Ubuntu tapped by China for national operating system

Post by w1ntermute » Sat, Mar 23, 2013, 1:29 PM UTC

kyllo wrote: post #93

sukuriant wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you really just say that it's easier to write a large number of windows-only programs than it is to either: a) fix the websites that have ActiveX dependencies b) modify a single web-browser to support ActiveX like IE6 used to If true, ... wow.

What I meant was that the large number of currently Windows-only Chinese desktop applications will not be the biggest obstacle to Chinese users adobting Ubuntu, because they can be ported, and Canonical is working with the Chinese government to port the most popular ones ahead of time. The number of Chinese websites out there with ActiveX dependencies is probably much greater, and you can't really "port" a website. G…

Post by stcredzero » Sun, Mar 24, 2013, 1:10 AM UTC

serf wrote: post #103

stcredzero wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Also, half of your rebuttals are inaccurate and half are not comparable in the slightest. Sounds comparable to me. > A lot of the Chinese i've spoken to do not even know this happened, and the other half refuse to see it as a problem. There's a fair bit of obliviousness in the US as well. > There is no suppression of readily available information (blocked search queries, etc). Wikileaks? Alteration of Google Earth…

It is universal in theme, sure. Not magnitude. Google Earth alterations of military installations != great firewall. Show me a military that's cool with open aerials of their bases. The U.S. just got lucky that they had a bit of jurisdiction over the first company to do it. Don't act as if it's asymmetric due to other nations having a larger conscious, it's not. It's just a simple lack of power.

Post by kercker » Sun, Mar 24, 2013, 11:45 AM UTC

fatjokes wrote: post #43

cs702 wrote: post #11

Leaving aside the normal concerns about collaboration with an authoritarian government, this looks like a really big deal: Ubuntu is now the "reference architecture for standard operating systems" in China. [1] If I understand correctly, this means a flavor of Ubuntu (and Unity, according to the press release) will be used by hundreds of millions of people within the next decade, far surpassing the worldwide market s…

Unlikely. Most people in China use pirated versions of Windows, so they'll keep doing that. Maybe the governments will require the use of this brand of Ubuntu, but that's it.

Post by lifeisstillgood » Sun, Mar 24, 2013, 2:46 PM UTC

stcredzero wrote: post #102

lifeisstillgood wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think Singapore is not the best example of a totalitarian dictatorship. Its an elected democracy, low coorruption, high standards of living. But yes it is "partly free" according to EIU its ranked with Hong Kong and Banglesh and a long way above Russia. So I would still say yes, freedom does bring economic benefits. One assumes the more freedom the more benefits. We ought to remember that at the polling stations

> We ought to remember that at the polling stations The polling stations only represent a small part of the problem. You know what I wish we had? A movement of common-sense intellectually honest discussion groups. Groups that are focused on media distortions and facts. Groups that are predicated on the idea that the media and politics is self-interested in promulgating drama and debate beyond what really makes sense.…