The Brazilian Stand Off

After listening to the pod cast dated sometime in 2006 (using a reference in one of the speakers on the podcast), I felt that the government was very correct in what they did.  These countries get baited into using only one type of operating system that ends up costing them millions to billions of dollars annually to use, when they just don't have that type of revenue and surplus.  I also see where this country is coming from because they may not feel that capitalism is the best motive for using Microsoft products.  America is one of only a few countries that believes in capitalism and the free market, making business with other national entities difficult because they wont always want to pay extravagant amounts of money to use something they may feel should be free.  If you look at the Linux software and how its evolved you'll notice that it has become a major competitor against the greats of Microsoft and Apple.  The GUI abilities are equal if not better in some instances of Linux as compared to the other systems, as well as the low overhead that it provides, giving many people a longer lifespan on their hardware requirements.  Overall, I can't say I blame Brazil for changing over from Microsoft to Linux, because in the end, its all about money.