China inks a deal with Ubuntu makers for their own OS

The Chinese government is looking forward to have their own version of an open source operating system as they’ve signed a 5 year contract with the company that made Ubuntu, Canonical. The new open source operating system for China is based on Ubuntu’s reference design, technically a chinese version of Ubuntu. The “Ubuntu Kylin” is all set to be released next month during Ubuntu’s usual release cycle. There will also be a version of Kylin specifically for servers as hosting companies and online shops can adopt it.

Kylin is made for both desktop and notebook users, Chinese characters will be integrated with features such as Baidu maps, Taobao shopping and various office programs. It will be created in Beijing with a combination of Canonical and Chinese R&D engineers.

Mark Shuttlework, founder of Canonical and Ubuntu said, “The release of Ubuntu Kylin brings the Chinese open source community into the global Ubuntu community. With Ubuntu Kylin, China now has its own secure and stable desktop operating system, produced alongside Ubuntu’s global community. Ubuntu combines proven technology with a mature ecosystem and strong OEM and ISV partners, and this initiative allows the Joint Lab to bring those strengths to China across the full range of platforms: desktop, server, cloud, tablet and phone.”

It could also be a sign that the Chinese government wants to be free of proprietary operating systems owned by Microsoft and Apple. If that’s the case, jumping onboard with Canonical would make sense. However, how China plans to make this as a common choice remains to be seen, it should also be noted that China has a lot of mobile users as well, including iPhones. As of now, Windows has a huge market share in China, followed by Mac OSX and then open source OS.

Source: Canonical