Socialist Republic of Vietnam

"I’ll never forget the night they announced our group as the first-prize winners for our Vietkey operating system in the Viet Nam Intellect software contest" said 29-year-old Nguyen Hong Anh, system developer and chief of Vietkey Linux.

The group finally knew the sweet taste of success after years of sweating together over the project.

Hong Anh, who now works as an engineer in the Ministry of Defence, told Viet Nam News that Vietkey Linux was established in 1997 by himself and fellow University of Technology graduate Tran Ngoc Son.

At first, their daily business was fairly simple, including searching for Unix and Linux operating systems. They decided to try to develop some applications for the Linux operating system.

Turning point

In 2000, Vietkey Linux took on four apprentices, Tran Viet Hung, Nguyen Duc Long, Nguyen Ngoc Quynh and Vu Minh Tuan, all students at the University of Technology.

The now six-member team decided to cook up something truly Vietnamese for local computer users.

Setting their minds to a tough task, they began developing the Vietkey Linux operating system. It was rough at first, as they had to prepare a large volume of documents on their own. They had to surf the Internet and search for a variety of technical documents at the library.

In the beginning, they did not know how to deal with such a mass of work. They set priorities and decided to start by evaluating operating systems downloaded from Internet.

After many hot debates, the six young men sat together determined to surmount the many hurdles that lay before them.

Luckily, they were lent a helping hand with financial assistance and personal computers from Vietkey Group and Vietkhang JSC.

Hong Anh admits that they often felt the project was close to failure. They spent night after sleepless night at their small second-floor office at 36 Bat Dan Street.

"Some of us didn’t dare to fall in love with someone, because we had no time to share with our girlfriends. Even on Valentine’s Day or International Women’s Day, we stayed in front of our dry PCs." Hong Anh said with a melancholy smile.

"My girlfriend and I were always quarrelling about the time I spent at the office because I seldom went out for fun with her anymore," he remembered.

More problems erupted when the four students, who were preparing for their university graduation, began needing more hours to study for exams.

But finally, after two years of hard work, the group entered the big time, winning the Viet Nam Intellect top prize.

Asked to lay out their future plans, Nguyen Ngoc Quynh, one of the young members of the group, said that they are now conducting nationwide tests on their operating system, longing to perfect their product. As their software gains favour, lower package prices will include a guidebook and compact disc.

Vietkey Linux will develop a firewall to protect their software from unauthorised copying. However, Hong Anh emphasised that authorised organs should use all of their power to control copyright violations.

The Vietkey Linux operating system uses the Vietnamese alphabet, which makes it easier for computer users who do not know English to master the technology.

Its function and interface are modelled on Windows XP and its KWork, Kspread and Kpresenter are similar to Microsoft Word, Excel and Power Point while Kmail is comparable to Outlook Express.

Hong Anh said he and his comrades will continue perfecting their software and making other applications catering to the auditing, health care and banking sectors.

Technology-savvy enterprises including Green Mekong, Electronics and Informatics Company and Viettronics Tan Binh have bought the Vietkey operating system.

The group said the thrust of the Vietky Linux project was aimed at penetrating the technology market as well as protecting Vietnamese software from dependence on imports. That their software helps reduce spending for domestic information technology companies is icing on the cake.

Three amateur musicians also won a prize for their Guitar # software in the contest.

The three Ha Noi University of Technology students, Tran Huu Duc, Nguyen Anh Tuan and Nguyen Thanh Hai, had won several other prizes before the Viet Nam Intellect contest.

Duc took second prize in the Ha Noi Informatics Contest in 1999 and third prize in a nationwide informatic contest, while Tuan won second prize in the Olympic informatics contest in 2000.

The three said that while they are IT students, playing the guitar gets their blood pumping, so they set out to create Guitar # to help players identify tone and composition.

They received email and phone calls from guitarists nationwide after a trial transmitting on the Internet, Duc said.

Tuan and Hai said that while creating the software, the group went to the Ha Noi Conservatory every day searching out information.

They had paid US$100 each for Guitar Pro, Tab Edit and MusicMaster Works, all of which failed to meet their demands. So, they decided to make Guitar # for amateur players.

They spent days looking at websites like those of Canterbury and Waikato Universities in New Zealand to learn more about tone identification and music theory, which they had never studied at school, Hai said.

Finally, they came up with a suitable product that could run on the Windows operating system.

Tuan, the youngest member of the group, said that their software can reduce guitarists data-entry time from half-a-day to two minutes.

The three aim to sustain the rhythms of hard work, creating more software for musicians.

When asked about any towering business ambitions, they reply in chorus that they aren’t doing it for the money – their services are free of charge for music lovers.

Musicians can visit their website at http://listen.to/guitarsharp/index.html or http:\12tinams.phidji.com/guitarsharp/index.htmli.

Chairman of the Viet Nam Intellect’s final examination council Dr Bach Khanh Hung said proudly that the 2002 contest displayed software with practical applications in daily life.

The contest was sponsored by the Lao Dong daily, the Corporation for Financing and Promoting Technology and Viet Nam Television. It was reserved for entrants under 30 years of age.

The VND50 million (US$3,000) first prize was presented to the group of six for their Vietkey Linux operating system and the second prize, worth VND30 million ($2,000), to two former students of the Ha Noi University of Technology for their information collection system.

The committee also awarded two third prizes, each worth VND15 million ($1,000), and three special prizes, each worth VND5 million. — VNS, March 18, 2003