Until now Cuba's state computers have exclusively used Windows. That may be all about to change.

The Cuban government daily Juventud Rebelde is reporting that Cuba, which already has 1500 computers using Linux, is working on a legal framework that would allow the replacement of the Windows system throughout the Cuban government.

Cuba's director of the state office of information technology, Roberto del Puerto, told the daily that Cuba will gradually switch to Linux for all state computers.

It remains to be seen what the FUDsters and spinmeisters (inevitably) will strive to make of this latest instance of Linux adoption by a country best known for its revolutionary socialist principles. But at LinuxWorld we prefer to view it neutrally as yet another geographical example of the spread of Linux through business, government, and society.

It comes as part of a more generalized updating of technology in Cuba, including the replacement at long last of its analogue telephone technology with digital services.