[Linux-aus] Malaysia to "get ahead of its neighbours" in IT through OSS

[Jon maddog Hall]

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I have spent the last week here in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia talking to their
government about Free and Open Source and Linux.  Remarkably, this is one of
the few countries where the government seems to "get it", and it is the
public that is somewhat stunned and wondering "why and how".

Malaysia has the issue that they are more entrenched in Microsoft than other
countries, having a lack of a Unix or proprietary infrastructure.  Therefore
they are feeling a bit more disoriented about how to get started.

I visited several government agencies and Universities here (including their
well known "Multimedia Corridor"), and gave them ideas about how to get
started down the road to Free and Open Source.  They have already started
some training companies, and one training company is a separate entity inside
their national university.

They are aligning themselves with LPI certification, and I suggested several
other groups (the Free Standards Group, for example) for them to join, to help
them get some hints on direction.

I will also say that I am definitely impressed with Malaysia's almost single
minded focus on becoming a "first world" power by 2020, and their recognition
that Free and Open Source could help them get there.  They *will* be an
economic force to contend with.

It is somewhat ironic that you sent out the "After Malaysia, the Nordic
Countries", because at the end of this month I am going to Sweden and Norway
to participate in four different activities in two weeks.  Two symposiums (one
in Sweden and one in Norway) and two University visits (both in Sweden), all of
the invitations came from three different sources over the course of a month.

So *something* is really happening, and in these two areas of the world, the
government is very active in it (as well as in some countries of South America,
China and Germany).

md
-- 
Jon "maddog" Hall
Executive Director           Linux(R) International
email: maddog at li.org         80 Amherst St. 
Voice: +1.603.672.4557       Amherst, N.H. 03031-3032 U.S.A.
WWW: http://www.li.org

Board Member: Uniforum Association, USENIX Association

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