Introduction to Free Software - SELF | Sharing Knowledge about ...
Introduction to Free Software - SELF | Sharing Knowledge about ...
Introduction to Free Software - SELF | Sharing Knowledge about ...
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© FUOC • P07/M2101/02709 32 <strong>Free</strong> <strong>Software</strong><br />
These years we are also starting <strong>to</strong> see the first effects of the offshoring that free<br />
software development allows: countries considered "peripheral" are actively<br />
participating in the world of free software. For example, the number of Mexi-<br />
can or Spanish developers (both countries with a limited tradition of software<br />
industry) in projects such as GNOME is significant (Lancashire, "Code, cultu-<br />
re and cash: the fading altruism of open source development", 2001) [164].<br />
And the role of Brazil is even more interesting, with is numerous developers<br />
and experts in free software technologies, and decisive backing from the pu-<br />
blic administrations. gnuLinEx is a case that merits special attention, as an<br />
example of how a region with very little tradition of software development<br />
can try <strong>to</strong> change the situation through an aggressive strategy of free software<br />
implantation.<br />
From the decision-making perspective when it comes <strong>to</strong> implementing softwa-<br />
re solutions, we would highlight the fact that there are certain markets (such<br />
as Internet services or office applications) in which free software is a natural<br />
choice that cannot be overlooked when studying what type of system <strong>to</strong> use.<br />
On the negative front, these years have seen how the legal environment in<br />
which free software operates is changing rapidly worldwide. On the one hand,<br />
software patents (programming patents) are increasingly adopted in more and<br />
more countries. On the other hand, new copyright laws make it difficult or<br />
impossible <strong>to</strong> develop free applications in some spheres, the most well-known<br />
one being DVD viewers (due <strong>to</strong> the CSS blur algorithm for images that this<br />
technology uses).<br />
gnuLinEx<br />
In the beginning of 2002 the Extremadura Regional Government publicly an-<br />
nounced the gnuLinEx project. The idea was simple: <strong>to</strong> promote the creation<br />
of a distribution based on GNU/Linux with the fundamental objective of using<br />
it on the thousands of computers <strong>to</strong> be installed in public schools throughout<br />
the region. Extremadura, situated in the western part of Spain, bordering Por-<br />
tugal, has approximately 1 million inhabitants and has never s<strong>to</strong>od out for<br />
its technological initiatives. In fact, the region had practically no software in-<br />
dustry.<br />
In this context, gnuLinEx has made a very interesting contribution <strong>to</strong> the free<br />
software panorama on a global scale. Beyond being just a new distribution of<br />
GNU/Linux based on Debian (which is still a worthy anecdote), and beyond<br />
its enormous impact on the mass media (it was the first time that Extrema-<br />
dura made the front cover of The Washing<strong>to</strong>n Post and one of the first that a<br />
free software product did), what is extraordinary is the (at least apparently)<br />
solid backing of a public administration for free software. The Regional Go-<br />
vernment of Extremadura decided <strong>to</strong> try a different model where educational<br />
software was concerned, and then <strong>to</strong> extend this model <strong>to</strong> all the software<br />
used within the scope of its influence. This has made it the first public admi-
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