Vladimir Putin Orders Russian Government to Switch to Free Software by 2015 (Mashable) [LWN.net]

Vladimir Putin Orders Russian Government to Switch to Free Software by 2015 (Mashable)

Posted Dec 29, 2010 0:24 UTC (Wed) by elanthis (guest, #6227) [Link] (3 responses)

That's neat. Assuming funding goes into that order, it could help out a good deal. Especially from the federal agencies that need graphics drivers for visualization and simulation work. :)

Angling for $0 licenses and an R&D center?

Posted Dec 29, 2010 2:19 UTC (Wed) by dmarti (subscriber, #11625) [Link] (2 responses)

Doesn't this look like the kind of thing that governments have been doing at least since "Red Escolar" in Mexico -- mandate a switch to Linux as a government platform, or Free Software in general, get a bunch of discounted licenses and hardware and maybe an R&D center from your incumbent vendor, quietly drop the Linux plan? It's a way to help balance the budget, sure, but more than that?

Angling for $0 licenses and an R&D center?

Posted Dec 29, 2010 13:39 UTC (Wed) by vonbrand (subscriber, #4458) [Link] (1 responses)

Here in Chile they tried to move all the machines in Customs to Linux... and failed, due to missing drivers, WinPrinters, unofficial (but critical) applications developed by the users themselves, and general lack of in-house expertise. Had to migrate back shortly after, badly burned. Won't try again for a long time...

Angling for $0 licenses and an R&D center?

Posted Dec 29, 2010 16:32 UTC (Wed) by nhippi (subscriber, #34640) [Link]

Sounds like a unprofessional and unplanned way to do the migration.. First deal with obstacles then migrate

unsupported drivers -> put "linux compatible" as requirement in procurement (even for windows machines) and make the vendors problem if and compatability problems.
winprinters -> switch to networked printers (they eat Postscript)
unofficial apps -> map usage and replace them with php webpages and similar
etc -> after all those are dealt with, then move...

Lack of inhouse expertise is the toughest one to deal. People with linux skills have no problem finding great jobs on private sector (at least if willing to relocate!), so bureaucratic, boring and poor-paying public sector jobs are hard to sell to us.

Switch to Free Software

Posted Dec 29, 2010 1:31 UTC (Wed) by pr1268 (guest, #24648) [Link] (12 responses)

After reading the article, I get the impression that the Putin government is only after the free (as in price) aspect of software procurement more than the open-source nature. Not that this is a bad thing; I do wonder sometimes just how much a government as large as Russia's pays in proprietary software licenses.

Perhaps sometime after the full transition, the Russian government might post the annual cost savings realized by such an endeavor. Just a wishful thought.

Switch to Free Software

Posted Dec 29, 2010 1:41 UTC (Wed) by sasha (guest, #16070) [Link] (5 responses)

I do not have such impression. Have you read the Russian document or a translation?

Free as beer and free as speech are different words in Russian. Here, "free as speech" word is used.

Switch to Free Software

Posted Dec 29, 2010 3:12 UTC (Wed) by pr1268 (guest, #24648) [Link] (4 responses)

Well, after reading dmarti's comment above, the conspiracy theorist in me says it's all about saving $$$—er, руб.

>Free as beer and free as speech are different words in Russian. Here, "free as speech" word is used.

Yes, agreed, languages other than English have multiple words for "free". But, my original impression based on the Mashable.com article. For the record, I'd actually be quite pleased if Putin's motive for this directive was for the "free-as-in-speech" nature of Free Software.

Switch to Free Software

Posted Dec 29, 2010 7:02 UTC (Wed) by kripkenstein (guest, #43281) [Link] (3 responses)

It can be something else other than free as in beer or free as in freedom, which are reasons why FOSS is better. He might have decided on this because he thinks the alternative is bad, for example, maybe he doesn't want to depend on a closed OS controlled by a corporation outside his country.

Granted that's related to both free as in beer and in speech, but it's really more about avoiding a product than preferring another. IOW if there was a good closed-source Russian OS, he might have mandated that.

Switch to Free Software

Posted Dec 29, 2010 10:05 UTC (Wed) by klbrun (subscriber, #45083) [Link] (2 responses)

I suspect Putin is more concerned about back doors in proprietary software developed in the US.

Switch to Free Software

Posted Dec 29, 2010 15:32 UTC (Wed) by dskoll (subscriber, #1630) [Link] (1 responses)

I suspect Putin is more concerned about back doors in proprietary software developed in the US.

I agree. But the real conspiracy theory in me says we need to review contributions to Linux from programmers funded by the Russian government very carefully. Maybe the OpenBSD IPSec backdoor conspiracy was all smoke, but it can't hurt to be careful... :)

Putin is a dictator. I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him.

Switch to Free Software

Posted Dec 29, 2010 16:15 UTC (Wed) by szh (guest, #23558) [Link]

> But the real conspiracy theory in me says we need to review contributions to Linux from programmers funded by the Russian government very carefully.

as well as from US, Iran, Japan, China government.

And why would such conspiracy contribution correctly disclose the country of origin ?

Switch to Free Software

Posted Dec 29, 2010 10:10 UTC (Wed) by jezuch (subscriber, #52988) [Link]

Well, whatever the reason, it will be fun to watch!

Switch to Free Software

Posted Dec 29, 2010 13:43 UTC (Wed) by vonbrand (subscriber, #4458) [Link] (4 responses)

As somebody aptly put it: "Free, as in a free puppy." You have to take care of upbrining and feeding.

Free software isn't gratis, it's just that instead of paying for licenses you need in-house expertise and have to take some more care in hardware selection. Add that you have to plan the migration, migrate or rewrite applications, and the retraining of users. It's not at all trivial, and isn't that fast either (at least if done well).

Switch to Free Software

Posted Dec 29, 2010 14:03 UTC (Wed) by clump (subscriber, #27801) [Link] (2 responses)

Agreed, though in these comparisons it's important to note other puppies are not free of charge, and you still have to raise them. There certainly are switching costs as you mention, though not paying licensing costs in addition to switching costs shouldn't be overlooked.

Switch to Free Software

Posted Dec 29, 2010 16:11 UTC (Wed) by vonbrand (subscriber, #4458) [Link] (1 responses)

With "paid for puppies" you usually expect some help with upbringing... and you have whom to blame if they aren't housebroken.

Switch to Free Software

Posted Dec 29, 2010 17:06 UTC (Wed) by Trelane (subscriber, #56877) [Link]

> With "paid for puppies" you usually expect some help with upbringing

What help? The one you have to pay for, same as with Free puppies?

> you have whom to blame if they aren't housebroken

That would fall on deaf ears, due to the lack of warranty.

Switch to Free Software

Posted Dec 29, 2010 17:00 UTC (Wed) by Trelane (subscriber, #56877) [Link]

>you need in-house expertise

So I can roll out SQL server and promote my secretary to DBA?

>have to take some more care in hardware selection

This has nothing to do with price and everything to do with monopoly (there's less hardware/software support for non-windows because fewer people use non-Windows because there's less hardware/software support for non-Windows because....)

You'll perhaps also note that the same is true for MacOS.

>Add that you have to plan the migration, migrate or rewrite applications

Yes, of course. You don't undo decades of tying yourself to a single vendor overnight unless you're very determined and have a very good plan.

> the retraining of users

right, this is why nobody deploys Office 2007. And with all the other points, it has everything to do with monopoly and nothing to do with price. The fact is that you're finding yourself having to lie in the bed you've made for decades. The price is irrelevant; once you've broken free of your vendor lockin, you can reap the benefits of the new software free and clear.

> It's not at all trivial isn't that fast either

No, fixing decades-old efforts to screw yourself generally isn't.

But again, what does any of this have to do with free, let alone Free?

Vladimir Putin Orders Russian Government to Switch to Free Software by 2015 (Mashable)

Posted Dec 29, 2010 1:38 UTC (Wed) by sasha (guest, #16070) [Link] (2 responses)

The document signed by Putin is available in MS Word format. Funny.

I do not believe it will work in a way Free Software community expects. Western people use to refer to Putin as a "dictator", but it is far from true. Government orders is one thing; reality is just another thing, and they do not match.

Well, AltLinux will get some government money, and it is good :-)

Vladimir Putin Orders Russian Government to Switch to Free Software by 2015 (Mashable)

Posted Dec 29, 2010 15:39 UTC (Wed) by tzafrir (subscriber, #11501) [Link] (1 responses)

Didn't AltLinux get such funding already?

There were some previous stories in that front. Was there any actual work done?

Vladimir Putin Orders Russian Government to Switch to Free Software by 2015 (Mashable)

Posted Dec 29, 2010 16:35 UTC (Wed) by szh (guest, #23558) [Link]

In 2007-2008 Linux was installed in all schools in 3 pilot regions out of ~50 regions in Russia. Since that time, as far as I know, there was no global government action for FLOSS in schools (and they wasted some money globally on 3 year license for package of proprietary software for schools as well), and each region, each school may have different setup.

Vladimir Putin Orders Russian Government to Switch to Free Software by 2015 (Mashable)

Posted Dec 29, 2010 14:37 UTC (Wed) by smokeing (guest, #53685) [Link] (5 responses)

I had to scroll down more than just a few times on the /. thread discussing this same topic before I hit the quite obvious (to me at least) reason behind Putin's govt energetic push for FOSS. The reason is distilled from the recent Stuxnet broil.

Quite logical indeed: getting knowledge of four hitherto unknown security holes, plus a stolen signed certificate, takes none of haxor uberskillz but some insider information from Microsoft -- or, for that matter, a CIA badge. Viewed from Russia, the US *can*, if need be, enact this scenario at any time, and choose random governmental institution in Russia as the target. KGB won't want that, by any means.

Being part of the FOSS community is least of all a consideration here.

Possible reason - Supply chain

Posted Dec 29, 2010 15:23 UTC (Wed) by dwheeler (guest, #1216) [Link] (3 responses)

I don't have any special insight into Putin's head, but I think many countries are looking into FLOSS in part because of supply chain issues. This is the nation-state version of "Free as in freedom" - most nations want to be sovereign, meaning free from control by another. If you want to want to be free from control by another in the IT world, the two major approaches are open standards and FLOSS. Governments around the world at least give lip service to embracing open standards, so it's not implausible for a country to embrace FLOSS. I've no idea if this will turn into any specific action in Russia.

Possible reason - Supply chain

Posted Dec 29, 2010 16:07 UTC (Wed) by malefic (guest, #37306) [Link] (2 responses)

By the way, ODF has recently been adopted as a national standard in Russia. Source at GOST site (in Russian). Looks like a greater trend of Russian government finally realizing the benefits of openness and technological independence open standards and FOSS provide.

Possible reason - Supply chain

Posted Dec 29, 2010 17:18 UTC (Wed) by adobriyan (subscriber, #30858) [Link] (1 responses)

> Looks like a greater trend of Russian government finally realizing
> the benefits of openness and technological independence open standards
> and FOSS provide.

*cough*

You have to have licensing agreement for every copy, otherwise even Debian
is de facto illegal.

Even if you have them, computers can be confiscated to check for licensing
compliance.

And if you haven't wrote down ID numbers on every piece of hardware,
assume you'll never see them again.

Confiscating company machines by competitor request is an excellent way
to maintain competition in ever changing Free Market.

Possible reason - Supply chain

Posted Dec 29, 2010 21:00 UTC (Wed) by malefic (guest, #37306) [Link]

Such abuse is inherent to authoritarian and corrupt states such as Russia today, but that does not mean it cannot be fixed. FOSS directive is at least a step in the right direction. Let's hope they have enough will to actually put it to action.

Vladimir Putin Orders Russian Government to Switch to Free Software by 2015 (Mashable)

Posted Dec 30, 2010 9:27 UTC (Thu) by Lennie (subscriber, #49641) [Link]

Finally someone said it, it is not at the top of the discussion on lwn either.

They want independence, that is what open source promisses. I don't think they care about free software so much.

I think they will do what Google did at first too with the kernel, they will create their own 'in-house' fork and won't share it with anyone.

And only some people in the same organisation, government (which is debatable that this is just one organisation), will have access to the source.

They might not create a fork of the kernel if they are smart otherwise they will have the same problems Google did at first. They'll have a hard time tracking development.

Vladimir Putin Orders Russian Government to Switch to Free Software by 2015 (Mashable)

Posted Dec 29, 2010 18:46 UTC (Wed) by ccchips (subscriber, #3222) [Link] (1 responses)

Being that I'm not actually in the "business side" of FOSS, I can't say if this will work or not. I can say, though, that I see Russians ferrying everyone to and from the International Space Station while NASA struggles with issues about its future plans, and I read and hear that Russian technical institutions are of the highest quality. Whatever reason Putin may have for this plan, I am for sure interested to see where it goes.

It would be interesting to see a whole country's government being run on Free Software.

Vladimir Putin Orders Russian Government to Switch to Free Software by 2015 (Mashable)

Posted Dec 30, 2010 10:55 UTC (Thu) by rlhamil (guest, #6472) [Link]

NASA's problem is not unlike that which made the former Soviet Union far weaker in practice than the sheer size of their forces would have suggested: constant political meddling, and the absence of the only kind of accountability that holds up in the real world: the marketplace.

As others have pointed out, there are a lot of possible motives for adopting open-source,
not all of which will further the adoption of open-source elsewhere, and certainly not all of which are an indication of nice people aka good neighbors.

Vladimir Putin Orders Russian Government to Switch to Free Software by 2015 (Mashable)

Posted Dec 30, 2010 14:53 UTC (Thu) by bobn-lwn (subscriber, #5701) [Link]

Perhaps this is a response to MS giving free licenses to NGOs in Russia after reports that the government was targing NGOs using allegedly unlicensed MS software?