Have a look at this text. Little crazy but very interesting. Cheers, > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Frederick Noronha > Sent: Thursday, October 05, 2000 12:36 AM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: <nettime> NEWS: What Open Source promises the Third World.... > > Mexico Has Resources for High-Tech Success > > By GARY CHAPMAN > > An open letter to Mexican President-elect Vicente Fox: > > Congratulations on your historic victory in the presidential > election. About 100 million Mexicans and others who love Mexico > are eager for change in your country, and they have high hopes > when your new administration takes office in December. > > But clearly, one issue of great importance is how to bring Mexico > into the "new economy" of the Internet, high tech and global > commerce. Mexico has many resources in technology to exploit, but > they have been obstructed by weak or bad government policies. You > can change this. > > Let me offer you some suggestions on how you might start. > > First, Mexico's future lies with free, "open source" software > like the operating system Linux, and Gnome, another open-source > effort to build a Windows-like screen. Gnome itself was developed > by a young Mexican programmer, Miguel de Icaza, who is 27 years > old. This summer, De Icaza started the Gnome Foundation > (http://www.gnome.org) to unify and stabilize the Linux desktop > software, and he acquired the support of IBM, Sun Microsystems, > Hewlett-Packard and Compaq, among other major U.S. companies. He > is a hero to young programmers around the world, and he should be > a hero to all Mexicans. You should meet with Miguel de Icaza and > get to know him and young people like him. They are the best hope > for Mexico. > > Obviously, the biggest benefit of free software to Mexico is that > it's literally free, and Mexico is a poor country that needs to > preserve its capital. Mexico has a new law on software piracy, > for example, and your government will need to enforce this law > for Mexico to be regarded as a trusted partner in high-tech > trade. But if you do enforce the software piracy law effectively, > it will result in a massive transfer of pesos to the United > States, and principally to Microsoft, the largest victim of > software piracy in Mexico. > > Alternatively, you could promote the use of free software such as > Linux, Gnome and application packages such as Sun Microsystems' > StarOffice suite, which are all free. No pesos would leave Mexico > and you would get all of the functionality of modern software. > Indeed, you'd become part of a trend that is sweeping the > computing field in the U.S. IBM, Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Compaq > are all offering Linux on computers now. IBM is essentially a > Linux company these days, an astonishing transformation. Mexico > would not lose anything by adopting free software, indeed, it > would move to the cutting edge of technology. > > Your government should also think about creating an elite but > grassroots-oriented corps of young free-software evangelists, > programmers, hackers and systems developers who could build on > the culture and spirit of the embryonic free-software movement. > Give them an identity with special shirts or jackets and > specially painted pickup trucks to go out to villages and towns, > and elevate them to hero status in Mexico. They should have an > esprit de corps that reflects both their enthusiasm for their > work and their patriotism. Send them around the world to > technical and trade conferences and make them stand out--make > them the young, technically skilled enthusiasts everyone wants to > work with. > > * * * > > Joakim Ziegler is one of these wizard-like programmers. He's > Norwegian, but he lives in Mexico City because he loves it there. > He works for Helix Code, the company started by Miguel de Icaza. > Ziegler is also in his twenties. He told me, "A change as radical > as the internal use of free software"--meaning use by the > government itself--"would be an indication of real change." The > Federal Election Commission in Mexico used free software to run > this year's election, but other government agencies have yet to > grasp its benefits. > > Ziegler also said, "Small companies run by enthusiastic young > people don't have a lot of status in Mexico right now." Too many > of Mexico's young entrepreneurs have moved to the U.S. to start > companies. In Mexico, there's too much government red tape, > credit is too expensive and there is a culture of "not what you > do, but who you know," all of which are obstacles to building the > kind of entrepreneurial spirit Mexico needs. You should make > Mexico a place that is as easy to start a business in as it is in > California or Texas. > > Mexico also needs a better telecommunications infrastructure. > Telmex, the recently privatized national phone company, and its > competitors, such as Avantel, are slowly building up their > capabilities. But they will not soon reach the vast numbers of > Mexicans who live in underserved and poor areas. > > * * * > > So you should pay attention to a San Diego company called Tachyon > Inc. (http://www.tachyon.net), which is doing business in Mexico. > Tachyon has a contract for using SatMex 5, the powerful Mexican > satellite that covers all of Mexico. Tachyon is offering > inexpensive two-way Internet service via satellite, and it can > serve every town and village in Mexico right now. > > The company's vice president, Santiago Ontanon, who is 33 and > from Mexico City, told me that its price for broadband Internet > connectivity for a typical Mexican school with five to 10 > computers is only about $300 to $400 per month. This is thousands > of dollars less than what Telmex can offer, and it can happen > tomorrow, not in some indefinite future. Incidentally, the ground > equipment Tachyon provides its customers runs on Linux. > > With the combination of free software and inexpensive Internet > connectivity, as well as building on Mexico's Red Escolar > (SchoolNet) program for wiring Mexican schools, the country could > become the world's leading example of affordable high-tech > infrastructure for the rest of the world's developing nations. > Moreover, the philosophy behind free, open-source software fits > well with your important ideas about a new "open society" in > Mexico. > > There will be strong pressures, both internally and externally, > for Mexico to adopt a conventional model of development, > dependent on big corporate players and mega-deals. But you have > the opportunity to foster something different and far more > interesting. Throw your power, prestige and vision to your young > people, to your entrepreneurs and innovators and to the practical > idealists of the free software movement. This will pay off in the > long run, and it could dramatically transform Mexico. > > * * * > > Gary Chapman is director of the 21st Century Project at the > University of Texas at Austin. He can be reached at > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Recent Digital Nation columns are available at > http://www.latimes.com/dnation. > > Search the archives of the Los Angeles Times for similar stories > about: Business - Mexico, Computer Industry - Mexico, Computer > Software. > > You will not be charged to look for stories, only to retrieve one. > > # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission > # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, > # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets > # more info: [EMAIL PROTECTED] and "info nettime-l" in the msg body > # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- ............................................... The only "intuitive" interface is a nipple. After that, it's all learned. Committed to freedom and diversity Pankaj Kaushal <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> //\ I'm a FIG (http://fig.org/) \// I use GNU (http://www.gnu.org/) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ------------------------------------------------ An alpha version of a web based tool to manage your subscription with this mailing list is at http://lists.linux-india.org/cgi-bin/mj_wwwusr
