[Reader-list] free-software or e-governance??

[joy at sarai.net]

I posted the following mail in FSF mailing list but I am posting it in reader 
list as well as I thought it will be useful for reader list members also.
Joy
-----------------
The story about Linux in Korea is interesting but it looks like another 
product or company, which have won over another company. This is a matter of 
concern for me. The philosophy of free software is never reflected in the 
story. I am least bothered whether Linux accepted by governments or not, I am 
more concerned about the philosophy of freedom.

Many humanist and socialist organisations have ended up in to proprietary 
control freak institutions. And no government in present world has any 
positive intention for any social upliftment, say west or east, left or 
right. One should think twice before run in to such hasty decision of 
constructing relation with state. I think more free software keep away from 
politics more it is good for it. It should try to construct independent user 
base community. There are endless small business organizations, self employed 
computer users with whom free software people make relation.

Anyway, I have put my opinion as per my experience. But if FSF still thinks 
of doing e-governance for state it can do it but they should know what e-
governance is and what relation it has with the word freedom. The draft 
writer of the mail to governments, Mr. Raju Mathur in a meeting said 
governments are gone mad for e-surveillance. He should think whether he wants 
to help the government in doing surveillance or what he should do.

Joy



Raj Singh <raj at ceeri.ernet.in> said:

> Free Software in Korea: Part One -- The Microsoft Connection
> (Oct 4th, 06:05:46 )
> 
> By Randy Leganza, Special Korea Correspondent for Linux Today
> 
> When Dwight Johnson of Linux Today asked in late July if I'd consider a
> doing an article on Linux in Korea, I had no idea the amount of time or
> the countless e-mails it would require. Even though there had been several
> recent stories in the Korean English press and the government's announced
> support for Linux in July, I grossly underestimated the "Linux in Korea"
> story.
> 
> When the Korean government's Ministry of Information and Communication
> announced in late July that it would "provide government support for the
> development and proliferation of Linux," it was not only one of the first
> official endorsements by a national government of the free operating
> system but one of the largest defeats ever for Microsoft.
> 
> To appreciate the Microsoft connection to the Korean government's
> embracing Linux requires relating events extending over two years. In the
> end, despite its best efforts, Microsoft Korea would not only fail to
> dominate the local word processor market it had targeted, it would suspend
> its "campus license" program and see its president suddenly resign.
> 
> These days hardly a week goes by without Microsoft's local ventures being
> mentioned in the English language Korean dailies. But Microsoft's interest
> in Korea extends back at least 15 years with a partnership agreement in
> 1984 and a branch office opening in 1992. Over the years, Microsoft
> developed relationships with numerous Korean companies.
> 
> Bill Gates has traveled to Korea several times. In 1994 Gates traveled to
> Korea to sign a source code licensing agreement with the Korea Advanced
> Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). Then in June 1997 he traveled
> to Korea again to address the CIO Forum, a support group for Korea's CIOs
> organized by the Federation of Korean Information Industries.
> 
> Microsoft's trouble with the Korean government first began to surface in
> October 1997 when the Korean Fair Trade Commission announced an
> investigation into Microsoft's business practices. This investigation
> mirrored that of the U.S. Department of Justice. (No resolution of this
> investigation has yet been seen in the local English language press.)
> 
> While Korea was struggling in May 1998 to recover from its worst financial
> crisis in history, Steve Ballmer, then a Microsoft vice president,
> announced a $77 million software donation to Korean schools and
> institutions.
> 
> Although Microsoft's gift was graciously accepted, some thought it mostly
> an attempt to get Korean students on the Microsoft gravy train. When
> queried at the time about making an investment comparable to those made by
> Hewlett-Packard and Intel, Ballmer reportedly said, "We think that an
> investment in knowledge is more important than any factory." Little did
> Korea know then what was up Ballmer's sleeve, nor did Ballmer then suspect
> that Microsoft would end up with egg on its face.
> 
> At the time of Ballmer's announcement, the maker of the country's only
> indigenous word processor, Hangul and Computer Company (H & C), was nearly
> bankrupt because of the bootleg software market for its product, Hangul.
> Microsoft negotiated a bailout plan for the ailing company -- in exchange
> for a Microsoft investment, H & C announced it would cease development of
> the Hangul word processor and end support for it a year later.
> 
> Only a month after Ballmer's announcement of the software gift, the deal
> was scheduled to be closed when, according to the plan, Bill Gates would
> fly in for a two day promotional tour.
> 
> But as soon as it was announced, there was an immediate public outcry and
> the deal ran afoul of both the Korean populace and the Korean Fair Trade
> Commission. Suddenly Koreans saw Microsoft's offer for what it was -- an
> attempt to monopolize the local word processor market. They took it as an
> assault on their national pride, a sort of "cultural colonization".
> 
> The Koreans had more than just their ire for Microsoft's business tactics
> on their side. The indigenous Hangul word processor could correctly
> display more than 11,000 combinations of the Korean language's phonetic
> characters, as contrasted with Microsoft Word's 2,500. And the Korean word
> processor could display western fonts as well.
> 
> Bill Gates still flew in but left empty handed after a meeting with the
> Korean President.
> 
> A grass roots fund raising campaign quickly began to revive H & C. The
> Korean Venture Business Association (KVBA) offered $7.3 million to save
> the company. Approximately two thirds of the investment would come from
> association members, and the remaining one third would come from
> contributions by Korean individuals. The company accepted the KVBA offer,
> wisely created a limited license version with a slashed price to encourage
> paying customers and called for the Korean government, itself a flagrant
> violator, to began a campaign against bootleg software.
> 
> H & C survived and in September 1998 announced its plan to raise $7.3
> million dollars in a public stock offering.
> 
> Facing mounting opposition, but not to be out done, Microsoft continued
> with its aggressive drive to inundate Korean educational institutions with
> artificially cheap software. In August 1998, Microsoft released a Korean
> version of Windows 98 to an eager, but often disappointed, public and
> reported 27,000 copies sold within only the first four days, a figure
> comparable to Windows 95's sales.
> 
> Although Microsoft had not been able to buy out its chief word processing
> Korean competitor, its marketing machine was undaunted. It vowed to
> improve the Korean Microsoft Word's ability to display the older Korean
> characters and began to hype its Korean Microsoft Word 2000 in January
> 1999.
> 
> But Microsoft made a disastrous marketing miscalculation. While the
> schools and universities were getting bargain basement discounts to entice
> students onto the Microsoft gravy train, individual software buyers were
> still paying full price.
> 
> In early 1999, local software resellers, squeezed mercilessly from both
> sides, denounced Microsoft's pricing strategy. The Korean retail
> marketplace is still mostly a mom and pop operation. These small chains
> and individual stores could not turn enough volume to warrant the large
> discounts that retail giants and OEMs obtain. In addition, these resellers
> were the target of a crackdown on bootleg software. They objected to
> Microsoft's alleged entrapment of bootleg resellers, a charge denied by
> Microsoft. The resellers went so far as to hold a rally to protest
> Microsoft's pricing policy.
> 
> Then in mid May, the Korea Times published the results of a survey which
> reported that "87.2 percent said the Windows operating system is
> ``unsatisfactory'' but that they have no choice but to use it."
> 
> The May 1999 resellers anti-Microsoft protest was accented when Hangul and
> Computer charged that Microsoft was "dumping," selling its wares at 10% of
> its market price.
> 
> To this accusation, Microsoft responded (according to the Korea Herald),
> "We introduced the site license program, in which we sell our software
> package at cheap prices, to the Korean market to help spread the use of
> genuine software products among students." Microsoft also countered that H
> & C was guilty of its own accusations because they had slashed their price
> to less than $10 for their one year license version. The government said
> it would investigate.
> 
> Microsoft finally relented and withdrew its "campus license" policy
> pending a final decision by the Korean government. Microsoft Korea had now
> suffered its second setback in its drive to dominate the Korean word
> processor market.
> 
> Amidst all this negative attention, in June 1999, Microsoft released its
> Korean Microsoft Office 2000. As an answer to H & C's discounted one year
> license version of Hangul, Microsoft offered the Korean Microsoft Word
> 2000 with an annual subscription option of under $10. A Korea Herald
> article claimed it could now process 11,172 Korean syllables, 1.6 million
> old Korean characters and 27,000 Chinese characters.
> 
> Meanwhile, the Korean government continued its crackdown on bootleg
> software. Even though government agencies were as guilty as everyone else,
> the crackdown on bootleg software was hurting Korea's schools far more
> than the government. Many schools were forced to suspend computer classes
> because they could not afford the software license fees.
> 
> The Korean government was under pressure from all sides. Consumers and
> resellers complained that Microsoft's products were too expensive and that
> there was no alternative to Windows. The software industry wanted its
> license fees -- yet this unbudgeted expense was a monstrous burden on both
> small business and the educational system. Koreans wanted Hangul and
> Computer to survive -- yet they didn't want to appear anti-Microsoft and
> alienate another foreign business when their economy badly needed foreign
> investment.
> 
> The logical alternative seemed to be software without burdensome license
> fees -- enter Linux!
> 
> In July 1999, the very same day the Korean Ministry of Information and
> Communication announced it had formed a group to discuss support for
> Linux, the JoongAng Ilbo reported Microsoft Korea's President Kim Jae-min
> had abruptly resigned. Microsoft said the resignation was voluntary but
> some believed that he was held responsible for Microsoft Korea's failures
> over the past year. The government soon confirmed its support for Linux
> saying it would promote its use in public organizations.
> 
> Ironically, hard on the heals of this announcement came the release of a
> Federation of Korean Industries' survey picking Microsoft as the number
> one business role model, followed by General Electric and Ford.
> 
> Was it merely a coincidence that Microsoft Korea's president resigned at
> the same time the government announced its interest in Linux? No one is
> saying. Regardless of the government's motivation for supporting Linux,
> the support is there. Linux and Free Software in Korea is on the move.
> 
> -----------------------------------
> 
> Free Software in Korea: Part Two -- The Linux Side (Conclusion) Oct 10,
> 1999, 07:15 UTC
> 
> By Randy Leganza, Special Korea Correspondent for Linux Today
> 
> Korean Government Support for Linux
> 
> A most promising development for the free software movement in Korea is
> the government's Ministry of Information and Communication announcement in
> late July that it will "provide government support for the development and
> proliferation of Linux." The Korea Herald, among others, reported that the
> ministry "will establish a Linux consultative body composed of software
> experts from the government, academic and industry sectors to standardize
> Korean versions of Linux and develop a variety of programs based on the
> operating system."
> 
> At the forefront of the Korean government's support for Linux is the
> Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI). According to
> Kim Hae-jin (family names are first in Korean), who is heading the ETRI
> Linux project, ETRI's plan is to "provide a highly scalable, highly
> available, single system server image cluster [technology]... adaptable
> from Internet [servers] to [the] mission critical enterprise."
> 
> A non-profit organization called the "Linux Council" has been established.
> Four committees within the Council have been designated:
> 
> 1. Standardization -- standardize Linux's Hangul terminology and
> documentation.
> 
> 2. R & D -- promote research in and development of Linux software.
> 
> 3. Supply and Support -- support Linux in end-user markets, schools and
> government offices.
> 
> 4. Education and Training -- promote Linux education and training.
> 
> Kim adds that they will also sponsor more Linux forums like a recent one
> held in July 1999, which was attended by Linux International's John
> "maddog" Hall.
> 
> A Long History of Free Software Use
> 
> Korea has been involved with the free software movement for over twelve
> years. An obscure reference on the GNU web site reveals that in April of
> 1987, Richard Stallman visited the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and
> Technology (KAIST) in Taejon.
> 
> More recently, in May of this year, Tim Ney of the Free Software
> Foundation visited Korea with a Massachusetts Software Delegation and "met
> with a number of young software start-up companies..." According to Tim,
> "many of the companies [he] saw were predominantly writing software for
> the Windows platform, yet responded quite positively when [he] spoke about
> free software and opportunities with GNU/Linux."
> 
> Free Software Projects
> 
> Ongoing free software projects in Korea include:
> 
> * Hanterm 3.1 from the KAIST, a Korean language (Hangul) xterm
> 
> * OpenHWP, reported to be an almost defunct Korean free word-processor
> 
> * And a team of at least four package maintainers contribute to the Korean
> Debian Project. The Korean Debian project has members from both the
> academic and business communities. Park Chu-yeon, current leader of the
> project, is working on the Korean Debian Bible with other project members.
> They maintain nearly 50 Korean Debian packages.
> 
> Linux is not the only project associated with the free software movement
> in Korea. FreeBSD also has a following. Choi Jun-ho is the leader of both
> the Korea FreeBSD Users Group and the GNU Free Translation Project. Choi
> reports that he first used GNU/Linux in 1993, then moved to FreeBSD in
> 1995.
> 
> Korean Companies That Market Linux Products
> 
> WebDataBank
> 
> Choi is developing a unique Linux distribution, qLinux, at his company,
> WebDataBank. According to Choi Jun-ho, qLinux will be bootable from a
> large ext2 file image on an existing Windows FAT partition via a loop-back
> device. He says qLinux will also be able to "utilize" the Windows Registry
> to configure X Windows, network cards, etc. WebDataBank is in the Linux
> Internet server hosting and groupware development business. They will soon
> release a Korean version of TurboLinux 4.0.
> 
> MIZI Research
> 
> Another Korean company, MIZI Research markets MiziOS, its own Linux
> version and HWPX-R4, a Linux/Unix Hangul word processor that is a close
> cousin to Hangul and Computers (H & C) Hangul Windows version (Hangul
> means the "Korean written language"). MIZI's head, Seo Young-jin, was the
> UNIX HWPX-R4 team leader at H & C before H & C decided to drop the UNIX
> version in 1997 and focus on their Windows version. Seo then licensed
> HWPX-R4's source code and started MIZI.
> 
> Microsoft's subsequent failed attempt to shut the H & C Hangul word
> processor out of the Korean market was a pivotal event in the rise of free
> software in Korea. See Free Software in Korea: Part One -- The Microsoft
> Connection.
> 
> HWPX-R4 is included on the MiziOS CDs, as either a demo version or an
> official bundle.
> 
> MIZI also supports the Free Software movement with:
> 
> * ManIM, which enables Hangul fonts in Netscape on X
> 
> * a Hangul font server
> 
> * some document viewers that will soon fall under the GPL
> 
> * four Korean TrueType fonts under the BSD license
> 
> MIZI's decision whether to publish under the GPL or a commercial license
> is level-of-effort based. According to Seo Young-jin, "Some software is
> attractive and fun and others [requires] endless maintenance. The latter
> [we license] commercial."
> 
> Under commercial licensing, MIZI is currently working on an architectural
> CAD application that will be available in Hangul and English. Seo said
> that he hoped to "shareware" the English version, explaining that part of
> the code was licensed from another company and MIZI needed to recover the
> cost.
> 
> Zion Systems
> 
> Zion Systems develops Accel, a Korean distribution based on Red Hat. In
> developing Accel, Zion Systems uses the latest kernel version and
> libraries, builds their packages optimized for Pentiums and is working on
> a Korean GUI installation package.
> 
> In partnership with Samsung, Zion Systems markets a line of high
> availability Alpha and Xeon SMP servers that can support clustering and
> further plans to market a sub $1,000 Linux PC in October. Currently Zion
> is working on GPLing their audio drivers and high availability management
> software.
> 
> Zion is also setting up an "after service" center for its product line.
> 
> 3R Soft
> 
> 3R Soft produces MailStudio, a Linux/Unix Web-based e-mail server.
> MailStudio's user interface runs inside the Web browser, like Netscape and
> Yahoo's mail servers. MailStudio is compatible with Sendmail, SMTP, POP,
> and qPopper. In their upcoming 3.0 version, 3R Soft plans to offer IMAP,
> LDAP, and spell checking support. While 3R Soft does not produce any GPL
> software, they are compatible with Red Hat, Caldera, TurboLinux and
> Apache.
> 
> Other Korean Linux Companies
> 
> At least three other Korean companies produce seperate Korean versions of
> Linux:
> 
> * Linux Korea markets the Power Linux distribution and the Netspirit 2000
> and 3000 Linux-based servers.
> 
> * Korea Linux sells the Alzaa Korean version of Red Hat.
> 
> * ClassData offers the Class 6.0 Enterprise Linux distribution, which has
> an interesting glass bottle logo and the catchy slogan, "stop paying your
> Bills."
> 
> In addition, Informix Korea has a series of Korean pages devoted to Linux,
> including links to downloads.
> 
> Linux Use Growing Rapidly According to Denis Havlik:
> 
> "I have been witnessing an enormous growth of "registered Linux users" in
> Korea for quite some time. (Take a look at "the Linux Counter", under
> "Denis Havlik's report"...) The growth is not so dramatic any more, but
> still rather fast: 156% annually."
> 
> "Registered users" probably account for less than 1% of the Linux user
> base(*) -- currently there are more than 3,000 registered users.
> Therefore, my estimate is "more than 300,000 Linux users in South Korea"
> today. Greater than 500,000 would not surprise me, either."
> 
> The Fight for the Linux Trademark
> 
> Sadly, all the positive news about Linux in Korea is not without its
> controversy. The last week of August, a fight broke out over the Linux
> trademark, when a lawyer for Kwon Yong-tae, who holds a Korean trademark
> for 'Linux', demanded that the Kyobo Books bookstore stop selling books
> with Linux in the title. Three days later, the incident became a hot topic
> on Korea's popular Linux bulletin board and it made the English Linux news
> sites the following weekend.
> 
> Allegedly, the trademark was applied for in 1995 and granted in 1997.
> Korean publishers, business and other interested parties are still working
> to resolve the issue. For those interested, Lee Kyong-ho is maintaining an
> event time line at the bottom of his Web page on the problem, with a link
> to an English version of a petition.
> 
> ---------
> 
> Randy lives in Taegu, Korea and is on his third, most fun and least
> stressful career. He's the QA/Test guy on a small team supporting a large
> Solaris WAN integration project, with a few Linux boxes scattered about.
> He gets to play with computers all day and intentionally break them --
> then complain about it, and usually see things get fixed. When he can, he
> likes to fly airplanes, lift weights, hunt and fish.
>