South Korean government opts for Linux instead of Windows 10

[onetheycallEric]

In brief: The South Korean government believes Windows will be too expensive to support in the future, and in a bid to reduce costs the country plans to transition to the open-source Linux. While there will still be costs associated with support and new PCs, it's believed there will be both cost reductions and a reduced dependency on a single operating system.

Earlier this year, Microsoft signaled the end of support for Windows 7, which still powers many machines around the globe. Aside from shelling out serious cash for paid support, most users will have little choice but to migrate to a newer version of Windows.

However, South Korea has opted to change operating systems entirely, perhaps to Microsoft's dismay. The South Korean Ministry of Interior and Safety announced plans to migrate to Linux, starting with a trial of sorts to test for compatibility and security. Assuming there's no mishaps, a broad rollout could commence shortly thereafter.

A government-wide adoption is expected before the expiration of Windows 7 support, currently slated for January 2020.

The switch is being spurred by both the cost to maintain Windows after support for Windows 7 ends, and the desire to reduce dependency on a single operating system. The migration to Linux and the purchase of new machines will cost an estimated 780 billion won ($655 million). These costs are presumably easier to swallow than maintaining Windows machines through paid support until 2023, then having to upgrade to a newer version of Windows.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/80148-south-korean-government-opts-linux-instead-windows-10.html

 

[Stormbreaker]

And to avoid spying by US government

 

[VitalyT]

Many companies tried before, and then after a lot of dismay moved back to Windows, just as they got the money.

Windows 10 + Fences is the ultimate thing. And if you do not like the menu, throw in one from Stardock again. Those things are real cheap anyhow, but they work magic.

 

[dualkelly]

And to avoid spying by US government

being that Windows 10 is the biggest piece of spyware crap on the planet that breaks every month it's updated they are going to save themselves much headache.

 

[Weston]

Windows Is a juggernaut.

 

[Igrecman]

Since I tried MX Linux 2 months ago, I don't wanna use Windows anymore, if not for Games or for Photoshop. MX Linux has made the Linux OS simple to use even for the first time Linux Users. Updates are installing so quickly, like a 100 times faster than Windows Updates.

 

[picka]

Since I tried MX Linux 2 months ago, I don't wanna use Windows anymore, if not for Games or for Photoshop. MX Linux has made the Linux OS simple to use even for the first time Linux Users. Updates are installing so quickly, like a 100 times faster than Windows Updates.

That's the thing, the are some key applications that don't work on Linux which is a deal breaker. Also if you do any sort of gaming Windows is the only option.

But for office work it's perfectly fine

 

[TheBigT42]

Since I tried MX Linux 2 months ago, I don't wanna use Windows anymore, if not for Games or for Photoshop. MX Linux has made the Linux OS simple to use even for the first time Linux Users. Updates are installing so quickly, like a 100 times faster than Windows Updates.

One word "Gimp"

 

[EClyde]

They know what they are doing

 

[fps4ever]

A few went to Linux and then back to Windows 7. Key words are "Windows 7". Windows 10 is a whole new ballgame of data gathering and security headaches. This isn't a decade ago and software is more compatible now. Even Win 10 has a Linux kernel now.

 

[JaredTheDragon]

One word "Gimp"

One-word answer, "Nope." More words: "If you're a professional, GiMP is not a viable option, just like Blender isn't for 3D. Open-source stuff is fine for hobbyists but if you wanna keep up with deadlines and quality, you have to use the professional tools or be left behind."

 

[IAMTHESTIG]

It depends on your environment and what you need to use the computer for. A lot of businesses could probably completely switch to Linux and be fine, but some institutions where administrators need more control over the use of the computer; Windows is still the only way to go. Though admittidly Windows 10 has gotten a LOT more difficult for the administrator to control things. Things that you could control via group policy in Windows 7 are no longer controllable in Windows 10 group policy, particularly when it comes to the Start menu. Even with their custom Start layout, which doesn't even work properly half the time anyway.

One thing companies could do if they have some Windows only apps they must use is to setup a RDS (used to be called terminal server services) and share the app out that way; or the various other services out there from Citrix and such. Then they could keep their users on Linux OS and not have to deal with a lot of the issues Windows 10 has.

 

[Bruno M. Villar]

Wondering if their choice was debian linux - the most vulnerable operational system to date, followed by the kernel linux.

 

[yRaz]

One word "Gimp"

One-word answer, "Nope." More words: "If you're a professional, GiMP is not a viable option, just like Blender isn't for 3D. Open-source stuff is fine for hobbyists but if you wanna keep up with deadlines and quality, you have to use the professional tools or be left behind."

Everything you can do in Photoshop you can do in gimp. Is it annoying to relearn software that you have been using for 15 years? Absolutely, but I was up and running at full speed in a few weeks.

Frankly, I made the switch to Linux almost two years ago and never looked back.

And as far as trying to game on Linux? Well, you never tried. In just the last two years you can basically natively play games on it. The only problem is online DRM, but something interesting is going on with that. The Linux community comes up with a fix and sends it to the devs, where they often unofficially support the community Linux patch. The OS automatically downloads the patch and binaries when you try to install the game.
Eve online, PlanetSide 2 and wow come to mind.

I have a feeling that 2020 will be the year of the Linux gaming desktop. If you don't believe me, download PopOS, put it on a jump drive and start installing games.

 

[Igrecman]

Gaming can work as well on Linux than on Windows. I just played Half Life Element 120 on MX Linux on Steam. Works flawlessly. The problem is that the game developers only make their games for the largest market - Windows Users. Same for Adobe and their CC Suite (+MacOS of course).
As for Gimp, if we could import a PSD without GIMP flattening all layers, I would give it another try. But I think it can't.

 

[Igrecman]

Sorry, Gimp can import a PSD with all layers without merging, but it messes up some of the blending settings only Photoshop has.

 

[arrowflash]

It's true that 10 - 15 years ago there was a short-lived fad across the world when many states, cities and even some countries switched their infrastructure to Linux, only to end up reverting back to Windows after 2 - 5 years. My country was one of them.

But most of them switched when they were using Windows XP, and came back when Windows 7 was around. The trainwreck called Windows 10 didn't exist. Linux also has improved a lot since then, and WINE is also a lot more compatible and reliable than it used to be. Also in the last 10 years, many institutions have changed their custom in-house proprietary applications from Windows GUI based software to platform independent apps that run in the web browser and can even be used on an Android device. Almost all companies I worked with/for in the past 5 years made this change.

Linux on desktop is still very far from being perfect, but compared to Windows 10 it's probably the lesser evil. I have said in the past that the only reason institutional users haven't started jumping ship en masse to Linux yet, is that it's debatable whether it's really a better alternative to Windows 10 - but if Microsoft didn't start making drastic changes to revert back some of their design and business decisions with Windows soon, they would eventually become fed up and willing to go to Linux again. South Korea is usually on the vanguard with these things, so their decision is a strong sign of future trends. Microsoft better step up their game and start looking for a new CEO, preferably one less stubborn, with a smaller ego, and without a sociopolitical agenda.

 

[Lew Zealand]

Linux on desktop is still very far from being perfect, but compared to Windows 10 it's probably the lesser evil. I have said in the past that the only reason institutional users haven't started jumping ship en masse to Linux yet, is that it's debatable whether it's really a better alternative to Windows 10 - but if Microsoft didn't start making drastic changes to revert back some of their design and business decisions with Windows soon, they would eventually become fed up and willing to go to Linux again.

The reason that many businesses stick with Windows, including Windows 10, is familiarity and computer management tools.

That whole "nobody ever got fired for buying Windows" attitude prevails and frankly, if you have a lot of disparate systems that you've spent 20+ years integrating into Windows, any management team is going to resist transitioning to new systems (Mac, Linux, something more dedicated) as they'll have to qualify all those systems again. Windows 10 still mostly works like 7 and most systems will work with both OSes the same way.

Things working in Linux's and Mac's favor are the increased use of cloud resources and computing where the same job can be done in a browser so the system dependency is reduced. But those transitions are still ongoing at most businesses so it's mostly a Windows (10) world.

I'm curious to see where this leads for South Korea but I bet they will come back to Windows. Or will only transition a small number of users to Linux.

 

[Igrecman]

The dominance of MS is due mostly to the fact computer manufacturers have been preinstalling Windows for three decades (which should be illegal in most countries). It makes them earn much more money over the years than installing a free OS or no OS. So Linux never had a chance to threaten MS dominance. Another reason is that 90% of the PC users just don't know Linux at all, having never tried it, thinking it's only for the computer nerds. OK it was a bit more complex a while ago, but nowadays, there are distros that are easier and more pleasant than Windows to use. I think the death of Windows 7 will help Linux get a bigger market share from the older machines Win 7 were installed on.

 

[dualkelly]

The dominance of MS is due mostly to the fact computer manufacturers have been preinstalling Windows for three decades (which should be illegal in most countries)..

This is not the end users ditching windows it's a government who has way more resources to spend on implementation as well as any programming needed.
This same argument is why windows 10 will die soon, Say we look into the future were end users are 99% on windows 10 and have given up all other platforms (not going to happen but for the sake of argument) Microsoft has either two options at this point to create money from the end users. Create a new windows they must buy or go to monthly subscription fees.

 

[sac39507]

I guess they won't require the use of any of the 90% of apps that are Windows only

 

[dualkelly]

I guess they won't require the use of any of the 90% of apps that are Windows only

Apps? thats a windows store thing. totally useless. You might want to look up linux and unix software respositories. 90% of apps are windows only are you kidding me. 90% of programs are linux only dude. obviously you have no idea how vast linux is.

 

[sac39507]

Apps? thats a windows store thing. totally useless. You might want to look up linux and unix software respositories. 90% of apps are windows only are you kidding me. 90% of programs are linux only dude. obviously you have no idea how vast linux is.

Apps is just another name for application or software or program DUDE. Geez. Wake up from your nerd hole. I do know how vast Linux is but try having a non tech savvy person try to use Linux or install a Linux "program" and he or she will give up after 5 minutes. Linux is great but people who develop it and its applications...oh wait, better not use that word as you might get confused and overly stressed...so I mean "program" purposefully make it difficult for the average person to use because they want to feel superior due to their narcissistic complex. I myself hate Microsoft with a passion but from a user's perspective. You Linux people hate Microsoft because of your outrageous egos.

 

[captaincranky]

One word "Gimp"

I tried GIMP once. (Admittedly, this was a few years back). The first image I loaded, I tried to work in the manner in which I was trained. To my poor bewildered eyes, the program doesn't (didn't?). have adjustment layers. I muttered softly to myself, "WTF am I supposed to do with this crap", then quickly returned to using Photoshop Elements as my primary editing and organizing solution.

You can still buy PSE over the counter on DVD, for 50 or 6o bucks on sale. It does maybe 75% of what Photoshop will do, and the 25% it doesn't do 90+% of people don't even need.

And ther best part of it is, you go back to versions around 13 or so, it will run on any old Windows 7 computer you have laying around.

 

[VitalyT]

Open Shell is far better, based on the source code of Classic Shell and best of all, is free.
https://github.com/Open-Shell/Open-Shell-Menu/releases
Latest version below;
https://github.com/Open-Shell/Open-Shell-Menu/releases/download/v4.4.131/OpenShellSetup_4_4_131.exe

I personally don't even use it anymore, I got used to Windows 10's own menu. I only use the fences, because they are great, very useful.