“Oracle, NEC, IBM, HP, Hitachi and Dell are among 10 IT equipment and software vendors that are forming a consortium to develop and sell Linux-based servers and computers for the Japanese market. The move by the vendors to collaborate on Linux in Japan comes from a edict from the country’s government to make Linux and open source a priority for all IT procurements, starting this July. The central government of Japan says it plans to spend around $1.25 trillion yen, or $10.4 billion, on IT over the next year,” Phil Hochmuth reports for Network World.
“The government has said explicitly it wants to decrease its reliance on Microsoft as a server operating system platform,” Hochmuth reports.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Anything that loosens Microsoft’s grip and helps the world move out of The Dark Ages of Personal Computing is a very good thing.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “RadDoc” for the heads up.]
Amen! Maybe someday they will move to Mac OS X.
Death to Windows.
off subject
is anyone elde having trouble getting on apple.com ?
Apple.com working fine for me.
Apple.com certainly feels snappier than usual.
MW: Hopefully the next headline on this (the article) subject: “Japanese government moves closer toward 21st Century, dumps Windows for Mac OS X.”
It’s a bird !
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It’s a plane !
No ! It’s a chair !
Wow. I just tried apple.com on my iBook and it really is faster. I’ve never seen it perform so well. The transitions are almost instantaneous. They sure have done something, Or else we are the only people in the world viewing their site.
I must have been trying to log on , during what ever change they did, couldnt load for about 10 minutes,
yes its snappy now
Yep, apple.com is MUCH faster. Wonder what they changed?
I am surprised that this hasn’t happened before, and more that they (Japanese) haven’t solved the problem on their own. The Japanese seem to be very proud people. I have a hard time seeing them as MS slaves. I remember talk of Sony making a Linux based OS, but I guess it bore no fruit.
One step closer to OS X.
One more nail !!
Its sad that The USA Government (and most others, or all others?) are tied to MS, hpoefully they will see the light,
Miso happy.
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Article title should read
“Japanese government looks to Zune Microsoft”
There, all better…..
Well, just because they’re not jumping to Apple doen’t make this bad news at all. It is another nail in MS’ coffin regardless. This is just the beginning.
Five years ago I was asked by a colleague if I thought Apple could overtake MS one day. I told him “MS did it to IBM, so why not?” He called me a stupid asshole that knew nothing about the technology industry.
He apologized to me last week. My how times have changed.
Why is this a big deal?
Linux is a major threat to Apple as it’s another competittor in the market place.
Now if the Japanese government switched to Mac’s that would be a good thing, but they are distancing themselves from American corporations. That includes Apple, which is more restrictive than Microsoft.
At least with M$ you can choose your hardware vendor, with Apple you cannot.
Mac OS X only runs legally on Apple hardware. If the Japanese buy Mac’s to run Windows then the Mac is basically another Windows box like a Dell.
Many governements of the world are going to Linux because they can control it, unlike Windows which and has left backdoors for US spies (and hackers) to get in.
It’s very unlikely they will switch to a more restrictive platform like Mac’s from the US.
So once the world gets used to Linux, it spells the end of Windows and Mac OS X.
Of course Apple doesn’t pay attention to the OS needs of the world anyway, they are just focused on selling hardware.
(AP) Newswire – May 13, 2007 2:30 ET
Apple announced today they have finally routed all traces of Microsoft servers from their massive, worldwide array.
“Seems vastly snappier,” said an anonymous Japanese source.
Holy Jumpin’ Hamachi, that’s freaking HUGE!
In a perfect world, the Japanese Government would adopt Mac OS X. Since it ain’t, if they just shifted to some variant of Linux and OpenOffice… teeth marks of Microsoft’s fat, flabby ass.
Macnuts.
One piece of advice, dont hold your breath.
“It’s very unlikely they will switch to a more restrictive platform like Mac’s from the US.”
Probably true, but don’t forget the extent to which Apple leverages Open Source. Most of it, with more to come in Leopard is easily portable between Macs and Linux which means it doesn’t really matter whether Governments use Macs exclusively or not.
The likelihood is more of a mixed platform ecosystem.
Just wait for ‘Spaces’ in Leopard to be the new BootCamp – two windows for MacOS X, one for 3D accelerated Windows and one for Linux.
MacNuts, the adoption of Linux is a good thing for Apple, since it will lead to greater adoption of open standards. OSX is also heavily dependent on open-source code, so the greater the uptake on that front, the more developers work on it, and the more advancements go back into the Mac.
Apple will never have a majority share of the OS market, but that isn’t the aim. The goal has to be to reach a point where Mac users are always considered. 15% is all it will take.
It’s obvious that MacNuts doesn’t understand or appreciate the differences and similarities between Linux and Mac OS X (BSD unix). Anything that will compile and run on a Linux box will compile and run under Mac’s BSD kernel with minor adjustments. Microsoft Windows is a completely foreign system.
“It’s very unlikely they will switch to a more restrictive platform like Mac’s from the US.”
More restrictive? How is a posix compliant variant of unix/Linux restrictive at all? OS X simply puts a wonderful graphic interface on top of a universally compatible, industrial grade, operating system. I compile and run unix applications on my Macs all the time. Most of the time I can find freeware or shareware versions that include a Mac graphic front end as well. Restrictive? What are you smoking?
“Since it ain’t, if they just shifted to some variant of Linux and OpenOffice… teeth marks of Microsoft’s fat, flabby ass.”
They ain’t even done that, the article mentions server operating systems, not desktop operating systems.
I’m with Holy Mackerel. Spaces is gonna work a treat with Parallels.
With an angry fist, Ballmer scribbled “JAPAN” in huge letters with gold crayon under his <u>Axis of Evil</u> list. Bill closed his eyes tight and slowly rocked back and forth for hours. Ballmer got close to Bill’s ear and sweetly whispered “Vienna” over and over and over again. They held each other lovingly for the rest of the day while the Board of Directors watched in stunned silence, horror and fear. Then, someone ordered pizza.
“With an angry fist, Ballmer scribbled “JAPAN” in huge letters with gold crayon under his Axis of Evil list. Bill closed his eyes tight and slowly rocked back and forth for hours. Ballmer got close to Bill’s ear and sweetly whispered “Vienna” over and over and over again. They held each other lovingly for the rest of the day while the Board of Directors watched in stunned silence, horror and fear. Then, someone ordered pizza.”
ROFL! I can vividly imagine that happening. hehe.
Why is there a “$” in front of “1.25 trillion yen”? It’s a contradiction.
It should be “¥”
just saying…
I think they added the CHAT NOW button at the top of the window. Correct me if I am wrong but i never noticed that you can chat with a sales rep online before.
Apple’s website is at least as fast as it used to be.
Must be the next generatiomn of Xserves……
Hmmmmm…………
Make that twice as fast……
M$ finally beats the virus scourge (maybe), but no one cares anymore.
In the land of papier mache …in the land of the rising sun …a shadow positioned itself between the sun and the people. No one could make their own shadows, ever again ……until one day …the people said they would create their own sun …a new star. When the people refused negotiation with the shadow it rained office chairs and Vista Capable stickers for the better part of a week. Over time the office chairs became chop sticks, the people regained their own shadows, and the Vista Capable stickers ended up on the bottom of everyones shoes.
More restrictive? How is a posix compliant variant of unix/Linux restrictive at all?
It’s not Mac OS X and Linux similarities that’s the problem with the Japanese and other foreign governments. It’s the lack of control over security of their operating systems.
The US government has a bad habit of insisting backdoors and other methods be employed for spying purposes.
Xerox has faint little yellow dots on color copies.
Cisco routers have been discovered to have “backdoors” on their routers.
AT&T has been busted with secret NSA rooms tapping internet backbones.
The US Army is very actively involved in computer penetration.
Microsoft has refused to close their ports “out of the box” on their OS for years.
The latest little catch is the Cisoc/Apple “iPhone” trademark dispute. The iPhone and it’s potential success could represent a treasure trove of intelligence, all one’s contacts and personal info on a portable device user would trust with substantially less security options than a computer.
Then how anyone in their right mind uses a computer with EFI which can contact the internet, download and run code even before any operating system loads and without the user or OS even knowing about it? It’s beyond me.
Security and privacy has just been thrown to the wind, what’s worse is one won’t even be able to run software anymore without a internet connection. Because DRM will be installed in EFI by developers which needs to phone home regularly.
Old Apple is leading the charge by sliding this EFI/DRM crap right under novices noses and you fools are lapping it up in your cult ignorance.
Let us not forget the ‘.Inc’ at the end of the name… Apple is a corporation, and as such, it is all about profit. So, moving to Linux is the best thing governments (and not only) can do, if they want to get the hands of any MS or potential MS off their people’s taxes.
Incidentally, any loss for Microsoft is a win for Apple. It makes non-MS solutions look viable and reduces MS’s image in consumers’ minds as the only choice.
I bet in 10 years that most of the world will be running Linux, if not sooner.
Nice one, Cretin.
Don’t know who I’ll be voting for yet, but when Mitt Romney was Governor of Massachusetts, he appointed some very forward-thinking IT guys. They became the first state to castrate M$FT and their proprietary format. They ended up adopting OpenDocument. THe M$FT lobbyists were scrambling to stop it. This is one f the big reasons M$FT created their own open standard.
This kind of forward-thinking waste cutting makes me interested in Romney.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenDocument_adoption
Could you imagine how much money the feds would save if they switched to OpenOffice?
About enough in one year to fund one day in Iraq. But You have to start somewhere.
This is excellent, great news. The more M$ looses, the better for all other players in the field. All governments should follow Japan’s policy (some already are). Death to Windows and their crap stuff.
Yes, death to Windows.
The reason they won’t get the mac is because it’s not made in Japan. They will prefer their own products.
If Apple wants to be used in the Japanese corporate world, they need to make something that changes the use of computers entirely (like multitouch or something groundbreaking), which, in turn will make them NECESSARYfor productivity issues.
TO: Great Picture! – good one.
Damn those muh fuckas. Phil Hochmuth should pay attention to his writing:
“$1.25 trillion yen” – What the hell is that?
In Japan they have yens ¥ – not dollars $.
¥1.25 trillion or 1.25 trillion ¥ or 1.25 trillion yens would be lot easier to understand.
I almost spilled my coffee and swallowed my bubble gum. I would’ve sued ’em for 20K Turkish liras…
I don’t see Linux as a threat as such. As long as Apple continues to develop OS X and innovate with their products as a whole there will always be a large number of customers who will be willing to pay for the experience offered by a Mac – which is why they managed to “survive” before the massive growth of recent years. Even with the perception that Mac’s are more expensive people are still buying them, the hardware on its own still has a value.
I think Microsoft are gonna suffer though. As well as continued erosion in the consumer market, I think they’ll see continued instances where governments increasingly want to go open source so that they’re not tied to any one arena and move big contracts. The thing is that Microsoft don’t really have anything with which to win people back. New versions of Windows and Office won’t help since they’re essentially more of the same thing that people moved from in the first place.
The Japanese are smart
The Japanese government has been talking about this switch for a long time now. It has been a recurent NEWS for over five years now. I’m tired of hearing about the talks… ACT…
There’s an OS named sooner?
Love your post. You should consider including it here:
http://funny2.com/literature.htm
Mac runs BSD now which is UNIX. There is no more MacOS: it is dead.
Learn how to Slack from a floppy.
Don’t get me wrong though- if it wasn’t for developers running Macs, we wouldn’t have developed Netscape which has evolved into Firefox now.
If I can run a UNIX-based OS for free though, I see no reason to pay for one.
Linux development is steamrolling ahead! Apple had better hurry up and release MacOS for PC’s, or they will lose the rapidly growing “I’m sick of Microsoft” market to Linux!