Brazil is continuing to solidify its role as the leader of technology innovations for developing countries. As noted here on this site, Brazil is exporting its open source tech solutions at the Brasil Tech 2008 conference being held in South Africa. One such innovation is reconditioning old hardware and using free software to put them back into circulation in Brazilian schools. Secretary of Logistics and Information Technology at the Ministry of Planning, Rogerio Santanna dos Santos, explained that Brazil got the idea from a program in Canada and they began building Computer Reconditioning Centers: “The poor in Brazil were trained and employed in these reconditioning centres who would, in turn, provide the needy, public schools and universities with computers.” So, not only are Brazilian schools getting more computers, but people are being trained to work on the hardware.

Certainly, what helps make this possible is the flexibility of open source operating systems. Linux can be modified to run smoothly on older hardware without sacrificing any of the modern features of the desktop (GNOME or KDE). Microsoft Windows, on the other hand, requires powerful and expensive computers or it just won’t run. Also, Linux can be installed for free on recycled computers whereas Microsoft would still require the purchase of an expensive license. Brazil’s creativity in using free software to benefit their educational system continues to amaze.