China Is Looking at Linux to Shake Its Dependency on Windows XP

Softpedia ^ | 24 April 2014 | Staff

[ShadowAce]

- Ubuntu Kylin

China is one of the countries that have suffered the most when Microsoft decided to pull the plug on Windows XP. The Chinese government is now looking towards Linux to fill that gap, and it intends to use its resources to make that happen.

China has been struggling for years to make its own Linux operating system, but it had little success. At one point it had something called the Red Flag Linux distribution, but the project never really got off the ground and lost all support from the Chinese government.

Microsoft's decision to stop issuing security updates for Windows XP has determined the Chinese authorities to start looking for answers, and it seems that Linux might be the solution. Windows XP still occupies a large portion of the market, with a little over 50%, so it's understandable why they might consider that it's time for a change.

According to a report made by news.xinhuanet.com, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is looking to provide the needed support for an operating system that is ready to replace Windows XP.

“The ministry will beef up support for the development of such an OS.The shutdown will bring risks directly to China's basic telecommunication networks and threaten its overall security,” said Zhang Feng, the chief engineer of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

There are numerous other Linux distributions that would gladly take the opportunity to expand into such a large market, including Red Hat, which is a commercial enterprise. The best positioned operating system right now that could do the job is Ubuntu Kylin, a new Ubuntu flavor that was first released a little over a year ago.

It may be an official Ubuntu flavor, but the Ubuntu developers are not involved in the project. It's being built by Chinese programmers and focuses on that particular culture, with its own apps and governing principles.

What's even more interesting is that the developers of Ubuntu Kylin are already working with China's National University of Defense Technology and The China Software and Integrated Chip Promotions Center, which means that they are definitely on the Chinese government's radar.

It remains to be seen if Linux or Ubuntu Kylin will manage to make an impact in China. You can imagine that Microsoft will not sit idle and will most likely make some very hard to resist offers.

[ShadowAce]

[dhs12345]

Hey, I love Ubuntu but it does have its limitations.

Perfect for general stuff such as word processing and surfing the net.

Not so good for more specialized stuff.

[ShadowAce]

Not so good for more specialized stuff.

Hence the term "specialized."

Windows isn't good for more specialized stuff, either. The article isn't talking about specialization, but general desktop applications.

[FatherofFive]

China probably has 2 or 3 copies of XP. The rest are bootleg.

[Paladin2]

Where is Golden Eagle to explain all of this info?

[andyk]

China probably has 2 or 3 copies of XP. The rest are bootleg.

LOL, my first thought was - what do they care, it's not like they're paying for it.

[dhs12345]

Points...

> Games galore on XP/Windows. None on Ubuntu.

> For years, I used a pro version of video editing software on XP and have no complaints. The equivalent “free version” on Ubuntu is lame (at best).

[dhs12345]

I should also point out that with support ending for XP, I considered dual booting my XP machines with Ubuntu or dropping XP all together.

I made the decision to stick with XP because of all of my apps.

BTW, another issue with Ubuntu — Netflix won't run under my version of Ubuntu. The problem might be that I need to upgrade.

I'd consider being able to run Netflix a bit more general and not specialized.

[Bikkuri]

Games galore on XP/Windows. None on Ubuntu.

I have been running Linux for a few years... while not all games are easy to get running on Linux, I have been able to get many going fine ;^)
Whether it be through WINE or PlayOnLinux, the games ARE there. I've actually been able to get Crysis 2 running well.. and it runs faster (more FPS) and cooler (on GPU).. That one was a pain to get set up though :p

Running Winblows Kerbal and MineCraft now with no problems.

Oh, btw, running Mint KDE (Kubuntu).

[ShadowAce]

LOL! He hasn’t been around in quite a while

[Westbrook]

> Hey, I love Ubuntu but it does have its limitations.
> Perfect for general stuff such as word processing and
> surfing the net.

Yes,

> Not so good for more specialized stuff.

For development, I prefer RHEL, CentOS, Fedora.

I don’t know of a Linux that runs video/audio processing software of the caliber available for Windows and Mac.

I’d love to see something like Camtasia and CuBase avaialble for Linux.

The problem is providing a port of these apps to work on the myriad Linux distributions, almost all of which are using different kernel versions, different versions of X, different window managers, etc.

[dhs12345]

Thanks.

Still not as well supported as Windows. World of Warcraft, Diablo, etc. etc.

Do you run Netflix?

And as you mention, the setup — I found that google is your friend. However, the average non techie person would struggle with it.

What is the difference between Ubuntu and Mint? One of my complaints with Linux is finding a driver for the hardware. And a lot of times, the drivers were repackaged windows drivers that didn't work that well.

Ubuntu was a one stop shop for my Dell E1505. Everything worked! I am also running the server on another PC (for https WebDAV and a little family web server).

BTW, I am not an expert. Just mostly a "hacker." :)

[Da Coyote]

Rats, China is ditching the world’s worst OS, thereby greatly reducing their vulnerability. One would have hoped they would have continued their quest for mediocracy by “upgrading” to Windows whatever...but they’ve decided to go for something written by adults.

[dhs12345]

Sounds like you are a real techie. I am just a casual user with basic understanding.

***

Important point....

It is difficult for a company to justify putting tens of thousands of man hours and millions of dollars of NRE into a software program that will be free.

[Westbrook]

> It is difficult for a company to justify putting tens of
> thousands of man hours and millions of dollars of NRE into
> a software program that will be free.

Not all software that runs in Linux is free.

And many are the souls that would be very willing to pay for software like Camtasia and CuBase on Linux.

There are basically two pricing models.

* Pay full-price once and pay upgrade-price for major upgrades

* Buy a subscription and get the upgrades free

The problem lies with the daunting task of having to develop for umpteen different distributions.

[MeshugeMikey]

we ah vely much ruving the fihufox blowser yes

[Scrambler Bob]

M4L

[dhs12345]

Yup. That is where they make their money -— developers and integrators. Embedded systems. Sound like you are one of those people; an engineer?

How about if they target one distribution. For example, a consumer app might be best suited for Ubuntu. Certainly not fedora or the more techie distributions that are targeted at developers.

I am only favoring Ubuntu since I have used it a bit (as a consumer). But it seems to be the closest to a mainstream distribution.

Just my 2cents. :)

[Bikkuri]

Ok, not in the order asked..

No, I don't do Netflix.. I download from PirateBay :p (99% is TV series)..

Next, Mint is a Pre-packaged version of another (usually Ubuntu) distro. BUT, Mint has it set up to install the needed drivers DURING install (heck, just running from a Live-CD (USB), it detects and runs hardware). (I type 'usually' because the LMDE is Debian based (rolling, which means that you don't have to re-install to get updates)).

Google... well, if you have been keeping up to date with the news locally (especially here on FR, you know you should not use Google).. I was using Scroogle, up until about 2-3 years ago when Google shut them down.. Now, ixquick or startpage do me well for searches (both are the same) and neither log any info for you. Both are proxies for using the Google search engines (Google only sees THEIR IPs, not your own).

I personally, as I mentioned on another post, am using KDE (which spreads way beyond MINT/Ubuntu)... as a matter of fact, I think KDE goes back to about 1992, or so.. anyone please jump in and correct me.. (point being, it was made for using low resources), and I have been able to run many games.. (btw, I DO have duel boot.. sometimes I actually boot back to Win to play.. but much less often anymore..).

If you are questioning about changing over from Win to Linux, I recommend Mint. There are a few 'flavors' to choose from, and you can try any and all of them out without having to install anything.. Run from CD/DVD/USB on boot..
I started with Cinn, changed to Mate.. was finally happy with KDE, because KDE is the most flexible to change it GUI how you want it. Linux give you complete control of your PC, unlike Win or ESPECIALLY Mac.