I'm in Wuhan China, a city somewhat the size of Chicago, located 90=20
minutes flying time west of Shanghai. I'm here to present two one-week=20
seminars on embedded systems to students of the International Software Sc=
hool=20
(http://www.isswu.net/) of Wuhan University.
     Today (Sunday) was a day of jet-lag recovery. Needing to get the sun=
 in=20
my face to help reset my body-clock, I went out to the Xinhua Bookstore,=20
reportedly the largest and best bookstore in the city. I headed for the=20
computer section on the third floor to see what they had on Linux and als=
o=20
about embedded computing in general.
     Not surprisingly, books about Microsoft-related products heavily=20
outnumbered the other OSs and most of the squating browsers were looking =
at=20
these. IT is big business here, in case you hadn't heard. From what I saw=
 in=20
the bookstore, they're boning up on the related subjects from Microsoft, =
too.
     I saw most of the usual Linux titles but many of which were in Chine=
se=20
editions. There were also quite a few books in Chinese that I'd never see=
n=20
before (in English). Overall, I'd say the Chinese get as good or better a=
n=20
exposure to Linux through the bookstores and, although it is clear that B=
ill=20
Gates has a very solid base here, Linux is, nonetheless, surprisingly wel=
l=20
represented. Indeed, I was particularly pleased to see many of the O'Reil=
ly=20
titles (including my favorite, Linux Device Drivers, Second Edition, by=20
Rubini and Corbet--thanks, guys) in Chinese for 69 Yuan (divide by 8 for =
US=20
prices). (That sounds really cheap but is roughly in-line with the other=20
prices of technical books here. Cheap, yes, but not out of kilter for the=
=20
market.)
     In a nutshell, there is no lack of good technical information about =
Linux=20
in the People's Republic. If you've been worried that you're going crazy =
over=20
the off-shore move and how it is going to affect US- and europe-based=20
software engineers over the next couple of years, you can relax because i=
t's=20
not a manifestation of your paranoia. It's a fact.
     To try and offset the mood left by that realization, I picked up a c=
opy=20
of the book and CD for Red Flag Linux. At 38 Yuan, I viewed it as cheap=20
entertainment especially since *all* the TV channels are in Asian languag=
es,=20
none of which I savvy. With the Red Flag book, although I don't read Chin=
ese,=20
certain things jump out from the text such as "2.4.17", "OpenOffice" and=20
"Evolution". Bill Gates's likeness shows up almost as much as does that o=
f=20
Linus in the heavily illustrated text. When I get back to the US, I'll tr=
y an=20
install of the accompanying CD on my crash-and-burn machine just for the =
fun=20
of it.
     Broadening out my search at the bookstore into RTOSs in general, I s=
aw=20
five titles on MicroC/OS-II. In the US I think there are maybe two or thr=
ee=20
still on the shelves, but the Chinese books are all new publications with=
=20
recent dates on what I would normally call "the rights page." Appearances=
 are=20
there's some interest here in the real-time segment of the computer marke=
t.
      And there were also eight different titles on VxWorks. I presume th=
at=20
none of these are available outside of China (nor probably in any other=20
language) because of copyright issues and because of Wind River's choke-h=
old=20
on the product. Copyright issues aside, that tight grip is maybe not such=
 a=20
good idea because, in the long run, I'm betting Wind River will figure ou=
t=20
they've dealt themselves a pretty severe blow by not opening up more.=20
"Closed" products think they need to be that way to survive when competit=
ion=20
is tough and maybe that's true for a while, at least. But when the=20
competition has been beaten, whipped, flogged, bound in chains and thrown=
 in=20
the dungeon, staying closed seems more likely to accelerate the rot that=20
eventually brings about their demise. Pay attention, Wind River. Are you=20
listening, Microsoft? With little or no competition, "closed" means=20
"stagnation."
     Tomorrow I start the first of the two seminars about embedded system=
s=20
programming I'm scheduled to present here. I'll teach the same material t=
wice=20
but with a shift in emphasis from theory to practice as the audience chan=
ges=20
from undergraduates to graduates in week one and then week two. My emphas=
is=20
will be on Linux, open source, how to use the Web and what to expect from=
 the=20
community at large, and what will consequently be expected of them.
     I've been told they've moved the venue for my sessions twice to=20
accommodate the growing number of students that want to attend. I don't k=
now=20
how many will be there tomorrow but I am expecting the hands-on lab segme=
nts=20
where I usually give one-on-one assistance to be, well, over-attended. Bu=
t,=20
then again, maybe their Linux expertise will be better than I was origina=
lly,=20
and ignorantly, thinking a couple of weeks ago. I'll find out soon enough=
=2E
     A truck just drove past the front of the Fengyi hotel where I'm stay=
ing.=20
Loudspeakers were blaring out loud marching music. The sides of the truck=
=20
were covered with large flat panels with yellow letters on red background=
=20
with advertisements for something later this week. Unfortunately, I don't=
=20
read Chinese so I can't tell you if there's a big political rally coming =
up=20
or if the circus is arriving. Regardless, big things are happening in Chi=
na.
     Your man in Wuhan, Ed Skinner.

--=20
Ed Skinner, ed@flat5.net, http://www.flat5.net/