China Joins Europe In Scrapping Windows For Linux

The useful part

According to a Bloomberg report, attributed to China's Ministry of State Security, the country has ordered some government agencies to drop Windows 10 China Government Edition for Chinese-made Linux distributions. Because China, like many other non-US governments, no longer trusts American companies with their software and services. [...] The Chinese government did not specify which Linux versions would replace Windows 10.

How it works

• However, the stock prices of Chinese Linux suppliers, Kylin Software and Tongxin Software Technology (commonly known as UnionTech), immediately jumped.
• [...] Huawei's HarmonyOS 2, which began as an Android variant but is now a proprietary mobile and Internet of Things (IoT) operating system, is also being developed into a PC platform.
• Kylin and UOS are the only mature desktops that are ready for institutional desktop deployments.
• For agencies now moving off the government Windows build, the issue will be more demanding than simply swapping one desktop interface for another.

Details worth keeping

This approach is all about digital sovereignty. These companies' respective operating systems, Kylin OS (no relation to Ubuntu Kylin) and UnionTech OS (UOS), were already positioned as domestic desktop and server replacements for Windows in government, state-owned enterprise, and critical-infrastructure environments. Migration requires application testing, peripheral and driver validation, identity system integration, document-format compatibility, staff retraining and, in many cases, replacement or adaptation of Windows-dependent line-of-business software.