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Jon maddog Hall | 1 Sep 2003 01:25
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Re: Malaysia to "get ahead of its neighbours" in IT through OSS

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I have spent the last week here in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia talking to their
government about Free and Open Source and Linux.  Remarkably, this is one of
the few countries where the government seems to "get it", and it is the
public that is somewhat stunned and wondering "why and how".

Malaysia has the issue that they are more entrenched in Microsoft than other
countries, having a lack of a Unix or proprietary infrastructure.  Therefore
they are feeling a bit more disoriented about how to get started.

I visited several government agencies and Universities here (including their
well known "Multimedia Corridor"), and gave them ideas about how to get
started down the road to Free and Open Source.  They have already started
some training companies, and one training company is a separate entity inside
their national university.

They are aligning themselves with LPI certification, and I suggested several
other groups (the Free Standards Group, for example) for them to join, to help
them get some hints on direction.

I will also say that I am definitely impressed with Malaysia's almost single
minded focus on becoming a "first world" power by 2020, and their recognition
that Free and Open Source could help them get there.  They *will* be an
economic force to contend with.

It is somewhat ironic that you sent out the "After Malaysia, the Nordic
Countries", because at the end of this month I am going to Sweden and Norway
to participate in four different activities in two weeks.  Two symposiums (one
in Sweden and one in Norway) and two University visits (both in Sweden), all of
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Leon Brooks | 1 Sep 2003 02:16
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Japan, China, Korea plan Windows replacement ["...such as Linux..."]

Apparently Malaysia and Denmark were being too subtle:

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=155373

    Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) said that, if the plan matures,
    the three nations are likely to build upon an open-source
    operating system, such as Linux, and develop an inexpensive
    and trustworthy system.

    The plan is to be proposed by Japanese Trade Minister Takeo
    Hiranuma at a meeting of economic ministers from the three
    nations in Phnom Penh on Wednesday, it said, adding that
    agreement was seen as likely.

    [...]

    The three governments may even consider partly subsidising
    development of the new system, which could eventually be
    used in government computer networks.

Thanks to Ed Hurst for the link. All of this in two days... makes one 
wonder what's around the corner. (-:

Cheers; Leon

--

-- 
http://cyberknights.com.au/     Modern tools; traditional dedication
http://plug.linux.org.au/       Committee Member, Perth Linux User Group
http://slpwa.asn.au/            Committee Member, Linux Professionals WA
http://linux.org.au/            Committee Member, Linux Australia
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Leon Brooks | 1 Sep 2003 02:22
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Re: Malaysia to "get ahead of its neighbours" in IT through OSS

On Mon, 1 Sep 2003 07:25, Jon maddog Hall wrote:
> It is somewhat ironic that you sent out the "After Malaysia, the
> Nordic Countries", because at the end of this month I am going to
> Sweden and Norway to participate in four different activities in two
> weeks.

/ME sits with folded hands and patient smile waiting for Jon's reaction 
to the Nippon/China/Korea item. (-:

Cheers; Leon

--

-- 
http://cyberknights.com.au/     Modern tools; traditional dedication
http://plug.linux.org.au/       Committee Member, Perth Linux User Group
http://slpwa.asn.au/            Committee Member, Linux Professionals WA
http://linux.org.au/            Committee Member, Linux Australia
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Jon maddog Hall | 1 Sep 2003 02:37
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Re: Malaysia to "get ahead of its neighbours" in IT through OSS

>/ME sits with folded hands and patient smile waiting for Jon's reaction 
>to the Nippon/China/Korea item. (-:

>Cheers; Leon

I answered Leon privately, but just so he can unfold his hands and continue
typing, I will point out to the mailing list that Nippon, China and Korea have
historically not been the best of friends, and it is interesting that Free and
Open Source seems to be one item pulling them together.

On the other hand, the Asian philosophies tend to look at long term projects
with much more ease than current Europeans or people from the US, who seem to
be more focused on quarterly (or monthly) profits.

md
--

-- 
Jon "maddog" Hall
Executive Director           Linux(R) International
email: maddog@...         80 Amherst St. 
Voice: +1.603.672.4557       Amherst, N.H. 03031-3032 U.S.A.
WWW: http://www.li.org

Board Member: Uniforum Association, USENIX Association

(R)Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in several countries.
UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group in the US and other countries.
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Les Bell | 1 Sep 2003 02:55
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Re: Malaysia to "get ahead of its neighbours" in IT through OSS


Jon maddog Hall <maddog@...> wrote:

>>
Malaysia has the issue that they are more entrenched in Microsoft than
other
countries, having a lack of a Unix or proprietary infrastructure.
Therefore
they are feeling a bit more disoriented about how to get started.
<<

Very, very, true, Jon. I did a two-week "train the trainer" for a training
company in KL a couple of years ago, using broadly LPI-compliant material,
and it was *very* hard work. The attendees were all young instructors and
all of them had recently graduated from their own company's MCSE courses.
They had no understanding whatsoever of working at the command line or of
other basic UNIX concepts, let alone real-world experience. Malaysia simply
doesn't have any experienced "graybeards" (begging your honourable pardon
<g>) to pass on a legacy or culture of UNIX administration. What they *do*
have is youth, enthusiasm, and energy.

>>
I will also say that I am definitely impressed with Malaysia's almost
single
minded focus on becoming a "first world" power by 2020, and their
recognition
that Free and Open Source could help them get there.  They *will* be an
economic force to contend with.
<<
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Jon maddog Hall | 1 Sep 2003 04:06
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Re: Malaysia to "get ahead of its neighbours" in IT through OSS

Hi,

I may have been misunderstood about the issue of "focus".  While I have been
over here I have read at least one newspaper per day, sometimes two.  It is
interesting that their Prime Minister has appeared at least once, if not twice
a day in articles generated from corporate visits giving the same messages:

	o we have come a long way
	o we have a lot to be proud of
	o we still have a way to go
	o work, work, work
	o make sure all Malaysian people benefit

If George Bush worried this much about the economy and equality for all, the
US economy might be doing a lot better than it has been.

Secondly, and as a side-light of this, close to fifty percent of the people
I encountered in the IT industry here were female.  And quite a few of them
were in positions of management, as well as in technical positions.  The
newspapers reported that 70% of the people graduating from college were
women, and the Malaysian government was struggling with how to get it down
to an even 50-50 ratio.

Maybe we should study the Malaysian culture more, to figure out how they
inspire so many women to enter the IT industry.

md
--

-- 
Jon "maddog" Hall
Executive Director           Linux(R) International
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Michael Davies | 2 Sep 2003 03:50

Linux.Conf.Au 2004 Registrations Open!



Linux.Conf.Au 2004 opens registrations!

Registrations for Linux.Conf.Au, Australia's national Linux and
open-source conference, to be held in Adelaide, Australia on January
12-17, 2004, open today.

Now is the time for YOUR fun to begin.  Right now, head off to
http://lca2004.linux.org.au/register/ where you can sign up and pay for
your attendance at next year's LCA.

But it's not just conference registration that you can stitch up - you
can organise dormatory accommodation on-line, arrange for your partner
to go to our Partner's Programme, sign up for miniconfs, and now for our
next extra special, secret surprise - you can sit LPI exams as well!

The Linux Professional Institute <http://lpi.org> is one of the leading
Linux certifications on offer, and on the 2 days preceding the
conference (overlapping the miniconfs), you can sit up to four of the
LPI exams at a greatly reduced cost!  Another bargaining chip to use
when explaining to your boss why they should pay for you to come to
LCA2004.

But don't leave it too long!  When we opened registrations at midnight
on September 1, people started registering straight away.  Honest!  That
was before we announced anything publicly.  We were surprised too! :-)

Register early to secure your spot - by doing so you help us put on an
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Jeff Waugh | 2 Sep 2003 10:53
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Alternate Dimensions [Was: Malaysia]

<quote who="Jon maddog Hall">

> On the other hand, the Asian philosophies tend to look at long term
> projects with much more ease than current Europeans or people from the US,
> who seem to be more focused on quarterly (or monthly) profits.

Jon,

In your travels, have you found any deeper understanding of why we have
'Free Software Alternate Dimensions' in China, Japan, and South-East Asia
(and elsewhere, but I'm particularly interested in these ones atm)?

[ For anyone who hasn't already heard the 'alternate dimensions' joke, there
are various countries/regions that have almost fully independent Free
Software communities, massive forks of existing projects, and often enough,
awesome new software we rarely get to see. It's alarming, cool and scary all
at the same time. :-) ]

There's obviously a huge language and cultural divide, and possibly less
understanding of basic FOSS 'theory', but I'm sure there's more to it. What
have you learned?

Thanks,

- Jeff

--

-- 
linux.conf.au 2004: Adelaide, Australia         http://lca2004.linux.org.au/

                         Grind'n'wink. That is all.
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Leon Brooks | 2 Sep 2003 12:50
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SQL in your browser

Awesome!

    http://www.bnro.de/~harry/sql_io/

    kio_sql is a KDE 3.1 IOSlave using the Qt 3.1 SQL capabilities.
    [translation: type SQL into your browser, see result tables]

    It can display tables, queries and execute any SQL command.
    Results can be displayed in different output formats (text,
    html...). By default it operates in an interactive mode to
    display additional information and allows the user to enter
    SQL queries. 

Drives any SQL engine that Qt3.1 talks to, which as at now is 
PostgreSQL, Oracle, MySQL, anything ODBC, SyBase/MS-SQL-Server.

Cheers; Leon

--

-- 
http://cyberknights.com.au/     Modern tools; traditional dedication
http://plug.linux.org.au/       Committee Member, Perth Linux User Group
http://slpwa.asn.au/            Committee Member, Linux Professionals WA
http://linux.org.au/            Committee Member, Linux Australia
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David Cartwright | 3 Sep 2003 02:52
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Microsoft Office 2003 lock-in via DRM

The following story at CNET highlights Microsoft's plans to lock-in users to
proprietary Office 2003 formats via DRM.

http://news.com.com/2100-1012_3-5069246.html?tag=fd_lede1_hed 

So much for those who trumpeted Microsoft's new XML openness in Office 2003!

However DRM features are very attractive to both the enterprise and
government markets. These are large chunks of the total market and they also
drive adoption in the home market. After all, how many people want to use a
different Office suite at home and work??

I would think the only long-term hope for OpenOffice/StarOffice in these
markets is an alliance with Adobe to create an open DRM standard for
documents. While Adobe is not exactly an enthusiastic supporter of open
standards, the alternative lock-out by Microsoft could perhaps help them see
the benefit.

... david cartwright
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