Cuba migrates to Linux

Move toward using open source underway

20 February 2007 14:02 GMT / By Amber Maitland

Communist-run Cuba is planning a move away from proprietary software to open source in order to lesson the country's reliance on Microsoft's operating system.

The matter garnered attention last week at a technology conference, where the Communications minister explained the support of open source at a keynote speech.

Open source has gained support in Cuba with around 3000 believed to be using the various free software.

The move to Linux is already underway, as the customs service is already based on it, with the ministries of culture, higher education, and communications the next to migrate, according to Cuban academic, Hector Rodriguez.

This switch will take some time. "It would be tough for me to say that we would migrate half the public administration in three year", Rodriguez said at the conference.

Cuba is the first country to have noticeable made the migration, but other nations are looking into it. They include Venezuela, China, Brazil and Norway.