TECHNOLOGY-CUBA:
Widespread Resistance to
Free Software
By Patricia Grogg
HAVANA, (IPS) -
Although Cuba proclaimed
its intention to change
its computer operating
systems for free
software in 2005, the
shift seems to depend
more on the efforts of a
small community of
enthusiasts than on the
state agencies that are
officially in charge.
The overwhelming
majority of this
Caribbean island
nation’s computers run
on illegal copies of the
Windows operating
system, produced by
United States software
giant Microsoft, and use
pirated versions of
programmes for which no
license fees are paid,
which are also in effect
free to users.
"There’s still a great
deal of resistance to
the change,"
acknowledged Yudivián
Almeida, a professor in
the mathematics and
computer science
department at the
University of Havana. In
his view, Cubans are
impervious to the
argument that free
software costs nothing,
because the U.S. embargo
of the island means it
is obliged to ignore
licence fees anyway.
"We need to talk about
freedom, about knowing
exactly what you’re
using, and having the
opportunity to adapt the
software to your needs,"
Almeida, who coordinates
the Free Software and
Linux User Group at the
university, told IPS.
In Almeida’s view, apart
from the millions of
dollars in license fees
that Cuba would have to
pay if its relations
with Washington are
normalised, progress in
the country’s IT
industry depends on
having licenses that are
recognised by the
international market,
and at the moment only
free software meets that
condition.
"At one point we started
using proprietary
software on the
principle that Cuba has
a right to develop,"
said Almeida. "But now
that there is an
alternative, why should
we continue to use it?"
The General Public
License (GPL) created by
U.S. software developer
and software freedom
activist Richard
Stallman states that
free software must
comply with four
freedoms: the freedom to
run the programme for
any purpose; the freedom
to study how the
programme works and
adapt it to your needs;
the freedom to
redistribute copies so
you can help others; and
the freedom to improve
the programme and
release your
improvements to the
public, so that the
whole community
benefits.
Stallman visited Havana
in February for an
international IT event,
and took the opportunity
to recommend changing
over to free software.
"The main obstacle is
social inertia, but Cuba
is experienced in
fighting major
obstacles," he told the
newspaper Juventud
Rebelde.
In May 2005, the head of
the Office for
Computerising Cuban
Society, Roberto del
Puerto, announced that
the government was
preparing for its
central administration
offices to switch to
free software,
specifically the
GNU/Linux system, which
uses the Linux kernel
written by Linus
Torvalds of Finland in
1991.
A national group was
formed for this purpose,
including
representatives of the
ministries of education,
justice, interior,
higher education and the
armed forces, the
customs service, the
Office for Computerising
Cuban Society, the
Computer Sciences
University, the
University of Havana and
the José A. Echeverría
Institute.
Two years later, in July
2007, the deputy
minister of IT and
Communications, Jorge
Luis Perdomo, told
Juventud Rebelde that
using free software is
part of a strategy to
attain technological
sovereignty, and is a
"pillar of national
security."
According to Perdomo,
gradually weaning off of
Windows is a challenge
"as much in terms of
material resources as in
terms of training. At
the moment
organisational and
security aspects are
being structured so as
to create the necessary
conditions to facilitate
the changeover in the
country’s institutions."
So far, only the customs
service has adopted the
GNU/Linux system on all
of its computers,
although servers at the
electronic health
information network
Infomed, and at the
University of Havana,
have also been using
GNU/Linux since the
mid-1990s.
"Tailor-made
applications are the
biggest problem,"
Almeida said. These
programmes are written
to solve specific
problems, and tend to
run on Windows, as do
many of the multimedia
products widely used in
the national educational
system.
However, expanding the
adoption of an operating
system like GNU/Linux
does not seem to enjoy
unanimous approval among
experts. "We have to go
on using Windows,
because it is still
providing new
developments. To do
otherwise is crazy," an
expert on IT platforms
who wished to remain
anonymous told IPS.
Some 4,000 people have
trained as GNU/Linux
operators by taking
courses at the more than
600 Youth Computer and
Electronics Clubs, which
are organised by the
Young Communist League
and are dedicated to
spreading knowledge of
new technology
throughout the populace.
The government’s model
of "social appropriation
of information and
communication
technologies"
prioritises installation
of computers and
databases in sectors
such as health,
education, culture and
scientific centres, over
individual access.
"The Youth Clubs are
very helpful in
promoting free software
systems," said Almeida.
"They are working with
the community of free
software users to
organise a Latin
American Festival of
Installation of Free
Software (FLISOL) in
Cuba, the main events of
their kind, which are
celebrated every year
all over the continent."
"In Cuba, there is a
community of people who
like and promote free
software, but they are
not at all
institutionalised," said
Almeida, who has a
degree in computer
science. "More and more
people are interested in
learning Linux, but it’s
still a ‘guerrilla
movement’ that isn’t
taken seriously enough."
"We have to emphasise
the philosophy of free
software, the ideas of
cooperation and freedom
of information. The
ideas of the Cuban
Revolution are
compatible with this, so
why not work more
closely together in the
field of intellectual
development? I think of
this as a crusade
against the
privatisation of
knowledge," the expert
said. |
