Korea Plans to Choose Linux City, University

thefirelane wrote to mention an ambitious plan in the works by the South Korean government. Work is underway to choose a city, which will become a place where open-source software will become the mainstream operating system. From the article: "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. 'The test beds will prompt other cities and universities to follow suit through the showcasing of Linux as the major operating system without any technical glitches and security issues,' Lee said. "

Comments

No technical glitches!

[daBass]

showcasing of Linux as the major operating system without any technical glitches

Linux? No technical glitches? And he already proclaims this before the trial?

Boy, is he in for a shock...

Disclosure: I love Linux (for servers) and wouldn't choose anything else. But I sure have seen my share of "glitches"!

good move!

[slackaddict]

Think about it - what if suddenly Linux/Unix/BSD was the mandated operating system for an entire country? Drastically reduced costs not only for the operating system itself, but also for all of the extra crap you need to keep Windows limping along. Wow... Maybe more money for teachers, schools, computers(!!), roads, healthcare, etc...

I say if Microsoft is the answer to the question, it must have been a stupid question. Go Linux!! :-)

Re:Not the right way...

[ajs318]

That's what all the Microsoft paid shills are saying ..... "choice", "right tool for the job" and so forth. Conveniently ignoring the fact that most of the time there is no choice.

• When did anyone ever have a choice of what OS comes on a new PC? For instance, have you ever tried to buy a GNU/Linux notebook?
• How often is it in the interests of an employer to offer employees a choice of operating systems? Only in a few, very specialised cases.

Also, "the right tool for the job" may well be something beautiful but expensive that requires a great effort to make locally, if part of "the job" specifically includes keeping money in the local economy rather than sending it to a foreign corporation. Remember, no matter how much you have to pay them, local programmers pay local taxes, drink in local pubs, spend their money in local stores, take their friends and family to visit local tourist attractions, and generally benefit the local economy.

Re:Universities and schools

[Blakey Rat]

you could eliminate the hours and hours of headaches from virii and worms

And add hours and hours of headaches from people who can't figure out what to do, glitchy software, or having to use a crappy clone of some Windows product that works better.