“They’ll get sort of addicted, and then we’ll somehow figure out how to collect sometime in the next decade.”

--Bill Gates

Summary: Another country in the process of digital liberation may be falling victim to Microsoft's "addict the children" plot

AMID its fight against the world (and for OOXML), Microsoft has already done some nasty things in Spain, some of which we summarised in:

• Microsoft is Outmuscling OOXML Opposition in Spain (Updatedx3)
• OOXML = Our Way or No Way; Spain Says “Adios, OOXML”
• Why Schools Must Embrace ODF and FOSS; Healthy Boost for KOffice and OpenDocument Format
• Disinformation on the Rise, Shameless Linux FUD Makes a Comeback
• The Latest News on the Microsoft OOXML Fiasco (Updated)
• Microsoft Fuels OpenDocument Disinformation with Funded Analyst Propaganda
• OOXML: Deception, Lies, FUD, Apple & Germany Become Microsoft Tools
• Has OOXML 'Funny Business' Already Reached Australia and India?
• Microsoft Continues to Cheat in the ISO
• 'Buying' Linux Companies, 'Buying' ISO Votes, and 'Buying'... Countries
• The Microsoft OOXML 'Corruption Train' Reaches Denmark (Updatedx2)
• OpenDocument Disinformation -- A Cautionary Note
• India to Weigh in on Real Standards and 'Monopoly Enablers'
• Microsoft OOXML Manipulation Reaches Spain, Leads to Vocal Complaints (Updated)

Microsoft seems to have just found a sucker in Eva Almunia, who is selling her country's children to a convicted monopolist which has already molested the nation in a variety of ways.

From Linux Pro Magazine:

Spanish Government to Hand Schools Over to Microsoft?

[...]

At the Microsoft Leaders Forum in Berlin in January, Spanish Secretary of State of Education, Eva Almunia, presented four students working with Tablet PCs, using Microsoft.

[...]

The Spanish Ministry of Education has not considered any other vendor apart form Microsoft, there hasn't been a public contest, and the media and other vendors were not informed about the pilot program until it was over. Furthermore, no other alternative has been considered.

If the plan gets the green light, it would have dire consequences for the communities of Andalucía, Castilla-La Mancha, Extremadura, Valencia, and all the other autonomous regions that already have a Linux-based IT infrastructures, which have already been paid for and are in use, in place within their school systems.

Microsoft is doing something similar in Portugal [1, 2], in Catalonia, in Turkey, and in Russia. Why is Spain the latest target? Well, unlike erroneous suggestions made in some of the comments above, Spain is adopting Free software pretty rapidly [1-13] and Microsoft is trying to put an end to it by brainwashing and misleading the next generation.

This would not be the first time that multinationals take over the country's policies. We saw one example several weeks ago [14]. ⬆ _______ [1] ES: Open Source eGovernment study

Spain has launched a National Open Source Software Observatory. Its first report, just out, is on Open Source use in public administrations.

Some 500 000 workstations and servers in Spanish public administrations use Open Source, the report says. Administrations are satisfied with the service provided by Open Source suppliers, and cost reductions have been achieved through economies of scale and the reuse of code.

[2] ES: Cenatic joins campaign against unlicensed software

Cenatic, Spain's national resource centre for open source software, this Wednesday will join other organisations in a campaign meant to reduce the use of unlicensed copies of software. "Free and open source software provide a legitimate alternative that respect the rights of its creators", the organisation said in a statement.

[3] ES: Administrations fund open source GIS education tool

The ministry of Education in Valencia, one of Spain's autonomous regions and the regional government of La Palma are funding development of Edusig, an open source tool to help teach geography to school children. The application is being hosted on the Osor.eu software development web site since late last month.

[4] OSOR launch, Open Source World Conference in Malaga, Spain

The OSOR website will be launched in Malaga, at the Open Source World Conference. Xavier Heymans has been invited to present the PloneGov innitiative. PloneGov is a collaborative software ecosystem, where government organizations, non-profits and the private sector work together to share the cost of enhanced capabilities.

[5] Viva España Libre!

Most people know that the Estremadura region in Spain is a pacesetter in terms of deploying free software, but here's a handy map that shows how it and everyone else is doing in that country.

[6] ES: Open Source looks to eGovernment

The new action plan gives top priority to ensuring that Open Source users have equal access to eGovernment. Part of that drive will be a series of studies and reports on electronic filing, process improvement, transparency and electronic billing. These will be linked to Spain’s Law on Citizens’ Electronic Access to Public Services.

[...]

Currently, CENATIC is working on Open Source applications for XBRL, a language for document exchange between administrations. Its interim conclusion is that there are viable Open Source solutions for financial document exchange between public administrations, small and medium-sized enterprises and the tax and regulatory authorities.

[7] Open source tour of Europe: Spain

The most famous Spanish Linux open source adoption project has to be Extremadura, which set out in 2002 to rejuvenate its services and boost IT literacy by making free software available to everyone and building a regional intranet.

[8] ES: Congress urges government to promote free software

An almost unanimous resolution of the Spanish parliament in mid December urges the its government to promote free software.

The resolution got 299 votes in favour.

[9] Biggest ever Spanish open source agreement signed

Alfresco Software and Intecna Soluciones have signed a strategic open source software agreement with the government of Andalucia.

The project will be the biggest of its kind in Spanish history.

[10] Richard Stallman in Madrid: Free as in Freedom

Speaking a correct Spanish (although with a bit strange accent), and with a good dosis of humour, Richard spoke about “The users and Freedom” at Rafael del Pino foundation.

[11] Akademy-es 2007 in Zaragoza Spain

This past weekend, November 16th through the 18th, Zaragoza Spain was the home of Akademy-es 2007. The conference began early Saturday morning and finished Monday with a Hackathon.

[12] Red Hat Gains Momentum in the Spanish Market

Red Hat, Inc., the world's leading provider of open source solutions, today announced that the company has experienced strong growth in Spain in recent months, with a substantial increase in the number of customers that rely on its open source technology.

[...]

Arsys, a leading Internet service provider in Spain with regional presence in France and Portugal, announced its migration to Red Hat Enterprise Linux as its main platform to develop and offer secure Internet services to its 120,000 customers across Europe in September this year.

[13] ES: Axarquía county administration moves all desktops to open source

The administration of the Spanish county of Axarquía is about to begin its move to open source desktops. About seven hundred PCs in all county government offices and in town halls in Rincón de la Victoria, Periana, Totalan, Moclinejo and Almáchar are the first to be fitted with open source software

[14] Who drives the Spanish ICT public policy? The Minister? Sure?

Open letter to the Spanish Minister of Industry demanding him to fire to the vice-minister who seems to drive the current ICT public policy of Spain... for big telecoms and Hollywood entertainment corporations. The man who tries to bring the French 3-strikes against P2P to Spain. Everything against the public opinions expressed by the Minister. What is wrong here, Minister Sebastián?