Korean government to switch to Linux

[bill]

S. Korean government to switch to Linux: ministry [koreaherald.com]

The government will switch the operating system of its computers from Windows to Linux, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety said Thursday.

The Interior Ministry said the ministry will be test-running Linux on its PCs, and if no security issues arise, Linux systems will be introduced more widely within the government.

If you know about the history of the use of Windows in Korea and how it shaped everything from their unique search engine development and expanded into micro-blogging that pre-dated Twitter and similar SNS services, you'll recognize that this would be a huge shift for the Korea web.

[TorontoBoy]

This can only be good. Better security, Open source, so free to use. There are a lot of programs to choose. I wonder what linux distribution, as there are many.

[LifeinAsia]

Interesting. If the rest of the country follows, who's going to be left there to buy cheap counterfeit copies of Microsoft products?

[tangor]

A game change, to be sure. However, once taken up the bad actors will switch from MS hacking to Linux hacking. (sigh)

That said, should make a big different for a few years!

[iamlost]

The logic of switching to Linux is security; the cost is the buildout of necessary infrastructure. Think of switching from gas automobiles to hydrogen powered autos in a country - there is a tonne of technical debt and sunk cost and associated inertia, retraining, repurposing et al. Win10 is a data mining elephant of a kludge and Office is now 'in the cloud' so one's data is held if not owned by someone else.

On the other hand it may just be a 'test run' method of squeezing additional discounts from Microsoft.

[bill]

Korea really went nuts with Windows ActiveX technology to an extent that was unprecedented. Banking and government websites required not only Windows, but often you had to install a proprietary ActiveX control to use their site. It made for some very unique functionality, while simultaneously creating a very insular internet. Their entire internet was developed using a single platform and browser, which allowed for some really interesting stuff.

Maybe they are looking for a cheaper licencing deal, but I'd find it more interesting if they went forward with this open source idea.

[creeking]

There are a lot of programs to choose. I wonder what linux distribution, as there are many.

an entity that large and technically sophisticated will probably make its own variant.

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it would be interesting if they use a live version, that runs off a cd or usb flash drive. or a version that fully loads itself into ram.

[TorontoBoy]

I love linux for its security, but it has never taken off on laptop/desktop devices. There are versions that look like Windows, if you like Windows, or Mac. There's a complexity that seems to befuddle the average user. I wish the Korean government well.

A couple of German cities such as Berlin, converted to Kubuntu for over a decade, and more recently switched back to Win 10, eta 2020. It looks like they moved because many of their city applications were Windows only.

[theregister.co.uk...]

[bill]

And here we see the ActiveX vulnerabilities coming to haunt the Korean web...

Critical Vulnerabilities Plague South Korean ActiveX Controls [securityweek.com]

Tens of very basic but Critical vulnerabilities were found in 10 South Korean ActiveX controls as part of a short research project, security researchers with Risk Based Security say.

Although considered obsolete and unsafe, ActiveX technology is still used by many South Korean websites, including many government sites, and will likely continue to be used for a while longer.