Russian OS to be installed in every school

Cnews Russian IT-Review ^ | September 14, 2007 | (not given)

[dayglored]

Russian OS is to be installed on every school computer in Russia by 2009. Furthermore, every pupil will get the opportunity to operate the applied software produced in Russia, Leonid Reiman, acting Minister of Communication stated at a press conference. Experts and market participants consider the terms within which software is to be developed quite reasonable. According to Mr. Reiman, that might significantly reduce Russian dependence on foreign software....

The Ministry of Communication Press Service explains the Ministry plans to install Russian OS and alternative program package in every Russian school. The dates to carry out tenders for OS development have not been announced yet, but the tenders are to be held in the near future, the Ministry of Communication informs.

The Ministry of Communication tells CNews application software package development is to be carried out at the expense of both porting the existing products to local platforms, and developing new or working off the existing open-source application programs. The main aim of the given work is to reduce dependence on foreign commercial software and provide education institutions with the possibility to choose whether to pay for commercial items or to use the software, provided by the government...

...“the historically existing model to use software in education in Russia is sure to fail. It has already lost some of its advantages because of widely spread illegal practically free Miscrosoft software. The existing practice to install Windows software on school computers is not profitable both economically, because of discounts for client license, and strategically as it initially ties a young user to the platform and products of one company, although very popular and convenient in operation”.

[dayglored]

So Russian education says "No thanks" to Windows, and chooses to "roll their own", apparently based on Open Source software: the Linux kernel, GNU OS, and FOSS applications.

I'm not surprised, given their experience at the hands of Microsoft and their enforcement arm, the BSA (Business Software Alliance).

It seems to me there are at least two aspects this development.

1. Russians don't trust Microsoft Windows to meet their educational needs for stability, security, and to be tailored to Russian culture, society, etc. They may have taken one look at Vista and gotten as ill as nearly everyone else has. Russians are notoriously suspicious folks.

2. Russians have had it up to here with Microsoft's strong-arm tactics fighting piracy. E.g. Recently, a Russian school legally purchased 12 computers that turned out to have illegal copies of Windows pre-installed on them. Instead of going after the manufacturer who installed the pirated OS, the Russian arm of the Microsoft-led BSA took the school's headmaster to court. It escalated to the international level, Putin and Gorbachev got involved, and Bill Gates washed his hands of it, preferring to let the BSA do his dirty work. If you push Russians hard enough, they tell you to go to hell and do it themselves.

Regardless of interpretation, it's an unfortunate loss for Microsoft, which didn't have to be the case. Microsoft could have worked with the Russians as they have with the Chinese and other foreign governments, and offered incentives sufficient to convince them that Windows was still the way to go. (Note that I don't personally approve of that sort of appeasement of Communists at the expense of American consumers. I'm only noting that Microsoft could have done so.)

If this educationally-oriented "Russian OS" is indeed based on the Linux kernel, GNU OS, and other Open Source software, it will also be interesting to see if the Russian developers do as they should, and make their improvements and other code available back to the Open Source community, as prescribed.

[eyedigress]

Liberals never saw that coming.

[dayglored]

Tech ping?

This article is a week old, so I looked for indications that you'd already posted and pinged it, but didn't see anything. Apologies if this is a duplicate post.

[Incorrigible]

I thought Apple had the lead in school computers.

[ShadowAce]

[eyedigress]

Oh they do. I was setting up a school radio system a few years ago and it was in a rural district. All of the computers at the desks were see-thru Macs (very cool) and wireless I/O.

[Brilliant]

“reduce Russian dependence on foreign software....”

I’d say they are about as nutty as a fruitcake.

[dayglored]

> I thought Apple had the lead in school computers.

State-side they historically have been more successful in educational areas than Microsoft. But even that tide turned. Apple's making a comeback here, but I don't think their penetration is that good in Russia.

In any case, the vast majority of copies of Windows in Russia are pirated -- it's nearly as bad as in China. I'm sure a lot of those ended up in schools.

[eyedigress]

Windows is pirated everywhere, check the military.

[dayglored]

> I’d say they are about as nutty as a fruitcake.

I dunno. There are some aspects of rolling one's own that make sense in a society like Russia that is historically suspicious of outsiders. They're not stupid people when it comes to programming, either.

[StevieJ]

Only in the US I think - certainly here in the UK everything is PCs running Windows, except maybe in the Art departments.

[Wiz]

Good! They will lose in the international market for being taught with minor OS that is not used world wide. It will also make it more difficult for the Russian spies to do computer related espionage against US for their inability to operate Windows. Didn’t Argentina attempt to do the same and fail?

[Sawdring]

Maybe it will send data back to the Director Of Impure and Unpatriotic Thoughts so it can be catalouged and thrown into a database to be used to curtail political dissent from students.

[dayglored]

> Windows is pirated everywhere, check the military.

You mean the Russian military, or the American military? Please don't tell me that our military is running on cracked copies of Windows.

[mikeybaby]

My wife worked with some contract Russian programmers when she worked in GAP Corp IT.
Known as some of the best, albeit least stable, coders around.
Almost as good as the Game guys.

[mikeybaby]

My wife worked with some contract Russian programmers when she worked in GAP Corp IT.
Known as some of the best, albeit least stable, coders around.
Almost as good as the Game guys.

[Wiz]

When it comes to art and broadcasting related, even the DoD seems to prefer Apple. I’ll admit the strength of Apple in terms of art related.

[dayglored]

> Good! They will lose in the international market for being taught with minor OS that is not used world wide.

Linux is a minor player, but it is international in scope.

> It will also make it more difficult for the Russian spies to do computer related espionage against US for their inability to operate Windows.

On the contrary, most of the malware (viruses, trojans, botnet software) comes from Russia these days. Yes, it's written for Windows, because Windows is such an easy target. Do you think Windows will die out in Russia? Hardly. The Russian government will make sure there are still plenty of spies trained in Windows hacking.

> Didn’t Argentina attempt to do the same and fail?

I don't know about that. Got a link?

[dayglored]

> Maybe it will send data back to the Director Of Impure and Unpatriotic Thoughts so it can be catalouged and thrown into a database to be used to curtail political dissent from students.

If the "Russian OS" contains such code, it will be completely obvious, since it's all Open Source. That's the strength of FOSS -- you can see what's going on. It's what makes Linux virtually impossible to target with malware -- it's an open system and every user can see easily what's going on, if they want to.

And if the OS is discovered to contain non-open components, those would immediately raise suspicion, and legions of Russian school children would rise to the challenge of figuring out what's going on.

[dayglored]

For those interested, here's a link to an article about the case mentioned in my first comment, about the school getting sued for 12 copies of pirated Windows.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6499843.stm