Government sees Linux as cost saver

Weeks of debate over what the government considers exorbitant fees bureaucrats will have to pay Microsoft Corp for use of the Windows operating system culminated yesterday at Computex Taipei 2002 in an call by lawmakers for the development of an open-source operating system..

"There are over 1.2 million computers in government offices in Taiwan, and the cost to load Microsoft software into those computers is NT$6,000 per unit," said Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁), a DPP lawmaker from Kaohsiung.

"The price we pay for software is the highest in the world," he said.

Taiwan is not able to get the same bulk rates on computer software as larger countries because the volume is too small.

But with China currently working on developing a Linux-based operating system for use in personal computers, officials hope Taiwan can do the same, or possibly even cooperate with China on the software, Wu Ming-ji (吳明機), section chief of the Industrial Development Bureau's Information Technology Industries Division, said.

The plan to use Linux in schools, launched two years ago, has met with little success since people in Taiwan rarely use the software. He said the government plans to begin training people to use the system in an effort to boost acceptance of open-source systems.

An operating system is considered to be open-source if its software code is transparent and freely available. Linux is such a software code.

Andrew Fann (范德章), chief operating officer of Coventive Technologies Ltd (網虎), which offered Linux-based software to schools around Taiwan a few years ago, said the plan has not gained widespread acceptance.

"Some people use it, mostly regular computer users and gamers," Fann said.

Government training may help, especially if Linux-trained teachers are sent into schools to work with students and staff, he said.

To boost Linux use in Taiwan, Sun Microsystems last week donated US$1.6 million in software to schools throughout the nation.

The software, dubbed "Star Office 6.0," is the latest release in a bundle of software meant to compete with Microsoft Office. It includes a word processing program, spread-sheet program and other software which can be used with Windows and Linux operating systems.

Files made using Star Office can also be used with Microsoft programs, a major condition to aid in its acceptance.

Officials in Taiwan complained that even if they were able to change wholesale to Linux-based systems, their computers would not be able to communicate or trade files with those on a Microsoft-based system.

Around 88 percent of computers here use Microsoft Windows, while only 8 percent run on Linux, said Victor Tsan (詹文男), managing director of the Market Intelligence Center, a publicly funded research group.

Star Office 6.0 allows Linux users to communicate with and share files with those using Microsoft Windows.

Executives from two of the companies promoting Linux said that convincing people to dump Microsoft would not be easy. But they said it would be worth putting more effort into developing open-source software for government use.

Discontent over the price of Microsoft products reached a crescendo during the recent government attempt to crack down on software piracy. A number of the government offices that will have to pay for Windows software have been unwittingly running illegal versions of it for years, said one observer who requested anonymity.