Vlade i open source

Kina:

Liu Bo is a former Microsoft executive who is now chief executive of Red Flag, a Chinese government-backed company set up to create software based on Linux. Liu said, “no one can guarantee that Windows does not have back doors.” [link]

Uvjeren sam kako se veliki kineski vatrozid (firewall) vrti na linux serverima. Taj veliki vatrozid služi služi za filtriranje internet prometa, tako da zle informacije ne bi dospjele u ruke kineskih građana.

Ako su Kinezi zaista uvjereno u Linux i open source - zašto ne bi otvorili kod "Velikog vatrozida"? Uvjeren sam da bi Venezuela, Kuba, Rusija (i mnoge druge poludemokratske i nedomokratske vlade) veselo prihvatile mogućnost korištenja kineskog sustava za filtriranje informacija na internetu...

Rusija:

The position of the Russian government .... it is no good for Russian citizens to study and work using commercial Western software ... The thing is that authorities of one of the Russian regions now offer Linux for download from their own website. [link]

Kuba:

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. [link]

Venezuela:

"This follows the principle of national scientific independence, so that we do not depend on privately owned software. If knowledge does not have owners, then intellectual property is a trap set by neo-liberalism,” Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said ... [link]

Ja vjerujem u to da bi vlade trebale koristiti open source (za one poslove za koje ima smisla). Ali, to što Kina, Kuba, Venezuela i Rusija prihvaćaju linux samo zato što je alternativa zapadnjački komercijalni software nije baš neki posebno jak argument (nama) korisnicima linuxa i open sourcea.

Dobar argument bi bio: Vlade bi ga trebale koristiti jer im je isplativije. Ne zbog ideoloških razloga.