The business of Linux in China
Published: 11 Apr 2006 17:55 BST
...you need at least 10 times that amount, as a desktop distribution is very difficult to maintain — you have to work with devices and there are new devices coming out all the time.
We now have 80 developers working on our Linux desktop.
What is the biggest desktop Linux migration that you have worked on?
In the Jiangsu province we have rolled out desktop Linux on 150,000 PCs in schools. Beforehand, they were using Windows in the school. I think this project is one of the biggest Linux desktop rollouts in China, but compared with the population of China [about 1.3bn] it is small.
As the desktop was for use by students, we didn't encounter many problems with the migration. But the project took a huge amount of energy, for example, we had to work with different hardware vendors to get support for different drivers. The effort was worthwhile though as the features we worked in are now in our new 1.5 release [launched last week].
Have you worked on any desktop migrations within enterprises?
One of our customers is a national cinema chain in China, where we are rolling out Linux-based point of sale systems. The group has about 30 cinemas across China and about 20 point of sale systems in each cinema.
We have tuned the system so it not only handles the basic functions that a point of sale system has to perform, but still has computing power left to do other things. For example, the system displays advertisements to customers on a separate screen.
Do you think Linux is ready for the desktop market?
It depends on what kind of market. In the consumer market, there is still some work that has to be done. When you use your PC at home, you want to play multimedia and games, and this is still a weak part of Linux.
But if you are talking about enterprise use, particularly for systems that only perform limited functions, such as point of sale systems, that is where Linux works well. Businesses are starting to use Linux, especially now that China is entering the World Trade Organisation and there is a licensing problem.
Are you making a profit from selling Linux desktops?
We are making a profit, but not from selling Linux desktops — we also do software outsourcing, and consulting work that makes more money.
For a pure Linux desktop business it is quite difficult to earn much money — you need a mix of products and services.
Beijing: Asia's Linux Capital
Qinghua Hu, general director of the Beijing Software Industry Productivity Centre.
Q: What does the Beijing Software Industry Productivity Centre do?
Qinghua Hu: The goal of the centre is to promote the software industry in Beijing. We are helping Linux companies in Beijing develop Linux and office products, and are helping companies develop Linux solutions for vertical industries, such as e-government, education, agriculture and SMEs.
Is the Beijing government using Linux?
Quite a few government organisations are using Linux on their servers, especially to run their email servers, Web servers and databases. Our statistics show that over 80 percent of government servers within Beijing are using Linux. Some of the public administration agencies in Beijing are running Linux on the desktop as a pilot project.
Are the companies in Beijing also using Linux?
Right now, a lot of enterprises are using Linux, but not on a big scale — most are using it for email, Web servers or databases. In terms of big migrations, there have not really been any.
Why do you think that few companies and government agencies have moved to Linux on the desktop?
Because Microsoft monopolised the desktop. Migration is still very difficult because customers have got used to Microsoft. Companies still feel that the Linux environment is quite different.
Also there is a problem with the device support and application availability. What happens quite often is that a vendor provides a Linux solution to...
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