Linux may power South Korean schools
As further testament to the growing popularity of open-source software among regional governments, South Korea's education ministry could soon switch to the Linux operating system.
The project, which would rank as one of the largest Linux implementations in the country, aims to link all primary and secondary schools and relevant government departments through a common system known as NEIS, or National Education Information System.
Last Friday, business consulting and IT services provider BearingPoint submitted a final proposal to South Korea's Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development for the NEIS project.
In its report, the company recommended that Linux be used for 2,000 out of 2,700 servers in NEIS. Each of these Linux-based servers will cater to a particular high school or so-called special-purpose school. The remaining 700 servers will be based on Unix. Each Unix server will be shared by a group of 15 elementary and middle schools, BearingPoint said.
The company had also submitted an alternative Unix-only proposal, but sources close to the project said the South Korean government is inclined toward the Linux-Unix combination.
