On Fri, Dec 05, 2008 at 08:35:20AM -0600, Florin Iucha wrote:
> The title is bad, but the abstract is illuminating:
>
> Authorities in the Chinese city of Nanchang are compelling the city's
> Internet cafes to replace their Windows operating systems with Red
> Flag Linux -- and charging them about $726 for it as well. Some cafe
> owners are closing down rather than comply.
>
> It's just some thugs shaking down businesses.
The move to Linux is an effort to tighten censorship and step up
surveillance online, said Xiao Qiang, director of the China Internet
Project at the University of California-Berkeley.
"It mainly means [a] less secure and private communication
environment for netizens in those Internet cafes," Xiao said. "The
authorities are gaining more control."
Yeowch... I have a feeling that, if this article is spread widely,
these assertions will become standard anti-Linux FUD rather than
recognizing that they apply only (if at all) to Red Flag Linux, not to
Linux in general.
--
Dave Sherohman
NomadNet, Inc.
http://nomadnetinc.com/