Brazil's use of Linux is making the country 'irrelevant'
WinNetMag | at | by Mike
The president of Microsoft Brazil fretted this week that his country's decision to adopt Linux for use in public-use computers will set back Brazil for years. "If the country closes itself off again as it did when it protected its information technology, 10 years from now we will wake up and be dominant in something insignificant," Emilio Umeoka said this week. "Irrelevance is the beginning of the end." Umeoka is referring to a decision Brazil made 20 years ago to protect its IT sector with high tariffs, a decision that cost the country dearly because it couldn't attract foreign investment during a time that should have been high growth. "I don't know if this is the best way to attract investment into the country," he said. "I know this is not the best way to create a base of development from which to export because there's no revenue from something that's free." Umeoka said that the Brazilian government's decision won't hurt Microsoft's sales in the country; he's just concerned that Brazil will miss out on yet another enormous economic opportunity.