Thai schools dump Microsoft software

http://asia.cnet.com/newstech/applications/0,39001094,39152501,00.htm

Thai schools dump Microsoft software

By Staff, CNETAsia
Friday, September 26 2003 6:00 AM

Concerns about intellectual property rights and software costs have
prompted 18 Thai schools to switch to an open source productivity suite,
according to officials at the country's National Electronics and Computer
Technology Centre (Nectec).

The schools are already teaching their students the Office TLE
productivity suite, which was partly developed in Thailand, said
a report in the Bangkok Post.

Cost savings was another factor that the schools considered, said
the report.

The director of a high school in the country said in the report that
Microsoft software upgrades were expensive and would have cost a million
baht (US$25,000) to license 300 computers.

Although license fees are not required with Office TLE, the program is
not as convenient to use as Microsoft's suite, according to pupils
interviewed.

From Sept. 1, China-made office suite Kingsoft WPS Office 2003 replaced
Microsoft Office in Shanghai public schools, following a raid by antipiracy
officials and a demand to pay license fees.

To facilitate co-ordination regarding the introduction of OSS SW in Vietnam

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