Putin Orders Russian Move To GNU/Linux 500
Glyn Moody writes "Vladimir Putin has signed an order calling for Russian federal authorities to move to GNU/Linux, and for the creation of 'a single repository of free software used in the federal bodies of executive power.' There have been a number of Russian projects to roll out free software, notably in the educational sector, but none so far has really taken off. With the backing of Putin, could this be the breakthrough free software has been waiting for?"
I knew it! (Score:5, Funny)
Linux really IS communist!
Re:I knew it! (Score:5, Insightful)
Linux really IS communist!
But this would indicate Linux is post-communist kleptocratic...
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Maybe I'm particularly cynical today but it seems to me the difference is:
Communists pretend the kleptocracy doesn't exist, while libertarians pretend the kleptocracy is good.
Re:I knew it! (Score:5, Insightful)
You've been spending way too much time in a French cave [wikipedia.org].
The Russians left Communism behind around 1991 and have managed to leap past the United States to Mafioso Capitalism. Though the U.S. is trying hard to catch up.
Re:I knew it! (Score:4, Interesting)
No, they're subtly different. The US is a plutocracy, Russia is a kleptocracy. So in the US, corporations give money to politicians in order to buy power, whereas in Russia, politicians and corporations take money from the state in order to enrich themselves.
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Linux really IS communist!
Already there are communal hallways and television sets.
Stop this sinister sharing before we get communal toothbrushes!
Re:I knew it! (Score:4, Funny)
Linux really IS communist!
Already there are communal hallways and television sets.
Stop this sinister sharing before we get communal toothbrushes!
This just in: Sarah Palin can see GNU/Linux from Alaska!
Re:I knew it! (Score:4, Funny)
Putin and freedom !!?? (Score:5, Insightful)
With the backing of Putin, could this be the breakthrough free software has been waiting for?
I am pretty sure that Putin don't care about the freedom part of free software
Re:Putin and freedom !!?? (Score:5, Insightful)
With the backing of Putin, could this be the breakthrough free software has been waiting for?
I am pretty sure that Putin don't care about the freedom part of free software
Why is that? Putin is acting on behalf of the government who are primarily users, not developers of software they hope to sell. The 'freedom" part is freedom for him, and brings real benefits to him and his, like the ability to gain free code contributions from others around the world and the ability to comparison shop when looking at vendors for support and the like. Any code generated by the government will likely cost less in the long run if they contribute it back rather than maintaining a fork.
So really, while we may not see a pile of code contributions as a result of this, more adoption means more motivation to support it for hardware vendors and more motivation for application developers and tool creators to target it. And really, lack of momentum and market share is one of the biggest problems for OSS, a chicken and egg scenario.
Re:Putin and freedom !!?? (Score:5, Insightful)
For Putin, there are likely two draws to FOSS: 1. using it means money likely isn't being shipped to Western software companies leaving more for in-country software development, and 2. his mafia geeks in the FSB, the genetic spawn of the KGB, can check for any sneaky backdoors.
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I don't imagine the money is that much of a problem. Wholesale pirating may have been slowed down a bit by Microsoft in later versions of Windows 7, but I doubt it would affect the Russian Government. Organizations that big can get site licenses for dirt cheap.
It might have something to do with not wanting to be dependent on US closed source technology. Or free of suspected back doors.
In reality the question is now why Russia has ordered this, it is why is the US dragging its feet?
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In reality the question is now why Russia has ordered this, it is why is the US dragging its feet?
I hope for your sake that's a rhetorical question, because the answer is obvious: the USA has a blatantly corrupt government, which is beholden to large corporations including Microsoft. It's a wonder the IRS doesn't require you to buy some expensive Windows-only software to file your taxes, and actually uses standard PDF forms.
Re:Putin and freedom !!?? (Score:5, Interesting)
It's a wonder the IRS doesn't require you to buy some expensive Windows-only software to file your taxes, and actually uses standard PDF forms.
Yeah - lucky you. This year in Australia, the ATO has been in the progress of migrating it's tax submission system which used a java client that ran on windows, mac and linux, to a new tax submission system which now runs on windows only.
If I want to submit my taxes online in OZ, for the first time in 10 years I'II now have to buy a windows license.
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It's the same way here, if you want to file taxes online, but worse: you have to purchase a product from a private company like TurboTax to do it for you, and of course, TurboTax is only available on Windows (maybe Mac, I haven't checked).
The fillable PDF forms are only for sending in your taxes by the mail, which is what I do. 1) I refuse to pay money to file my taxes, especially to a private company, 2) I also refuse to pay money to make the IRS's job easier for them (paper forms are harder to process),
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If all else were equal, you might have had a point.
But since open source is not the same shoddy virus prone quality as any flavor of windows, all you have done is demonstrate your propensity to totally miss the point.
Then there is the issue of cost. As a tax payer, I applaud any government using linux, even when it's not my government. So should you.
Re:Putin and freedom !!?? (Score:5, Interesting)
This.
If Russia starts using Linux and demanding that app vendors make programs compatible for the OS, or else they will pay or find application vendors that will, this will get the mainstream guys to start treating Linux as a top tier platform and not something to hide in the server room racks.
The result? A win/win/win situation. Linux can become an alternative to Windows. Application makers have a gigantic market (Russia, then possibly China, then perhaps Europe, anywhere there is distrust of closed operating systems.) Users have an OS choice that has proven itself in the "big boy" arenas that can run their applications without having to buy new hardware.
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the Russian government doesn't buy too many games, so don't expect much progress on that front. ...)
Important($$) industry applications generally have Linux versions available. (Pro/E, Cadence,
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I can think of many software that would require good GPU drivers...
AutoCAD, and everything here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GPGPU#Applications [wikipedia.org]
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Re:Putin and freedom !!?? (Score:5, Funny)
The result? A win/win/win situation.
Don't you mean a 'lin/lin/lin situation'?
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I don't see the adoption of something by a dictator as a great endorsement. And I am certain that the code in theirs own repository will contain some kind of monitoring system of some sort that will report back to today's KGB
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I don't see the adoption of something by a dictator as a great endorsement.
I don't care about celebrity or anti-celebrity endorsements. I care about real world effects upon the stagnant and broken desktop OS market. Charles Manson wore Levis jeans, that's not a reason for me to avoid them.
And I am certain that the code in theirs own repository will contain some kind of monitoring system of some sort that will report back to today's KGB
It's called the FSB now, and they may well insert backdoors in code they contribute or in a fork. Of course, we can always audit the code (and our security agencies will for any we use) and you can compile your own Linux distro and be largely compatible with their systems. This is nice because it
Re:Putin and freedom !!?? (Score:5, Informative)
It's called the FSB now, and they may well insert backdoors in code
Even KGB in worst times (70's-80's) wasn't that paranoid. There was no wholesale spying on people. In East Germany Erich Honecker did that; but in USSR KGB knew their foe, and the foe knew that. Everyone else lived their lives and didn't care about KGB. If you did something untoward KGB would actually summon you "for a talk" first, and only if you persist then harsher measures would be used.
Re:Putin and freedom !!?? (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't see the adoption of something by a dictator as a great endorsement.
Endorsement? Who cares about endorsement? What matters is results.
If the Russian government moves to F/OSS, that will be good for F/OSS, just like IBM making F/OSS an integral part of its business plan has been. It doesn't mean they're good guys. They don't have to be. Dictatorial governments and giant corporations alike are pretty much always evil. Sometimes they do good as a side effect. When that happens, we should take advantage of it. "No permanent allies, only permanent interests."
Leave the worrying about "endorsements" to people buying overpriced athletic shoes.
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At least they only throw Russian journalists, living in Russia, into jail. This is different from the USA, where they want to abduct foreign journalists, not living or even traveling in the USA, and try them for treason and execute them.
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Interesting. I've not heard these allegations yet. Conspiracy theory or just trolling?
(If you're talking about the wikileaks thing, they're not calling for the execution of Assange. Indeed, I haven't heard more than rumor that they'd attempt to extradite him. Calling him a journalist would be a stretch. Bradly Manning, on the other hand, is a US soldier and accused traitor. They're very different people. Please try to keep up.)
Re:Putin and freedom !!?? (Score:5, Insightful)
Various US politicians HAVE called for the execution of Assange.
And yes, he is a journalist. He receives information, and publishes it in a forum where anyone can read it. What, do you think people should have to get a special permit from the government to be considered a "journalist"? Sorry, it doesn't work that way. Anyone with a website can be a journalist if they're publishing information. The only difference between now and 50-100 years ago is that the cost of starting your own journalism publication has gone from an extremely high cost (the cost of a printing press) to about $3/month for a low-cost web host.
Manning was never a journalist, he was an informer. Traitor, maybe, but then again so is anyone in North Korea who doesn't think Kim Jong Il is a glorious leader, so I take that term with a grain of salt. Informers are how journalists get information that makes governments uncomfortable.
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The American government hasn't been following the Constitution for many decades now. For instance, one of the Amendments prohibits illegal seizures without due process. However, it's completely normal over here for cops to take your cash, if you're carrying a lot of it. For instance, if you're stopped by a cop and found to be carrying $100k in cash, they'll simply take it, even if they never file charges, because it's "drug money". Granted, it's not usually a good idea to carry that much cash around ins
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Lets cut through the jokes and freedom. One word Stuxnet. That spelt the ends of windows upon any foreign secure system, after that attaxk you would have to be a bloody idiot to continue down that path.
Think about corporate for profit influence upon that country, if an overseas corporation proves to be excessively competitive and is crippling the profits of a local corporations, why not cripple that foreign corporations computer infrastructure. Face it stupidity like that is only a matter of time.
With
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With the backing of Putin, could this be the breakthrough free software has been waiting for?
I am pretty sure that Putin don't care about the freedom part of free software
For him, it's free beer that counts.
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With the backing of Putin, could this be the breakthrough free software has been waiting for?
I am pretty sure that Putin don't care about the freedom part of free software
For him, it's free beer that counts.
I think beer is something Putin drinks when he wants to sober up after a vodka bender.
Re:Putin and freedom !!?? (Score:5, Insightful)
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I think you have Putin confused with Boris Yeltsin. In regard to the move to GNU/Linux, I suspect Putin has seen the number of exploits and malware written for Windows and is aware that much of it originates in Russia.
So why would he want to cripple one of his country's most productive industries?
Re:Putin and freedom !!?? (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:Putin and freedom !!?? (Score:5, Interesting)
Pretty sure Stuxnet has got his attention. I assure you that the Free part is relevant, because the Open thing is part of the Free thing, and that means peer-reviewed software. Sure, you could still do something like Stuxnet in a Linux environment, but hopefully people are thinking about all kinds of security and not just precisely the same type of breach that is in the news.
If Putin asked me (heh heh) how he could enhance the security of computing in Russia, I'd certainly suggest Linux, maybe even GNU/Linux.
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Stuxnet had nothing to do with windows. It attacked motor controller chips made by Seimans.
Still your point is valid, the primary motive would seem to be to avoid dependency on untrustworthy software for which you can't even see the code.
Re:Putin and freedom !!?? (Score:5, Informative)
It used four zero day vulnerabilities in Windows and the Siemens PLC's (that controls the VFDs) control interface runs on Windows.
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Pretty sure Stuxnet has got his attention. I assure you that the Free part is relevant, because the Open thing is part of the Free thing, and that means peer-reviewed software.
There's nothing to stop Russia from creating their own version of Linux that's just as closed as Windows. Want to trying suing them in a Russian court for violating the GPL? Let me know how that works out for you.
If Putin asked me (heh heh) how he could enhance the security of computing in Russia, I'd certainly suggest Linux, maybe even GNU/Linux.
How much malware originates in Russia? Quite a bit. If Windows goes away and is replaced by Russian Linux the Russian hackers will simply change to a new target.
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How much malware originates in Russia? Quite a bit. If Windows goes away and is replaced by Russian Linux the Russian hackers will simply change to a new target.
Great, I've been hoping for a useful selinux GUI, and this is just the thing to spur that.
Re:Putin and freedom !!?? (Score:4, Informative)
Someone please mod this idiot down.
From http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#GPLRequireSourcePostedPublic [gnu.org]:
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Third, Linux, and everything else have their own security problems to contend with. Linux == moar sekure is about as dumb as thinking a specific make of car makes you safer on the road.
On average, some brands of car are more safe than others. Don't try to make car analogies, jackass.
Do you think all those updates released every week for your Linux system are sugar plums and gumdrops?
Oh, I see, you're a troll. I'm not going to rehash tired old arguments with you today.
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Then his move might have unintended consequences. ;-)
K.L.M.
Are you trying to be funny or are you just that naive? Linux is "free" as in gratis. Putin does not care about the GNU "freedom".
End users gain nothing from the GPL because it is not an EULA. It only applies to people who would modify and redistribute it outside of the organization they work for.
If you read the license literally, the Russian government can modify it all they like as long at it is kept within the Russian government without ever contributing those changes back to the "community".
Re:Putin and freedom !!?? (Score:5, Insightful)
Why is that a problem?
Seems like complying with the GPL.
Re:Putin and freedom !!?? (Score:4, Insightful)
I don't think that aristotle-dude was saying that it was a problem.
This whole thread is based on racism anyway. As soon as I read the summary I knew that people would be joking about Linux being communist while other people would be suspecting the Russians of not playing fair (either not giving back to the community or poisoning the source with backdoors). It didn't take long for these suggestions to occur.
My position is that it would be utterly stupid for the Russian government to NOT submit their changes back to world. Any changes they make would surely make the software work better for the Russian language and requirements. Why would they want to have to make their alterations again each time a new version of applications/OS is released? Why wouldn't they want their improvements to benefit the general population of Russia?
Just because they want to standardize on their own repositry doesn't mean that they will hide it all away, just that they want the entire government to use consistent, vetted versions of software.
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What binds the Russians to the GPL at all, a construct based on US copyright law?
Re:Putin and freedom !!?? (Score:5, Insightful)
And more importantly, who cares? The Russian government isn't going to produce Linux-based appliances and sell them to us, refusing to release the source code. They're a government, not a commercial manufacturer, so any OSS software they use is going to be used internally only, not distributed anywhere. They're perfectly within their rights to make any changes they want and not release them; the GPL only says they have to provide the changes downstream, to people they distribute to. Again, as a government, they're unlikely to be distributing software to anyone but government employees.
Of course, if they're smart, they'll contribute some changes so that they don't have to waste effort maintaining a separate codebase and merging it every time the upstream codebase changes. If not, no one here is going to notice.
Re:Putin and freedom !!?? (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:Putin and freedom !!?? (Score:4, Interesting)
Unless the Russian Government wants to sell its own distro, then contributions must be made back. But, who will enforce that?
Simple, the same people as who enforce it in the USA: no one. People/organizations that are smart will voluntarily contribute back their changes, so they don't have to futz around with maintaining a separate codebase and merging it to the upstream trunk constantly. People/organizations who are stupid (like my last employer), won't contribute anything at all, and will waste a lot of time and be uncompetitive, and fail. My previous employer, who refused to contribute any changes, has been doing so poorly recently that they got bought up by their main competitor. Of course, it wasn't really the mere fact that they refused to contribute changes to OSS that caused their undoing, but that was one symptom of the stupidity that ran through the whole organization.
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that is not the free part, that is the open part
At last! (Score:5, Funny)
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I smell a "In Soviet Russia" joke coming ....
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I smell a "In Soviet Russia" joke coming ....
In post-Soviet Russia, they know the USSR no longer exists! (And they use GNU/Linux!)
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In Soviet Russia the gnu infects you. ;)
Ew. I found the image that produced in my brain to be particularly disturbing.
Breakthrough everyone's been waiting for? (Score:2)
It's always "the breakthrough free software has been waiting for"... free software has been growing over the years, but these sorts of things never seem to make the big global impact that the news reports they will. (Not saying this is a bad thing, though!)
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It's always "the breakthrough free software has been waiting for"... free software has been growing over the years, but these sorts of things never seem to make the big global impact that the news reports they will. (Not saying this is a bad thing, though!)
The summary doesn't seem to suggest any impending "global" impact. The sentence you took that fragment from is clearly only talking about Russian free software programs. Nobody is suggesting that free software is inevitably going to take over the world over night, but with local victories such as this, the long-term viability of free software is definitely assured.
i'm so sorry so sorry (Score:5, Funny)
In Soviet Russia, Putin Linux you.
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Thats a good one.
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That's GNU/Linux. Or should I say GRU/Linux...
Politically motivated. (Score:2)
This is probably politically motivated. Getting away from American-based Microsoft.
Next to come: using Linux will be considered anti-American.
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Amazing... they see they are pumping huge amounts of money into America, so they take steps to curtail that.
Now... about that america oil usage... if only we would take steps to stop our dependency on foreign oil... at a minimum, we've spent about three trillion dollars that we spent on the military could have gone into solar plants, superconducting wiring, and investments into low energy technologies, hell even insulation for federal buildings.
I expect with this move that gnu/linux will gain more credibili
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Errr...try comparing Russian oil exports to the U.S. against the imports of software. There's no comparison, the U.S. is pumping way more money into Russia in that comparison, not sure about the rest of trade.
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Quick note: it's free software, not necessarily Linux. The actual 18-page document which constitutes Putin's order doesn't mention GNU, Linux or any specific piece of software. According to the plan, in 2011 they'll form a "package" of free software that they need and in 2012 the government will be running a repository with it, so presumably it's next year for decisions on which software specifically it's going to be. Of course, Linux is very likely.
As for motivation, one of the big things in Russia now is
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Quick note: it's free software, not necessarily Linux
In fact, it's a cracked version of Windows 2000 that Putin found on a torrent site.
Oh Please! (Score:2)
Forget the commie jokes here, it no longer applies. Russia is now a republic with real elections (usually more than one person on the ballot). While their government may be as corrupt as any is South America, the country is no longer a Marxist dictatorship.
Anyway, who would have thunk that the Linux world domination would start in the land of the Czars?
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" While their government may be as corrupt as any in South America, the country is no longer a Marxist dictatorship."
Why do I find so little comfort in that statement?
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Care to lay odds on Putin losing an election, ever?
Modern Russia is not so much post-Soviet as pre-Soviet; it's always been an autocracy and probably always will be. Or rather, it's long periods of autocracy punctuated by moments of sheer chaos. At least they've got a pretty good autocrat these days.
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It never was a Marxist dictatorship. It was always a government kleptocracy. Now it is less so, but Putin is moving them back to the level of government kleptocracy he's comfortable with. You can take the man out of the KGB, you cannot take the KGB out of the man.
American (Score:3)
I am a true blue American and served my country during war time and ... yet... I find myself aligned more with Putin and his actions than with ANY political leader presently serving here in the USA. Perhaps, it is all publicity carefully crafted to make Putin look like something he is not, yet he seems to make so many choices that would parallel choices I would make if I were to be in his place.
What do other see that perhaps I am missing?
Re:American (Score:5, Informative)
Re:American (Score:5, Insightful)
If you have already done that and still like him; I urgently suggest checking yourself for signs of closet authoritarian nationalism...
Re:American (Score:4, Insightful)
Like you, I'm an American vet, and what we fought for is still worth preserving, however tattered it may be.
Look, Putin is a very, very smart guy, and he's made a lot of decisions that have been good for Russia. But the problem is that the system under which he makes those decisions -- Tsarism in all but name -- depends on having the decisions made by someone smart who has his country's best interests in mind. Putin's not immortal, and if he's followed by someone with similarly autocratic powers, there's no way to know what he'll be like. All it takes is one bad absolute ruler to wreck any amount of progress made.
In the US, we can in fact limit the power of our leaders -- of course it doesn't work perfectly, and the current corporatocracy it seems like our "choices" at the ballot box don't matter a hell of a lot, but we do have a legal and non-violent mechanism by which we can replace our entire government in a period of no more than six years. Russia doesn't, not really; its electoral system is as firmly under government control as it ever was in the Soviet days. Which, as a lot of my older relatives can tell you, is pretty much the way things have always been in Russia, no matter the title of the guy in charge. Tsar, General Secretary, President, Prime Minister ... nothing really changes.
Corruption, gridlock, and general incompetence may be the practical result of our system most of the time, but historically, autocracy is a hell of a lot worse.
GNU? (Score:5, Funny)
Did Putin really say "GNU/Linux" or just Linux?
Re:GNU? (Score:5, Informative)
Did Putin really say "GNU/Linux" or just Linux?
Putin's order didn't even say Linux. Says free software. Free as in speech. They already use free as in beer.
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Hey, you're right! It's there at the end of the 2nd paragraph, where it refers to " ()", or "svobodnoye PO (SPO)" if /. does its usual thing of trashing non-Latin1 characters. So it really said "free" as in speech.
Actually, I suspect that some of the other comments are relevant here: This looks a lot like the usual ploy that governments use to get a huge discount from Microsoft, by announcing a switch to linux. It's especially interesting in this case due to the earlier story about the friction between
Maybe ... (Score:2)
If its not, someone will be going to the salt mines!
In other news... (Score:2)
And in other news, hundreds of top programmers in Russia have been summarily convicted of tax evasion and embezzlement, and have been sentenced to 20 years hard labor in the Siberian software mines.
Makes sense (Score:2)
And what he personally uses? (Score:2)
Diden't MS sue even have people go to jail for use (Score:2)
Diden't MS sue even have people go to jail for useing linux and not paying for windows in Russia?
"could this be the breakthrough... (Score:5, Informative)
...free software has been waiting for?"
No. Free Software has not been waiting for anything.
Probably Not (Score:5, Insightful)
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He's probably just playing hardball with Microsoft for a discount. You may notice that every time some country announces that it's moving to Linux, they inevitably announce, 3 months later, that they changed their mind and are sticking with Microsoft.
Are you sure it isn't the other way around? A large entity transitioning to Linux is very bad news for Microsoft. Right now Windows has several advantages over Linux. We all know what they are: Windows runs legacy Win32 software better than Linux with WINE, MS Office is the de facto standard document format, etc. Insert whatever reasons you have for why Windows is on more PCs than Linux.
The problem for Microsoft is that if a large entity with a lot of resources makes a serious push for Linux everywhere, tho
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No, but don't try to veil this as some sort of win for the ideals of FOSS when it's not. It's a political play and nothing more.
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Is there a memo I missed that says any prime minister in the world can't possibly be supportive of some FOSS ideas such as ridding one's self from Microsoft's crap systems?
No matter the ulterior motives; wanting to get rid of Microsoft's systems is always a good thing.
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No, but don't try to veil this as some sort of win for the ideals of FOSS when it's not. It's a political play and nothing more.
I am not a simpleton who believes USA GOOD RUSSIA BAD,
Logical fallacy, false dichotomy. USA BAD, RUSSIA BAD.
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The ideals are winning, the ideals are what brought about cheap and good.
I should really stop talking to trolls.
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This isn't being done because Putin believes in the GNU manifesto or the free software hippy fest, but purely for no other reason than cheapness.
What's wrong with that? Cheapness and efficiency are big parts of the "GNU manifesto" with enlightened self interest on the part of the users being key.
This is highly likely going to be a proprietary fork just like Google does with their internal Ubuntu distro.
Again, I don't see the problem. Google finds it cost effective to contribute back most of their changes because then they are incorporated into the main code base and the burden for maintaining a fork is greatly lessened. Realistically, I don't even see that Russia needs a fork or how it would benefit them. For Google, they like having a performance leg up f
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Who let you out of your bunker?
Re:Its about control/censorship (Score:5, Insightful)
Actually, it's probably just the opposite. After the BSD backdoor story [slashdot.org] and after the Wikileaks cables [allvoices.com], maybe Russia is concerned about using Microsoft Windows. Of course, Microsoft would *never* work with the NSA/FBI/CIA/Control/Chaos on back-doors that undermine the security of Russia... I can't imaging why they would want their own operating system...
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Re:Good luck managing that LAN (Score:5, Informative)
A coworker of mine rolled out several years ago a robust, audit hardened user management framework for Unix systems that does very well in audits that Active Directory routinely fails. This sits on an estimated 20k-30k Unix based systems of multiple flavors.
AD does not have a built in framework for account validation (asking appropriate authorities, does this account still need to exist?). The role based concepts are relatively primitive. There is no capability to preserve the authorization record for granting access. All of those concepts have to be added on.
Actually deploying accounts, nothing beats actual local accounts. The trick is to have a robust agent that actually manages those accounts.
I've reviewed some of the various enterprise grade products, and none of them did as well as this self-built product.
Most products for user management simply have no mind to the audits, only pretty pictures. There is rarely even any logging of value.
AD is really nothing more than LDAP + Kerberos with a pretty GUI. It simply should never be considered adequate in and of itself for user management because it does not address several key requirements of the area.
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AD does not have a built in framework for account validation (asking appropriate authorities, does this account still need to exist?). The role based concepts are relatively primitive. There is no capability to preserve the authorization record for granting access. All of those concepts have to be added on.
This is the job of a configuration/workflow management tool.
I've reviewed some of the various enterprise grade products, and none of them did as well as this self-built product....
AD is really nothing more than LDAP + Kerberos with a pretty GUI. It simply should never be considered adequate in and of itself for user management because it does not address several key requirements of the area.
Your self-built product is more than LDAP + Kerberos and a pretty GUI? You're lying to yourself if you think even a tiny fraction of UNIX deployments have THAT, whereas nearly ALL Windows Server deployments have AD. AD isn't the be-all-end-all, but "never considered adequate"? You are full of shit.
Actually deploying accounts, nothing beats actual local accounts.
WTF?
This is the real truth, Kerberos + LDAP is too hard for the average UNIX admin team so they fall back to local accounts, broken ass AD integration
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Unix systems are easy enough to integrate with Kerberos & LDAP, but the entire system sets you up for failure in a number of ways.
1. AFAICT, nothing uses DNS service records. So you have to configure your systems with the LDAP server by hand.
2. The "free as in speech, set up your systems however you like" attitude means that there's about a dozen different ways you can configure it. The only problem is, different configurations aren't necessarily compatible with each other and there's quite a few va
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And this is why GPL exists. Does your co-worker or company care to contribute back to the Linux community? After all, they have benefited greatly from the free stuff they gained in the first place.. it'd only be polite to package, document and release your system after all. (and I'm sure you could get a load of people to help with that, which would not only improve it for you but also get some pretty cheap and powerful advertising for your company too).