Government of Argentina Launches Linux Distribution

The news has been full of headlines of happenings at this year's LinuxCon, but one tiny little headline stands out today as different. Although it hasn't made it into English speaking press yet, it seems the Argentine government has sponsored the development of a Linux distribution to be used on all state provided education computers.

According to Google translate, it seems the government wanted a secure and open system that meets the "needs of students and teachers and maintaining national identity." The translated source in Spanish, says it's purpose is to "join the more than 3 million netbooks released by the National Government to teachers and students around the country." I'm sure the following quote from Abal Medina, of the Cabinet of Ministers, is a bad translation:

We are the protagonists of a technology all aimed at reducing inequalities and change the reality of our people from the facts, not from the speeches. Without a present and active state, the digital divide creates new exclusions.

It appears Huayra Linux is based on Debian and is already being tested in schools. Tutorials and articles featuring free software are being published on the official Website (translated). No matter the politics, it seems Linux is the operating system of choice for all types of governments around the world.