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S. Korean government to switch to Linux: ministry

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The government will switch the operating system of its computers from Windows to Linux, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety said Thursday.

The Interior Ministry said the ministry will be test-running Linux on its PCs, and if no security issues arise, Linux systems will be introduced more widely within the government.

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More coverage now

  • South Korean government planning Linux migration as Windows 7 support ends

    With just seven more months of support left for Windows 7, the South Korean government is planning to migrate to Linux, according to the Korea Herald, which notes that the Interior Ministry will begin "test-running Linux on its PCs, and if no security issues arise, Linux systems will be introduced more widely within the government."

    The Herald quotes the Interior Ministry as indicating that the transition to Linux, and the purchase of new PCs, would cost about 780 billion won ($655 million), but also anticipates long-term cost reductions with the adoption of Linux. The report doesn't mention a specific distro, instead "hopes to avoid building reliance on a single operating system."

    "Before the government-wide adoption, the ministry said it would test if the system could be run on private networked devices without security risks and if compatibility could be achieved with existing websites and software which have been built to run on Windows," the report stated.

  • South Korean Government Planning Linux Migration as Windows 7 Support Ends

    With just seven more months of support left for Windows 7, the South Korean government is planning to migrate to Linux, according to the Korea Herald, which notes that the Interior Ministry will begin "test-running Linux on its PCs, and if no security issues arise, Linux systems will be introduced more widely within the government.

More on Korea

  • South Korea Plans To Shift To Linux From Windows

    Until now, Windows 7 was being used on government machines but the government wants to be future-proofed. That’s because Microsoft will pull the plug on the free technical support for the popular OS in January 2020.

    For reference, Windows 7 was released back in 2009 and its mainstream support ended in 2015.

    According to the Ministry of Interior and Safety, the switch won’t be made right away. First, the Linux-based OS will be tested for thorough compatibility with the existing software that’s meant for Windows. After successful testing, it will be implemented across the entire system.

South Korea will ditch Microsoft Windows for Linux

  • South Korea will ditch Microsoft Windows for Linux

    Windows 7 support will end in January of next year, and that is a huge problem for both business and home users that are still running the aging operating system. Can't these people just upgrade to Windows 10? Well, yeah, but many just don't want to. Windows 10 has extreme telemetry that many people consider to be spying. As a result, they simply don't trust Microsoft's latest operating system. Not to mention, for businesses and organizations with many computers, the upgrade to Windows 10 could prove to be a costly affair.

    And now, as a result of the upcoming death of Windows 7 support, the South Korean government has reportedly decided to ditch Microsoft Windows entirely. According to The Korea Herald, the Asian country's government will switch from Windows 7 to a Linux-based operating system.

South Korea Chooses Linux Over Windows 10

  • South Korea Chooses Linux Over Windows 10

    Support for Windows 7 will end in January 2020. Microsoft probably hopes the moribund operating system's users will switch to Windows 10, but the South Korean government plans to switch its machines over to a Linux distribution instead, according to a May 17 report from The Korea Herald.

    The report said testing Linux is supposed to help South Korea reduce the cost of maintaining its systems while also reducing its reliance on a particular operating system. Microsoft ending support for Windows 7 effectively forced the country to choose between updating to Windows 10, which will eventually meet the same fate, or exploring options that aren't controlled by a single entity. South Korea's government opted for the latter.

More on this today

  • South Korea’s government will switch to Linux over cost concerns

    Some governments might have fallen out of love with Linux, but South Korea appears ready to start a torrid affair. The country’s Ministry of the Interior and Safety has outlined plans to switch government computers from Windows to Linux due to both lower costs and a reduced dependency on a single operating system

Two more new articles about SK and GNU/Linux

  • Korean government is moving from Windows to Linux

    Microsoft Windows is the most used operating system in the world, at least when talking about desktop and laptop computers. In addition to the usual consumer and enterprise customers, it is also used in government offices and computers. That may have been the status quo but more and more governments are looking to other solutions for one reason or another. The latest to start that journey is South Korea, whose government is planning to migrate its computers to the open source operating system Linux.

  • South Korean Government To Give Windows The Boot In Favor Of Linux

    Unfortunately for many users, Microsoft announced they will be ending support for Windows 7 on January 14th, 2020. Many companies and government institutions have held onto Windows 7 because of its stability, performance, and compatibility with older apps. Some businesses and organizations will be granted a slight extension, but many are moving on to other operating systems.

South Korea eyes Linux as Windows 7 end of support nears

  • South Korea eyes Linux as Windows 7 end of support nears

    As reported by the Korea Herald, the nation's Interior Ministry last week announced plans for a potentially major Linux deployment as part of a plan to cut tech costs and reduce its reliance on a single operating system.

    It's not known what mix of Windows 7 and Windows 10 the Korean government currently uses, however the plan to adopt Linux more widely comes as organizations around the world prepare for the end of Windows 7 support on January 14, 2020.

More coverage in English

  • Kernel 5.2-rc1 Is Out, Xfce 4.14 Pre-Release Now Available, Microsoft Open-Sources Its SPTAG Algorithm, South Korean Government Switching to Linux and Arduino Launches Four New Nano Boards

    The South Korean government plans to switch to Linux as the end of Windows 7 support nears.

  • South Korea Thinks Of Switching From Windows To Linux Platform

    The government has opted for Linux instead of Windows 10 to save a significant amount of money Windows is a paid OS whereas Linux is a free, open-source operating system. It would cost around 780 billion won or 655 million dollars for switching to Linus platform and buying new PCs.

    Another reason for this change is that the Linux platform has lesser security risks compared to Windows. This is the main factor that most of the enterprise networks around the world uses Linux based OS to run their machines.

  • South Korea Government prefer Linux to Windows 10 [Ed: Microsoft boosters have begun smearing or belittling Korea's plan to move to GNU/Linux]

    A report from the Korean Herald stated, “Before the government-wide adoption, the ministry said it would test if the system could be run on private networked devices without security risks and if compatibility could be achieved with existing websites and software which have been built to run on Windows.”

    It is not exactly clear which Linux distribution the South Korean Government are eyeing.

  • Government Planning to Replace Windows 7 with Linux, Not Windows 10 [Ed: Longtime Microsoft propagandists such as Bogdan Popa will have a dilemma; maintain the lie/perception "Microsoft loves Linux" or viciously attack Linux (which Microsoft bribes governments to reject or, failing that, dump)?]

    While specifics on what Linux distro they want to embrace are not available, it looks like the first step towards this migration to the open-source world is a security audit that should help the government determine if their data is protected or not.

Latest Coverage About South Korea and GNU/Linux

  • South Korean government plans to ditch Windows

    The South Korean government is planning to switch its operating system (OS) from Windows to Linux, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety has announced.

    According to the Korea Herald, the changeover will begin with a test-run of Linux OS on PCs within the Ministry of the Interior and Safety on private networked devices. Linux will be introduced more widely across government systems if a trial period passes with no issues arising with regards to security, or compatibility using software developed to run on Windows.

  • South Korea is switching to Linux ahead of the Windows 7 shutdown

    The Ministry of the Interior and Safety has confirmed it is making the change over cost concerns, as well as trying to stop the current stranglehold of a single operating system (ie Windows).

    It was fairly inevitable that we'd get some switch-outs over the coming months, given that Windows 7 machines will need to be upgraded to Windows 10 (at cost) during the rest of the year, ahead of the older OS reaching end-of-life in January.

    The document doesn't talk in terms of timetables, nor of which Linux distro or distros are favoured. Its Northern neighbour already uses a customised Linux distro called Red Star, but it got more security holes than an Emmental Facebook.

    The cost of the changeover has been put at around $655m (£514m). It's not clear how much that will save, and when the break-even point will be.

    Indeed, it's not inconceivable that Microsoft will throw money at South Korea in an attempt to change its mind. That's exactly what happened when Munich switched allegiance back in 2005-6.

  • South Korea moves from Windows to Linux

    In an effort to prepare for Windows 7's End of Life early next year, South Korea has revealed that all of its government computers will soon make the switch from Windows to Linux.

    The official Windows 7 End of Life is set for January, 14 2020 and Microsoft has said that it will provide support for up to three years after that date though companies will need to pay.

    However, for governments such as South Korea which depend on Windows 7, the cost of extended support could quickly become too high to manage. For example, support for Windows Enterprise users using Windows 7 for the first year after the End of Life date will cost $25 per device. This price rises to $50 per device for year two and $100 for year three.

  • South Korean government opts for Linux instead of Windows 10

    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.

By Joey Sneddon

  • South Korea’s Government is Switching to Linux

    The country’s Ministry of the Interior and Safety reckon that migrating away from Microsoft Windows will lower costs and reduce reliance on a single operating system.

    With 2020 bringing the end of “free” support for Windows 7, a system widely used throughout the South Korean government, the timing is prudent.

    There’s no word (yet) on what sort of Linux distribution South Korea might use (or whether the government would create its own) but let’s not put the cart before the horse: there are a few hurdles Linux needs to clear first…

The Government of South Korea Moves to Linux

  • The Government of South Korea Moves to Linux

    The South Korean government will migrate all of its Windows computer hardware to Linux, according to statements made by the country’s interior and security minister, The Korea Herald.

    The decision has been made with the cost savings as the main consideration, but also with the intention of recovering some technological independence. Windows 7, the operating system currently used in the South Korean Administration, is scheduled to end the support in January 2020 and spending prospects for what would be the natural upgrade to Windows 10, do not seem to enter the plans of the Executive.

    Also, to the concern for the cost of continuing to maintain Windows, or what is the same, to the reduction that is expected to be obtained in the medium term once the migration has been completed, the preference is added not to continue relying on a only operating system , according to the statement by Choi Jang-hyuk, head of the Office of Digital Services of the ministry.

    It will be in the Ministry of the Interior where Linux will begin to be tested, without determining what type of implementation will be carried out. The requirements that have transpired involve security tests on devices connected to private networks, compatibility with government websites and legacy software. The transition will have an investment of about 655 million dollars, including the purchase of new equipment.

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