Software Livre, Anyone? 211
tbray writes "They just had this
huge OSS conference in Brazil. One good write-up by Simon Phipps is here. And hey, down there, OSS and Java play nice together."
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Software Livre, Anyone?
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"What man has done, man can aspire to do." -- Jerry Pournelle, about space flight
Since TFA is in a foreign language... (Score:5, Informative)
Software Livre?? (Score:2)
Umm, wouldn't that be Software Libre?
Livre is French for book, that confused me a bit...
Re:Software Livre?? (Score:5, Informative)
Don't be so Franco-centric (Score:3, Informative)
French isn't even in the top ten! I will concede that it is the top second language, but still.
Re:Software Livre?? (Score:2, Informative)
While most of South American coutries speak Spanish, Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, and Surinam (a.k.a. "Dutch Guyana") do not. Major cities in Brazil were founded by Portuguese, mainly jesuitic missionaries and goldwashers. The massive italian migration the troll referred to happened between mid-XIX century and early XX century, due to coffee farms, and while it had great impact on our culture, it was certainly not enough to make
Translation (Score:2, Informative)
FISL: 35 coutries represented and all Brazilian states represented in the Forum.
Software Livre [FISL]), that ended today, June 5th, in Porto Alegre, had 4,854 attendants from 35 countries, comparing to the 20 countries of last year. All 27 Brazilian states were represented, as were 380 municipalities in the country. Of the total number of attendants, 1,014 people were representing firms or public instit
Missing the point (Score:1, Interesting)
While it is all well and good that the freedoms defined in the GPL exist and allow users the ability to modify and augment systems, those rights can be BOUGHT for a price from any software house. What can't be bought is the software at a cost of zero dollars.
So let's celebrate gratis software, because it is what will al
Re:Missing the point (Score:4, Insightful)
OSS is not being embraced because its zero cost, but because you have the freedom to do what you like with the source.
For example the performance of Oracle in certain situations may be preferable to any of the zero cost DB's, even to the point of justifying the large expenditure, but if there is a bug you *really* need fixed or a feature you want to add, then you are dependent on Oracle to change the codebase - which could be an even bigger cost!
Of course java has the source code available for you to do this. The concern there is that may not always be the case.
Re:Missing the point (Score:5, Insightful)
Without both I'd likely have never tried linux.
Plus bussiness have to meet a bottom line. The lack of up front cost for the software is attractive for that reason, and fact that they can tailor it more exactly to thier specific needs can improve efficiency and again impact thier bottom line.
Joe sixpack is much less likely to replace windows with something doesn't run moose sniper 9 and let him do that online billing thing if he has to pay out any significant $$ for it.
And of course your local computer geek gets all sorts of toys he can actually play with without having eula's threaten to do evil things if takes it apart and requiring his imortal soul and first born simply to run.
It's a good and altruist a motive to sing the virtues of open source I agree. But not paying $200+ a pop to mearly be able to actually run that nice shiny computer is a pretty nice thing as well.
Mycroft
Re:Missing the point (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Missing the point (Score:2)
Not by me. I've never touched the source of any OSS software. But I have been very happy I could download it for free.
Re:Missing the point (Score:2)
What other profession contains members that are dedicated to its destruction?
I'm all for other people giving me free stuff: don't let me stop you from writing a kickass image-manipulation program or web browser and making it available for free. But why should anyone be opposed to charging for software on principle?
Re:Missing the point (Score:4, Insightful)
The razorblade industry. They give away the razors, and charge for the blades. In the software industry, some companies give away the software and charge for the support.
Economics 101.
Re:Missing the point (Score:1)
Software support exists because software products sucks. If software were as good as razors and blades, no one would need support.
Re:Missing the point (Score:2)
Razors and blades are no better than soft
Re:Missing the point (Score:3, Insightful)
I'd hardly call making the software industry a commodity, service industry destruction. More like evolution and maturation.
At the moment broken IP law means that we have the completely farcical situation of a dominant mindshare company like M$ writing a program and getting paid billions for it and smaller company like Sun writing an identically functional program and getting paid 1/100 or less. The so-called free market is broken when that happens and it needs to be fixed.
The free market is a myth. A tr
Re:Missing the point (Score:2)
But why should anyone be opposed to charging for software on principle?
First let me say that I am not myself opposed to charging for software. But those are have reasons. For instance, they argue that sharing information with others is a fundamental right and therefore it is wrong for software companies to impose licenses that restrict the ability of people to share information.
Re:Missing the point (Score:1)
The legal profession. Win or lose they let each other copy their arguments and strategy and modify them as required. Shocking self-destructive idea, I know.
In fact pretty much any trade or profession if you're talking about copyrights. Patents do get used in, say, plumbing and medicine but nobody would claim to have copyrighted a new cure for life + 80 years or whatever we're up to now.
charging for software on principle (Score:2)
Re:Missing the point (Score:5, Insightful)
Also, you say that rights to modify programs can be bought from any company, but you can't find software that costs nothing. Let's take a look at a company almost everyone hates: Micro$oft. They certainly provide some free-as-in-beer software to the public, especially when it bolsters their monopoly. An example is the Visual C++ compiler. What I've never heard of is someone buying the source code to, say, Windows.
Allowing people to get the software for free is one of the many reasons free software can compete with proprietary programs, but that's only a byproduct of the real purpose: to let people actually buy software and do with it as they please, not just a license to use it in the way the author envisioned.
Re:Missing the point (Score:2)
What I've never heard of is someone buying the source code to, say, Windows.
Shared source licensing. [microsoft.com]
Re:Missing the point (Score:2)
Re:Missing the point (Score:4, Insightful)
If I distribute GPL'd software for a fee, am I required to also make it available to the public without a charge? [gnu.org]
No. However, if someone pays your fee and gets a copy, the GPL gives them the freedom to release it to the public, with or without a fee. For example, someone could pay your fee, and then put her copy on a web site for the general public.
What that means is that I CAN force you to pay whatever I want you to pay BUT then you can go off and undersell me. That makes it fine for contract work (one or two big payments) etc but not that good for Shrink Wrap as if it's get's popular someone else will try and sell it or give it away. What that means in real life is that if you try and GPL software you tend to sell the product + service which is standard once you get beyond shrinkwrap products. The besta example I can think of is ntop [ntop.org]
Re:Missing the point (Score:2)
kudos to Brazilian Goverment !! (Score:5, Insightful)
Free / Open Source software is the way to go.
You can't make your country a developed one by importing overrated and overprized propietary technology.
By the way, the brazilian goverment is also doing a good job negotiating FTAA (ALCA), not like most other countries in Latin America, which are desesperatly yielding to "free trade" agreements with the US, which only benefit big bussines and make more restrictive IP regulation, like the DMCA, software patents and extensive pharma patents for their countries.
Can you please explain "third world"? (Score:3, Interesting)
I agree with the points you are making, but I don't think it is proper to use the term "3rd world countries".
Third world countries? Are those countries with corrupt elections [amazon.com], corrupt judges [cbsnews.com], and corrupt government leadership [futurepower.org]?
Is a third world country one of those that is always making war on its neighbors [futurepower.net]? (The U.S. government has bombed 24 countries since the Second World War. The last Brazilian aggression outside the country was in 1822, I'm told.)
When you say "third world country" you give a
Some corrections... (Score:1, Informative)
The last Brazilian aggression outside the country was in 1822, I'm told.
Actually, Brazil (plus Argentina and Uruguay) fought against Paraguay in a war that started in 1864 and ended in 1870.
After that, Brazilian troops fought bravely against the Axis (and their allies) in World War II - in Italian territory and alongside U.S. troops, to be more precise.
Thanks for the correction. (Score:2)
Thanks. I knew a little about that war, but didn't remember it involved Brazil. I found it on Google: Brazil occupied Paraguay until 1878 [historical...rchive.com].
Aside from sending troops to fight in the Second World War, has there been any other Brazilian aggression outside the country since then?
(I'm certainly not worried about moderation, either. Sometimes topics come up, and need to be discussed. I think I made a good point, saying that Brazil is superior in some ways, but I want to get my facts straight.)
Re:Thanks for the correction. (Score:1)
Re:Can you please explain "third world"? (Score:1)
However, you can't deny that countries like Brazil have serious problems in several areas: poverty, health, safety, debt, etc.
Whealth may be not well distributed in the US, but I think most of the poorest people in America live better than people in the brazilian "favelas"
Not that I think that the U.S. is the "role model" to imitate; but despite its questionable goverment and its international
Re:Can you please explain "third world"? (Score:4, Insightful)
Whether the extremely poor live better in Brazil or in the US is very questionable.
Re:Can you please explain "third world"? (Score:4, Insightful)
I think you're being a little too sensitive about the term "Third World". Granted, it's developed all sorts of strange connotations over the years and maybe is best avoided, but it might be useful to go back to the original definition before you get all worked up.
Here's what a quick Google turned up. [thirdworldtraveler.com]
a totally different country... (Score:2, Informative)
if you look at the states of São Paulo (SP), Paraná (PR), Santa Catarina (SC) and Rio Grande do Sul (RS)(where the SL meeting took place), you will find people that live ~almost~ like in US or in Eur
check your facts (Score:2)
From 1864-1870, Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay fought a war against Paraguay. 90% of Paraguayan men were killed. I'm honestly surprised they held up for six whole years.
I'm not sure what defines a third-world country. I heard Ireland was considered third-world until very recently. Second world (almost never heard the term used) I think refers to to countries that were part of the Soviet bloc.
My post is directly relevant... (Score:2)
My post is directly relevant because it affects the entire way you understand the Slashdot article. Is the U.S. a superior nation, and Brazil is catching up? Or could the way things are done in Brazil teach us something, as the parent to my original post said?
You say the facts are distorted? Who should we believe, an AC or the authors of the 25 books linked in my post, that ALL say the U.S. government is corrupt? Are you saying that Bush and Cheney didn't go to jail for DUI? Are you saying Noel Bush wa
Re:My post is directly relevant... (Score:2)
I did a little research and I found different figures.
According to the official numbers [camara.gov.br] the average income in 2003 was R$ 8,565. By the end of 2003 a dollar was rated at 2.895 real. That means the average income was about $3,000.
New rating system: Parties (Score:4, Insightful)
I think that countries should be rated by the number of parties, not the number of dollars. In that case, Brazil wins.
Re:New rating system: Parties (Score:2, Interesting)
Brazil has a lot of parties, true fact. But in what does this helps the country to envolve ? absolutly nothing! atleast the way it's done in brazil.
We have parties that have barely the same name and ideas, but who are splitted because of personal interests on private power.
The increassing ammout of parties in Brazil only divides the political power it could achieve if it stay with only a few of them.
If we stick with only PT (the workers party), PSDB (the social party), PMDB (the conservati
I mean FESTAS, not PARTIDOS. (Score:2)
Sorry, Hagnat. I mean FESTAS, not PARTIDOS. Party as in having fun, not political party.
The number of parties, festas, is an index of happiness of the people. If we use that index, Brazil is at the top, and I don't know who is in second place.
If you lived in the U.S. ... (Score:3, Funny)
Brazil an Open Source [long post] (Score:5, Informative)
Brazil is walking the correct path to be the most advanced free-source country in the whole world, and yes, that includes the US. Why?
Government backing is one factor. We have our own version of GPL (which is partially incompatible with our legal system, but not void), the LPG [lpg.adv.br] (rtf file, Portuguese). It was made/rewritten from the GPL by the Brazilian Advocate Union. Yes, it's the single one that every lawyer must abide to and respect. The Creative Commons license is in the process of being translated and becoming an official licensing term, as in government-backed and even encouraged.
Yes, there are projects to yeld tax cuts to people and companies that use/distribute/publish free software.
DMCA is null and void here. Yes, we have to follow international copyright laws but you won't be fined if you hack your cable box or DVD player to learn a bit. Piracy? I can tell, it's pretty much the same as everywhere, with the exception of audio CDs that is rampant around the country. So BMG wants to try out a new content protection scam^H^H^H^Hscheme, well baby it won't work. You have a moral choice, to buy a crippled, legal CD for R$30 (around US$10) or the full monty, "generic" version for R$5 (US$1.70). And don't forget we earn A LOT less than our yankee friends. Allow me to say, I am a doctor and I make less than 1000 US monthly.
Speaking of generic, that's one law that was pretty much shoved down US companies and they hated us for that. But Time magazine once praised Brazilian health treatment to AIDS, citing it as an example to Third World Country. What happens is, any medicine patented prior to 1992 lost the patent. Other pharmaceutical companies are allowed to fabricate and distribute them. This was "bad" for them but the final blow comes next: if there is a strong public health interest, the government may cancel any other medical patent.
Think AIDS.
Yes, AIDS treatment is free around here. Government-backed laboratories reverse-engineer and produce zidovudine, lamivudine, 3TC, protease inhibitors and whatnot. They are given (as in gratis) to registered AIDS patients.
You may say it's a harsh thing to do and laboratories want/need to make a profit, well, they do. But when public health is significantly more important than personal gain the table will turn. You know what? The laboratories whined at first, but now they kinda agree with that. They lost their rings to keep their fingers, as an adage says.
In music/entertainment, I can say for sure that many of the most prominent musicians like Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso are strong backers of the "music wants to be free" mindset.
Hey, don't take my word on that. Lawrence Lessig, Creative Commons director, recently told the press that Brazil is becoming the world's epicenter of Free/OSS dicussion.
Re:Brazil an Open Source [long post] (Score:1)
Re:kudos to Brazilian Goverment !! (Score:1)
Finally, 3rd world countries are getting it!
Finally? Brazil has had Conectiva Linux alive and well for a long time, using it on government infrastructure and beyond. I wish the US were as receptive of Open Source as Brazil is.
I myself am from Argentina, another country which should "get it" as much as Brazil does. I actually envy the guys.
Re:kudos to Brazilian Goverment !! (Score:1)
PT = Partido dos Trabalhadores = Workers Party
Nice. Lula is negotiating with China to export high tech jobs to them in exchange for commodities like soy. It's a smart move.
Another smart move (a really one): all the branches from PT are receving new computers, which run Microsoft products.
Why? I think PT doesn't want to loose the next elections (in November). If they are using Microsoft, it means they doesnt trust OSS for anything that isn't anti-capitalism proselytism.
Brazil (Score:1)
hardware recycling (Score:3, Insightful)
Livre means (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Livre means (Score:1)
Just the same way "Free" confuses any non-English speaker.
What's your point?
If anything, it should be in the REAL universal language: Latin.
It doesn't even favor any country. It's a dead language (unfortunately in my opinion).
--
Damn it. I'm reposting under my account, even though I'm boycotting Slashdot, because French people, with their language protectionism, piss me off. And no, I'm not assum
Re:Livre means (Score:5, Informative)
Furthermore, Livre in portuguese means exactlly "free as in freedom" and cannot be misunderstood. For "free beer" we [portuguese speakers] use the word Gratis, that means "no fee, no charge". That's quite different from english, where "free" may assume both "free as in freedom" and "free beer".
Re:Livre means (Score:2)
While Livra is an expeletive used similarly to the (non-portuguese) "sheesh" or "huff" such as "Sheesh! (livra!) That was a hard course"
Livru on the other hand doesn't exist, unless you're trying to spel some regional way of saying livro (because the sounds are similar).
Livri also doesn't exist. It might however be used by people that faking the ability to speak latin (who knows, maybe it even is latin).
As for Livry, let's just say the Y
Re:Livre means (Score:2)
Re:Livre means (Score:2)
Re:IN FREEDOM FRANCE (Score:3, Insightful)
And you would prefer a country where you cannot criticise your own governement???
Isen't that the exact reason why U.S. "claims" they removed saddam from power? Because it was not a democracy? And you sit here attacking the most important part of a democratic system???
Are you a confused American?
Software freedom, not "OSS" (Score:5, Informative)
No, they just had this huge free software conference in Brazil. Even robotic translation software gets this right. Lots of people around the world understand free software as being distinct from [gnu.org] "open source software" (OSS). Not everyone is so eager to back a movement which caters to the percieved needs of businesses.
The Microsoft Guide To Wealth (Score:5, Funny)
Apparently, the business plan that Microsoft is encouraging Brazil to follow is:
1) Send money to Microsoft.
2) ???
3) Profit!!!
Re:The Microsoft Guide To Wealth (Score:1)
(1) I will get this huge bonu$ from the lobby, and
(2) They already have all this FUD (which LOOKS true, good enough) advertised in the media for months that I can use to defend my vote for them in commissions, etc. and prevent me from looking evil (in the worst case I can plead being "mislead" and still get re-elected).
Open Source and Java (Score:4, Interesting)
Bruno Souza
IIRC, RMS wrote a piece encouraging developers to not use Java, because Sun still wants to keep people under their thumb. That position is now kinda mitigated by GCJ [gnu.org] but I still agree with RMS's position... To be truly free [speech] software, your language cannot be under a corporate thumb like that.
I have never seen a Java advocate counted among the champions of free software and this is a very encouraging step.
One of many? How many times have we seen this on slashdot:
Sun is opening Java!
Wait, not yet
No, for real this itme, Sun is opening Java
Well, "real soon now"
etc.
Re:Open Source and Java (Score:1, Troll)
You say that as if its a universal axiom, yet its strangely unsupported in any way.
However, there is a LOT of open source Java software (the excellent work going on at Apache Jakarta [apache.org] being just one of many fine examples). There is absolutely no reason whatsoever that Java programmers can't play in the open source arena along with anyone else.
I find it very disturbing that RMS (and you) would attempt to verball
Re:Open Source and Java (Score:2)
"I find it very disturbing that RMS (and you) would attempt to verbally exclude all the open source software that thousands of developers are giving to the world every day simply to take a cheap political stab at Sun. I would like to think that F/OSS is INCLUSIONARY not exclusionary."
You came to this conclusion from the statement:
"To be truly free [speec
Re:Open Source and Java (Score:2)
No, the only conclusion I can make is that just because RMS says its so, it doesn't necessarily make it so.
My whole point, and my only point, was a rejection of your (still) unsubstaniated presumption that the tons and tons of free/open source software written in the Java language is not "truly" free.
The only logical fallicy, I'm afraid, is yours when you say, es
Re:Open Source and Java (Score:2)
I suggest you read a book on arguing.
I made no statements about the validity of the assumptions, merely that your logic was faulty.
And you have countered that with a statement that is true, (If X says Y, then it does not imply that Y is true) but irrelevant.
Saying "Java software is not truly free because Java software is not truly free." is not necessarily logical fallicy, merely an supported argument. You would have to show it to be invalid, not just unsubstan
Re:Open Source and Java (Score:3, Funny)
Okay.
You're not too good with this logic thing.
That would be, ummmm.. "ad hominem"
You would have to show it to be invalid, not just unsubstantiated.
That would be... that's right: "shifting the burden of proof". (Magic exists because no one has proven it doesn't.)
Re:Open Source and Java (Score:2)
The statement:
"Magic exists because no one has proven it doesn't."
Isn't necessarily invalid. It's just unsubstantiated.
Why is this so hard for people to understand?
Re:Open Source and Java (Score:2)
Sun's license forbids any one besides them to distribute the Java sdk.
Sun's license also doesn't obligate them to support the Java sdk.
Now suppose that you have written a project that depends on Sun's sdk for proper functioning. Perhaps it's a code editor.
Sun may at their discression, and without warning, make changes in their product (including discontinuing it) which wi
Re:Open Source and Java (Score:2)
This isn't true at all. I do my Java development using IBM's Java SDK (which is available for Linux as an RPM). There are several Java SDKs available that are produced by people who aren't Sun. I saw on another thread here a link to a webpage that lists some of them.
Sun's license also doesn't obligate them to support the Java sdk.
This is true, but kinda irrelevant. The same thing is true with every open source license. There's
Re:Open Source and Java (Score:2)
N.B.: IBM's sdk differs in several ways from Sun's sdk. I said "If your project depends on Sun's sdk". There are several projects that have slightly differing sdk's and many pro
Re:Open Source and Java (Score:2)
Okay... this is all mixed up. The RPM I referred to was IBM's, not Sun's -- so any RedHat deal with Sun has nothing to do with any of this. So have I read Sun's license? No, because I use IBM's SDK. Do they have a redistribution restriction? No. They even r
Java and OSS (Score:3, Insightful)
Even though the Java API & implementation are controlled by Sun, why should that discourage OSS developers from writing software in it? If you can still release your source code freely while the Java VM remains free for download, what's the harm?
Case in point, Azureus [sourceforge.net] is a great BitTorrent client/server written in Java, and released under the GPL. As its source code is made freely available, it receives the same feedback as other GPL'd programs receive developed for an open source language.
And just recently, I've found Java useful for controlling my Lego Mindstorms robots (see Lejos [sourceforge.net]) to making my own peer-to-peer program (working on it in my spare time... coming soon, hopefully). I'll be releasing all the source code for these projects online, under the GPL -- isn't that what really matters?
Again, I'm just ignorant. Please enlighten me!
- sm
Re:Java and OSS (Score:3, Insightful)
But, what you fail to realize is one simple fact: Sun controls you when you write Java (for the most part). In fact, look at your own post:
the Java API & implementation are controlled by Sun
You cannot have a truly free program, no matter how much code you GPL, while the language itself is controlled by a corporation only interested in keeping it proprietary.
This is my opinion only, if you l
Re:Java and OSS (Score:2)
Re:Java and OSS (Score:2)
Fuck Java, honestly.
Dave
Re:Java and OSS (Score:2)
Now I have to manually update my customer database (groan).
Re:Java and OSS (Score:2, Insightful)
Fuck you, honestly.
BTW, if you really want help with you issues, instead of taking the time to post FUD at
Re:Java and OSS (Score:2)
Tomcat, for the beginners, is a Java servelet engine. It runs on Java. Sure, one can install it with "apt-get install tomcat4" but you then have the not minor task of telling tomcat where to get Java from. Do you use the Sun one? Do we download the IBM one? Do we use blackdown? None of the above are supported by Debian because of their (sole downside) fanatical belief in Free with a big F.
Anyway, so you google like there's no tomorrow, install a bunch of stuff and att
Re:Java and OSS (Score:2)
Hmm, interesting.
Well, since I have been able to install and run Tomcat and Java (Sun JDK an IBM) on RedHat and Suse boxes without issue in under an hour. I must assume that the problem lies with Debian or your configuration.
So, try this. At a command prompt type "java -versi
Re:Java and OSS (Score:2)
Installing Tomcat on Debian/Sarge in some steps:
1. Go to José Fonseca's homepage [dyndns.org] and add his repository to sources like he says.
2. apt-get install j2re1.4 j2sdk1.4 (I have no idea whether or not you need the sdk).
3. apt-get install tomcat4 tomcat4-webapps
4. Go into
5. Probably do
Microsoft to Brazil: (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Microsoft to Brazil: (Score:2)
Re:Microsoft to Brazil: (Score:2)
A remarkable country (Score:5, Interesting)
Apart from the many obvious attractions this country has to offer (the Amazon ecosystem, the unbelievable food, the friendliness of its citizens, the great beaches etc.), Brazil is on its way to become the most modern state in South America and setting the pace for the development of the continent in many respects.
The current government seems to have realized that sovereignity and independence are the two most important goals that cannot be achieved by relying on foreign companies in many areas of everyday life. Software is only one part of it, food, beverages, automobiles, clothing, oil and gas are others and Brazil is on its way to create and maintain economic independence in all these areas.
One of the most overlooked facts of the entire matter is the rather weak currency, which makes one copy of Windows XP extremely expensive. Just to give you an idea about the costs of life in Brazil: A dinner for four persons in a 5-Star restaurant in downtown Rio (www.porcao.com.br) with the most amazing variety and quality of food, incredibly attentive waiters, a posh setting and numerous drinks cost me about 90$. Having wined and dined people in similiar surroundings in New York and Chicago, the bill in these places ran well over 300 USD.
Even at reduced prices, Microsoft products are way too expensive for the regular Joe and a government operating on a tight budget. Economically it doesn't make any sense at all to transfer license fees to the USA, when comparable software can be had for free and can be supported from with the country's own resources.
Re:A remarkable country (Score:1)
As for the state of the Real and its weakness as a unit of currency, I must agree that many nice things can be had in Brasil for small amounts of money. I acquired accomodations in a nice downtime hotel in Curiti
Re:A remarkable country (Score:2)
I mean in terms of comparing it to Brasil as you mentioned above.
Re:A remarkable country (Score:2, Informative)
But, then again, people always choose what to believe. I won't be the one trying to open our eyes.
questions about OSS and Linux (Score:1, Interesting)
Another question. If I have Win2K on one HDD and intend to install Linux on another HDD, and if I write LILO to the
Re:questions about OSS and Linux (Score:1)
Re:questions about OSS and Linux (Score:2)
300,000 Computers Switched from Windows to Linux? (Score:4, Interesting)
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?t
And if Lula, the President of Brazil, is reelected for more 4 years, you can expect some serious open source trend in Brazil!
Perhaps it will be the biggest country so far to really support open source. And Brazil was a pioneer on the adoption of Electronic Vote Machines, so you can realize that my country is kind of irresponsible in its attitudes!
Be afraid Microsoft! Be very afraid!
Re:300,000 Computers Switched from Windows to Linu (Score:2, Informative)
http://tinyurl.com/2srd5 [tinyurl.com]
Re:300,000 Computers Switched from Windows to Linu (Score:1)
Since their government started all they did in this are is to increase the already ridiculously high taxes on companies (even small ones), they are trying to force everybody that works as a company to work as hired help (thus dramatically increasing taxation), they are trying to
Re:300,000 Computers Switched from Windows to Linu (Score:1)
Re:300,000 Computers Switched from Windows to Linu (Score:2, Interesting)
Reports says the Government is spending less than half of the budget dedicated to the poverty fighting.
The Lulas government is corrupt.
Java and OSS (Score:3, Insightful)
The problem with Java and OSS is that even the specifications for the Java environment are proprietary, that Sun does not permit independent reimplementations without their express approval (in the name of "compatibility"), and that once you look at Sun's source code, you are forever barred from participating in open source implementations (because Sun could claim them as derivative works).
See, the problem with OSS and Java is not the OSS side--OSS developers have gone out of their way to accomodate Sun around the world. Maybe Brasilian developers are more gullible and less critical than elsewhere, but the party who isn't playing nice is Sun. And, unless Sun has changed their licenses for Brasil (which I doubt), OSS and Java have the same problems in Brasil as everywhere else.
platform independence (Score:1, Troll)
So, why, then, do they commit to using a proprietary platform owned and controled by a single company, Sun?
I think a more realistic assessment is that the people of Brasil haven't been through quite the same intellectual property headaches that the people of the US have been, so they are perhaps not quite as sensistive to the problems that Sun ownership of Java can potentially caus
tools and work and profit (Score:4, Insightful)
Charging through the nose for tools, I mean, say if I had to subscribe to tools, and had to constantly keep paying for tools that never improved much, and kept breaking, etc, would really suck. The REAL productivity would never get much better, I'd be stuck in tool/parts cost expense hell, productivty would keep dropping, not improving, and everyone starts to suffer.. Whenever the cost/price of tools and parts drops, and when the aggregation of the tools and parts (in this case a functioning tractor) increase, I am more productive, make more loot. Less downtime, less hassle, less headaches etc. I'm not out to make the tool companies rich,they can make a few clamss off me but not so much that it makes my job impossible. They have to stay real and keep their tools and parts good enough and cheap enough and functional enough for me to keep going in my real job. There's a symbiosis here that benfits all, but it would never happen if the tools and parts cost more than what the job makes. If it gets to the point that the aggregate is just not worth it, then that's that, it no longer is profitable for ANYONE concerned in the whole deal.
My point is, tools and parts are for the REAL WORK, they, in and of themselves, are NOT the entire real work. That's the major difference in see in the softwarez and IT world between closed/expensive/propietary and cheap(er)/free(er)/ and more open.
My best guess is, for example, the way-just a randomness here, say redhat- is approaching this situation fits closer to a profitable/workable arrangement for all concerned, shifting to non tangible products and tools. It's not perfect, not yet, but getting better and evolving to a happier medium that benefits all concerned. The over all societal benefit in having closer to free/cheap tools and parts, and tools and parts that people are free to modify for a particular purpose (say I need a wrench to fit into a tight spot, I can bend it in a vise to make it fit, no license or permission required, and I can share the design with others and still not suffer), then this is a good thing.
And I HAVE done this in meat space. There's an industry specific tool that's used all over that I designed and had built the first examples of.(It is not relevant the exact tool for this discussion) previous there were a lot of home made widgets that functioned similarily, but I made a professional one that was useful and durable enough that several companies are now producing and making them. I initially made a few bucks on it,and that was it, I recovered my costs basically and still own several of the first run, and have used them in *real* work, which was the original idea. I benefited initially from just borrowing a home made cob job example of the tool, then greatly improving on itwith my meagre 'developer" skills. But the design, etc, I just threw out to the world, no patents, copyrights, nuthin, just dumped it, free, because I understand having better tools is a good idea for the people who use to
Re:tools and work and profit (Score:3, Insightful)
It makes perfect sense, and I wish more people understood the point you're making. What it comes down to is that the purpose of software is not to make money for Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, et al.; the purpose of software is to get things done, hopefully faster and cheaper and easier than they would get done without the software. F/OSS helps people reach this goal -- sometimes easier, often faster, and almost always cheaper, than proprietary software does. That adds value to t
"Java" doesn't play nice? (Score:3, Informative)
GCJ/GIJ [gnu.org]
Kaffe VM [kaffe.org]
Jikes Java compiler [ibm.com]
SableVM [sablevm.org]
Java-GTK [sourceforge.net]
Documents about how to compile and use QTJava and KDEJava [kde.org]
What else do we need? How does all this not play well with Free software? We've got the tools, why not use them?
Re:"Java" doesn't play nice? (Score:1)
Re:Livre? (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Just make sure... (Score:2, Informative)
Brasil may have a lamtentable HIV problem, granted, but it certainly isn't in the same risk category as some Asian or African countries.
That being said, I severely doubt that many slashdotters will have much to fear from HIV inf
it was a headline story--where have YOU been? (Score:2)
Not only did I read about this story on fark (several times, with followups and extra details), it was in the NY Times as well. The reason the poster isn't "really cool" isn't because he knows about the recent HIV scare, but because he's insinuating that all Brazilian women are equivalent to porn stars.
Even if you never look at porn, if you care about free speech you should care about this story, b/c Ashcroft is itching for an exc