Gen Kanai

Japanese Government to Embrace Linux

Sorry for the double comment but the Chosaq weblog puts it better than I did.

chosaq ｻ Japanese government eyeing Linux? Quick deconstruction of a non-story.

Japanese Government to Embrace Linux

I am extremely skeptical about this news because the Japanese government has said essentially the same thing about once a year for a number of years without any material change. It's not to say that I don't want this to happen, I do, but getting people to change their habits is one of the most challenging things to do, and having users (just imagine your average Japanese government employee) learning a new operating system (even something as friendly as Ubuntu) or new software (Open Office for instance) is a significant hurdle.

The IPA has funded a number of interesting tests in various locales but there has to be a serious desire to change in order to get people to adopt new software, especially at the client level.

I recommend that people keep healthy skepticism on this topic. We've heard the same empty promises before many times and frankly, I'll believe it when I see it with my own two eyes.