Re:C ON S U M E R S (Score 1)

The big Japanese vendors make their big money out of middleware, not OS's, so it's no big deal for them to supply Linux-based rather than Microsoft-based systems. They can continue to lock in public sector clients to their middleware. One example is the systems for registering citizen data (koseki); the different companies' systems are still not fully mutually compatible despite a national database for citizens.

METI and the IPA have often made "anti-Microsoft" comments but then toned them down. My informants in METI talk less about open source and more about open standards these days.

On the public procurement side, a key issue is the technical literacy of those making procurement decisions. In many local governments, the people making purchasing decisions don't have much IT knowledge, so they ask the IT vendors to write the specification and supply a turn-key system (marunage). Local governments, at least partly because of their fiscal squeeze, are realizing that they can both save money and stimulate local IT businesses by writing their own specifications and breaking down systems (bunkatsu hatchu), which makes it possible for small local IT companies to bid for parts of the system. Central government is now encouraging this. I think smarter procurement practice on the ground is more important for OSS in Japan than pronouncements in the media.