In a remarkable decision which could have far-reaching implications, South Korea has “has announced a plan to have proprietary software on a substantial number of its PCs and servers replaced with open source alternatives by 2007”, according to Silicon.com .
Thousands of computers in ministries, government-linked organisations and universities in South Korea will replace the Microsoft Windows operating system and Office productivity suite with open source alternatives under the plan, according to the country’s Ministry of Information and Communication.
Twenty percent of desktop software and 30 percent of server software will be changed to open source by 2007, a spokesperson from the Ministry of Information and Communication said.
“If the change is successful, we will be able to save about US$300m a year. Also, we may ensure security and inter-connectivity of national information system,” the spokesperson continued.
And India continues to sleep. India has the opportunity to take leadership on the open-source front, and we do nothing.
