Interesting reflection that makes Maikel Llamaret in an article for him GUTL portal. It reflects the reality not only in our country, but in much of Latin America and other countries. I leave them below:
Authorized piracy in Cuba. A critical look from GUTL
We recently read the news related to an agreement between Canonical and the government of the People's Republic of China to create a new version of Ubuntu. When reading the article, many things crossed my mind, all related to our Migration Process to Free Software.
We who bet on this process ask ourselves too many questions every day and it is incomprehensible to see how, despite the imminent need to migrate to Free Technologies, proprietary software continues to predominate in our environment. Many examples can be put on this aspect, there are many obstacles that we find every day that we advocate turning to the Open-Source / Free-Software world.
But our reality is one: easier we find the compact update of all versions of Kaspersky o NOD32 (I am telling you about several hundred MiB) than any free application.
Each new version of the Microsoft Windows operating system or the Office office suite is quickly disseminated on our intranet and even their releases are disseminated by our media.
Take the trouble to check the national download sites, you will find Windows 8 isos of almost 4 GB (with its respective crack) and you will find it difficult to find the NOVA GNU / Linux isos of just over 600 MB and national production. Or tell me that it is easier for you to find in our download areas .cu, Office 2010 (almost 1 GB) or LibreOffice 4.0.1 (less than 200 MB).
It is totally ironic to observe how from time to time we can read some news related to decisions to "promote the use of Free Software in Cuba to guarantee technological sovereignty" and it is impossible for us to access that software that they claim to promote, while it is widely disseminated throughout the world. Island antivirus tool updates with their installers included and of course, they cannot be missing, serials and cracks.
Many tend to hide behind the absurd, unjust and criminal economic embargo that the United States has maintained against Cuba for more than 50 years and they are partly right. You have to use Windows illegally because we have no way to legally obtain licenses, the same is extrapolated to other tools such as Office, the Adobe suite and an endless list. But, two questions arise:
- What happens to other tools that are not owned by our neighbor to the north, and we still use them in violation of licenses?
- Is it totally necessary to use illegal copies of Microsoft Windows, Office, Adobe and the endless list, existing free alternatives already known?
A clear example related to the first question is the well-known Russian antivirus Kaspersky. As far as I know, Cuba can obtain legal licenses to use certain versions of Kaspersky, licenses are obtained for a certain number of computers according to the price and even with the possibility of staying legally, often keys granted for dozens or a few hundred of computers are spread throughout the country as if it were the most legal and normal thing in the world, being installed in thousands of computers on the island.
Something similar happens with the Slovak NOD32 antivirus. Of course, if the use of free solutions such as CLAMAV and national companies, such as Segurmatics or others related, they will focus on creating a friendly graphical interface for it, things were different.
This Kaspersky license is issued for ten computers. However, it walks our entire island from hand to hand. A good example of unnecessary "piracy". Who promotes the use of this license?
Fragment of an explanatory PDF on how to crack NOD32 5. Downloaded from our Cuban intranet.
Illustrating the matter
I believe that if the process of migration to Free Technologies on our island were promoted with more transparency and objectivity, proprietary software would not disappear, but its use would considerably decrease, and this is not a Utopia, not dear reader, this is possible. Let's take a clear example.
A few years ago, due to the known security deficiencies of the popular Microsoft browser, Internet Explorer, our country decided to stop using it and gradually replace it with Mozilla Firefox, as a result, a few years later, Internet Explorer has been practically banished from our institutions. A clear example that if you can when there is a strong will and desire to achieve things.
Building the foundation on a good foundation
I believe that our excellent educational system should be used to create the foundations of a technologically independent society. I'm not one of those who believes that Windows should stop being taught in schools.
No, that would be a big mistake, Windows exists and will exist whether we like it or not, the same is true for the great ecosystem of proprietary applications. But I think that it should also be taught from an early age to work with the equivalent free tools.
Introducing the bases of learning free operating systems (for that we have our own Nova GNU / Linux system) from primary or secondary education would guarantee us a solid base for the construction of that Technologically Independent society that we heard about a few years ago. . Properly preparing our teaching staff to face this task should be a priority from now on.
In this mission, I believe that the Young Club of Computing and Electronics could play a leading role. Create circles of interest with students from the schools surrounding these facilities where children interested in Computer Science can take their first steps in the Open Source / Free Software world without creating dependencies on proprietary tools, which we are not authorized to use. use, at least not illegally. Just think of something, how many fruits would we get from many of those infants 7 or 8 years later?
There are still edges to be touched regarding these issues of Software Piracy or Free Software Promotion, but we better leave it for later articles ...
The even more terrible thing (or pathetic, without the intention of offending someone), is that there are countries like mine (Costa Rica), where the possibilities of access to the network are greater (not better), and even so, pirating is preferred the software to choose a free option. I still remember when Microsoft started a campaign with the government to license all institutions that had pirated versions of their applications. Millions of dollars paid to make it legal, when opting for free software would have been cheaper and more educational. A couple of years ago an initiative was promoted to create a law that would declare free software of public interest, but the giant Microsoft responded with discounts and agreements with everyone. In the end, it all comes down to a cultural issue. I firmly believe that we live in an easy society, which promotes the idea of not getting complicated, that everything works the first time, of getting things without thinking too much. And what easier than Windows or Mac OS? (Note that I am not saying that the users of these systems are stupid or something like that, since sometimes there is no choice but to use them) But it turns out that the learning curve for distros such as Ubuntu, Linux Mint or PCLOS (to name a few easiest on the market), it is "too steep" for users. At the moment, I only know of one public university that has the use of free software as an initiative (the University of Costa Rica), and it has promoted the use of the ODF standard in its offices and among students. But nothing more. And seeing the same thing in public schools is very rare (only the technical school where my wife works is an exception, since their laboratories have Ubuntu installed and their students and colleagues work with it). But again, they are isolated cases.
Like you, Elav, I agree that the foundations must be laid from childhood, but there must be a solid initiative from our ministries of education and public universities, which allows such an initiative to be successful. Otherwise, we will continue as before, "freeing up" one PC at a time.
And let's not forget the lobby that big companies do in governments so that their products are used.
It is a fact. The best example in Costa Rica is the Omar Dengo Foundation, in charge of promoting and developing educational technologies. Just entering the site, you find that its main sponsor is Microsoft. If you look more deeply, you will not find any free project among the other partners. The foundation works closely with the Costa Rican Ministry of Education, and has laboratories throughout the country. I do not seek to demonize Microsoft; it is a question here of looking beyond what the software giants offer us. It is about democratizing access and use of technology, and I think free software is a great tool for that.
I also clarify two things:
1- The work carried out by the foundation has been commendable. I myself had access, in school and college, to their laboratories and I learned a lot. That is a lot to say from a non-profit institution.
2- The question here is the secrecy they handle in terms of software. They create a standard that lasts forever: people grow up thinking that only Windows and Office exist.
Elav, I think that Elendilnarsil's opinion is one of the most serious that I have seen on the subject, it would be good to divulge it so that it can be seen that it is an evil that affects other nations of our hemisphere, the paragraph that I reproduce below is fantastic for me - «I firmly believe that we live in an easy society, which promotes the idea of not getting complicated, that everything works the first time, of getting things done without thinking too much. And what easier than Windows or Mac OS? (Note that I am not saying that the users of these systems are stupid or something like that, since sometimes there is no choice but to use them) But it turns out that the learning curve for distros such as Ubuntu, Linux Mint or PCLOS (to name a few one of the easiest on the market), it is “too steep” for users. At the moment, I only know one public university that has the use of free software as an initiative - You have to see this reasoning, very well founded and it is true that this is the case »Regarding the article published in GUTL, it goes without saying, we have to keep fighting to achieve it We have talked a lot about the matter in Cuba and nothing, but there are many highs when it comes to legal piracy, it is unethical that there are sellers authorized by the Government to sell CDs and DVDs of all kinds in their stalls, which are all Pirate reproductions, evil must be uprooted and that is a lot of work for the bureaucrats who must ensure compliance with the laws.
Very good information for those who, due to distance and lack of information, do not know the real technological panorama of these beautiful islands.
Greetings and good cheer from Spain.
codelab
It really is incomprehensible to me the fact that having the possibility of being able to access an excellent operating system, much better Windows, free and free, people choose to download a worse one and also private. The only explanation I could give him is that by hacking the enemy we might be able to kill him. Of course I do not know the daily reality of all this because I am located thousands of kilometers away.
In Chile it is the same.
I don't know how the economy is in Cuba, but in Mexico, either I buy a license or I stay for a month, and we don't have a blockade like you do.
Even if we were first world and the licenses cost less than gum, customs do not go away just like that, there would be doubts with electronic payments (to get them), processes, terms and bla bla bla: v
Well here it is the same. Some licenses are around $ 200-300. A copy of Chakra, at most, involves spending 50 cents to buy a recordable DVD. That in addition to the internet service.
It is simple, this world is moved by money, what feeds you is money, and capitalism is handled that way, simply because we all like good things, in Venezuela 5 years ago or I do not know how much more or less it is I declare that state companies would migrate to Free software, we have our own distribution «Canaima Linux», and yet I who work in the middle have not seen the first company of the «State», much less private that uses Free Software, the main one The reason is the one mentioned above, nobody here pays for a microsoft license, nobody cares if it is free or not, what matters is the ease and that although they do not believe here it is "Free", there is no regulatory entity, piracy is a more informal business, which is "LEGAL", not because it is legally so but because no one regulates it.
CHico you will be Cuban, but the capitalist ideology has "assimilated" you with force. How the hell can you say that you are pirating something if it is not licensed in your country ?. Do you like to seize Cuba? Yes, well now you are screwed for not having signed any reciprocity agreement (learn the word) between legal intellectual property managers. You CANNOT steal what doesn't belong to anyone. A tomato plant grows on the side of a road and I eat its tomatoes am I stealing? what was left to hear what happened that a close neighbor planted it? have put it in a pot and put it in your patio, don't ask me for explanations.
It is not about screwing the US for its blockade, because in that case they are not screwing a product of a company of the gringo government, but rather private companies that are lucky enough to be gringo or within countries allied to the blockade . It is about the double standard of having free options without having to hide behind a blockage.
It is as if in your city a government from another city blocks the roads where trucks of bottled water pass, so that it will not be sold in your locality ... but it turns out that in your city they have a river and water treatment plants, but how do they go with the idea of «Ah, won't they let us? Well, now we are smuggling it »and they stop taking advantage of what they already have.
According to the author of the article, and in Mexico, many local and state governments (I suppose also in dependencies of the Federal Government) use a lot of pirated software.
I have no problem with a government using private software, I am not under the extreme promotion of using open source or free software because "Microsoft is the devil" or because of the justification of "having so many needs, so much money is spent on licenses" (because there we already entered a long debate of many other things that can also be eliminated or reduced), but it does make me stupid that, when they are supposed to be the first in legality, they do not take their responsibilities as users at the business level of the products.
That they pirate for not spending money? So let's stop with things and switch to free options, but now, damn it, to be watching that governments are the first to violate what they recriminate the citizen (or outright punish with jail, as is the case in Mexico) if it does not arrive to fulfill.
And in the case of universities we are in the same: there are universities (and for more INRI, public education) that have servers and try to be up to mirrors for Linux distros, but the computer labs do not leave windows (hacked, obviously), but yes, well noted in the list of Schools Benefited from Microsoft's DreamSpark program that grants licenses to use some products of said company, for the academic environment. Very legal within the program !! ¬¬
Hypocrisy and double standards both in government and in the ETHICAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING institutions of the professionals who will run the country.
It is simple. Free software is freedom and knowledge. The current governments do not want that for the people, so they force the use of Micro ****. It is not a question of ignorance or ease as said. It is an order that they receive from higher spheres. Of the most sinister people on the planet.
Dear elav: Microsoft created great dependence on its systems in a very simple way, allowing them to freely «pirate» their software for years, «giving away» (that is, creating technological dependence) licenses to universities and schools.
It is very difficult to get rid of old habits, no matter how bad they may be, but it is especially difficult to remove certain computer habits from non-computer people who for various reasons refuse to change or learn something new:
1. They don't care about the underlying problem, they just want to do their job, period
2. They are afraid of change (this type of people is the most abundant in all social strata)
3. are comfortable with the solution they use, etc.
Salu2
The article is very timely, I agree with its central idea: the total lack of promotion and incentives for the use of free software in Cuba, but there are some issues with which I disagree.
To begin with, the repeated justification that Microsoft products are "hacked" as "revenge" for the existence of the embargo / blockade is nothing more than a political wild card (one more) to justify the absurd technological decisions of the organizations and institutions involved. in the matter, the same ones that do not stop proclaiming their defense of the so-called "technological sovereignty", while continuing to perpetuate the dependence on the products of the supposed enemy. On the other hand, let us ask ourselves; If tomorrow the famous embargo / blockade ceased to exist, how much would the state have to pay for licenses? Does anyone remotely think that there are resources for it? ... Please, let's be serious when dealing with these issues and do not repeat worn-out slogans .
There is an issue that for me is central and is the use of free software in schools, I am one of those who think that IF the use of GNU / Linux should be mandatory in ALL educational institutions, in no way do I consider it to be «a big mistake "due to the fact that" Windows exists and will exist whether we like it or not. " I think here is the chicken in this arroz con pollo; I focus on what something apparently as trivial as the use of a certain OS implies: free software promotes exchange, creativity and independent thinking, while proprietary software (Microsoft's Windows, in this case), makes us in "users", not to say customers or consumers, which is what it is about. The fact that everyone has the freedom to decide what OS to use at home does not imply that educational institutions do not have the "freedom" to use what is most appropriate to promote education and true "technological independence", whatever that means.
Additionally, there is another matter that I do not want to fail to mention and that is the issue of Segurmatics and antivirus, for non-Cubans, Segurmatica is the Cuban company representing Kaspersky in Cuba and that has also developed antivirus applications. It is extremely shocking to me that this company does not have any free version of its products for the Cuban market, knowing that for domestic users it is impossible to acquire and pay for licenses for this type of product, while many other companies do offer this possibility, but their usage is limited by connectivity problems of Cuban users. If we really want to promote "legality" and avoid "piracy", isn't it better to start at home? ...
I admire the Cubans for their willpower to change from proprietary software to free software, something that has not been done in Peru thanks to the government of former President Alejandro Toledo Manrique (2001-2006), who decided to receive license donations that Microsoft gave them in order to deepen our dependence on Windows (it is not bad that we use Windows from time to time, but if you want to implement it in SMEs it would be completely unreasonable due to the exorbitant price of the licenses).
If the problem of a national distro can be spread decently, then let's simply opt for large distros like Debian, which really has a reputation earned by its responsibility to free software users and with both indirect and direct support from Cannonical and the Ubuntu community (apparently, the frustrated dissemination of NOVA GNU / Linux is really negligent) {If you want to download this distro, I give you the link of the ISO's: http://descargas.wbuntu.org/distros/Nova/}
Anyway, I am glad that Cuba has decided to bet on free software and that they are no longer depending on piracy.