Not everyone is jumping on the enterprise Windows 7 bandwagon.  Earlier this month Vietnam announced that all of their governmental computers will be loaded with open source software.  So far there has not been an official statement regarding which operating system they will be loaded with but it is assumed to be Linux based.

Applications such as Firefox, Open Office and Unikey have been named and others have been implied to be installed government wide.  The deadlines have been set to have the computers changed over to the open source software by June 30 2009 and employees 50% proficient.

Many people have criticized Vietnam for this radical implementation of open source software and even calling it “communist”.   But really is it communism or actually doing the correct and moral thing?  Piracy in most countries is out of control, including Vietnam.  Frequently even government computers are loaded with pirated software as the IT departments are under funded and yet still need to get their jobs done.  By them setting a positive example and choosing the “free” option it will help reduce piracy and set a better moral example.

The reasons for doing this can even go further than just setting a good example.  While they will initially be spending a lot of money to train their people in the long run this can mean big savings for them over a longer period of time.

Check It Out> Vietnam Net via  Vista Sucks