2004.11_Oss Symposium in Asia, Linux Distributor in Russia, Cab with Linux.pdf

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Asian Countries to Unite in Open Source Effort

The lack of human resources, of techni-

cal as well as of financial support, a lack

of awareness of the concepts – and the

potential benefits – of Open Source soft-

ware (OSS), and strong dependence on

pirated and illegal software are the major

bottlenecks when it comes to imple-

menting OSS in most Asian countries.

But although difficult, adopting OSS

has become the key IT policy in this part

of the world. These were the conclusions

drawn at the 4th Asia OSS Symposium

(AOSS), which was held in Taipei, Sep-

tember 1-3, an event that brought

together delegates from 18 Asian

nations, including Bangladesh, Cambo-

dia, Pakistan, Mongolia, Myanmar, and

Nepal.

Nearly 300 participants from govern-

ments, business, academics and the

community shared their experiences in

developing and implementing OSS.

Among them was the Cambodia re-

presentative, Mr. Noy Shoung, who

emphasized the im-

portance of Open

Source in fighting soft-

ware piracy: Since his

country is re-enforcing

its copyright and intel-

lectual property rights

law in support of the

WTO scheme, he

argued that pirated software would soon

disappear. But as proprietary software is

overpriced, the Cambodian government

is supporting OSS.

Another familiar argument was raised

by Mr. Muhammad Sayeedur Rahman

from Bangladesh. He emphasized the

fact that OSS was especially appealing to

developing countries because it helped

to close the technological divide that

separated rich and poor nations.

While new arguments in favor of OSS

support were rare, progress was actually

made in practical terms: After three days

of intensive discussions, representatives

of all participating nations signed the

Taipei Statement on OSS. In it they agree

to collaborate on building an Asian

repository (the relevant action plan will

be drawn up at the next AOSS meeting in

February 2005), improving the OSS

human resource in Asia, promoting OSS

standards for interoperability, and accel-

erating localization. Among other things,

this means developing a standard Nepali

font for Nepalese Open Source software.

Showcased by the conference, the

local hosts, the Academia Sinica and the

Taiwan National Information Infrastruc-

ture Enterprise Promotion Association,

had invited 15 IT companies, including

VIA Technologies Inc., Citron Network

Inc., and Novell, to present their latest

innovations, particularly from the field

of embedded Linux systems. Their aim

in doing so was to improve the mutual

understanding between the OSS stake-

holders (e.g. business and government

participants).

Of course, the organizers were proud

to point to Taiwan’s thriving IT industry,

but that was not all. Following Japan,

Taiwan’s “Creative Commons Licenses”

were the second set of Creative Com-

mons licenses to be launched in Asia.

Creative Commons founder and chair-

man Lawrence Lessig gave a keynote

speech to close the AOSS meeting and

also chaired the launching ceremony.

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http://www.asia-oss.org/

http://forge.iis.sinica.edu.tw/

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Russia’s Biggest Software Distributor Turns to Linux

Almost everybody living in the now

independent states in the area of the for-

mer Soviet Union knows the popular

accountancy software “1C”, a product

sold by Russia’s market dominating soft-

ware distributor 1C. Just like any other

business-centered products marketed

under the “1C” brand, it has been avail-

able for Microsoft operating systems

only, effectively preventing more wide-

spread use of Linus in businesses.

This problem isn’t going to disappear

overnight, but there are signs that a first

step has been made: In a recently signed

agreement, Russian Linux distributor

“A LT Linux” and “1C” agreed to cooper-

ate on a new free software productivity

suite for both Linux and Windows desk-

tops, dubbed “Free Office”. It is built

around localized Open Office and Mozilla

and available in two versions under the

“1C:distribyutsiya” label. Additionally,

ALT Linux’s ready-to-use server solution

for small and home offices, “ALT Linux

2.3 SOHO Server”, and a new specialized

network server distribution, “ASPLinux

Server II”, will be available under this

label, hopefully helping to widen the

market for Linux solutions in businesses

in the countries that emerged from the

former USSR.

“ASPLinux Server II’s” show-stopping

feature is that it uses “Acronis True

Image Server for Linux”, a proprietary

solution for disk-imaging, backup und

disaster-recovery.

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http://www.1c.ru/news/pressrelise.

jsp?id=254

http://www.asplinux.ru/ru/pr/id,52914

November 2004

www.linux-magazine.com

World

NEWS

Use Open Source, Arnie!

“Departments should […] implement

open source alternatives where feasible”,

this is what the California Performance

Review commission has advised action

hero turned Governor of California,

Arnold Schwarzenegger. With an esti-

mated debt of US$ 14 billion, the state is

highly indebted, and the commission’s

task is to find out how to cut costs.

Quoting success stories of Open

Source related savings within federal

institutions, and of positive response to

Linux, Apache and other Open Source

solutions in mission critical applications

(such as Amazon’s Linux-based infra-

structure), the commission asks state

departments to “actively research and

evaluate Open Source code alternatives

prior to using the traditional procure-

ment model for software”. By doing so,

the Californian Department of Trans-

portation (Caltrans) managed to save

nearly US$ 300,000, both in hardware

and software for its new Linux-based

identity and password management sys-

tem. The positive experiences with

Linux have convinced the department to

actively search for further opportunities

to deploy cost-cutting Open Source solu-

tions.

Hire a Cab with Linux!

When calling a cab in Scandinavia, make

sure to choose a company that uses

Linux to broker rides. It could save you

valuable time. Six Scandinavian taxi

companies, Norwegian Oslo Taxi and

Rogaland Taxi, Swedish Taxi Stockholm,

Denmark’s Århus Taxi and 4X35,

and Taxi Kurir, which operates through-

out Scandinavia, have decided to de-

ploy Alcatel’s Linux-based OmniPCX

Enterprise IP communication server,

along with an Interactive Voice Response

(IVR) solution by the same company.

The new system will mainly help cus-

tomers who order a cab by phone from

home or from the office (which is the

usual way in Scandinavian countries)

since the IVR will try to automatically

locate the caller and to show the avail-

able cars in his or her vicinity on the PC

screen in the cab operator’s central

office.

Whether the new system will bring

relief during the notorious pre-Christmas

party season, when party-goers in the

Norwegian capital Oslo often have to

wait for hours on the phone, still

remains to be seen. Meanwhile their

Swedish counterparts, Taxi Stockholm,

claim to be capable of taking 28 percent

more calls with their existing staff of

4200 at peak times.

Open Source in the Arts

People who present their work at Open

Source related conferences are typically

involved in the technical side of the

game. “piKseL” gives artists and devel-

opers alike a forum: For the second time

in succession, the Bergen Center of Elec-

tronic Arts (BEK) in Bergen/Norway

plays host to a week-long gathering for

all those using Open Source software for

real-time processing of video and sound.

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From October 29 to November 7 this

year, “piKseL[04]” will feature both

artistic and technical presentations, cod-

ing workshops and live performances,:

Like “piKseL[03]” a year before, this

year’s event hopes to welcome a truly

international audience.

http://www.report.cpr.ca.gov/cprrpt/

issrec/stops/it/so10.htm

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http://www.piksel.no/

Airport Out, Linux In

If Berlin’s legendary inner-city airport,

Te mpelhof, does close down at the end

of October, as planned by the city’s

municipal government, it will be the end

of an era. But same time, same place,

this might mean the beginning of a new

era of Open Source software in Berlin.

According to “Computerwoche” (a

German computing weekly), the Berlin

Te mpelhof-Schöneberg district is consid-

ering migrating about 2000 desktops,

and supporting servers, from Windows

NT to Linux. The decision is financially

motivated, and can be expected some

time later this year.

It is extremely unlikely

that the council will favor

migrating to Windows XP.

This would mean new

hardware. The council is

more likely to adopt a

best-value scenario from a

recent study on behalf of

the joint IT coordination

office for all 12 Berlin city

districts, KoBIT. The best-

case migration scenario

for Tempelhof-Schöneberg

reuses about 90 percent of the existing (4

to 5 year-old) PCs as Linux-based thin

clients. This does not mean the end of

the road for Windows in Tempelhof-

Schöneberg, however, as the district will

not be able to port the 60 Windows-

specific applications it currently uses any

any time in the near future.

It remains to be seen whether the

other 11 Berlin city districts will follow

suit. But one thing is for sure, says

Tempelhof-Schöneberg’s IT manager

Manfred Piechowski, they are definitely

interested. Whether the deeply indebted

city of Berlin itself will look into adopt-

ing Linux is uncertain. In the past,

Berlin’s senate has always favored

Microsoft solutions.

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http://www.computerwoche.de/index.

cfm?pageid=254&type=detail&artid=6

4834

www.linux-magazine.com November 2004

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