As the largest Linux project, the National Education Information System (NEIS) caught the attention in and out of the country, starting from the stage of selecting the model business carrier. In conclusion, the domestic Linux has been selected for this system, establishing a turning point to expand it as OS for servers.

"As the primary negotiator for the new NEIS development project, Samsung SDS was selected, and as the OS for more than 2,300 individual servers in the central center and 16 nation-wide educational offices, 'Haansoft Linux 2005 server, Asianux,' which was proposed to Samsung SDS by Haansoft, was confirmed," said the officials from Haansoft (CEO Jong-Jin Baek, www.haansoft.com, hereinafter Haansoft)

'Haansoft Linux 2005 server, Asianux,' proposed for this NEIS project by Haansoft is an integrated Linux server OS for enterprises, combining 'Asianux,' which is an Asian standard Linux platform developed mutually by Red Flag Software Co., Ltd. (China) Miraclelinux (Japan) and Haansoft from last year, and Hansoft Linux developed by Haansoft itself.

Kwang-Jei Cho, the general director of the Linux business of Haansoft, commented, "'Haansoft Linux 2005 server, Asianux,' includes the standard specifications of 'Asianux,' which is technically approved by global hardware companies such as HP and IBM, as well as the core solutions of software enterprises Oracle. In addition, it is an OS optimized to fit the domestic environment. We think it is the best platform to establish an information system domestically."

He also commented, "From the announcement made by the national human rights commission in May 12th, 2003, concerning the recommendation of dividing NEIS into 3 areas, including school affairs/educational matters, health issues, enrollment etc, till today's selection on the model business carrier and primary negotiator of the new NEIS system development project for such 3 areas, the biggest interest of Linux-related companies was whether Linux will be selected as the OS, and whether a domestic Linux OS will be introduced. Asianux, made by the mutual cooperation among Korea, China and Japan, has already been approved as a stable server OS system for large enterprises in Japan or China. Through this NEIS project, we will prove its superiority as a mission-critical OS in Korea.

Although foreign Linux such as Redhat was expected to be dominant as the Linux OS for this project, the final selection of Haansoft's domestic Linux OS caught even more attention as it overturned such forecasts.

In the model project, Samsung SDS had proposed Redhat Linux as the OS for individual servers, and for this main project, the company continuously tested Redhat Linux, Suse Linux, and Haansoft's 'Haansoft Linux 2005 server, Asianux,' where approval issues have been solved with global hardware/software vendors, just like the above-mentioned foreign Linux.

In Benchmarking tests, 'Haansoft Linux 2005 server, Asianux,' marked outstanding scores in stableness and compatibility. Also, by solving the approval issues just like the foreign programs, and by having a sound technical support system nationwide, 'Haansoft Linux 2005 server, Asianux,' received positive assessment scores.
Related with the selection of 'Haansoft Linux 2005 server, Asianux,' in this NEIS project, agencies, including the Korea IT Industry Promotion Agency (KIPA) that have been promoting the growth of domestic Linux businesses and open software, are sincerely welcoming the results. They commented, "This case will be the turning point to expand the use of domestic Linux."

Jong-Jin Baek, CEO of the Haansoft said, "Through this NEIS project, 'Haansoft Linux 2005 server, Asianux,' will be launched in more than 2,300 servers, and Haansoft will become the Korea's most largest Linux base site." He also added, "Using this NEIS project as an opportunity, we will reinforce in approving Haansoft Linux and other domestic S/W, expanding the market of domestic Linux. We are also planning to expand to foreign markets, such as China and Japan."

Following the open S/W policy of the Korean government from last year, Haansoft strengthened its Linux business. The company accomplished a sales amount of about 571,000 US dollars (600 million KRW) last year, visualizing the sales potential of Linux. In the first half of this year, sales amount marked about 1.8 million US dollars (1.9 billion KRW), tripling the total sales amount of last year. Just as 'Are-a Hangul,' and 'Hancom Office,' the company is expecting Linux to be settled as a major sales source.