| An Interview with Peruvian Congressman Villanueva [LinuxToday] |
May 21, 2002
Dee-Ann LeBlanc of LinuxToday.com and Stacey Tipton of Spanish.com interview Peruvian Congressman Villanueva regarding a now infamous letter he wrote to Microsoft Peru. Villanueva discusses pending legislation he is championing that would require the use of open source software in all areas of the government. Specific cases would be exempt if there was not a 'mature enough open source project' available. LeBlanc writes . . .
"In the course of everyday business and politics, once in a while something truly significant happens. At such a time, ordinary letters become roadmaps for change, and a politician from a small mountain province in Perú can become a hero to those who believe in a cause: both amongst his countrymen and around the rest of the world."
"On March 21, 2002, the General Manager of Microsoft Perú, Juan Alberto González, wrote a letter to Peruvian Congressman Dr. Edgar David Villanueva Nuñez regarding an issue near and dear to Microsoft's heart--or perhaps more appropriately, an issue that had the powers at Microsoft rolling their eyes in disbelief. The now infamous letter expressed Microsoft's concerns about Bill Number 1609, Free Software in Public Administration, which is currently under discussion in Perú's political and intellectual circles."
"When reading the Microsoft letter in its original or translated form, most open source advocates can easily note that it's full of the usual Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD) tactics used throughout time by big business to keep people afraid of going with anything but their big solution. No surprise there. However, try as advocates might, no one has been able to clearly and succinctly explain why many of Microsoft's and other companies' assertions were incorrect... until now . . ."
A spanish version is available at PimientoLinux.
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