Cuba to move from Windows to open source software Microsoft's war on piracy and illegal use of Windows has led to many disputes. Today the idea of moving from Windows to open-source software is running in many countries the governments of which are analyzing the advantages of such alternatives like Linux. There was no exception for the communist country Cuba.
Cuban government looks forward to move from Microsoft's Windows to open-source software. This step is going to expand the gap between Cuba and the U.S.-based corporation. Several ministers backed the idea of moving to open-source software.
Ramiro Valdes, communication minister, gave at a technology conference a keynote in which he stood for open source. At the same time the head of the Free Software Foundation, Richard Stallman, mentioned that proprietary software is currently quite insecure.
Another person to support the migration to open source is Hector Rodriguez, the head of a developing program withing one of Cuba's universities. Rodriguez mentioned at the conference that the customs service in Cuba has already migrated to Linux. The ministries of culture, higher education and communication are to do so later.
The migration to Linux might take some time but Rodriguez, being quoted by the Associated Press, declined to answer how long will the government of Cuba be moving its systems to open source. However, the number of computers that have already moved to Linux is growing fast.
The governments of other countries, including Venezuela, China, Brazil and Norway are still evaluating the possibilities of partial or total migration. There are several project running in different cities. Thus the administrations of Bristol, Amsterdam and Munich are looking forward to moving to open source rather than Microsoft's Windows.
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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.