While the world's dominant software company has worked hard to maintain ties with Asian authorities for some time, "we are just stepping up our efforts and we expect to retain this focus for the foreseeable future," said Peter Moore, Microsoft Asia Pacific and Greater China's chief technology officer.
The technology officers will promote Microsoft's position on IT issues, which is currently a key part of Moore's job.
"When I focus on listening to the governments' needs and articulating the value proposition that Microsoft has to deliver, through products, services support and community; the reception is very positive," he said.
His remarks come amidst growing official support for open source software in Asia, especially in North Asia and Malaysia, who view open-source platforms such as Linux as being cheaper and more secure than Microsoft's products. And in countries like China, being dependent on Western software carries unwelcome political overtones.
He declined to give details about specific issues broached with officials, but said that they were keen to ask about e-government IT systems, and to ask Microsoft about providing access to IT for students and teachers, community programs to help bridge the digital divide.
"It's a combination of addressing issues like security, reliability, value and innovation with existing infrastructure and the future value of the US$6.8 billion we are spending on research and development this fiscal year," he said.
A key part of Moore's job is to highlight the merits of commercial software over free, open-source products.
"Creating a preference for free software won't build a local software ecosystem. Who will do anything for free? They should be building a commercial software model. That's tried and tested," he said in an earlier interview.
Consumers should determine software selection and development free of official intervention, he said.
"Microsoft, like the rest of the technology industry, strongly believes that governments and users of technology should be free to use the software and other technologies that best meet their needs," he said.
He believed that commercial software, such as that used in Tablet PCs, have "incredible potential" to provide a new learning experience for students when combined with localized curriculum, teacher training, and educational software titles.
Across Asia, open source software such as the Linux operating system are gaining a higher profile.
In China and Malaysia, programs encouraging the use of Linux and open-source software in the civil service have been launched. Recently, an alliance of Japan, Korea and China has been formed to create a workable alternative to Microsoft's Windows operating system.
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From WatchDogWatch.org
The Need For More Open Source Watchdogs
The security problems associated with proprietary software products have been well documented. Thanks to the efforts of countless IT watchdogs, security flaws in Microsoft Windows XP and other proprietary software packages have been exposed and patched. However, there are fewer watchdogs focusing on the many "open source" software programs that are in widespread use. The most important IT watchdog, Carnegie Mellon University's CERT Coordination Center, has identified security vulnerabilities in two popular open source programs, Sendmail, an e-mail program, and OpenSSH, a software tool used by network managers "to log in remotely and gain encrypted access to computers..." The Sendmail flaw was described by one security expert as "an extremely serious vulnerability" while the OpenSSH vulnerability was considered more theoretical although "it might prove to be exploitable." A CERT official said that if the flaw were exploitable, it would be serious since, "a user would not need privileges to log on to the machine to run the exploit." A number of major name software vendors sell products incorporating the vulnerable OpenSSH program including: IBM, Sun Microsystems and Red Hat. Hewlett Packard, IBM and Red Hat sell products that could be affected by the Sendmail security flaw. An internet security specialist explained that both programs "are commonly used at large companies, making them an attractive target to hackers." Also noted was that "In any given year there have been just as many vulnerabilities in the open-source community as there have been with Microsoft." In that open source software is being increasingly used in critical business and government applications, there is a clear need for additional watchdogs to monitor the security of open source products. Furthermore, Winston has a question regarding open source programs. When there is a problem with an Apple or Microsoft product, he knows who is responsible for patching them, but who is responsible for fixing software that nobody is responsible for writing in the first place?
This question is of sufficient importance that a discussion thread on the issue has been established on CyberActivist.US. Please click here to comment.
Click to read CNET News article.
Click to read CERT Advisory for OpenSSH.
Click to read CERT Advisory for Sendmail.
Posted by Jim Tozzi on Wednesday, September 24 2003 06:01 PM