Putin Orders Russian Move to GNU/Linux

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http://linux.slashdot.org/story/10/12/27/2025258/Putin-Orders-Russian-Move-To-GNULinux?from=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+Slashdot/slashdotLinux+(Slashdot:+Linux)&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

http://opendotdotdot.blogspot.com/2010/12/putin-orders-russian-move-to-gnulinux.html

Today it became known that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin signed a document which describes the timetable for the transition of power structures on free software (OSS).

The document is called a "transition plan of the federal authorities and federal budgetary institutions on the use of free software, and covers the period from 2011 to 2015.]

[madjr]

oh thats awesome!

i hope they choose ubuntu for the most part. :)

the year of linux on Russian Government desktops is here!

Who will be next? (china; europe?)

[earthpigg]

2015 is a shooting a bit, um, high.

I hope they can make the transition that fast without their beurocratic institutions going to crap.

[timsdeepsky]

Nice....Me likey

[tgalati4]

"In Soviet Russia, Systems Operate on You!"

2015 will definitely be the year of Linux in Russia.

[handy]

This has been coming for a while. There has already been moves made in this direction. There hadn't been an official declaration from the Boss (of the Russian underworld) until now though.

China has also been moving to Linux.

1. Because they don't trust MS (the US).
2. It is cheaper.
3. They know they can build it to suit themselves.

India is heading to Linux also, though they aren't anywhere near as organised about it as the other two nations are.

These three countries would hold half of the world's human population. So they are where we are going to get the Linux adoption percentage rise, & rise dramatically it will.

[inobe]

easily foreseen and didn't require much thought.

[Quadunit404]

In Soviet Russia, Linux switches to YOU!

[treesurf]

India is heading to Linux also, though they aren't anywhere near as organised about it as the other two nations are.




I don't think they're anywhere near as organized about much of anything in India.

[3Miro]

In Soviet Russia, you get to BSOD windows.

[handy]

I don't think they're anywhere near as organized about much of anything in India.

Yes, the outside world gets the impression that it is somewhat of a schmozle re. organisation over there.

Still, that is the opinion that those outside of open source software have of it, & we know it works wonderfully. Not perfectly, but brilliantly.

[Dr. C]

At it most basic level this is a matter of sovereignty and national security for Russia, as it is in reality for all countries except the United States. The situation with Microsoft Windows is that since Windows XP for consumers and Windows Vista for business and government Microsoft can remotely declare the software non genuine or pirated and deactivate Microsoft Windows, effectively crippling the software. As Microsoft is a US corporation it is ultimately under the control of the United States government. One can easily see the sovereignty and national security implications that are created when a foreign corporation can effectively shut down government computers at will. Let us not forget that the FSB (the successor to the KGB) had a look at the Windows source code. They obviously did not like what they saw! Putin by the way is an ex KGB man.

Frankly what I find surprising is that it has taken Russia this long to figure out the threat to national security and sovereignty that the DRM in Microsoft Windows creates.

[PraveenP]

Indian state Kerala is a big supporter of free software (Here is one of its tender notice for Ubuntu laptops (http://niyamasabha.org/pdfs/tender_laptop.pdf)). Tamil Nadu, an another Indian state now moving through free software road.

[handy]

It sounds like the States need to make their move on Russia, China & India now, as their Windows created window of opportunity is closing fast.

It is a shame that the Middle East isn't/wasn't running itself on computers, look at the amount of money the US government could have saved its tax payers & kept away from the arms manufacturers.

Shut down the infrastructure & walk right on in through the front door.

MS would want a commission of course.

[tgalati4]

With half the world's population using Linux can we finally break 1%?

[Dr. C]

It sounds like the States need to make their move on Russia, China & India now, as their Windows created window of opportunity is closing fast.

It is a shame that the Middle East isn't/wasn't running itself on computers, look at the amount of money the US government could have saved its tax payers & kept away from the arms manufacturers.

Shut down the infrastructure & walk right on in through the front door.

MS would want a commission of course.

DRM can become a weapon of war.

[Khakilang]

With half the world's population using Linux can we finally break 1%?

I believe that would be more than 50% of the market share and I think that is achievable.
:D:D:D

[witeshark17]

What a sweet thread! :KS

[alaukikyo]

With half the world's population using Linux can we finally break 1%?

1 % is a factoid. until linux in reality breaks the barrier of 15-20% the factoid will never go.

[weasel fierce]

It makes sense that you wouldn't want to rely on a foreign corporation for your software.

[inobe]

1 % is a factoid. until linux in reality breaks the barrier of 15-20% the factoid will never go.

microsoft seems to think linux has more desktops over mac.

[aytech]

I didnt think that was true, but found it in RU news too. They plan to move all educational institutions to free sw too. its about time!



With half the world's population using Linux can we finally break 1%?

this 1% thing is probably generated by Microsoft :D

When so big countries move to Linux, maybe the big-shot SW companies like Adobe and game manufacturers will create their products for Linux too... then there will be no point for anyone to keep Windows.

[bouncingwilf]

If I were a foreign Govt. I certainly would not use a Microsoft/NSA crafted product on any confidential subject. However, notwithstanding my ethical objections to Microsoft I would still use Linux as I believe it to be a superior operating system.

Oh! and India may be not very organized, but having worked there a couple of times, I love the place and the people.


Bouncingwilf

[handy]

The BSD's are also a fine open source option.

[handy]

I don't see how being adopted by a dictatorship that couldn't care any less about the ideals of Software Freedom serves GNU/Linux in any way.

This just gives the "Linux is communist!" trolls more ammo.

It also gives the ordinary people of Russia a new IT system to know about & use. Which has to be very good for FOSS in general as there are many incredibly smart people over there & they have long cold winters to fill in. If you get my drift.

[PC_load_letter]

This has been coming for a while. There has already been moves made in this direction. There hadn't been an official declaration from the Boss (of the Russian underworld) until now though.

China has also been moving to Linux.

1. Because they don't trust MS (the US).
2. It is cheaper.
3. They know they can build it to suit themselves.

India is heading to Linux also, though they aren't anywhere near as organised about it as the other two nations are.

These three countries would hold half of the world's human population. So they are where we are going to get the Linux adoption percentage rise, & rise dramatically it will.

Let's also not forget Brazil, they (IIRC) decided to use Linux in all their public schools. Every time I use Tuxguitar I remember this and that we'll probably gonna see lots of cool open source software coming from there.

[handy]

Let's also not forget Brazil, they (IIRC) decided to use Linux in all their public schools. Every time I use Tuxguitar I remember this and that we'll probably gonna see lots of cool open source software coming from there.

Good point. I for some reason always do forget Brazil, & I do know that they are into Linux in a big way. Thanks for the memory jolt. :)

From memory Dreamlinux comes from Brazil, & it is a really cool OS X, like distro with some quite unique features too.

[inobe]

It is a shame that the Middle East isn't/wasn't running itself on computers, look at the amount of money the US government could have saved its tax payers & kept away from the arms manufacturers.


that is already in the works, in 09" the administration requested a paper from scott mcneally, i haven't checked for any updates, you can research the matter, it does seem they are going to do it.

http://blogs.the451group.com/opensource/2009/01/21/obama-administration-seeks-advice-on-benefits-of-open-source/

[Swagman]

http://linux.slashdot.org/story/10/12/27/2025258/Putin-Orders-Russian-Move-To-GNULinux?from=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+Slashdot/slashdotLinux+(Slashdot:+Linux)&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

http://opendotdotdot.blogspot.com/2010/12/putin-orders-russian-move-to-gnulinux.html

Today it became known that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin signed a document which describes the timetable for the transition of power structures on free software (OSS).

The document is called a "transition plan of the federal authorities and federal budgetary institutions on the use of free software, and covers the period from 2011 to 2015.]

Beat you by two hours

http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=10285583&postcount=16

[treesurf]

Oh! and India may be not very organized, but having worked there a couple of times, I love the place and the people.


Bouncingwilf


Please don't interpret my comments on disorganization as being critical. I have also been to India and love the place and people very much. I even love the disorganization. :)

[Tristam Green]

2015 is a shooting a bit, um, high.

I hope they can make the transition that fast without their beurocratic institutions going to crap.

WHAT? This is Vladimir @#!%ing Putin! He can Judo-chop a reindeer! He can flex his pecs without flexing!! He can stare Chuck Norris in the eyeball and live to tell the tale.

[sanderella]

oh thats awesome!

Who will be next? (china; europe?)

China already has Red Flag Linux.

[madjr]

The BSD's are also a fine open source option.

after the whole FBI backdoor in BSD (http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=ODkxMw) scandal, (be it true or false) i dont think they will be trusting it, till they make a full code audit (which no one has done yet.), just like they did with windows (which who knows what they found).

[madjr]

With half the world's population using Linux can we finally break 1%?

the 1% thing is a stat on an english speaking usa website.

So even if half the "non-english" world is using linux, it would still show 1% on their site.

[3Miro]

lol, I find it funny that some totalitarian countries like Russia and China are trying to use free software.

I don't know what Russia would do, but China's Red Flag is not "Free Software".

[sdowney717]

some say MS has backdoors well what about a Russian linux government OS monitoring users?

say you wish to keep track of everything a user does, surely wont be too hard.
I think they have good reasons to switch to linux no matter what they do.

[MooPi]

WHAT? This is Vladimir @#!%ing Putin! He can Judo-chop a reindeer! He can flex his pecs without flexing!! He can stare Chuck Norris in the eyeball and live to tell the tale.

Not likely, and that's all I have to say about that ;)

[zekopeko]

after the whole FBI backdoor in BSD (http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=ODkxMw) scandal, (be it true or false) i dont think they will be trusting it, till they make a full code audit (which no one has done yet.), just like they did with windows (which who knows what they found).

It would be really nice if you actually googled a bit before writing your comments.

http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2010/12/openbsd-code-audit-uncovers-bugs-but-no-evidence-of-backdoor.ars

[Elfy]

Keep the politics out of it unless they pertain to politics directly related to free and open source issues.

[MisterGaribaldi]

It would be interesting if a certain web site which rhymes with Wiki***** were to get and leak documents in the future which show whatever it is the FSB found in their code review of Windows.

(Just sayin'...)

I honestly don't think that Microsoft can retain their hegemony forever. As most of the rest of the world (and we're really talking 2nd and 3rd world here, of course) modernize, it wouldn't be that hard for someone else to produce something which would replace Windows, particularly if they could start out with a home population of hundreds of millions of users.

I've always figured that Linux would probably do this, and I hope I'm right.

Politics aside, I can't imagine the whole rest of the world really desires to be at the whim and mercy of one company (whether U.S.-based or not) forever. As has been pointed out up-thread, there are too many potential issues associated with that, chief amongst them is sovereignty and self-reliance.

And yes, if Linux suddenly had a marketshare sufficient to justify Adobe, PeachTree, AutoCAD, etc., to develop for it, I'd love to kiss off my present masters and switch full-time to Linux.

In other news, the U.S. may actually one day go Metric. I'm not holding my breath for that either, but who knows...

[asifnaz]

It makes sense that you wouldn't want to rely on a foreign corporation for your software.

Specially relying sotware from a foe ;)

[Ichtyandr]

I think its a bit naive to think some governments esp. in third would seriously dump MS anytime soon. The sad truth remains that they are mostly corrupt and don't give a rat's *** about sovereignty and self-reliance. If they can get a good bribe here or there from a corporation, or otherwise think they can steal a lot of funding by realizing some huge linux project (perhaps on papers) they would go for one that pays them personally. Very rarely countries are sincerely committed to real development nowadays (I cannot say for Indian or Brazilian case; the Turkish Pardus distro also seems alright). I am sure there are more often mafiosic motives than immediately visible.
As to US government relying on MS, I seriously doubt any government should rely on huge corporation in this way (in any sense from judiciary and antitrust to corporate espionage).
Especially as leaking information, spying and even using computer viruses to shut down nuclear objects become reality

[Elfy]

and with that I think it's time to say goodnight