Asia’s Big Switch

Asian countries have started switching from proprietary software such as Microsoft’s (Nasdaq: MSFT) to open source software, it was reported Tuesday at the eighth annual Asia Open Source Software Symposium (AOSSS) in Denpasar, Indonesia.

Experts and information technology practitioners from Bangladesh, China, India, Japan, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, and ASEAN member countries are attending the conference. (source)

What about the Philippines? Are we switching too?

Honestly, I’m not really sure if the Philippines sent delegates to that symposium. I tried looking for news related to that but I can’t find anything. I just hope that we are one of the ASEAN members that participated in the event.

You see, after being left out in One Laptop Per Child project, I’m afraid that we’re once again missing the benefits of cheaper technology. I don’t understand why the Philippines, being a third world country, is not taking the opportunity to save money by using FOSS. Imagine the funds we can keep by ditching Windows and switching to Linux. These can be used to other projects like school buildings, books, health care, and many more.

What about our Open Source bill? Is it still alive? In the first place, do we really need a law before we can use Open Source? DOST already developed a local Linux distro called Bayanihan, yet it’s not being used by our government agencies.

Common guys, what’s stopping you?