From: Ad 

http://www.linuxworld.com/newsletters/linux/2007/0507linux2.html

"The Japanese government wants to go open source, as a way to rely
less on a single vendor IT software infrastructure. And plenty of vendors
are lining up to help make this happen.


Oracle, NEC, IBM, HP, Hitachi and Dell are among 10 IT equipment and
software vendors that are forming a consortium to develop and sell
Linux-based servers and computers for the Japanese market. The move by the
vendors to collaborate on Linux in Japan comes from a edict from the
country's government to make Linux and open source a priority for all IT
procurements, starting this July. The central government of Japan says it
plans to spend around $1.25 trillion yen, or $10.4 billion, on IT over the
next year. The government has said explicitly it wants to decrease its
reliance on Microsoft as a server operating system platform. "


Adam

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