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South Korean government to switch to Linux: ministry

koreaherald.com

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Re: South Korean government to switch to Linux: ministry

#71

Post by nisa »

thiago_fm wrote: post #30

I doubt this will work out. They also tried that in many countries, they all go back to using Windows. I hate Windows, but I can envision how much money AND time it's gonna cost them to move out, and I'm sure that they will either run out of money before they do the transition, or machines would have already dominated the earth before they are done with this "transition"l I would believe it much more if they said tha…

Munich did it this way: 100% Linux, no compromises - they didn't even had an central Active Directory so if you required Windows due to software in your part of city government you were on your own - no central updates! They also forced everyone on an ancient OpenOffice 3.x version with KDE 4.x and KMail? That Munich migrated back has less todo with Linux or Windows or Microsoft politics (maybe..) but more with badly run infrastructure and in-fighting and big egos there. Sadly. That there is such a huge group of Linux proponents that cry foul and suspect some conspiracy is not really helping...

Re: South Korean government to switch to Linux: ministry

#72

Post by jeroenhd »

1f60c wrote: post #68
giancarlostoro wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whats worse is they could all pull it off if they invest in existing Distros and hire people to build out the main infrastructure they need. If they rely on legacy Windowd OS' the licenses for new OS' wont matter. They need secure systems to avoid being hacked by external malicious state actors. I would love to see some countries adopting Linux for government systems and funding research and development e.g. maybe fu…

The French police uses a custom distro based on Ubuntu 16.04: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GendBuntu

Why are they using a custom distro? Is it just different graphics or do they have changes significant enough that a customised Ubuntu installer wouldn't suffice?

Re: South Korean government to switch to Linux: ministry

#73

Post by AnIdiotOnTheNet »

giancarlostoro wrote: post #67
NortySpock wrote: post #13

As I recall, this sort of public statement is used as a lever to squeeze some discounts out of Microsoft's Enterprise Sales team before the government "decides" to stay with Windows.

Whats worse is they could all pull it off if they invest in existing Distros and hire people to build out the main infrastructure they need. If they rely on legacy Windowd OS' the licenses for new OS' wont matter. They need secure systems to avoid being hacked by external malicious state actors. I would love to see some countries adopting Linux for government systems and funding research and development e.g. maybe fu…

> Whats worse is they could all pull it off if they invest in existing Distros and hire people to build out the main infrastructure they need

I don't know about that, I've seen what kinds of systems the existing distros build and I'm not impressed. Which isn't to say that Microsoft would definitely better, seeing as they are doing their best to become a Linux distro themselves while embracing all the bad behaviors that entails, but your statement certainly isn't a given.

Re: South Korean government to switch to Linux: ministry

#74

Post by seanmcdirmid »

chillacy wrote: post #41
AFascistWorld wrote: post #29

China has this "original" OS called Redflag Linux, it's basically repackaged Linux to rake in government money, sells to military for some 500 usd per pc, the kickback must be big.

And yet nothing is as common as pirated windows. Even one of the displays in an airport crashed and there was a bsod

It might not have been pirated. Microsoft has done well with getting the government/SOEs to actually by windows over the last decade, probably at a significant discount but whatever.

Piracy just isn’t mostly worth it anymore.

Re: South Korean government to switch to Linux: ministry

#75

Post by Nomentatus »

robertAngst wrote: post #14

What does 'Linux OS' mean? Various Linux desktop distros? If so, have mercy on anyone who will be using Ubuntu Desktop for the first time. I hope they aren't afraid of using Terminal, because the internet will shout them down for wanting a GUI solution. Love Ubuntu server, but could never get into linux desktop.

I've just given up on Linux again. Again. And it's the GUI that makes that decision final. There were also (and I'm still fighting 'em) serious file issues (perhaps related to file name lengths, perhaps not), but these may well have arisen from Windows/Linux interactions or even Windows not getting along with Windows. But flickering and otherwise unusable or unstable GUI features in the distributions finally did me in. Damn. Just plain not ready for prime time. It's not that you couldn't go Linux if you absolutely had to, but the cost is just way too high. (I put the most time in with Ubuntu and ElementaryOS.)

Re: South Korean government to switch to Linux: ministry

#76

Post by zzzcpan »

sonnyblarney wrote: post #65
zzzcpan wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would that be too much work? I expect total cost of ownership for the government distro to be way less, than using those "well maintained" ones.

Why would a government maintain their own distro in the first place? Other than some minor modifications, what is it about S. Korea gov. officials that's fundamentally different from Office workers that they need specific Linux functionality? Surely at the level of app/drivers or something, but probably not core functionality. The whole point of the process was to save money, and one of the ways they can do that is b…

Fundamentally different are at least timeframes and security. Think decades of operations and advanced persistent threats.

Re: South Korean government to switch to Linux: ministry

#77

Post by Buetol »

NortySpock wrote: post #13

As I recall, this sort of public statement is used as a lever to squeeze some discounts out of Microsoft's Enterprise Sales team before the government "decides" to stay with Windows.

As a french, I have to say the french local police (gendarmerie) has been using Ubuntu in all their stations for years and they are very happy with that !

Re: South Korean government to switch to Linux: ministry

#78

Post by AnIdiotOnTheNet »

thewhitetulip wrote: post #9
babakandishmand wrote: post #5

Curious if they'd roll out their own distro.

That will be too much work. Why not use well maintained existing distros?

Why do the 600 existing distributions not do that?

The way Linux systems are constructed is by gluing together a giant pile of disparately developed software, usually with fragile scripts, and trying to pretend that it is a robust and integrated system. Consequently, they require huge amounts of effort to alter, which will all be undone or in conflict with the next update. So what do you do when you get a Linux system working the way you want? You make your own distro, because it's the only way to keep it like that.

Re: South Korean government to switch to Linux: ministry

#79

Post by notatoad »

jeroenhd wrote: post #72
1f60c wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The French police uses a custom distro based on Ubuntu 16.04: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GendBuntu

Why are they using a custom distro? Is it just different graphics or do they have changes significant enough that a customised Ubuntu installer wouldn't suffice?

what's the difference between a custom distro and a customized installer?

Re: South Korean government to switch to Linux: ministry

#80

Post by detaro »

petepete wrote: post #45
thewhitetulip wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That will be too much work. Why not use well maintained existing distros?

I've never understood the clamour for rolling a new distro. Maintaining an apt/yum repository and creating a meta-package or package group should be more than enough.

To be fair, "a new distro" often isn't that much different: You take the package repository of an existing distro, tweak some packages and add your own packages on top.

I'd say the main difference is that just an additional repository on existing system might break if that base distro updates, while you control that if you go entirely through your own repo.

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