Re: [seul-edu] (FWD) Governo expulsa PC popular das escolas (fwd)

[Felipe Bergo <bergo@seul.org>]

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On Wed, 22 Aug 2001, Matt Jezorek wrote:

> Best I can do
>
> Government banishes popular PC from the schools
> http://abranches.no.com.br


The link is down for me, I would translate, but the one (automatic)
supplied looks good enough.

Just some comments:

There's a running sign-to-prevent-this list running, but it requires that
you fill in your brazilian document numbers to sign, it's here:

http://gnubr.sytes.net/

The official government document that describes the whole mess is here:

http://www.quilombodigital.org/doc/pt/EditalAnatel.pdf

(portuguese, and last time I checked babelfish won't translate PDF --
that's what people get for using the Proprietary Document Format, but the
specs are readable by non-portuguese speakers, I presume, look for page
22)

I'm really puzzled for the Windows CE / Linux option, since the class C
computer spec says it must be able to:

* read PDF (mentions Acrobat)
* run Java
* browse pages with Flash Player
* be able to reproduce Windows Media Player format.

I presume the last one excludes Linux. For all I know of Windows CE, it's
not what they want either. The edital requires 640x480 resolution, but all
WinCE specs I've seen use half-VGA (Handheld PC spec) or 1/4-VGA (Pocket
PC spec), so I believe no device fits the specs for class C.

My opinion on this document is that the commitee who wrote it did not
understand what they were talking about. One of the purposes of this
public consult for buying ("Licitation") is to provide the communication
infrastructure for the schools (that explains the presence of Anatel, the
brazilian equivalent of the FCC or ITU-T + ITU-R. (In some places of
Brazil getting a regular phone line capable of 56k dial-up may require a
2-year wait, so wiring up the schools is really a major concern)

The document should list specs of the kind "email client compatible with
protocols SMTP, POP3, IMAP. HTTP client compatible with HTML/4.0, CSS,
Java 2, GUI environment". And never, ever, names of particular
corporations. In fact, I'm almost sure there are laws the make it illegal
to ask particular brands or company names in specs of public licitations.
I know of buy processes that were aborted because the text said "HP Ink
Jet printer" and the HP name in the document made it void.

"Never attribute to malice what can be explained by stupidity"

Even if we leave the Linux matter off this one, writing "Windows ME" all
over the place when Windows XP is about to pop up looks dumb too.

Last, but not least, this document only restricts the equipment and
services to be contracted using the FUST federal fund (Fund for
Universalization of Telecommunication Services) [everyone pays a
contribution tax to FUST on the phone bills, the fund is owned by Anatel
to be used to enhance the telecommunication infra-structure]. Looks like
the main matter here is laying the networking with FUST. Schools are them
free to buy "out-of-spec" computers with budget from elsewhere (from state
governments, for example, the governor of the state of Rio Grande do Sul
(RS) has commited to banishing non-free software from any computers that
are property of the state wherever possible) and attach them to the
network. Money is scarce for schools, but FUST is not the only source and
probably not the greater source of money for schools.

.........................................................................
Felipe Paulo Guazzi Bergo - Free Software Developer (bergo@seul.org)
Personal Info and GPG Public Key: http://www.advogato.org/person/khazad
Campinas - SP - Brazil - Earth

* Any sufficiently advanced OS is indistinguishable from Linux.

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