
US restricts Windows exports to Chinese/Russian/Venezuelan military and police - fuoqi
https://www.globaltradeandsanctionslaw.com/new-export-control-rules-confront-integration-of-civilian-and-military-technology-development-in-china-russia-and-venezuela/
======
fuoqi
Russian military has preemptively started migration to Astra Linux[0] in 2018
and some say that police forces gradually migrate to it as well. So overall, I
think these restrictions will be a really great motivation for those (and
other) countries to built government digital infrastructure fully independent
from US commercial products and instead embrace open source and domestic
products.

[0]:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astra_Linux](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astra_Linux)

~~~
r8ru4rbfhfu
I'm not really sure "Better for freely oppressing your people." is a feather I
wanted in the open source cap.

~~~
fuoqi
It does not matter much if Chinese mass surveillance system works on Linux or
Windows, or if a racist US cop fills his report after killing a black guy in
MS Office or in Libre, or if a Russian weapon system uses Linux embedded
kernel instead of a proprietary one developed domestically. It's just a tool.

At least with open source widely used in a government sector we would get more
investments in OSS (direct and indirect, e.g. by training people), thus in the
long run resulting in a better software for everyone. And we would not get
pathetic vendor lock-ins, which hurt everyone except the vendor company.

------
basementcat
Because forcing them to use the new Macbook Pro keyboards will bring lasting
political change.

------
downvoteme1
Ah, so 2020 is the year of Linux on the desktop.

~~~
simonblack
Isn't every year?

~~~
z92
That was the point.

~~~
simonblack
I'm an exception. I've never had a year of Windows on the desktop.

(UNIX, Linux, never Windows)

~~~
MR4D
This is the year!!!

After Australian wildfires, Coronavirus, economic collapse, trade wars, and
asteroids, Linux on the desktop HAS to be next!

------
blackrock
Ahh.. and so it begins.

I made a comment similar to this, when they restricted Matlab to some random
Chinese university. Why should a Chinese company invest in developing for
American technology platforms, when their access to such platforms can be
easily revoked on a whim.

The great tech decoupling is about to begin.

And if recent news about Apple migrating to ARM for their laptops prove, then
the Intel/Microsoft domination is finally coming to end. Of course, they’ll
always have a dominant position in western markets. But their domination in
the eastern markets will end.

It’s about time that the world finally has some real competition.

I suspect that there will be a significant increase in software companies in
China after this. And we know, that software is much easier to build than
hardware.

This is actually a gift. Before this, it just wasn’t profitable to build some
software products like operating systems, because Microsoft dominated that
field. But now that this is politicized, then this is now an existential
crisis. These countries must go their own way.

I suspect that in 2021, some Chinese operating system will finally emerge.
Maybe the world will finally get to see what that Harmony OS is all about.

~~~
ardy42
> I suspect that in 2021, some Chinese operating system will finally emerge.
> Maybe the world will finally get to see what that Harmony OS is all about.

Complete with integrated OS-level keylogger that forwards all the users'
dissident typing straight to the police for intervention.

[https://www.theverge.com/2019/3/4/18250474/chinese-
messages-...](https://www.theverge.com/2019/3/4/18250474/chinese-messages-
millions-wechat-qq-yy-data-breach-police)

[https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/11/19/china-police-big-data-
sy...](https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/11/19/china-police-big-data-systems-
violate-privacy-target-dissent)

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiMLVYK4hEc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiMLVYK4hEc)

~~~
blackrock
Well, you do realize that all of your communications is already transmitted to
the Five Eyes? They’re just far more insidious about it.

Even if you think you’re using something encrypted, the message will just get
recorded and cracked later. Either with a backdoor key, or they’ll just brute
force crack the key.

Or, even easier, they’ll just record the metadata, then crack you with a
rubber hose.

So, pick your poison.

~~~
ardy42
> Well, you do realize that all of your communications is already transmitted
> to the Five Eyes?

There's no equivalence or even comparison. Watch the Youtube video I linked
above. If you complain about the police, the Five Eyes aren't going to forward
a tip along so you can be locked in a tiger chair to be dominated and made to
apologize for your insolence. Five Eyes allow the use of all kinds of
technology that makes their jobs hard, rather than mandate all your messages
be sent to them directly. China is _several_ orders of magnitude worse.

Also, here's relevant lecture about the features of an old version North
Korea's homegrown OS:

[https://fahrplan.events.ccc.de/congress/2015/Fahrplan/events...](https://fahrplan.events.ccc.de/congress/2015/Fahrplan/events/7174.html):

> Investigating functionality that can be used to invade the privacy of users
> was our primary goal. We found that the features implemented in Red Star OS
> are the wet dream of a surveillance state dictator. It provides a set of
> surveillance features like the capabilities to watermark different types of
> files that can be used to track the distribution of documents and multi-
> media files. We will have an in depth look on how some of these features
> built the foundation for a suppressive state in a modern world.

~~~
blackrock
Well, in the west, you’ll get Epsteined before you can do any real damage.

And then the media attention is turned off, or turns a blind eye, and the
world just moves on.

So still, pick your poison.

~~~
ardy42
> Well, in the west, you’ll get Epsteined before you can do any real damage.

That's a bold claim. I thought they'd shoot you from a grassy knoll.

------
phantom_oracle
The title is misleading and covers more than just "Windows exports".

I hope HN is not developing a propaganda problem like every other news/social
site.

------
korginator
Do we really expect this to make a difference to China which has a long
history with IP theft?

Forget theft, some of their IP regulations are just weird. I can file a patent
in China even if there's prior IP or a patent elsewhere, just as long as I am
the first one to file it in China. Good luck fighting this.

~~~
MR4D
>Do we really expect this to make a difference to China which has a long
history with IP theft?

Really good question!!

I think the short answer is, no, not by itself. But in conjunction with many
other things, it increases the friction in transactions, making it more costly
for them to achieve their goals.

Rain & snow may not stop an army, but it sure will slow an army down. This is
the same.

------
aussieguy1234
Well, that prevents them from covertly inserting a backdoor into windows for
spying purposes

~~~
tempodox
Not at all, it just means it will be properly licensed.

------
ngcc_hk
That should apply to Hong Kong from 1.7.2020 onwards.

------
qserasera
Not a huge fan of this

------
AndyMcConachie
As an EU citizen it's always good to see the USA continue to shoot itself in
the head. Let's get the world on OSS.

