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?"
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.
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.
Good luck managing that LAN (Score:2, Interesting)
Really... there is nothing, I repeat NOTHING which is as robust or catered to large enterprise user/LAN management than Active Directory. This is one of the major reasons why large enterprises have not left Microsoft.
It's my impression that the Linux community just doesn't "get it". Am I wrong, or perhaps they're not even targeting business customers? Linux devs focus on creating a good desktop, but there's really so much more than that to consider.
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.
Re:Putin and freedom !!?? (Score:2, Interesting)
Why?
How about Mr. P being upset that Microsoft got in the way of the Russian governments prosecution of Human Rights organizations, dissident organizations or "rogue millionaires" on the basis that they were pirating the software?
The best way to slap a corporation back into line is by not buying what they are selling...
Can you imagine what America would be like if Congress could not buy what the Corporations are selling... and were actually doing what they were hired to do?
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.
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.