A backlash against Microsoft in the mainland will help further the spread of Linux there, according to a systems integrator and IT consultant.
'The thing working in favour of [Linux] is that Chinese people don't like to be seen as being exploited by US influences,' said Beijing-based Michael Robinson.
'There's a growing amount of hostility going on about Microsoft and companies like [it].' According to figures by Federal, the mainland's biggest software retail chain, X-Team Linux (Chinese version) has been the top-selling operating system for the past three months.
There were no estimates of the number of users, but they were increasing because it was free - it can be downloaded from the Internet - and stable, Mr Robinson said.
A mid-sized company with offices throughout the mainland would face high licence fees for other operating systems.
However, Chinese Linux users face disadvantages. It is not compatible with the Microsoft platform and although it supports double-byte characters, it does not have a standardised Chinese-character input system.