Message: 1 Date: Tue, 12 Nov 2002 09:03:50 -0000 From: "kwang_poon" kwang_poon@yahoo.com Subject: Linux in China

NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: 11/11/02 Today's focus: China developers embrace Linux, study finds

By Phil Hochmuth

A recent survey by research group Evans Data shows that Linux is running away with the nascent Chinese IT market.

The survey was completed this month and asked 1,000 applications developers based in China questions on trends in programming and technology being used there. It was found that 44% of the developers said they had written code for the Linux operating system, while 65% said they expected to write a Linux application in the next year.

Linux is a hit in China because of its open-source licensing structure, which allows the software to be reused and installed on limitless machines without recrimination or copyright enforcement laws. This helps keep costs down for the hundreds of thousands of machines the various government agencies must deploy in order to support the government, which runs a country of 1.2 billion citizens.

Another driver of Linux in China is that the country has its own homegrown brand - Red Flag Linux - which was created by the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The PC Linux flavor is a staple on the desktops in many Chinese government agencies, observers say. Last year, the government of Beijing awarded IT contracts to six local IT providers, but rejected a seventh IT proposal, which came from Microsoft.

Linux is also making inroads into servers in China. According to Evans Data, 11% of Chinese developers said they will use Linux servers next year, as opposed to only 4% who use Linux servers now.

_______________________________________________________________ To contact Phil Hochmuth:

Phil Hochmuth is a Senior Writer for Network World, and a former systems integrator. You can reach him at mailto:phochmut@nww.com.

Related links http://www.evansdata.com/ http://www.redflag-linux.com/ ________________________________________________________________________