microsoft codes.

Also, the long-standing U.S. trade embargo against the island makes it
difficult for Cubans to get Microsoft software legally and to update it.

"Getting greater control over the informatic process is an important issue,"
said Communications Minister Ramiro Valdes, who heads a commission pushing
Cuba's migration to free software.

Cuba, which is 90 miles (144 km) from Florida, has been resisting U.S.
domination in one form or another since Fidel Castro took over Cuba in a
1959 revolution.

Younger brother Raul Castro replaced the ailing 82-year-old leader last
year, but the U.S.-Cuba conflict goes on, now in the world of software.

According to Hector Rodriguez, dean of the School of Free Software at Cuba's
University of Information Sciences, about 20 percent of computers in Cuba,
where computer sales to the public began only last year, are currently using
Linux.

Nova is Cuba's own configuration of Linux and bundles various applications
of the operating system.

Rodriguez said several government ministries and the Cuban university system
have made the switch to Linux but there has been resistance from government
companies concerned about its compatibility with their specialized
applications.

"I would like to think that in five years our country will have more than 50
percent migrated (to Linux)," he said.

Unlike Microsoft, Linux is free and has open access that allows users to
modify its code to fit their needs.

"Private software can have black holes and malicious codes that one doesn't
know about," Rodriguez said. "That doesn't happen with free software."

Apart from security concerns, free software better suits Cuba's world view,
he said.

"The free software movement is closer to the ideology of the Cuban people,
above all for the independence and sovereignty." (Editing by Jeff Franks and
Bill Trott)

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