diff --git a/Manuals/Tcpi-ug/Preface/overview.docbook b/Manuals/Tcpi-ug/Preface/overview.docbook
index fbd69a1..509e7b8 100755
--- a/Manuals/Tcpi-ug/Preface/overview.docbook
+++ b/Manuals/Tcpi-ug/Preface/overview.docbook
@@ -3,30 +3,29 @@
Overview
- On April 2009, I decided to stop working for cuban State. This
- decision emerged with the increasing feeling of repression
- experimented when one, as system administrator, isn't agree
- with the restrictions impossed by cuban State and tries to
- find an alternative way to express oneself differently. In
- this environment, one can realize that the cuban political
- system lacks of such independent alternatives for cubans to
- use. I don't pretend to use this book to detail the political
- system I live on, but I do want to say that the more I got
- involved with the cuban political system the more distance I
- felt between the most pure of myself and the actions the
- system expected from me to do as system administrator.
- Nevertheless, it is motivating to see how we are able to
- realize about such things thank to bright minds like Richard
- Stallman with his philosophy about freedom and an immense free
- software community under constant development which provides
- the medium to express the free software philosophy as a way of
- living.
+ On April 2009, I decided to stop working for cuban State due
+ the increasing feeling of repression I experimented as
+ system administrator when I didn't agree with the restrictions
+ impossed by cuban State and tries to find an alternative way
+ to express myself differently. In this environment, one can
+ realize that the cuban political system lacks of such
+ independent alternatives for cubans to use. I don't pretend
+ to use this book to detail the political system I live on, but
+ I do want to say that the more I got involved with the cuban
+ political system the more distance I felt between the most
+ pure of myself and the actions the system expected from me to
+ do as system administrator. Nevertheless, it is motivating to
+ see how we are able to realize about such things thank to
+ bright minds like Richard Stallman with his philosophy about
+ freedom and an immense free software community under constant
+ development which provides the medium to express the free
+ software philosophy as a way of living.
In these last years (2009-2011), the cuban State has shown
- signs to start using free software distributions with the idea
- of reaching a technology independency
which is
+ signs to start using free software with the idea of
+ reaching a technology independency
which is
quiet contradictory to me. What independency we are talking
about here? Independency for whom, and from whom? The only
way I see the cuban State will be able to reach such
@@ -38,22 +37,23 @@
Otherwise, the cuban State would be inevitably attached to
someone that can differ from it and, that would be something
unacceptable for cuban State because it would compromise the
- former idea it had about independency.
+ idea it had about independency in first place.
The cuban State is misunderstanding or trying to distort the
real meaning of free software and the philosophy behind it.
- The free software is built by people and dedicated to people
+ The free software is built from people and dedicated to people
whom might be in need of it, with the hope of being useful and
- garantee the freedom of computer users paying a monetary price
- or not for it. The cuban State, on the other hand, introduces
- free software at convenience because there are entire
- operating systems free of charge the cuban State can study and
- change as needed, not in the sense of the freedom it provides
- to people. The cuban State uses free software as another
- impositions to control what software does people use and which
- one doesn't.
+ garantee the freedom of computer users paying or not a
+ monetary price for it. The cuban State, on the other hand,
+ introduces free software at convenience because there are
+ entire operating systems free of charge which the cuban State
+ can study and change as needed, not in the sense of the
+ freedom it provides to people, but as a way to control what
+ software does people use and the way they do that. It is
+ another impositions people should comply with, no matter what
+ they think about it.
When I was working in the health sector of cuban State, my
superior told me once that I couldn't keep using &TCD; on
@@ -61,88 +61,106 @@
central level stopped using Red Hat related distribution
and started to use Debian. I don't want to enter in a
debate why one or another distribution, that's not the
- point. But I do want to mentione that this decision
- couldn't be taken from one day to another without any
+ point. But I do want to mention that this decision
+ shouldn't be taken from one day to another without any
consideration about all the time people spent studying
(and working for) one specific GNU/Linux distribution. My
opinion was rejected and they kept themselves showing me
- that it was a politics to follow, no matter what I thought
- about it. I couldn't accept that and fired up myself. I
- cannot change from one operating system to another just
- because someone wants to.
+ that it was a matter of politics one should follow, no
+ matter what one thought about it. I couldn't accept that
+ and fired up myself from that institution. I cannot change
+ from one operating system to another just because someone
+ wants to.
- Some people might see that it is free software
- anyway. Yes, that's true, but think that again: Shouldn't you
- have the freedom to decide what free software to use, and also
- what community you join to? No one must impose you anything
- about which social community you participate in, that is a
- decision you need to take yourself, not someone else. The
- free software isn't free because of its name, but the legal,
- social, economical and political environment it is used in. If
- licenses used by software producers (either free or privative)
- to release their work isn't protected somehow, software
+ Some people might think that there is no problem
+ in that because it is free software anyway. Yes, that's true,
+ but think that again: Shouldn't you have the freedom to decide
+ what free software to use, and also what community you join
+ to? No one must impose you anything about which social
+ community you participate in, that is a decision you need to
+ take yourself, not someone else. The free software isn't free
+ because of its name, but the legal, social, economical and
+ political environment it is used in. If licenses used by
+ software producers (either free or privative) to release their
+ work isn't protected in that environment somehow, software
producers won't be motivated to create any software at all
(either free or privative).
- Consider what's happening in Cuba with Windows, the operating
- system produced by Microsoft corporation. When one install the
+ Consider what happening in Cuba with Windows, the operating
+ system produced by Microsoft corporation: when one install the
Windows operating system, one of the first screens in the
- installation process is the License under which Microsoft
- releases its product. This License expreses what you can do
- and cannot do with this product (e.g., you cannot install it
- without paying Microsoft for doing so). In Cuba, I've seen no
- protection to make users to comply with such licenses. Anyone
- is able to install a Windows system, even in at statal levels.
- Now, if the Microsoft license has no protection in Cuba, what
- interest does the cuban legal system would have to protect the
- free software licenses (e.g., GPL) which give freedom to
- computer users?
+ installation process is the License agreement under which
+ Microsoft releases its product. This agreement is based on the
+ copyright concept, the same legal instrument the Free Software
+ Foundation relys on to distribute free software. The fact the
+ License agreement of of Windows operating system isn't
+ complied (e.g., no cuban pays Microsoft for using its
+ operating system) as Microsoft expect it be, is a sign of a
+ clear violention of international copyright concept.
+ Personally, I don't use Windows operating system since 2003
+ when I discovered the free software philosophy,
+
+ I want to thank my teacher Jesús Aneiros Sosa for
+ intructing me in the free software philosophy and for
+ leading the LUG of Cienfuegos during so many years to
+ transmit the feeling of freedom.
+ but I am worried about the legal issues
+ cuban might face when developing free software. For example,
+ will the cuban State treat the free software license in the
+ same way it treats private software licenses? If the cuban
+ State has no legal regulation to protect the international
+ copyright concept (i.e., letting authors to publish their
+ works the way they want to and provide the legal protections
+ needed to deprive people from using those creations in a way
+ different from that one conceived by their authors), it would
+ be very difficult to truly motivate people to create free
+ software (or anything else) in Cuba.
- The main problem here, as far as I can see, is based on
- different ideas about the same concept. The free software
- movement was initiated by Richard Stallman in the United
- States of America, based on the political system of that
- country. In order to use free software, in the sense of
- freedom thought by Richard Stallman, it is required that a
- similar political system be present, or at least one that
- respects the free software licenses. Otherwise, I don't see a
- way for cuban people to understand what free software is, nor
- the philosophy behind it.
+ The main problem here is based on different ideas about the
+ same concept. The free software movement was initiated by
+ Richard Stallman in the United States of America, based on the
+ legal system of that country. In order to use free software,
+ in the sense of freedom thought by Richard Stallman, it is
+ required that a similar underlaying legal system in matters of
+ copyright concepts be present in Cuba, or an agreement among
+ all countries (e.g., The Berna Treatment) in this matter.
+ Otherwise, I don't see a way for cuban people to understand
+ what free software really is, nor the philosophy behind it.
Free software communities are the place where free software is
produced. There are international, national and local
communities grouped under free software philosophy. In Cuba,
- because all the communication media are controlled by cuban
- State and cuban State uses it to its own benefits, it is
- difficult to people whose differ from cuban State to
- have access to communication media where the free software
- communities live in. I strongly beleive that for the free
- software philosophy to touch the heart of cubans, the free
- software communities must be accessable to all cubans.
- However, while the cuban State keeps itself being inbetween,
- controlling how the cubans can or cannot integrate any
- specific way of living, there will not be free software in
- Cuba, nor any freedom for cubans to make use of.
+ because all the communication media are controlled by the
+ cuban State and conceived to its own benefit, it is difficult
+ for anyone differing from cuban State to have access to
+ communication media where the free software communities live
+ in. I strongly beleive that for the free software philosophy
+ to touch the heart of cubans, all free software communities
+ must be accessable to cubans. However, while the cuban State
+ keeps itself being inbetween, controlling how the cubans can
+ or cannot integrate any specific way of living, there will not
+ be free software in Cuba, nor any freedom for cubans to make
+ use of.
- Another popular affair frequently mentioned by the cuban State
+ Another frequent topic mentioned by the cuban State
information media is the migration from privative to free
software. The migration from privative software to free
- software must be initiated from people deepest comprehension
+ software must be initiated from people's deepest comprehension
of what they are doing, not from impositions of another
inquestionable order everybody needs to comply with. So,
cubans need to feel what freedom is and express it in order to
perceive a deep impact of free software in cuban society. We
cannot pretend that cubans will use free software based on a
- lie or a distorted idea of all the freedom it provides, that
- idea won't last much before it falls itself into pieces.
+ lie or a distorted idea about the freedom it provides, an idea
+ like that wont last much before it falls itself into pieces.
People need a way of identifying themselves apart from any
social or political system in order for them to be able of
decide whether or not to be part of one.
@@ -154,7 +172,7 @@
information media) about introducing free software for freeing
the cuban society from privative software. In fact, if you
compare the privative software and the way cuban State
- restricts information,
+ restricts the information management,
See resolution 129 emitted by the cuban Ministerium of
Informatics and Telecommunications (MIT).
@@ -171,23 +189,25 @@
doing so. There isn't a legal instrument in either direction
that one can use as pattern to act legally. The cuban State
has all the legal power to condemn you as cuban, but you are
- completly naked against it.
+ completly unarmed against it.
Internet access is another obscured issue inside Cuba. Around
2008, Cuba and Venezuela signed up an agreement to connect
- each nation with a trasatlantic fiber optic cable for high
+ both nation with a trasatlantic fiber optic cable for high
speed Internet access. In 2011 the cuban State announced the
- cable had been touched the cuban territory, but nothing more
- has been mentioned so far. There is a terrible silence about
- it. Some people are woundering why to spend so much money on
- that if very few cubans can make use of it, others prefer to
- think that the entire project failed. It is difficult to know
- what happend exactly because, again, there is no alternative
- way of communication but those provided and controlled by the
- cuban State. The fact is that there isn't a way for cubans to
- contract an Internet service at home, nor a viable way to
+ arrival of such cable to cuban national territory, but nothing
+ more has been mentioned since then. There is a terrible
+ silence about it that make people woundering themselves what
+ happend with that invertion. Some people ask why to spend so
+ much money on that if cubans cannot make use of it and others
+ prefer to think that the entire project failed. It is
+ difficult to know what happend exactly because, again, there
+ isn't any alternative way of communication but those provided
+ and controlled by the cuban State. The fact is that, at
+ present time (2011), there isn't a legal way for cubans to
+ contract an Internet service at home, nor even a viable way to
acquire a fixed telephone line at home either. However, the
same isn't true for extrangers coming from other countries
whose are visiting Cuba or staying inhere as residents. The
@@ -200,46 +220,47 @@
In Cuba there is only one telecommunication corporation named
ETECSA. This organization gives the impresion of being very
- tied to cuban State and controls everything related to
+ tied to cuban State and controlling everything related to
telephone networks and dedicated links for data transmistion
in the island.
I heard of a case where someone tried to establish an
independent connection from Cuba to another country using
the air as phisical medium for data trasmission and that
- person is pressently suffering years in a cuban prison for
- doing that. The cuban State considered such action as a
- risk for national security. At this moment I haven't more
- information about this case. It is very difficult to be
- accurate about such things without an alternative
- information medium, apart from those under cuban State
- control.
+ person is pressently suffering years in a cuban prison
+ because the cuban State considered such action as illegal.
+ At this moment I haven't more information about this case.
+ It is very difficult to be accurate about such things
+ without an alternative information medium, apart from
+ those under cuban State control.
- Based on the fact that the telephone network is
+ Based on the fact that cuban telephone network is
the only communication medium most cubans have direct access
- to, my attention is centered on it, as phisical medium to
- exchange data using computers. It is important to remark
- that, when using the telephone network as medium for data
- transmission, there are limitations in the number of
+ to, my attention is centered on it as phisical medium for
+ exchanging information using computers. It is important to
+ remark that, when using the telephone network as medium for
+ data transmission, there are limitations in the number of
simultaneous connections it is possible to phisically
establish between computers, it could be difficult to obtain
- the required communication devices inside the island, and it
- could be too much expencive to make international calls in
- order to exchange information with public services available
- on different networks outside Cuba's political boundaries.
- Besides all these restrictions, the telephone network has a
- national scope that can be efficiently used by computers to
- transfer data all over the island at a cost of national
- telephone calls providing, thus, an alternative medium for
- data transmision that people can use to communicate themselves
- whatever thing they need to.
+ the Modem devices inside the island, and it could be too much
+ expencive to make international calls in order to exchange
+ information with public services available on different
+ networks outside Cuba's political boundaries. Besides all
+ these restrictions, the cuban telephone network has a national
+ scope that can be efficiently used by cuban
+ people inside the island to share information using computers
+ at a monetary cost of national telephone calls and the
+ electrical power consumed by computers and communication
+ devices.
- To protect the information passed through the telephone line,
- people can make use of the GnuPGP
- application or the Openssl
- cryptography toolkit, both available in &TCD;.
+ To protect the information traveling through the telephone
+ line, people can make use of the
+ GnuPGP application to encrypt data
+ traveling or the Openssl
+ cryptography toolkit to encrypt the entire data transmission,
+ both available inside &TCD;.
@@ -256,7 +277,8 @@
collaborative networks using the cuban telephone
network
- Considering that I and most cubans haven't Internet access
+ Considering that I and most cubans haven't access to
+ dedicated links or real IP addresses for data transmission
at present time.
as phisical medium to transmit information using