Kwangju Becomes Linux City, Mar 22, 2006

The Korean government plans to pick Kwangju this month as the nation's first ``Linux City,'' where open-source software will become the mainstream programs.

The Korean government plans to select a city and a university late next month where open-source software like Linux will become the mainstream operating programs.

Linux, the open-source software, seems to have nothing to do with South Korea’s disgraced cloning scientist Hwang Woo-suk, at least at a glance.

Asked whether his previous job and intimate relationships with many executives of Microsoft Korea drew back the decision of tilting toward open-source programs, he flatly denied the guess.

Early last month, the government selected a consortium, including Samsung SDS, to set up a new online school information system called the National Education Information System (NEIS).

Korea Post, Korea's postal service agency, Wednesday announced it will begin adopting the free, open-source operating system known as Linux to its desktop computers nationwide on Thursday, replacing the Windows operating system produced by U.S. software giant Microsoft Corp.

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's largest automaker, and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. have adopted a Linux cluster system built by International Business Machines Corp., the world's largest computer maker, for vehicle crash simulation testing and analysis, IBM Korea said on Wednesday.

By connecting a number of small computers, the cluster system helps them perform as a high-performance supercomputer, said IBM Korea, a wholly owned subsidiary of IBM.