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Red Flag Linux Forced On Chinese Internet Cafes

Posted by timothy on from the billions-and-billions-served dept.

iamhigh writes "Reports are popping up that Chinese Internet Cafes are being required to switch to Red Flag Linux. Red Flag is China's biggest Linux distro and recently received headlines for their Olympic Edition release. The regulations, effective Nov. 5th, are aimed at combating piracy and require only that cafes install either a legal version of Windows or Red Flag. However, Radio Free Asia says that cafes are being forced to install Red Flag even if they have legal versions of Windows. Obviously questions about spying and surveillance have arisen, with no comment from the Chinese Government."

3 of 295 comments (clear)

  1. Re:In other news by SatanicPuppy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...While number of licensed copies remains the same.

    --
    ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
  2. Another motive by theapeman · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If I were some non-american government then I would prefer people to use Linux. Not because of any backdoors that I could put in it, but because I could be reasonably sure that there were no backdoors put in it by the US government.

  3. Re:Where Exactly is the Danger? by ShieldW0lf · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm confused.

    Are there concerns that the Chinese government are going to be spying on citizens using the open source Red Flag operating system, or are there concerns that using the closed source Windows operating system will allow some group to spy on the Chinese?

    The second seems like a greater risk than the first.

    --
    -1 Uncomfortable Truth