Japan to study Linux for .gov

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AP - Japan to Study Linux Software

Eager to catch up with nations switching to computer systems other than Microsoft Windows, Japan will study the possibility of using open-source software such as Linux at the government level.

The public management ministry is earmarking 50 million yen ($410,000) for a panel of scholars and computer experts, including Microsoft officials, to finish the study by March 2004, Tatsuya Kawachi, a ministry deputy director, said Wednesday.

Huh? Why would the government include Microsoft officials in research on usage of Linux by the Japanese government? Doesn't that seem pretty tentative and non-committal to you?