…so any open source code has a real battle to replace Windows.

That is debatable. Windows’s strength is mainly in the desktop space. But when it comes to servers, Unix-based platform have a definitive edge. I wouldnt be surprised if Korean telecoms and ISP providers overwhelmingly prefer *nix-based solutions for web servers, email servers, etc.

Korea is an important market not just because of desktops and servers, but all kinds of other gadgets as well. Cell phones, digital public phones with internet connectivity, PDAs, DMB based mobile TVs, even mundane home appliances like refrigerators and washing machines which are looking to be TCP/IP connected and all require an operating system. Since a lot of these devices are newfangled and are being hashed out in the present, I wouldnt be so surprised if engineers and developers pick Linux over Windows based OSes. Linux is highly customizable due to its open source nature and it also avoids heavy licensing fees. There is no real-time version of Windows so things like bullet trains or machinery control systems for new naval vessels will want to be run on a real-time Linux derivative such as QNX. Furthermore, the Korean government is making it a priority to fully adopt Linux in all public sector agencies. Korean engineers are cooperating with Chinese and Japanese counterparts to optimize Linux kernels for embedded systems, which will be used for mobile and network-related devices, such as IP TV set top boxes. I feel East Asian nations are much more officially enthusiatic about Linux than in the US, where it still remains largely a grassroots curiosity and plaything of hackers.

Even in the desktop space, open source or gnu provides a wealth of free software that provides interoperability between Linux and Windows boxes, such as WINE, which allows Windows applications to run on Linux, SAMBA, which conducts file sharing, etc. These utilities would enable the transition of organizational networks from Windows based to Linux.

The hand writing is on the wall already and the days of Windows/Microsoft dominance, in East Asia, at least are numbered.

Your first post did not even mention Micosoft, Bluejives. You said “?$ hired a big gun like Kissinger to issue a warning to the ROK is a sign of weakness. Stuff like this would make Koreans even more determined to wean itself loose from ?$ dependency. ?$ has more to lose than ROK by escalating matters as such.”

Plenty of nationalist claptrap in there, I must say, even as I share your opinion of Microsoft.

On a personal level, I am adverse to Microsoft. Both their software and their business practices, which both suck. Has nothing to do with Korean nationalism or whatever it is you’re trying to imply.

But since we’re on the topic of Microsoft antics vis-a-vis the ROK FTC…yeah, I think Microsoft richly deserves to get its ass kicked for refusing to provide further updates for a shitty piece of software (which is why each version of Windows needs several Service Pack Releases in addition to countless security updates in the first place) which the customer paid for, and forced obsolescence, and for third party bundling of additional software like AOL, as if it wasnt shitty enough already, and then crying about a measely $38 million fine, which is NOTHING to them, and instead of simply abiding by the law they want to play tough? OK, we’ll see what happens….