“A coalition of powerful multinational companies is urging
Canada and Europe to support, in the next round of global trade
talks, the use of open-source operating software as an antidote to
the dominance of Microsoft Corp.
“The Canada Europe Round Table, launched yesterday, wants
governments to take the lead in using operating systems such as
Linux instead of Microsoft’s proprietary Windows.
“The group of 28 companies — which includes Bombardier Inc.,
Nortel Networks Corp., Corel Corp., DaimlerChrysler AG and Ericsson
AG of Sweden — suggests “competitive systems” such as Linux should
be endorsed at the next round of World Trade Organization (WTO)
talks.”