It's all over for Linux and Open Source. You can read the gory details here. What has happened to lead to this horrible state of affairs, you may well ask; simply put, Microsoft has conquered China, leaving Linux and Open Source in the dust. But how, exactly? Well,
Thanks to some major concessions on source code and a precipitous price drop, the Chinese government has now thoroughly embraced Windows and Office. And thanks to a major about-face in the way that it deals with piracy, Microsoft has also won over the Chinese people.
Sounds pretty convincing, does it not? Then again, let's look a little closer:
In 2003, Microsoft began a program that allowed select partners to view the source code of Windows, and even make some modifications. China was one of 60 countries invited to join the program.
Hmmm. Source code. Sounds like Open Source! But what about the price?
Microsoft has made it easy for Chinese users to purchase legal copies by offering a $3 Windows/Office bundle to Chinese students.
Three dollars for both Vista and Office 2007???!!? That's nearly free, as in beer! Echoes of Open Source again!
What about all those horrid human rights abuses, lack of free speech, etc? The prevailing wisdom seems to be that
By establishing strong ties with China, you bring it closer to being part of the international family of nations in the hope that it will eventually curb its more radical practices because of natural peer pressure. This is often viewed as a better alternative to isolation, which can lead to extremism.
Yes, that will certainly be effective. Witness the reaching out of the US Government in the immediate aftermath of the Tiananmen Square incident of June 4, 1989--mustn't be extreme, wouldn't be prudent, don't you know; and they're practically a democracy now, a generation later. Still, it's wise that
Microsoft has taken an apolitical stance.
MMkay. The phrase 'silence is complicity' comes to mind for some reason; don't know why.
So Microsoft got pwned by conquered the Chinese government, allowing them to see the source code of Windows, allowed them to bundle Windows and Office for three dollars (wonder if they'll check student IDs very closely on that one), and have taken an 'apolitical stance' to bring them into the family of nations, which worked so well before. Open Source is completely lost...or is it?
Hard to say, as the closer you look, the more confusing it gets; you might call it the perfect FUD storm. Microsoft has submitted licenses to the Open Source Initiative to have them certified as truly Open Source; it has a new web page, touting its close work with the Open Source movement; just a short time ago they were claiming that Linux infringed on 235 of its patents. Does this mean that being certified as Open Source will force Microsoft to sue itself? And what of System '7', the next release of Windows, due out in a couple of years? Will Microsoft buy the rights for Unix from SCO and then build off of that?
If I were a Windows user, I would be seriously pissed that the 'students' of a totalitarian government can get Windows and Office together for only three bucks; thank god I'm not one (though not only for that reason, obviously).
I seem destined to be one, however; should I get XP Pro, or Vista? If China has switched, then the game is essentially over. Time to throw in the hat. Open Source is DEAD. And please, no suggestions of 'Just get a Mac'; not everyone has done so well during the 'great economy' of the past six years.
That Dell is offering more pre-installed Linux computers (that even Grandpa can use) is but a minor detail, or that they (and Google) are putting major pressure on wireless and graphics cards makers to create decent drivers doesn't matter much, either. Linux lost China. It's ovah. Damn. And I was just getting used to a system that was stable, secure, and 'just worked'. Goodbye to all that.