Taiwan Asks Microsoft To Open Windows Source

Andy Tai writes "According to this China Times article (in Chinese), the Republic of China government has asked Microsoft to open Windows source code. The official, Lin Jua-Cheng, in charge of the 'e-government' initiative, says many other countries have also sent similar requests to Microsoft. Lin explains that without Windows source code, the government cannot add custom firewall functionalities to Windows based systems in wide use, and that is very bad for the information security of Taiwan. Microsoft refused to publicly release the source in the past using reasons of copyright protection, but Lin emphasizes this request is reasonable since it is based on (government users') necessity." Read on for a bit more, too. (Can anyone suggest an online Chinese English translation engine that produces other than gibberish?) Andy continues "Lin points out that GNU/Linux systems, because of their freeness and high security (due to the availability of the source code, which can be modified to add firewalls and other security measures), have become widely used in government computer systems (especially in militaries and intelligence agencies) of many nations and the Pentagon, the FAA, and the air force of the U.S. Lin says the government cannot rely on a single vendor, and to promote the alternatives, the government has set up a 'Free (libre) Software Steering Committee' directing government efforts. The two aims of the ROC government's current software policy is making Windows source code openly available and the development of Free (libre) Software in Taiwan."

Comments

Not only that

[Squareball]

Not only is it hard to put in their own firewalls it's hard to develop linux apps that can use the hidden Windows APIs and we all know how much that sucks ;)

Fair trade

[Rai]

M$ give them the source code and we get the spy planes back :)

Re:translation

[outsider007]

So then did the American yum yum clown monkey also represent the FCC?

Open Sourcing the Chinese Government

[limekiller4]

China has some balls suggesting Microsoft open it's code to their government when the Chinese government isn't open to it's own populace.

Can you say "Tiananmen Square, 1989?"

Yeah. I knew that you could. Chinese citizens are still regularly detained, imprisoned and killed for their thoughts and speech. And they want openness?

For once I'm with Microsoft I'm OUTRAGED that such an oppressive group of 1950 throwbacks, not one iota distinct from common criminals, would even request it. Tell them to shove it up their ass.