...a company, but the printer the company is using is not supported on Linux. Also many companies have already developed Web sites that are not following W3C standards or are tailored to Internet Explorer. If companies use Firefox, they cannot read these Web sites properly.
The availability of developers is also a problem — there is a shortage of developers who understand Linux. The centre is trying to address all these problems.
Why is there a shortage of Linux developers? What is being done about this shortage?
Unfortunately the curricula in many Chinese universities teach developers about Windows only. From last year, the Ministry of Education has laid down a policy for universities to include Linux in their curricula.
Universities are working on solving this problem, but there is a shortage of teachers and materials, so they are now developing materials and training teachers. I believe Linux training in the main universities will be available by the end of 2006.
The Chinese government has dictated that government agencies must buy only China-produced software, so why are organisations still using Microsoft?
In general, the Chinese government supports Linux and open source solutions. We're a developing country with a huge population and the government thinks that open source is a good way to lead the population into IT literacy.
There is a government purchasing policy across China that says, 'if local software is available, it should be top priority'. But there are so many people using Microsoft Windows that it is not feasible to say, 'tomorrow everyone must use Linux' — it would result in chaos. The migration must be step by step. During this process, I believe that Microsoft may also develop a counter-policy — it may open up some of its products.
What is your perception of Microsoft? Do you want people to stop using Microsoft software?
I am not necessarily against Microsoft — it also provides a product, which has its own benefits, such as ease of use. Many people are still using Microsoft products, and it's their choice whether to use it. The only role of the government in this is to ensure they respect intellectual property.
The purchase of software within the government is different — if they have a choice of local and home-made software it should be top priority to use [the latter].
How many Linux distributions are there in China? How important are standards within the Linux platform?
There are around 10 Linux distributions. Standards are very important — you need to have a development standard, a user-interface standard and a documentation standard. A standard must be international, but take into account local needs. Linux Standard Base [an international standard that has been adopted by vendors across the world] is a very important standard.
What are your predictions for the next five years? Do you think Linux on the desktop will take off?
In the coming five years, the Linux desktop market in China will grow substantially. To make this growth healthier we will have to work with international organisations like the Open Source Development Labs, and the Chinese development community must work in a more extensive manner with international community, such as the GNOME and KDE projects. The development of the Linux desktop will also grow to be more systematic — distributions will become more standardised.
