180: Chapter 180 The People's War of Code

Following the release of the "Joint Statement on Maintaining the Uniformity of Global Information Technology Standards."

In the Western world, media outlets such as Reuters and Bloomberg characterized the "World Alliance's" actions as a rational business choice.

Opinion pieces were filled with terms like "maintaining market stability" and "protecting consumers' digital assets."

Between the lines, there was a condescending posture.

Star Technology was a rule-breaking barbarian.

They, on the other hand, were the guardians of the civilized world.

On China's internet, the sentiment was diametrically opposite; the entire internet was ignited.

#The Eight-Nation Alliance of Technology#

#Lenovo Get Out of China#

One topic after another surged to the top of the trending lists on all social platforms.

"I get it now. A pack of robbers couldn't win the fight, so they started flipping the table!"

"The most disgusting one is Lenovo! Yang Qing! The enemy is already at the doorstep, and instead of helping, he's handing them a knife!"

"This isn't business competition; this is war! A war without the smoke of gunpowder!"

As the storm of public opinion intensified, the World Alliance's strangulation moved from online to offline.

Countless Windows users received a forced push notification labeled "Urgent Security Update."

Many didn't think twice and clicked "Update Now."

In a spacious apartment in the capital city.

A young designer named Wang Hao had just received the "Chongming" chip he had pre-ordered.

He took apart his computer tower, swapped in the chip, and installed the "Zhoutian OS."

It booted up in three seconds.

A blue "Taiyi" light orb floated in the center of the desktop.

Feeling excited, he tried running three instances of the shanhai mirror client simultaneously; the graphics remained smooth.

"This performance is invincible," Wang Hao marveled.

After playing for a while, he remembered his work.

He was an architectural designer who needed to use CAD and Rhino software. He opened his browser, preparing to download a Windows system image file.

He wanted to set up a virtual machine within the zhoutian system to run Windows, as all his work files and software were over there.

His phone rang.

It was a friend who was also a designer.

"Hao-zi, it's over! It's all over!"

"What's wrong?" Wang Hao asked, confused.

"That Microsoft update! I clicked it, and now my 'Chongming' computer can't install Windows! As soon as I try to install, it blue screens with an 'Unsupported Hardware Architecture' error!"

Wang Hao's heart sank.

He hung up and tried to install the Windows image he had just downloaded in his own virtual machine.

Halfway through the installation progress bar, a blue screen popped up.

On it was a line of white English text.

[Unsupported Hardware Architecture]

At the same time, software giants like Adobe and Autodesk released the latest versions of all their software on the same day.

Refusing to give up, Wang Hao tried to install an old version of Photoshop.

The installation process went smoothly.

He clicked the icon, preparing to launch the software.

A pop-up appeared.

[User Agreement Update: This software only supports running on officially certified instruction set architectures. Clicking 'Agree' represents your acceptance of these terms.]

Wang Hao clicked "Agree."

The software's splash screen flashed by.

Then the program crashed immediately.

Wang Hao sat in front of his computer, looking at his "Chongming" machine and then at the work files in his nearby hard drive that he couldn't open.

A sense of absurdity welled up in his heart. This computer could do nothing except play shanhai mirror.

He opened China's largest designer forum.

The forum was already in chaos.

A pinned post had a title in red.

《My computer could render an 8K image in three minutes, and now it can't even open a single CAD drawing》

The original poster detailed his entire journey from excitement to despair.

"All my project files, the tools I use to make a living, are now just a pile of data."

"What should I do? Can anyone tell me what I should do?"

Below the post were the wails of countless professional users.

"Me too. My Rhino, my Lumion, my 3dsMax—none of them work anymore!"

"This computer is now the most powerful gaming console, but my job isn't playing games!"

"I feel like I've been scammed."

The sentiment that "no matter how strong the performance is, it's useless if it can't be used for production" began to spread across all professional circles.

Those tech KOLs who had received funding from the World Alliance smelled an opportunity and swarmed in.

They released a large number of review videos, focusing their attacks on the "ecological desert" problem of the zhoutian system.

"We see that the performance of 'Chongming' is indeed astonishing. But at what cost? The cost is a disconnect from the entire modern industrial system. We do not recommend any professional purchase such an 'expensive gaming machine.'"

A well-known KOL gave "professional advice" at the end of his video.

Public opinion began to backfire.

Some professional users who had already purchased "Chongming" chips fell into anxiety after their initial excitement.

Star Technology Headquarters, top-floor office.

Guan Yi placed the latest public opinion report on Chen Xu's desk.

"Boss, the situation isn't great. The World Alliance's move hit us right in our weak spot. Our user base is being shaken."

Chen Xu swiped through the report on his tablet.

"It's time."

"In a moment, have someone post an announcement on the official website."

"Item one: The zhoutian system and all its official applications will be permanently free for users in the China region."

"Item two: The Luoshu community edition is officially open-sourced today."

He then continued to Guan Yi.

"Help me film a video."

Guan Yi took out her phone.

Chen Xu faced the camera.

"Hello, fellow developer friends. I am Chen Xu."

"I know many of you are experiencing confusion and struggle."

"The World Alliance is using rules they've set to trap us all in the past."

"They tell us that only by following their standards can we integrate with the world."

"Today, I want to say: No."

Through the video, Chen Xu's voice conveyed a sense of power.

"The real world should be created by ourselves."

"I announce that Star Technology is officially launching the 'Spark Plan'!"

"We will establish a developer incentive bonus pool totaling five billion RMB."

[Any team or individual who develops alternative productivity software based on the 'Luoshu' language and passes official review will receive a massive bonus.]

[Office suites (targeting Office): 100 million RMB.]

[Graphics processing (targeting Photoshop): 300 million RMB.]

[Industrial design (targeting CAD, Rhino): 500 million RMB.]

[Video editing and special effects (targeting Premiere, AE): 200 million RMB.]

At the end of the video, Chen Xu looked into the camera and spoke the words that would ignite the entire era.

"I need you to use your imagination to create our own tools."

"This isn't just software development; this is our future."

"From this day forward, program with your thoughts."

The video was released.

China's entire tech circle was completely boiling over.

Countless programmers, independent studios, and university computer labs were thoroughly ignited by this unprecedented bounty and the slogan 'Program with your thoughts.'

This was an opportunity to change one's destiny.

It was a war belonging to code, a fight to defend the dignity of local technology.

In a cramped rental room in Shanghai.

A young man named Lu Fei watched Chen Xu's face in the video, flames reigniting in his eyes.

He was once a programmer at a major domestic game company who had quit without a backup plan because he couldn't stand the endless '996' culture.

He had thought his programming career had reached its end.

Now, he opened his browser and typed in the address for Star Technology's official website.

He opened the download page for the "Luoshu" community edition.

He did not know what kind of legend he was about to begin.