This post originated from an RSS feed registered with Java Buzz by a san juan. Original Post: Gnawed by the Dragon Feed Title: small devices in my dandelion patch Feed URL: http://sedoparking.com/search/registrar.php?domain=®istrar=sedopark Feed Description: J2ME, emergent software and other tiny things. Latest Java Buzz Posts Latest Java Buzz Posts by a san juan Latest Posts From small devices in my dandelion patch

Someone tell Microsoft that fooling the Dragon won't be as easy as getting past Uncle Sam in the courtroom.

I read with some admiration how the entire Shanghai public school system has decided to switch from Microsoft Office to a locally-made office suite, which cost half the price. This comes a few days after China's governing body declared that all government ministries would be phasing out Microsoft Windows and Office suite, a move that would affect hundreds of thousands of desktops.

The reasoning for all these seems be a combination of things. Firstly, the Chinese government is interested in protecting locally-produced software; second, they are concerned because of security reasons, since they have no access to the software code in foreign proprietary systems - e.g. a Boeing plane that was to be the Air Force One of China was found to contain numerous bugs a few years back (guess who put them there); third, locally-produced software are priced substantially less so there is a cost-savings in using Chinese software products; finally, China would like to be less reliant on outside parties when it comes to sensitive products like software.

Unlike the U.S., where government decrees tend to be treated by the general public as on par with the local weather advisory, Chinese tend to follow government statements and movements much more avidly, so it will be interesting to watch and see whether there might be a mass exodus away from foreign software in the months and years to come.

Wouldn't it be really funny if Microsoft is "beaten", not by Linux or StarOffice/OpenOffice or by any of the other current competitors, but by its exclusion from the world's fastest growing major economy?