The Cuban government is to migrate thousands of its computers to open-source software, a change that would further distance the communist nation from U.S.-based Microsoft.
Several Cuban government ministers backed the move at a technology conference held late last week. Communications minister Ramiro Valdes gave a opening keynote that advocated open source, while Richard Stallman, head of the Free Software Foundation, also told the conference that proprietary software is inherently insecure.
A Cuban academic, Hector Rodriguez, is supporting the migration to open source by heading up a development program within one of the largest Cuban universities. Cuba's customs service has already migrated to Linux, while the ministries of culture, higher education and communications are planning to do so, Rodriguez told the conference.
But Rodriguez, quoted by the Associated Press, declined to say how long it would take for the Cuban government to migrate most of its systems to Linux. "It would be tough for me to say that we would migrate half the public administration in three years," he told the conference.
The number of Cuban open-source users is growing fast, with around 3,000 in a country that struggles with outdated PCs and slow Internet links.
Other governments, including Venezuela, China, Brazil and Norway, are evaluating a partial or total migration from Windows to open source. Many city administrations are also running projects. In Europe, programs in Bristol, England, as well as Amsterdam and Munich, are well underway.
Richard Thurston of ZDNet UK reported from London.
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The government of Cuba decided to change the OS on thousands of its computers. These will run on GNU/Linux instead of Windows. This step made by the Cuban government raises tensions between the country and the U.S. - based company Microsoft. 

The idea was welcomed by several Cuban ministers. This includes Ramiro Valdez, communication minister, who at a technology conference stated his position towards moving to free software. 
Richard Stallman, heading the Free Software Foundation, criticized the proprietary software saying that today it is rather insecure, and that unlike
proprietary software, free software develops democratically under the control of its users.

Heading one of the largest universities in Cuba, Hector Rodriguez also showed his positive attitude towards the migration of the country to free  software. He outlined that Cuban customs service has already moved to Linux and several ministries are still to migrate. Among them are the ministries of culture, of higher education and of communication.

Although it will take some time for Cuba to move to free  software, Rodriguez, as quoted by the Associated Press, declined to state the time it will take for the government of Cuba to move entirely to GNU/Linux. The pace of migrating to free software and open source software is very fast in Cuba. 

GNU/Linux has been adopted as an operating system by millions of computer enthusiasts around the world, and a number of local, regional and national governments have also advocated its adoption.