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A Visit With the Bolivarian Revolution

Posted by tadelste on · 3 comments
Venezuelanalysis.com; By David Sugar 		Mail this story
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The Venezuelan revolution is perhaps the first revolution in history saved by computer hackers and is one of the reasons the government is so very strong on promoting the use of free software, particularly in public administration....

I eventually meet up with Jeff Zucker from Perl Mongers, who traveled by bus from Caracas. He also failed to find any of these promised military checkpoints filled with marauding troops. I eventually also met up with the well known international free software activist, Juan Carlos Gentile, who drove all the way from Caracas along the same roads. While it is said to take 10 hours to drive from Caracas to Maracaibo, as he is Italian, naturally I expected he would arrive in only 5. These two, and Ana Isabel Delgato from the Debian Venezuela group, were my primary "translation team" whenever I spoke with others who did not speak english.

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Comments (3)

jwbr ·
Given this is from a Venezuelan source (and maybe not a self-critical source), I am not sure how accurate it is, particularly with respect to the details of the described incident with the oil field IT. Maybe another contributor is aware of independent verification.

However, this article does describe a worrysome scenario with a nation (above all, third world nations) becoming dependent on proprietary IT infrastructure marketed by another country. I think all nations need to take note of this problem.

Not only does Free software allow for a nation to develop its own IT expertise and employ its own people, hemming the flow of scare finances out of the country, it also can serve as a foundation for that nation's national security.

What I don't understand is why such organizations as the UN are not more concerned about this problem. From what I have read, the UN seems to be catering to Big Software interests before those of the public.
tadelste Story submitter ·
Quoting:What I don't understand is why such organizations as the UN are not more concerned about this problem. From what I have read, the UN seems to be catering to Big Software interests before those of the public.


From my observations, they are catering to Big Software. They have sponsored me to speak in developing nations about the use of open source software for ICT and I may as well speak to the walls of an empty room.
jimf ·
We know that MS buys government influence on a local level, why should we think it will be any different when we talk of world wide influence.

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