TMCnet News
Peru lawmakers vote to give open source software equal footing with MicrosoftThe Associated Press Swimming against the Microsoft tide, Peru's Congress passed legislation that would prohibit public institutions from purchasing computer hardware that utilizes only one software platform or "in any manner limits information autonomy." But a leading freeware advocate said Tuesday it remains to be seen whether President Alejandro Toledo will sign the bill into law. "There are many associations on a national level that do not agree with this because they believe it will affect their interests," Jose Cairo Gallardo, president of the Peruvian Free Software Association, told The Associated Press. Congress voted 61-0 last Thursday to approve the legislation. It would allow public institutions to use either proprietary software, like Microsoft's, with its mostly secret source code and licensing fees for upgrades, or open source software, in which the underlying code is available to anyone wanting to revise or customize it. "This would level the playing field," Cairo Gallardo said. "It would not only be about the sale of software licenses. The one that offers better service obviously would have the better expectation of winning" a public bid. The bill's sponsor, Congressman Edgar Villanueva, had pushed three years ago for a law to obligate all public institutions to convert exclusively to open-source software. Microsoft and several Peruvian software companies lobbied hard against the measure, which garnered little support from lawmakers. Toledo clearly sided with the software companies, appearing with Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates in July 2002 to announce the donation of $550,000 (euro458,142) in money, software and consulting services to the Peruvian government for educational and "e-government" initiatives. Toledo has 25 working days to sign the new bill into law or send it back to Congress with "observations" to modify it, which would set back its passage and possibly kill the initiative. A call to the government palace seeking the president's position on the issue went unanswered. |