Cuba Joins Open Source Revolution

February 21, 2007: Cuba’s government has decided to make the switch to open source software, distancing itself from Microsoft’s proprietary software and alluding to the software giant cooperating with the US military and intelligence community.

Made at a recent technology conference in Havana, the announcement has the backing of several government ministers and Cuban academic Hector Rodriguez. According to the Associated Press, Rodriguez is supporting the switch to open source by leading a new development program at a large Cuban university.

The move comes as no surprise, as not only does it make economic sense for a country with a low GDP and aging PCs, but open source also enables the communist Cuba to escape any ties with the US-based Microsoft.

Considering the NSA also reportedly had a hand in the security of Microsoft’s Windows Vista, it’s easy to see how open source alternatives without the potential of backdoors are attractive.

“It's basically a problem of technological sovereignty, a problem of ideology” said Rodriguez according to AP, adding that "It would be tough for me to say that we would migrate half the public administration in three years."

As mentioned, is not known how long the government expects the migration to take, however, Cuba's customs service is already running Linux and the ministries of higher education, culture and communications are also planning to make the switch according to Rodriguez.

AP also noted that the head of the Free Software Foundation, Richard Stallman, told the conference that proprietary software is insecure by nature.

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