----- Original Message ----- From: T.V. Weber & Alida Weber <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <mailto:Undisclosed-Recipient:@Kitten.mcs.net> Sent: Tuesday, July 11, 2000 4:23 AM Subject: antiNATO Action Discuss China vs. Microsoft...fascinating article AntiNATO Action List - http://www.abolishnato.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Miroslav D. Asic" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "MOCT & TO HOB" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, July 10, 2000 10:56 AM Subject: NOVI MOSTOVI MAJKPOCABT & K&TAJ > Evo opet o MAJKPOCABTY & 3AKAJ JE Linux preferable (and I > thought I was paranoid! :-). Ima i gluposti -- da Linux izgleda much > like Windoze, no zanimljivo je HEBEP TXE < . > -- OCMEX, CABA MECAP > The New York Times * July 8, 2000, Saturday > > HEADLINE: China Moves To Cut Power Of Microsoft > > By CRAIG S. SMITH * DATELINE: SHANGHAI, July 6 > > Janet Reno is not the only one worried about Bill Gates's software > monopoly. China's leaders are, too. > > They are concerned that the country is growing overly dependent on the > Windows operating system, which controls computers running everything > from banks to President Jiang Zemin's e-mail box. But the Chinese > government, itself a master at monopoly, is taking its case against > Microsoft not to the courtroom but to the marketplace, albeit with a > bit of administrative fiat. It is backing the Linux operating system, > which was created by a Finnish university student in 1991 and is > distributed free to anyone. > > "We don't want one company to monopolize the software market," said > Chen Chong, a deputy minister of information industries who oversees > the computer industry in China. With Linux, "we can control the > security," he added, so "we can control our own destiny." > A growing number of Chinese have likened dependence on Microsoft to > leaving the keys to the country's increasingly computerized economy in > the hands of a potential enemy. Some warn that secret holes in > Microsoft's computer code might allow the United States access to > Chinese networks or even enable it, in time of war, to shut those > networks down. > > Such concerns were only heightened last year when a cryptographer for > a Canadian software firm working in the United States said he had > found a feature in Windows called an NSAKey -- as in National Security > Agency, the United States government agency that gathers electronic > signal intelligence worldwide. Though Microsoft said the key was > innocuous and no support has been found for any sinister explanation, > "no one can guarantee that Windows does not have back doors," said Liu > Bo, a former Microsoft executive who is now chief executive of Red > Flag, a government-backed company set up to create software based on > Linux and to encourage a homegrown software industry. > > In addition, various arms of the government have been warning of the > security risk posed by the country's reliance on Microsoft. "Without > information security, there is no national security in politics, > economics and military affairs," declared an editorial in People's > Liberation Army Daily earlier this year. > > Microsoft calls such fears nonsense and says it continues to enjoy a > strong working relationship with the government. "We have shared > product information with them," said Michael Rawding, Microsoft's > regional director in China, "and I believe that their comfort with our > product information led them to allow the launch" of Windows 2000, > Microsoft's new business-oriented operating system, in China last > spring. > > Unlike the Windows source code, which Microsoft keeps secret, the > Linux code is open for all to see and is freely distributed with the > stipulation that anybody can improve it as long as any modifications > are shared with the rest of the world. The almost communistic "from > each according to his ability, to each according to his need" approach > appeals to China's Marxist leaders. > > Despite the government's stand, no one is suggesting that Microsoft is > finished in China. Though it will not provide specific sales figures, > the company says its software sales in China surged 80 percent last > year and continue to grow. But the government's move to diversify > reflects a broader dissatisfaction with the company and its founder, > Mr. Gates, who just a few years ago was hailed as a hero by China's > young technology enthusiasts. > > The turning point in Microsoft's image was the introduction of its > Chinese-language Windows 95 operating system, which was programmed to > display references to "Communist bandits" and to exhort users to "take > back the mainland." Beijing, infuriated to learn that Microsoft had > used computer programmers in Taiwan to write the software, demanded > that the company hire mainland programmers to fix it. > > Chief among the company's critics is its former general manager for > China, Juliet Wu, who has become a national celebrity with her > withering, best-selling expose, "Up Against the Wind: Microsoft, > I.B.M. and Me." The picture she paints of Microsoft as an arrogant > Goliath feeds into the irritation many Chinese computer users feel > toward the company. > > Ms. Wu and other critics say Microsoft's pricing -- a software program > can cost as much as an average office worker's monthly salary -- > forces users to buy pirated copies of the company's software. (The > Business Software Alliance, a nonprofit trade group, estimates that as > much as 95 percent of all software in China is pirated, though the > industry hopes China's expected admission to the World Trade > Organization will change that.) > > Liu Dongli, an Internet entrepreneur in the southern province of > Fujian, was so enraged by having to pay $241 for Windows 98 that he > sued the company for unfair pricing. The suit was withdrawn when Mr. > Liu realized that Microsoft charges no more for its products in China > than it does elsewhere. "But that doesn't mean we lost the case," he > fumed, vowing to bring suit again when he has more evidence. "Monopoly > is not a good thing." > > The news media, meanwhile, have criticized Microsoft for suing a > company last year over the sale of pirated software. Microsoft, which > was asking for $200,000 in damages, lost the case because the Chinese > court ruled that it had sued the wrong company. The defeat only > darkened Microsoft's ominous silhouette in the eyes of many Chinese. > "Microsoft is a bully," said Hua Yuqing, a young Internet > entrepreneur, who complains that Microsoft's high prices and > proprietary computer code squelch creativity. He is building a > business creating software programs that run on Linux. "I don't want > to feel that I'm subconsciously controlled," Mr. Hua said, referring > to the dependence on Microsoft that comes with using its products. > Mr. Hua and a half-dozen computer programmers peck away at their > keyboards here in a drab office empty except for computers, desks, > chairs and a shelf stocked with bottles of orange soda and boxes of > chocolate milk. He and his colleagues are using Linux to start a > company that provides services to subscribers over the Internet -- in > this case, the use of accounting software and sales-tracking software. > The software stays on Mr. Hua's server computer, and customers rent it > rather than buy their own. > > Microsoft's public relations disaster has been a boon for Linux. So > far, several companies -- including Red Flag, which is backed by > President Jiang's son, Jiang Mianhang, and TurboLinux, based in San > Francisco -- have introduced Chinese-language versions of the Linux > operating system in China. Many other companies have started to > provide software and services for China's Linux users. > > The Chinese government tried for more than a decade to develop an > operating system of its own, but was unable to keep up with the > fast-changing industry. Linux gives the country the tools to build > that system now -- and, in the Chinese view, the fact that the Linux > code is not privately held assures that any security it wants to build > into its computer systems will not have undetectable vulnerabilities. > But even Linux enthusiasts profess ambivalence about the government's > interest. Linux developers in China say some overseas colleagues worry > that China may not play by the rules for collaborating and sharing and > may adapt Linux to create a proprietary system instead. > > In any case, China represents a market potential of such size, and > government influence over the market is still so strong, that > Beijing's support can turn almost any product into an industry > standard domestically. By the end of next year, the country may well > be the third-largest PC market in the world, and software sales are > expected to grow more than 30 percent a year for the foreseeable > future. > > As China's economy becomes increasingly integrated with that of the > region and the world, much of Asia is likely to follow its lead. > Mr. Liu, the chief executive of Red Flag, says a third of the > country's Internet servers -- the computers that power Web sites -- > are already using Linux operating systems. He estimates that by the > end of next year Linux will run half of all servers in China and as > much as a third of the country's desktop computers. > > Those estimates may be overblown; the technology research firm IDC > Asia-Pacific says its data shows less than 3 percent of all servers > shipped to China last year were loaded with Linux. But IDC expects the > number to more than double this year, and Linux's real market share is > most certainly higher because the operating system can be downloaded > free from the Internet. > > "Linux, without doubt, has gained some headway among software > developers in China," Mr. Rawding said. "However, I have yet to see > any mission-critical organization deploy Linux because the truth of > the matter is that in businesses, you want the support and service to > be available to you instantly when something does go wrong." > > Nonetheless, Great Wall Computer, one of China's biggest PC makers, > has already shipped 200,000 desktop computers loaded with the Linux > operating system, which looks much like Windows though it cannot yet > match all of Microsoft's features. > [Hvala Bogu za to! -- C.M.] > > Ma Li, marketing chief at Great Wall, says his company shifted toward > Linux at Beijing's urging. "As a leading enterprise," he said, "we > should respond to the call of the government." > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Special Offer-Earn 300 Points from MyPoints.com for trying @Backup > Get automatic protection and access to your important computer files. > Install today: > http://click.egroups.com/1/6347/2/_/4198/_/963244618/ > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > *****************NOVI MOSTOVI************** > > ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/links/joinlb
