China actually paying for software?!
First thing that came to mind when I "red" this article was "FCKGW-RHQQ2-YXRKT-8TG6W-2B7Q8."
Windows XP SP1. What more does red China need, right? ;)
China’s homegrown answer to Windows has gone the way of the dodo after failing to make an impact on the domestic market for operating systems. Red Flag Linux has terminated all staff contracts and gone into liquidation, according to a notice pinned to the door of its deserted headquarters in Beijing, spotted by TechInAsia. …
> building an “enhanced version of the Ubuntu desktop” with Chinese characteristics
So let me guess: that means that it's NOT open source?
Also, unless Canonical is a lot dumber than I think they are, I guess there's some sort of walled garden tacked on? Probably also some sort of integration with Baidu and Renren?
I don't really see the point in mocking. For a start, you're an idiot because GNU/Linux is all over the place. It doesn't have a large share of the desktop market but I use it daily for servers and so do legions of other people. (I did use it very happily for several years as my primary desktop, btw).
But aside from your overlooking that GNU/Linux has been enormously successful, we should be wishing it the best. It is a shame that Red Flag Linux appears to be shutting down. One of the chief things that has held GNU/Linux back on the Desktop is the Chicken and Egg problem of people not using it until it is popular. Much as I dislike the state mandating things, at least it was a shot at establishing GNU/Linux on the desktop. And that would be good because (a) choice is good and (b) competition is good. That big overhaul to the Windows security model that began with Vista? Motivated in large part because MS was scared of GNU/Linux. That we now have an open document format for MS Office that others can interoperate with? Because MS saw the writing on the wall and feared Open Office and its open standards taking off. (I'd also add that many of the improvements in Office 2010 and 2013 are a response to this threat of real competition, but the neo-phobic infants go into spasm when you talk of the improvements in Office 2013 because change is baaaad).
Even if you don't use GNU/Linux personally, it is great that it exists both because it stimulates improvements in what you do use, keeps costs down through competition and because many of the sites you like to visit are running on GNU/Linux.
One more time for the hard of thinking: Software Companies Are Not Football Teams. Just buy a scarf and go to a match. It will suit your mindset better.
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"Developers expecting to be paid? They must have misunderstood that they were working on FOSS"
Somewhere on El Reg a year or two back there was an article about where Linux comes from these days.
You should try reading it, although as it includes facts and numbers, you may find it troubling.
Anyway, the upshot was that large chunks of Linux these days are paid for by companies most IT people have heard of. IBM, Intel, that kind of outfit. Other chunks are paid for by corporates in the Linux world, like Red Hat.
But obviously I wouldn't want to trouble your misguided and misinformed rant with facts.
Have a free weekend on me.
"But obviously I wouldn't want to trouble your misguided and misinformed rant with facts"
pot, kettle and black there on the "rant" flame. the world and its dead dog could see that his post was humour, tongue in cheek.
Holy crap man, go get a hug and smile. Relationships beyond your keyboard are healthy too and will reduce your bitterness at life.
As for Red Flag, anybody ever use it and was it any good? Is there a treasure lost here or another bad idea thankfully binned?