Sorry for non-spanish speakers/readers. I was forced to do this or the dog got it.

Follow up:

This is the verbatim translation of the post "Stop being a fanboy!" for english readers. Sit, read, and enjoy this piece of technology ranting

March 2007, Microsoft made the MS Government Leaders Forum (GLF) in Colombia. It's a government expo/fair that is made throughout the world (2003 was made in Rome) were la creme de la creme of the world's governments got together. Well, at least for those who're invited to go. It's made on Europe, Africa...and the rest of the world. Duh.

The main theme of this GLF was "Strategies for a competitive Latin America". Chilecompras' Director was invited, and at the same time, Bill Gates made some statements that he was interested to put some money on the Chilecompras platform. One of the surprise guests was the Minister of Economy of Chile. It was a phony invitation, but he went there anyway.

For you non-chileans : Chilecompras is a huge platform for buying stuff. From pencils to computer equipment. It is opened for any government office or agency, also for enterprises. So, you can make your quotations there and get a competitive market price for any kind of junk you want to buy.

This whole thing got together. And the result was a document signed by Microsoft and the Minister of Economy on May 9.

I wanted to put the whole document here, but it's long and boring. So, if you want to read it (warning: spanish only), here's the link.

Let's start. In "Devil's Advocate" mode.

This document, titled "Agreement for Colaboration between Chilean Government and Microsoft", written entirely as a legal contract is a "voluntary agreement between both parts for the search of the mentioned goals"

Source: Fayerwayer.com (a spanish-spoken tech blog)

That kind of agreement (called in spanish Acuerdo Marco) is a document signed by two or more "parts" or entities. Generally is taken as a voluntary element in between the parts. And yes, it has to be written as a contract. It has a legal background, so that is the reason. But it is not a contract.

Every one of the parts involved is committed to do something and everyone at the end is happy. There are many examples (in spanish) that you can find searching in Google with the following search term: "acuerdo marco site:cl".

Before going on further, let me say that I don't oppose the sign of this agreement. I'm against the terms of it.

You'll see why later.

Let's tear this bastard down.

Digital Training for Unemployed People

This agreement will go directly to all people unemployed between 18 and 35 years old, to make them "competent enough using a computer". To do that, they will use a training foundation and non-profit organizations (like Fundacion Chile) and the impact will go to others (like INJUV, SENAME, etc), with a total investment of US $1.000.000. Also, with funding of the private sector to get 15.000 free-training scholarships. And it will be ICDL.

ICDL is like a driving license. But for a computer. I'm an old school bastard that started browsing this thing called internet using gopher servers, and text browsers. I suffered with Mosaic and compiled the first released source for Netscape. I need an ICDL, now!

But what the hell is ICDL for us? It's just a way to certify you're smart enough to turn on a computer, push the Start button on the screen and keep smashing icons and stuff.

So, they want to spend money giving away 15.000 ICDLs? Why they don't give away something more valuable? Like, I dunno, maybe a MSCE. But they are certifying the people with something that has no absolute value for a resume! (at least, here in Chile). So, it's a blatant scam.

Digital Address

The information must follow me. Not backwards. Oh, yeah.

It's supposed that hundreds of Internet Portals will be created, to search information (what kind of?). But to do that, they will use their Live! technology, like MSN, Spaces, Mobile, and others, free for all people. That will also allow any chilean citizen has the right to have its own email address, something that companies like UOL wanted years ago, but failed miserably.

Also, hosting for applications, 24x7 support for administrators (uh?), mobile access thru cellphones and a lot of bullcrap that will make any president weep as hell if he wanted to have an Computer Government.

True dat. All the previous crap help to get there. The only problem? There's only one provider for everything. There's no way to tell if the private data will be kept provate. There's no way also if there will be a privacy policy of e-mails or personal/sensible information so it cannot fall into the wrong hands.

Just here comes the worst element of the mixture: The Civil Registration and Identification Office. It has not only out private data like a RUT (or DIN number). They have our criminal record, addresses, family books, passport numbers...God knows what else they have there.

Why the hell they want to have an unified platform? For a "Computer Government" it will be justified. But who makes the implementation of that? Or better, who handles all the data? Our data! And who guarrantees that the data will be not used with second intentions? Maybe we have to sign an agreement, also. Or better, just read the damn terms of the License Agreement next time we install something in our computers.

Digital Town Council

The good : Microsoft gives away some kind of "software to run and make portals as easy as pie".

The bad : all municiples must hire "people" (external ones) to implement this.

The ugly : Microsoft will deliver a free diagnostic tool for quality assurance.

The worst : Microsoft chooses who can be hired. Who can implement all this. And, also, with the commitment that these "people" will have to code applications for heath care, financial software, transit, education, etc".

What about the in-house solutions? And better, the local software industry? (well, propietary or not, who cares! we're talking about here of free choice, not forced to go with some designated companies).

And what about the licenses of all the generated software? Municiples can share it between them?

Our Innovative and Connected School Plan

It smells like Enlaces.

Again, for non-chilean : Enlaces was is an education program to interconnect all schools in Chile through applications, to achieve a "teaching network". But the problem was that all communication costs (namely, internet connections) was completely taken by the schools. And the poor schools, that live with money from the Municiples, had to take it away due to high costs. Then, internet companies like Telefonica made an agreement with the goverment, so the internet link will be free for schools or low-cost. But, they never thought (the Education Ministery) that computers can be easily obsolete through the years. So, poors schools have old computers that can barely run Office 97.

It's a simple plan. MS creates a solution to create school methods for teaching, they pay US $1.000.000 to optimize the life span of computing equipment, and brings all the technological solution.

What?

I'd like to see what they can achieve with this. I present you some Pentium I machines. Those who still have the F00F bug:

Yeah. A poor school with computer junk. Can it run Vista? Don't think so. Ha!

The only point in favor of Microsoft is the Teacher's Interconnection Program. But it still smells like Enlaces.

The only people happy with this is Educarchile.

I'll reserve my comments about Educarchile. Go, browse the net and find some other opinions about it.

Medium and Small Sized Enterprises in the XXIV and 1/2 Century

Retail! The magic word.

Medium and Small Sized Enterprises here in Chile are called PYMEs. So, I'll use this term instead.

PYMEs can get a cheap computer with Vista installed. Home or Business. With a retail price. Along with these greatest hits from the software world:

• Windows Works! A real piece of art. Not Office, but close. I guess Works hosts Clippy now, as it was fired from MS Office. Will sell my copy of Works on Ebay in 15 years more.
• Outlook! : Yay! The popular program that runs the same as any personal assistant or PDA : mail, proyects, contacts, schedule, tasks, sync with (insert something fancy here). And it comes real cheap!
• Memory Magus: never heard of it. Did you?
• some cloud named financial software.

Here comes the good part. Guess who will sell all this computers? As the document says, "the direction of public adquisitions". It can be read Chilecompras from miles away.

And it will be US $5.000.000 for PYMEs to have this real deal. Well, a computer that runs sluggish as hell because of Vista.

Technological Access for Low Resources People

In a nutshell : they'll give away MS Math, and some templates. And also, will give some money (never showed how much) to INJUV, so they can perform cardiac massage on it.

For non-chileans : INJUV or Instituto de la Juventud, or in english, Institute for the Youth is an organization directly pointed to the teen and young adults. It had some good plans, until some people started moving funds from there and landing them on political campaigns. So, INJUV was pronounced dead many times. And everytime a new president comes in, they say that they will perform cardiac massage to revive it. All that is a blatant lie. It has no known director or someone that takes care of it. So, this part of the deal smells as a rotten fish.

In brief, everyone will have a cheap-o encyclopedia and some stupid templates. You're reading well.

Keeping teh internet secure

Microsoft is willing to give away the software called CETS (Child Exploitation Tracking System). It was developed by Microsoft Canada and it stores data that police forces around the world can track and pinpoint child molesters, and to break child porno rings. It will be, it supposes, a matter of cooperation between our police force and the rest of the police forces around the world.

Also, Microsoft will pay some lawyers to help us to enhance our child protection law (against child molesters). Aaaand, will be devoted to make some propaganda to the schools so kids will be secure browsing teh internets (pun) and it doesn't affect them in any form known to mankind.

It only comes this phrase to my mind: "Don't browse in any .com page that has a nasty name on it".

Are you a parent?
If you are, do you want your kids not browsing nasty pages? Start installing a proxy server in your house.
Do you want your kids be away from child abusers? Then install some brain dead MSN client that make your kids difficult the task to admit someone. Or better, steal their passwords. And connect to MSN using their password. So, you'll know who is talking to your kids.
Do you want your kids not using the webcam so they cannot make some hot action videos? Easy, don't buy a webcam. Or better, install some MSN client that doesn't support webcam sessions, like Gaim. See if your kids compile AMSN with webcam support.

I know that the previous solutions are out of the way. They require a lot of engineering time for your kids! And a lot of Windows Fanboys will complain all the time that Linux is complicated and too hard to use. So install Linux in your kids computer. If they finally break your root password, don't punish them. Just install something harder. Like BSD. Or Opensolaris.

The cheap-o people will go to Hurd.

Collaboration with the Government for computer in-security

Money for CLCert!

For non-chileans : It's like CERT, but chilean version.

CLCert works from long time ago. I guess they don't care about the computer platform they are working. They provide info for latest advisories and stuff.

The real thing is that you have to read those advisories and patch your machines. No matter the OS you're running!

Innovation centers

Namely : Universities.

For non-chileans : Universities are keep doing those centers long ago. At least the important ones.

Innovation for a competitive market

My favorite!

Microsoft will make some research about the technological impact of computers in the productive market. And how it will change competitivity.

And they will do it with the major three. Guess what are them? Let me show you:

• Copper Extraction
• Exports (meat, fruit, flowers, fish)
• Services (phone, cable tv)

Those three kind of companies move a lot of cheddar. Do they need computers to work? Hell yeah!

So, in brief

This rant went too long. So, here's the briefing for you all lazy people:

• 15000 free scholarships on ICDL that will keep unemployed people more unemployed, but with an ICDL.

• Data from the Registro Civil goes to private people. That's difficult to swallow.

  Update : the Director of Registro Civil said "We all can go to jail if private hands touches people's information. So rest assured that no private hands will take it. Not in the near future".

  That guy is my hero

• All Municiples have to hire some designated "people" from Microsoft to run some portals. And they have to start to forget about in-house solutions.
• A deal that smells like Enlaces, but it's not. And the miracle to revive computer junk.
• All teachers will be trained in something unknown to everyone. But at least Educarchile will be happy.
• Selling computers, retail price, for PYMEs. Well, buying cheap-o computers is not the problem. But they didn't include MS Office. C'mon, at least that useful!
• INJUV and the promise of a free encyclopedia. And some stupid templates for documents.
• Making teh internets secure. So the kids don't browse thos naked-boobs-infested sites!
• Money for CLCert!
• Innovation centers. What?
• A research so they can rediscover America using a map. And it has to do with the market and who moves the cheddar here in Chile. And how TIs are making their life happier

Cheddar: pimp word for money.

There's only a little itsy bitsy problem here.

One provider only : Microsoft. There goes the neighborhood.

So, I'm really shocked that after our president said that the local software initiativa will be injected with more energy, they show us that we have to depend, in many sectors of our life, to the one provider only problem.

I won't put here the solutions that chileans can do to fight it. But there was a lot of fuzz.

So, as you can read this and take it with a pinch of salt, I can make my own mind and write it here. You'll get the point.

I'm a Linux/FLOSS advocate since I was in the university (1994). I really love to be free and having a real choice to use propietary or non-propietary software on my computer. After all, it's my choice. And I'm not forced.

Not even in my work. I do consulting, migrations and a lot of things that involve FLOSS in the middle. Thanks to that, my boss is a new Linux/FLOSS advocate. At the same time, he makes money. And I make money of it.

Don't take me wrong. I do what I do cause I love it. And because I make enterprises go with money in their pockets after saving them even millions changing little things from the propietary world to the free community product. That makes everyone happy. And I'm happy with that.

But that doesn't makes me one Linux zealot, as the internet is filled with them. Here in Chile, the disclosure of that document brought along lots and lots of fuzz and bells, whistles, horns and who knows what else. And everyone said "Chile sold itself to Microsoft".

This was not a sale by itself. It was an agreement. It's not bad that the government got money from private sectors to make some plans in the future. But this deal brought the single provider only problem. And that's what I'm against.

This deal could have been signed by Sun, or Novell, or Redhat. And still, it's the same problem. A single provider. No real market share for other companies. Free or non free software ones. So, our government thinks that this "single provider only" deal is not a big problem. And they are absolutely wrong.

Of course I'm pissed. Angry. They are not allowing big, medium or small sized enterprises to really take care of all this plan. And that really makes my blood boil. As hell.

So, the problem here is not Microsoft. And all zealot-fanboys are saying bull about Microsoft and their monopoly and stuff. I am not brave enough to be in front of a lot of people marching against something, but I can be really neutral when I want to be. So, the fuzz got so big that people, in a chaotic-frenzy way, started to group in a Digital Liberation Front (now it's called Digital Liberation Movement), that I'm not completely against it, but I have my doubts about some things.

Like, saying, a letter to the president saying "don't choose Microsoft products, cause Microsoft products are highly insecure". If that is read by someone of Microsoft, the president will have minutes after the Get The Facts document on their desk. Of course, MS products have their flaws. As FLOSS does. So what's the big deal?

The deal is running against Microsoft is like running against Carl Lewis with doping.

Of course, people can get smart and start teaching how to choose freely.

How? Starting by deleting their dual boot partitions. And making a real difference at home. At work. At school.

If you read this, and have a major headache, do as I do. Drink one cold Corona and make some cheers to our government.

Cheers!