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The End of Naked PCs in China?
fishter writes "The Chinese Government is calling on PC manufacturers to ensure that a properly licensed operating system is installed on their products before they leave the factory. One manufacturer has already signed a deal with Microsoft to install its operating systems on all its personal PC products. The edict would also apply to foreign manufacturers supplying PCs to Chinese companies and residents."
Well, I haven't had the chance to read the exact Chinese wording but if I were a vendor looking to sell naked PCs, I'd simply use a superior OS.
... because it doesn't change anything. It just makes manufacturing boxes a bit more cumbersome.
That's right, simply burn 17MB CDLinux ISO (with Chinese language support) to a CD and "install" the disc into the CD-ROM drive. When the computer boots up, it will have a properly licensed operating system running. Should the consumer choose to install some other operating system *cough* *cough* they won't even need to format the hard drive or write over the partition tables!
Seriously, I think this is just a laughable edict that the Chinese Government has done to bolster trade with United States software firms. The factories in China are just going to distribute Linux or some other free operating system and even have instructions on how to install windows over it. The government knows this also and that's why it's happy to comply with something the US companies are asking it to do
Who knows, if the manufacturers use a nice enough version of Linux, they might cause quite a few people to convert?
My work here is dung.
I don't see anything in this that precludes pre-loading of OS's other than Windows. They just need to be properly licenced. A copy of RedFlag Linux for example should be perfectly acceptable.
I hate the way this whole 'naked PC' thing is painted as purely a piracy issue. We just bought 10 Workstations from HP that come with WinXP Pro and no way to buy them without despite the fact that they are intended as Linux machines and HP advertises them as fully Linux compatible.
"I have the attention span of a strobe lit goldfish, please get to the point quickly!"
Well, of course, a "properly licensed operating system" doesn't have to cost money. I'm guessing they will just install linux, probably Red Flag Linux.
Some could even see this as an attempt by the Chinese government to increase Red Flag usage over pirated (American) Windows.
"A week in the lab saves an hour in the library"
I've had coworkers from China. They say that the piracy over there is just ignored. For example, just like you can go and buy a hotdog or a newspaper in a 7/11 here, you can buy a "copy" of whatever you want software-wise over there. It's so bad that requiring an O/S is like holding back the ocean with a broom, it will make absolutely no difference. I'm not just talking about making copies of some existing software, I'm talking about full-scale organized piracy as an industry. It goes far enough that you can even buy DVD's of movies there before the movie is released in theaters over here (not camcorder-made either) !
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At the end of TFA is the statement
Something tells me this is one of those Chinese Government edicts that will be largely ignored once Mr. Bush leaves China.
The Chinese President is certainly not in the mood to discuss Microsoft's Intellectual Property Rights when there are more pressing matters to be discussed with the US President. He'll just point to the edict and politely say that the Chinese Government is already taking steps to address problems of piracy. Then he'll quickly change to another topic as soon as he is able.
However, quite a few people will probably keep the default OS out of laziness, if nothing else, so Windows will loose market share. Until now, there are a fair number of Chinese internet sites (and software) that only work with Windows, but if enough people will use the default Linux system, those sites will have to adapt. This will make it even less attractive to install pirate Windows.
So, how will this hurt MS? They don't get any money worth talking about from the Chinese market today. Their problem is that if a large portion of the Chinese start using Linux, international web sites that sell to the Chinese, will also have to adapt to Linux. And that means that Linux will be a more viable alternative for the international public too.
This may be wishful thinking, but I think there is a fair chance that this scenario will take place.
I remember hearing once that McDonald's marketing goal was to make your dinner decision be the question: "McDonalds: yes/no?" as opposed to "McDonalds / Burger King / Taco Bell /
So what Microsoft is trying for here is to convince everyone that the only alternatives are 'piracy' and 'purchasing Windows'. By denying that other choices even exist they push them down in the mindset of the audience, (conversely by adding say Linux in the mix, they legitimize it)
It's the old "Are you still drowning kittens?" question, either 'yes' or 'no' paints you as a monster, when in reality you've never done any such thing.
Formulating questions and answers that go together is what marketing is...
If you think imaginary property and real property are the same, when does your house become public domain?
I can't speak for China, as I've never been there, but in Thailand, you can go to the mall and find stores (actual stores, not booths) that have nothing but spindles upon spindles of CD-Rs with 'pirated' software. The disks go for the equivilant of $5 US and probably cheaper if you're Thai. It's quite an interesting thing to see.