http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c... Industries / IT Print article | Email Brazilian ministries plan move to free software By Raymond Colitt in São Paulo Published: April 22 2004 5:00 | Last Updated: April 22 2004 5:00 Brazil's left-leaning federal government is set to adopt free software on a big scale in an effort to save taxpayers billions of dollars and increase independence from multinational suppliers such as Microsoft. At least five ministries in the federal government are to switch their internet web servers and most desktop computers to free software, such as Linux, the alternative operating system to Microsoft Windows. Already nearly a dozen government agencies, including the defence ministry, have used free software on a trial basis. In addition, Brasília is providing incentives for state and local governments to follow. Next week more than 1,400 computer technicians are being trained to install and operate free software in public offices throughout the country. While some government agencies in France, China and Germany have adopted free software, Brazil could become the largest government client yet. Unlike proprietary software, the source code of free software is available to the public and can be altered by anyone. Providers of free software usually earn a fee by providing a service for the product. Brazil's move, based on an initiative that emerged with the president's chief of staff, is a further blow to proprietary software developers such as Microsoft, which has seen Linux make significant inroads in several markets. Adopting open-source software will save the federal government hundreds of millions of dollars in annual licence fees paid for commercial licences. In 2001 it paid US$1.1bn (920m, £615m) for such licences. The move will heighten the diversity of government suppliers and help develop Brazil's home-grown software industry. "We will no longer depend on a single supplier but have competition," Sergio Amadeu, head of the government's information technology institute, told the FT. Open-source software will "drive local intelligence" because it involves many participants, Mr Amadeu said. Most of Brazil's competitive software industry focuses on the large domestic market. The government has declared software exports one of its four priorities of industrial policy. But industry leaders cautioned that the benefit for locals would depend on the procurement terms. "If we replace imported commercial software with imported free software, there won't be much benefit will there?" said Gilberto Lima Junior, head of Brains, a group of Brazilian software exporting companies. While many public bodies have autonomy over their information technology, the government has issued directives that provide incentives to adopt free software. Brazil has one of the world's highest internet and personal computer growth rates. It ranks eighth in the number of web servers. Government IT spending in Brazil makes up only 6 per cent of Microsoft's total revenues, compared with 10 per cent in most countries. Yet analysts say the computerisation of Brazil's public sector is growing fast and could trigger a domino effect in the private sector. Diego Saravia [email protected]