South Korea is looking to turn one of its cities and a university into an all Linux-zone. They plan to conduct this experiment in an effort to move away from an over reliance on Microsoft software, according to The Korea Times. It successful other cities will follow suit.
The selected government and university will be required to install open-source software as a main operating infrastructure, for which the MIC will support with funds and technologies. In the long run, they will have to migrate most of their desktop and notebook computers away from the Windows program of Microsoft, the world’s biggest maker of software.
Brazil, China, Germany and several other countries are already working on moving government bodies away from Microsoft software to more open source tools. But this seems to be one of the biggest tests. The most important question however, is what will this city be called? Tuxville? Any suggestions?
I always hate similar attempts to force using technologies by government body. There are a lot of failed projecrs in Europe which used this approach. I understand that Asia can be other case but anyway. Nothing said about commercial efficacy. Nothing said about total costs of this trnasformation. Nothing said about exit plan in case of failure. Only political aims. What they choose isnt a better software but platform for development of their software industry. Were Microsoft korean corporation, nothing would happen. This is neither victory of Linux nor direct failure of MS
“… through the showcasing of Linux as the major operating system without any technical glitches and security issues”
They are kidding or what?
While I agree with EQ2 plat on the whole, it is also always good to see larger organizations (be that government, corporations, or otherwise) realize that Windows and Office isn’t the only option out there. I like to see that these people know about Linux and are willing to experiment. Let’s just hope they have thought it out properly first.
the way i am reading this piece is that they are experimenting with it. if it works and can fit the bill, they will go for the full transition. i think it is prudent to try doing that at the very least.
Argree with EQ2. Good luck!
A couple of points to address any implication that this step is ‘risky’:
Asianux by Korean company Haansoft has already been deployed on thousands of servers in Korea.
Haansoft’s desktop Linux & Hancom Office products have already been deployed on 120,000+ Korean Government PCs
Asianux Linux from Haansoft has already been certified and deployed by IBM, HP, Oracle and others in Korea.
Thus, it is important not to extrapolate a U.S. market-centric view of the world onto activities in other parts of the world, especially Asia.
Greetings from Australia > frank