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Red Flag Linux Forced On Chinese Internet Cafes
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."
Obviously questions about spying and surveillance have arisen ...
Um, it uses RPM as a package manager so as long as the government isn't forcing Cafes to use a certain package repository or use certain packages, where does the danger of surveillance lie? I mean, I wouldn't trust the Chinese government either but I am confused why a mandate of Red Flag Linux upsets people in this case ... and a recommendation from the DoD is probably heralded?
Yeah, they're running an industry's tech core, yeah they're stating exactly what OSS to use but where is the danger?
My work here is dung.
You know Microsoft has been pushing for the Chinese government to do something about the rampant piracy in China... They no doubt expected reduced piracy to lead to more legal installations of Windows but it has backfired on them hugely with this move to allow Internet Cafés to use Red Flag Linux.
Also the spying claims are meh. We already know the Chinese Gov. watch the pipes closely there really is no advantage in further monitoring within Internet Cafés.
If you don't think Red Flag is meant to be a Windows replacement, take a look at Wikipedia's screen shot of Version 6 (presumably out of the box).
...
Isn't this the part where Gates shits his gourd and asks to meet with Hu Jintao? Then baits the large part of greater China with free software that he writes off as a goodwill donation? I mean, we are talking a serious part of the world's population
My work here is dung.
Perhaps Microsoft will complain less about piracy if governments force people to replace pirated versions of Windows with Linux instead of forcing them to buy Windows licenses.
In this case, though, I suspect that there are some other motives at work besides curbing piracy--namely supporting a local software developer/distributor over a foreign one and possibly the ability to better control/monitor internet access in the future.
In China, because a large number of the players do not own the computer they use to play games (e.g. Internet cafes), the CD keys required to create an account can be purchased independently of the software package. In order to play the game, players must also purchase prepaid game cards that can be played for 66 hours and 40 minutes.[43] A monthly fee model is not available to players of this region. The Chinese government and The9, the licensee for World of Warcraft in China, have imposed a modification on Chinese versions of the game which places flesh on bare-boned skeletons and transforms dead character corpses into tidy graves. These changes were imposed by the Chinese government in an attempt to "promote a healthy and harmonious online game environment" in World of Warcraft.
My work here is dung.
Maybe it is so the cafes are limited to software that runs on Linux? Does Red Flag Linux have/support WINE or an equivalent?
V for Vendetta: People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.
Unlike that designated by a corporation one works for? :)
For every problem, there is at least one solution that is simple, neat, and wrong.
One major reason internet cafe is asked to install Linux is probably to restrict gaming. Internet cafe in China is vastly different than it's counterpart in America. Think of it more as a "gaming center" rather than a place to surf the net. A few years back most of them used to provides food and bed to lure it's gamer based customer to stay 24/7.
Over the past 5 or 6 years, there are increasing social problems generated by internet cafe. Parent's concern for their kids is a major issue. There are also a few incidents of unlicensed internet cafe not reaching safety regulation. One fire outbreak has caused 24 death in 2002 in a internet cafe in Beijing. Chinese government has been trying t o resolve these problems by introducing tighter regulations. Just to name a few: A policy came out a few years back requires all internet cafe to obtain a license, and no new license would be issued; Also under aged people are not allowed to enter internet cafe during weekdays unless accompanied by parent; All users are required to register wit h their ID before using internet cafe.
This new move is nothing more than another regulation to address the issued introduced by internet cafe. As most games does not run natively on Linux, the government probably expects to turn internet cafe away from the old "gaming center" model, into a role fitted more to it's actual name.
A rather ironic thing is, Linux was the choice for it's incompatibility with most games. So I guess YEAR_OF_LINUX_ON_DESKTOP=$((YEAR+1)) still holds.
The internet cafes in China are not going to run Linux anytime soon.
Why?
Because the cafe users are gamers, mostly. They use the *cheap* internet connection to play one of tons of different windows only MMORPGs(And that includes World of Warcraft.) or Online shooters.(Used to be counterstrike.)
To ask those internet cafes to run Linux is to ask them to get rid of their source of profits.
2009 - Year of Linux. One of the things that set Linux behind is lack of promotion, if Linux and commie China becomes connected somehow, it won't be a good thing.
that which was started to cricumvent corporate control, is used as a tool for authoritarian control
this is not in any way good for linux
it cuts to the very core of the rationale we all use for saying linux and open source software is a superior approach
if the software is coopted and subverted by an authoritarain regime, where is the inherent freedom that makes open software ideologically superior?
a corporate controlled software can make deals with an authoritarian regime, and withhold support for certain functionality. not that they do, but that they can. but with open source, the devil doesn't need to make deals with you, he just ignores you completely, and uses the software for dominance and control as the authoritarian regime sees fit
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Every company in China is in league with the PRC, including American companies.
Really. Unless youv'e been asleep for the last 10 years, can there be any question?
Actually, the 3 T's are Tiananmen Square, Tibet and Taiwan. Ah, and don't forget to mention the Dalai Lama.
Have I got through?
Seriously though, I teach. I never mention them in the classroom. If somebody else does, I just change the topic. As I know, in each class there is one student appointed by the PCC.
No sig is good enough for me.
"They cannot get a clean copy" is simply an invention. Have you been to China?
"When I first heard Daydream Nation it quite frankly scared the living shit out of me." -- Matthew Stearns
Do you really think you can get a clean copy of Debian off the Chinese internet? The view from the average citizen's perspective remains grim.
I don't know but it cant be that hard to find out
1) get debian ssh certs
2) go to china
3) apt-get update
or
1) hack a us box
2) compare ssh certs
or
1) phone a friend in another country and get them to read the cert to you
I mean im all for paranoia and tin foilhattery but seriously your just blindly speculating
IranAir Flight 655 never forget!