*Red Hat: Lead with open source*
By Aaron Tan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, ZDNet Asia
28/6/2005
URL: http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/software/0,39044164,39239422,00.htm
*SINGAPORE--China's adoption of open-source technology will put the country
in a leadership position in IT, according to Michael Tiemann, Red Hat's
vice-president of open-source affairs.*
"China's decision to adopt open-source technologies is based on its positive
aspects, such as the ability to mobilize a large population of technical
people who have the freedom to collaborate," he said.
The open-source software development model, he added, can bring together
developers with diverse interests to accomplish a common goal. "I hope
China's entry into the world of software will benefit its own people and the
world."
China as an emerging economy, he added, has the benefit of identifying the
hits and misses in technology developments in the last 40 years. "It can
pick and choose what the world has learned, and this gives them the chance
to be leaders."
Tiemann noted that it would be difficult for China to realize its potential
as an IT leader if it adopts the proprietary software model, because the
history of proprietary software has limitations.
The proprietary software model creates barriers to collaboration, he said.
Historically, this has restricted the development of technology such as
hypertext, which only began to carry meaning when everybody was able to
participate and contribute, he noted.
Even though there were privately-funded companies building proprietary
hypertext systems in the 1970s, no system could achieve the critical mass of
users required for it to succeed, he said.
However, the World Wide Web--a form of hypertext system--became what it is
today because it was built based on an open-source model that brought people
together to collaborate on its development, Tiemann explained.
"China, India, Brazil, and others in Asia and Europe, could look at that
(hypertext) example and ask if they want to enter the 21st century
surrounded by barriers," he said.
Open-source software can also give a country the ability to develop
home-grown technologies, rather than rely on foreign companies. "Why should
countries seek independence, and not seek independence in technology?" he
said.
China and the Philippines have already developed local flavors of Linux--Red
Flag Linux and Bayanihan Linux, respectively.
But Red Hat is not competing with these Linux distributions, he said. "We
don't compete with other people who are growing the open-source pie. If we
try to compete with them and take away their customers, it will not help
(the overall market) very much."
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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