In Brazil, It's PCs to the People

According to trends traced in this article, "in recent years Brazil has become one of the world's most prominent battlegrounds of the Microsoft Windows versus Linux war." And, as author Erico Guizzo highlights, use of free software - Linux - based on open source code that users can study and modify (as opposed to Microsoft's proprietary software) seems to be the way that Brazil's government and citizens are moving.

In large part, this trend seems to be attributable to the enthusiasm of Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who has "became an ardent advocate of free software." The reason? As Cezar Alvarez, one of da Silva's top aides, puts it, this strategy is "a means of stimulating our national software industry." As a result of da Silva's leanings, in 2004 alone 15 federal organisations adopted Linux and saved about US$11.8 million in licensing fees. The government estimates further switchovers could save up to $84 million.

At the same time, Guizzo reports, "da Silva began taking free software to Brazil's poorest citizens. One project includes opening thousands of community computer hubs where Brazilians will surf the Web, access government services, and take computing courses - all on PCs loaded with free software. Another initiative, called PC Conectado, or Connected PC, aims at helping low-income families buy their first computers and get on the Internet - once again, on PCs equipped only with free software. The goal is to sell 1 million PCs by year-end and even more per year after that. That might not seem like a lot in a country of 180 million, but according to market research firm IDC's branch in São Paulo, only 4 million PCs were sold in Brazil in 2004, and 74 percent of that, or nearly 3 million, were machines on which all taxes were not payed or which contained smuggled components." The government is helping make PCs more affordable by giving PC vendors tax incentives that may amount to a reduction of about 10% in the final price. In addition, the government offers to finance consumers' purchase of PCs equipped with Linux: 24 monthly payments of up to $27 at an interest rate of no more than 2.5% per month.

Brazil's minister of development and software trade groups have challenged such measures, arguing that the government should let consumers choose. In this context, Microsoft has tried to make in-roads by offering Brazil its proprietary Windows XP Starter Edition (a limited version of its operating system that runs only 3 programmes at a time, doesn't have networking capability, and doesn't support multiple user accounts) for a lower fee. A Microsoft spokesman in Brazil said the company is working to make computers more affordable not only in Brazil but also in other countries in Latin America and Asia.