Go on, South Korea, I triple-dog-dare ya!

(Via Dymaxion World)
The prospect of a mid-sized and technologically advanced country like South Korea saying "F-you" to Bill Gates and going to Linux is tantalizing. The fact that Microsoft precipitated this possible turn of events by prissily refusing to unbundle their proprietory IM and media player software makes it too delicious.

If Microsoft makes good on its self-destructive threat to pull Windows from the South Korean market rather than accede to local demands to un-bundle its proprietary media and IM apps, there's a safe harbour waiting in the form of blanket, country-wide licenses for the OS formerly known as Lindows.

Noting that South Korea blows $100m per year on Microsoft bugware, Linspire honcho Kevin Carmony has made a formal offer to South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun to license every computer in the realm for the bargain price of $5m.

"South Korea could save around a quarter of a billion dollars. More importantly, however, it would break South Korea loose from the monopolistic grasp of Microsoft, which the country currently finds itself under," Carmony explains.

As with an earlier attempted rebellion against Microsoft in Thailand, a move on this scale could probably only come on a government level. Many individual consumers are easily stymied by relatively simple issues such as printer compatability, as I was, when I contemplated a move to Ubuntu Linux a while ago.