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Japan to Study Linux Software

Over the next 15 months, a panel of academics and computer experts will study using open-source software in Japanese government.

TOKYO (AP) -- Eager to catch up with nations switching to computer systems other than Microsoft Windows, Japan will study the possibility of using open-source software such as Linux at the government level.

The public management ministry is earmarking 50 million yen ($410,000) for a panel of scholars and computer experts, including Microsoft officials, to finish the study by March 2004, Tatsuya Kawachi, a ministry deputy director, said Wednesday.

Japan lags Germany, the United States, China and other nations looking into or using open-source software such as Linux, which can be used and modified for free.

Although Tokyo does not disclose a breakdown, government computer systems mostly use Windows, a closed system.

Members of the government panel have not yet been selected, but they will travel to see how other countries chose and use operating systems, Kawachi said.

Concerns about costs and security from heavy reliance on Windows have been growing here. Ruling party politicians have been urging the government to consider other operating systems, which may offer lower costs and better security.

But Kawachi said the Japanese government cannot decide on hearsay and wants "an objective study" on the options. The study will not recommend a system, leaving that decision up to ministries and local governments.

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