May 2004 updates

China speeds up the application of Linux
By Huixin Ke in Beijing, China. May 2004

The Chinese government decided to speed up the adoption of Linux in April 2004 as it considers the widespread application of Linux the key to the prosperity of the domestic software industry.

This move saw China, Japan and Korea signing the Memorandum of Open Source Code Software Cooperation on 3 April. The memorandum formalized several issues concerning information security, encouragement of competition, cost of system exploitation and operation, standardization to promote the compatibility of different versions of Linux editions, software certification, and standardization and compatibility testing. (xinhuanews)

At about the same time, the first consultation meeting on Linux standardization was organized by the National Linux Standardization Workgroup and Electronic Technology Standardization Institute in Beijing on 14 April. The meeting introduced the draft plan for standardization of Linux technology according to four main criteria: Linux program interface, user interface, desk operating system technology, and server system technology. (sinanews)