You haven’t often heared open source and China in the same sentence…until now.
Beginning in 2001, the Institute of Computing Technology in China started developing the Loongson chip – also known as the Dragon chip – with the goal of creating a chip versatile enough to drive anything from industrial robots to supercomputers. The first chip appeared in a computer in 2006, and the third generation chip, currently in the prototype stage, will be used to power a petaflop supercomputer. To encourage the adoption of the processor, the Institute of Computing Technology is adapting everything from Java to Open Office for the Loongson chip and releasing it all under a free software license. (Wired, 1/10)
The first-generation Loongson chip is being used in a netbook built by Chinese company Lemote. By releasing everything under a free software license, China is creating a platform for low-cost solutions for the domestic market as well as in Africa and other emerging economies. This will be a challenge for other chip makers and software providers counting on those markets for future growth.
Eric Zavolinsky
Tags: China
