Taiwan to open doors for open-source

"But there are many opportunities for smaller companies that concentrate on embedded solutions," Lin said, adding that Taiwan should concentrate on simple products and not full systems.

The open-software initiative rang even hollower with another analyst.

"I'm concerned about the government putting money into open-source software, because it will be a waste of time and seems more like a marketing strategy," said George Wu (吳裕良), an analyst at Primasia Securities Co in Taipei.

"People like the idea that something is free, but nothing is free," Wu said.

"Taiwan should concentrate on semiconductors and chip design," he said.