Gadgetopia

Brazil Leans Away From Microsoft: First China, then Korea and Boston, now Brazil.

“We have some islands in the federal government using open-source, but we want to create a continent,” said Amadeu, a former economics professor who gained fame before joining Silva’s team by launching a network of free computer centers in Brazil’s largest city, Sao Paulo.

Amadeu, who uses a Linux laptop in his office in an annex of Silva’s presidential palace, authored the book “Digital Exclusion: Misery in the Information Era,” which argues that the gap between the needy and the wealthy will only deepen unless the poor have easy access to the technology that the rich have at their fingertips, especially in developing countries like Brazil.

I’m thrilled about this. This is the key to closing the technology gap, which is also why the antics of SCO irritate me so. Linux isn’t just a toy — it’s a key tool for the third world in the coming years.