Putin Orders Russian Move to GNU/Linux
This looks huge:Глава правительства Владимир Путин подписал план перехода властных структур и федеральных бюджетников на свободное ПО. Согласно документу, внедрение Linux во власти должно начаться во II квартале 2012 г.
Сегодня стало известно, что премьер-министр Владимир Путин подписал документ, в котором описан график перехода властных структур на свободное ПО (СПО).
Документ называется «План перехода федеральных органов власти и федеральных бюджетных учреждений на использование свободного программного обеспечения» и освещает период с 2011 до 2015 г.
[Via Google Translate: Prime Minister Vladimir Putin signed a plan for transition of power structures and the federal budget [to] free software. According to the document, the introduction of Linux in government should begin in II quarter 2012.
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.]
The key document with that timetable (in Russian) is here; Google's translation of the salient part:1. Approve the attached plan for the transition of federal executive bodies and agencies of the federal budget for the use of free software for 2011 - 2015 years.
2.Federal executive agencies to implement activities in accordance with the plan approved by this Order, within the established government of the Russian Federation, limiting the size of their staff and budget allocations provided to them in the federal budget execution authority to the specified area of activity.
Prime Minister
The Russian Federation Vladimir Putin
The fact that Putin has signed the order for this project could be critical: there have been several previous plans for moving parts of the Russian government to using free software, notably in the educational sector, but in practice they have mostly failed to materialise because there has been insufficient political weight behind them. But if Putin says: "make it so", I suspect that a lot of people will jump pretty fast to make sure that it *is* so. And once that happens, other plans to roll out free software might well suddenly look rather more attractive.
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74 comments:
By the way: a few days ago,on December 21th, Open Document format was accepted as a national standard in Russia. New standard will come into effect in a half a year. Nobody is sure what will be real consequences of this step, though. And, probably, a certain software vendor will try to push its own standard, too...
@anon: yes, thanks, I tweeted this a couple of days ago. Interesting developments Russia by the look of it...
It's a shame that it will now be associated with a dictator who is hell bent on getting his way at the expense of freedom of speech and democracy.
@Pete: indeed; sadly, that seems to be what is needed to get things moving in Russia in this regard...
@Pete
I imagine that the people who will believe GNU/Linux is associated with anti-democratic structures already believe that. No real harm done.
In Soviet Russia, kernel compiles YOU!
@Roland: so it seems...
@ Pete: Frankly, the WL affair exposed the hypocrisy of American "democratic values" and the much-talked about "freedom of speech". Despite all, in Russia there are still newspapers publishing anti-government stuff (the "Novaya Gazeta" is one example). In American there seems to be none. Zero. So, please...
A tiny nitpick - Free Software and OSS aren't the same thing, and you've used the terms interchangeably. And I admit to being curious - is the document about Free Software, Open Source Software, or both?
This would have been far more impressive if it happened 10 years ago when operating systems were still at the centre of computing.
Nice move M$. Association of open source with communism done, now just need to associate it with cancer... :D
This is excellent news. Heretofore, the Russian government has been heavily invested in Windows, seemingly believing a capitalist fantasy that only products they have to pay for have any value.
@Anonymous(8):
One of the troika of papers that had the agreement with WL to release and analyze the diplomatic cables and the Afghan War leaks was the New York Times. "Zero" critical coverage of US in US media? Stop talking nonsense--the NYT has conspired in what the USG tries to label as illegal activity.
@anonymous
"In American there seems to be none. Zero. So, please..."
What do you call Fox News then?
A lot of free speech and democracy in the United States is hypocrisy. I live in the US and have experienced it myself. Free speech is regulated by the media oligarchy. Free speech is tempered by threats of reprisal all the time.
No anti-government newspapers in America? Please. You've clearly never picked up a copy of the New York Times.
Stop spreading flame-bait.
Can we get back on-topic?
The fact is, the US military uses GNU/Linux in many capacities, and now the Russian military will as well. The only people who will get scared off of using Free software are those who are willing to pay The Stupid Tax, because they don't know any better, and are too lazy to find out.
@pete: The article is talking about Russia, not America.
Yeah, but we don't assassinate journalists.
@Mad Hatter: it says "free", but it's not clear whether they appreciate the difference. Time will tell.
@Bill: yes, things have certainly moved on, but that doesn't mean it isn't welcome - or significant.
it is sputnik all over again
It is actually a clever move. They begun to plan it back in 2007 and now it's officially announced. There are still many open issues and a lot of work to do but if they succeed a lot of govs will follow them.
@Freeware Downloads: yes, that's a good point. As the article makes clear, this has been in preparation for several years, which suggests they are serious about it.
The translated article does not say "GNU/Linux", it says Linux. Why twist the meaning of the headline?
@Anonymous: I didn't: Linux refers to the kernel, and I don't think the Russian government would run too well if it used only the kernel.
It is extremely unlikely that it will not be using some programs from the GNU project - hence my use of GNU/Linux.
I recommend to anyone interested, Hanse Hermann Hoppe's book (and the YouTubes which cover lectures etc) "Democracy: The God That Failed"
What it really comes down to is that democratic states have been very destructive to people's rights. Democracy is no panacea, if the people themselves don't have a commitment to respecting the rights of others.
This order by Putin seems a watershed. I doubt he would take kindly to Microsoft trying to put the moves on HIM!
@glynn moody - But they will likely also be using a desktop environment, a web server, an office suite, a programming language, a graphics program. So why not call it "X.org/OO/KDE/Emacs/Ruby/Apache/GiMP/Linux" then?
There is a lot of ignorant flaming going on here. How many of you have ever been to Russia? How many of you have ever met Russians other than emigrants (all emigrants from all countries are emotionally invested in painting their former homes black). I have been to Russia 3 times, and I speak Russian. And I also RTFA, i.e. read the original document in Russian. The very first word is utverdit' which means "final confirmation" or "ratification". In other words, Putin did not do much at all as is normal in democratic countries. Someone else made the plan, and he ratified it.
Also I wonder whether it is correct to translate SPO as OSS. The last word, "obespechenie" means security so this may be more about a shift to using OSS firewalls and VPNs. Recently some of the Russian GOST security standards were republished as IETF RFCs so that they could be included as references in security standards, i.e. where some security software offers a choice of crypto or hash algorithms, they would be able to use a GOST standard rather than a foreign one.
There is nothing here that seems other than normal democratic processes. The Russian Federal budget moneys cannot be spent without approval by the Prime Minister. Putin, as the current PM., approved spending in accord with this plan. The details of actually what will be done is in other documents, possibly not yet public, which would detail the plans.
If, as I suspect, this is mainly about core security components, then I would expect to see large vendors allowing for such components to be integrated into their devices in order to preserve market share. And as far as the Federal government of Russia is concerned, I'll bet that "open source" means "open to Russian federal agencies" so it could even include things like Cisco IOS or MS Windows, both of which have released source code to certain parties under certain strict contracts.
Russia-bashing has no place in analysis whether it is technical analysis, market analysis or political analysis. And let's not forget that Russia has a population roughly half that of the USA with the same number in it's "near abroad" most of which used to be in the Soviet Union. That population is more or less the market in which Russia has significant home base advantages of shared language and culture. This is what makes Russia a powerful force in the world and everyone would do best to look at Russia with open eyes, untainted by ideas such as "Russia is a dictatorship" which are patently false. And when an observer justifies such an observation, their explanation is usually so tortuous that you could say the same about the USA or other "western" countries.
Maybe Putin wants to make sure his boys can read the source code and avoid all those nasty Windows exploits coming out of his country... not to mention the potential for backdoors.
This is great! Go Putin, Go!!! :D
Cutting costs....not a bad idea. Things will be more difficult to use and organize, but they'll pinch a few pennies.
Pete Gilbert said...
It's a shame that it will now be associated with a dictator who is hell bent on getting his way at the expense of freedom of speech and democracy.
7:25 PM
The dude, my country died out at good Gorbachev. At bad dictator Putin birth rate raises.
And consequently it is not clear than dictator Putin is worse than dictator Obama. Now in the USA try to forbid state employees even _read_ Vikiliks - as at in USSR in 70 years, at the time of Brezhnev:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,733088,00.html
@U.S. Agent So what was that deal with the journalists being killed in Iraq with the not so subtle Abrams tank.
ODF/Linux decision is excellent one. This combination is just like Ak47-7.62 of current it-world. In my Finnish point of view - this is very typical russian thinking.
Use of Open Document and Gnu software, particularly Linux is a step in the right direction. The premier is doing the correct thing, whereas other governments such as US Federal have little concern toward saving tax payer money. It is funny how some think that by embracing Linux is cold war communism, yet embracing something from a convicted monopoly maintainer is capitalism (remember Comes vs. Microsoft Evangelism Document - http://edge-op.org/iowa/www.iowaconsumercase.org/011607/3000/PX03096.pdf).
This is very good, Putin is great PM for Russia, but that is sometimes bad some other countries (USA e.g.). Wikileaks shows as how is USA democratic.
@Anonymous (16th from the top): the Russian military uses it for a way more than one year (you can try to google the phrase "Mobile system of the armed forces").
@Michael: SPO translates exactly like OSS. While "obespechenie" could mean security in some cases, it's not the prime meaning of this word. "Programmnoe obespechenie" is a technical term that directly translates to "software".
@Michael: you are incorrect in translating “obespečenie” as “security” (as a native speaker of Russian, I am perfectly sure of this). “Programmnoe obespečenie” is the standard term in formal written speech for software (cf. “apparatnoe obespečenie” = hardware). So, “SPO” is “free software” alright. The prevalent term for OSS is “programmnoe obespečenie s otkrytym kodom”, but it is very rarely used, as the free vs. open-source debate in Russia never got out of few specialized forums and newsgroups.
Maybe I should clarify - I am not against Linux or the Russians. I have used Linux since the very first version I got hold of - was it Slackware or Yggdrasil I cant remember? 1994 certainly - for both personal and work purposes over the years. And yes, I am on a later version now...
And yes, I have followed Russian politics over the years since the Berlin wall fell, and have felt considerable optimism as the Russian people finally got some freedom and began to grow their economy. All good stuff.
But do I apologise if I misled or upset people with what I stated in my earlier comment. In my haste I didnt offer a better explanation for my words. What I should have said is that it will be associated with a dictator _for me_ in my mind. In my opinion Putin has always seemed to be acting in a non-democratic manner, and that is bad for Russia in the long term.
And yes I do understand that he's probably just ratifying the work of a sub-committee somewhere in the government and that he isnt the country-wide expert on operating systems. And the Russian govt. is free to use whatever OS it feels fit.
I suspect though that the move is probably a strategic one anyway, after the Stuxnet fiasco many governments around the world will want to take a long hard look at their computing infrastructures and work out which of the softer parts are most vulnerable.
Hhaha SOOOO many american propaganda brainwashed people. Now the facts:
- US KILLS THOUSANDS FO JOURNALISTS EVERY YEAR. WESTERN JOURNALISTS. LOOK AT IRAQ. US BOMBED THE JOURNALISTS HQ.
- NO FREE SPEECH IN THE US. NEW YORK TIMES IS TIGHTLY CONTROLLED IN WHAT IT IS CRITISIZING.
- RUSSIA LIKE US IS A ZION OCCUPIED STATE..... BUT PUTIN IS NOT WORKING FOR ZION YET.... THEY WANT HIM OUT ONLY FOR THAT.
WE ALL MUST FIGHT ZIONIST PIGS AND RESTORE THE WORLD AS IT SHOULD BE - SECURE FREE WORLD WITH GOD IN EVERYONES HEARTS
@anon: er, could we stay on topic, please? And maybe lose those caps...
It'd be good to stick to the facts and the point.
1. Putin putting his stamp on the directive to use GNU/Linux: good, whether you like him or not.
2. Current day Russians have the same protections at law and in practice as US citizens. No.
There are few, if any, professional commentators and academics who would willing swap places or balance the two equally.
That the US has flaws is without doubt, as do all Western democracies. This does not somehow give any credibility to the Russian political world, nor elevate it to a similar level of credibility.
Attempts to create some notion of comparative levels of freedom between Western European and US democracies and the oligarchic Russian political landscape stretch credulity to breaking point and is purely rhetorical, lacking any facts.
If you think there are any, please present some facts about the 'freedom' of Russia, not about the failings of the West.
If one was to accept the arguments about Russia/US-West equivalence, you would also have to say that Microsoft and GNU/Linux were equally 'open' and 'free'.
Now back to how the central part of the original article is really describing positive step for GNU/Linux.
@anon: re naming. You're right that all those other elements are likely to be present, but it was GNU that started the project to create a free operating system, largely completed when Linux was written. It seems only fair to recognise that in the name for the complete system that generally includes a number of GNU projects.
Pete Gilbert:
Let me get this straight - you come from Britain, the most oppressive surveillance state in the world right now, and you're concerned about bad little Putin over in Russia?
And what's worse, you still use words such as 'freedom of speech' and 'democracy' when your own bloody country does not have any, and most people in the UK could not care any less?
How about fixing your own backyard before smiting your neighbor? I think Putin was actually right sometime ago when he made those mocking comments on the so-called 'freedom' in the West - and the worst part about it is, despite all the names you call him, you know he is right.
The onus is on you to start proving that your country actually has any of these 'freedoms' you cherish so much - as it is, it has none, and nobody in your country does anything about it.
Just posting on the Internet about it isn't going to do a damn thing.
Sorry for the caps Glyn. Got overly emotional while reading first Pete's comment about freedom.
Now about the subject. Putin had bought Mandriva's IP earlier this year (through his proxy - olygarch Prokhorov).
Now what this article mean only - a new business for Mr. Putin. Don't count on this effort to do any good to free software or open source. I doubt there will be a single line of code for the community out of this effort... It is pure business, Putin is a businessman first of all.
2Pete: Putin is VERY far from being a dictator. He is just a follow up on Yeltzin with some concrete responsibilities. Before Putin became president he worked at GRU. His former collegues never called him anything but shill or worse. He came to power and the condition was to keep olygarchs at power and protect their interests, what he is still doing.
The thing is Russians hate PM Putin and President Mendel (some call him Medvedev), as much as they hate the US politics for ruining USSR. Russians want a pure russian president and PM, not jewish like it is now.
And russians do have this right - it's their land, after all.
Please, people, open your eyes. Russia is as bad a country as UK or US. Maybe better, if we talk about basic human rights. Russia is managed by jewish from London city and Washington DC. These fascists, including the half-human monster queen, hate russians profusely. What can you expect from this kind of management? Roses?
USSR was the most progressive country in the world. 99% of russian population dream of getting rid of this rotten democracy and get back to USSR. Western people just dont have a slightest idea, what a beautiful state used to be USSR for the regular people.
For folks who seek the truth please follow here -
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/ring-of-power/
@anon: interesting stuff about Mandriva, but perhaps we can steer clear of the politics here - that's not really the focus of this discussion/blog...
Munich sends a good luck message...
http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/04/north-koreas-red-star-os-takes-the-open-out-of-open-source/
something similar...
My first thought when reading about this was: I wonder when Steve Ballmer's flight to Russia will be scheduled?
It always seems that when a large deployment of FOSS is announced somewhere in the world, before long another headline will announce how Bill Gates, or Steve Ballmer have made a visit.
Then follows nice PR pics of Bill and/or Steve shaking hands or signing agreements of one sort or another. Usually deploying hundreds of Windows computers for schools, or some sort of MSOffice software and training deal for government agencies...and money. In the end, there's always money "donated".
Then the previous FOSS deployment falls by the wayside, or becomes mired in problems of some sort, and then diminished in scale, or abandoned all together.
In fact, I sometimes think these sorts of announcements are made solely to get Microsoft's attention, so a better deal will be offered.
Sad that this sort of thing has happened before. I don't see any reason to cheer until the change has actually occured.
I know, I'm such a cynic...
Seems sad.
@anon: you're right, that's certainly been the pattern in the past. It will be interesting whether this is something new, or just the old cynical ploy....
There have been comments posted here claiming that the U.S. is a democratic nation. This illusion is only held when one hasn't investigated the matter /for one self/, /with a critical eye/ and have spent the time necessary to do so. Another illusion is this of 'the free press'. In fact, the press, like any other institution in a system based on money, does whatever people who threaten to close down the institution or withdraw funds from the institution WANTS. So it is automatically liable to it's OWNERS, it's ADVERTISERS, the people's LOWEST COMMON DENOMINATOR, the GOVERNMENT, and CORPORATION; infact whatever POWER exists to modify it.
People here think the New York Times always report the truth. What a laugh. Has there been ONE war the Nyt hasn't supported? You americans don't even have a left! Your "left" only differs from your "right"(they are _both_ super-right) on HOW much money they want to spend for war. NOT whether to HAVE war... I know some of you will say now, "but nyt reported some of the wikileaks papers" but they did that because a paper can't ignore something which gets too big. Anyway, their coverage was terribly slanted to support the powers that be, as opposed to telling it like it is.
I can't blame americans for their ignorance because you truly live in the country of fog; you fight against each other when instead you should be looking upwards toward that little clique on the top who owns all there is to own, have all the political influence and have all the money. This is how it is in every nation, and it is how it has always been throughout history. Whenever a new reform, packaged in Holy Words are proposed by sellouts & whores of the dark men with power, ask yourself this question: Does it benefit the Common Man, or does it benefit the Elite?
this is still rather tangential, people...
So why not call it "X.org/OO/KDE/Emacs/Ruby/Apache/GiMP/Linux" then?
Because Xorg, OO, KDE, Emacs, Ruby, Apache, and GiMP ARE NOT PART OF THE OPERATING SYSTEM.
Linux cannot run without GNU applications, and GNU cannot run without a kernel (namely linux).
Sure, you could try Gnu/Hurd, or Gnu/BSD combinations. Apart from GNU, Unix has the only other non-gnu applications that could possibly run on a linux/bsd/hurd kernel that I'm aware of. Heaven forbid an NT kernel get's paired with GNU.
Heya folx , I don't give a shit about politics , what I'm care about is Linux and GNU, since in russia is official
OSS ( as in brasil btw), this is a huge step forward for what we are fighting for , GNU/LINUX.... and I don't really care witch distro will have the main
entrance, or if will be associated with one name or another
Remember that story with a old teacher , one teacher for a whole region( somewhere in russia)? They caught him with a
fake registration of a M$ win on a old pc , and a whole
country ask for mercy to bill gates ,
he said the justice must be done , the man is a criminal... imo this is bullshit ....billy g. should award that man ....The old teacher ain't no criminal but a hero , he was trying to spread the knowledge FOR FREE .
Now with this new position of russian gov. hope this kind of horrible things are over.....
Long Live GNU-LINUX,
and you better pray the LORD ,your democratic and civilised gov , do the same.
@glyn moody: Unfortunately, I was thinking the same thing. Often these "Free Software Initiatives" turn out to be little more than PR stunts to force MS to the table with lots of their own "donated" (with strings attached, of course) licenses, at which point the motivation to actually go through the trouble of converting the entire {nation|city|state|school system} over to GNU/Linux quickly deflates. I'd be ecstatic to see a real conversion of some large government body over to Free and Open Software/Standards, but I'm not holding my breath. Governments, democratic or otherwise, rarely have the real staying power to force this level of change all the way down to the grass roots.
@Charles: the thing is, this may well be deeper than money. As others have suggested, it may be from fears about backdoors in closed-source products. Free software is probably slightly safer from this point of view (depending on your thoughts on the OpenBSD saga....)
This is very good news for Free Software and for Russia. For those who see the irony of an admittedly power-hungry politician pushing software rooted in freedom, there are at least two precedents for this that come to my mind. One of them is in Brazil.
During the 1980's, the military government mandated "dual-fuel" capability (gasoline/petrol and alcohol) in all new cars sold in Brazil. Alcohol fuel was mandated to be sold alongside gasoline. What happened during each oil "issue"? Brazilian drivers were largely unaffected, because alcohol fuel stayed cheap. In 2007, after accounting for alcohol's lower energy density, Brazilians were paying half to two-thirds per mile of travel than the rest of the world.
Now, back to Mr. Putin. Yes, he's power-hungry. Yes, he's a natural dictator. But he's doing a very good thing here, and we should praise this decision on his part. Just as with dual-fuel capability in Brazil, this will help the Russian people, long-term. I look forward to its implementation. DA!
@Sum Yung Gai: interesting comparison with Brazil - thanks.
First, most here know nothing about Russia. Russians love Putin. Russia was getting shafted by the helpings of "Democratic" greed from outside Russia. When Putin stood ground, situation for Russia people improved rapidly. In many ways Russia has more freedom than US. They are gaining, US is loosing at expoential speed. Yet we listen to propaganda how bad Putin is and big bad Russia. Democracy is mob rule, two wolves and a sheep deciding what's for dinner. America was founded as a Republic (Look it up!) Btw, Russia under Putin has budget in black, only a small fraction of spending on military compared to US, and is not going all over world killing. Putin thinks ten moves ahead. He does things that make sense. This looks like another move in that direction. It is called logic and reason, something US leadership lacks.
In a personal point of view this is a good initiative but with a certain amount of qirks...like someone above said this is deeper than merely money..and defenitely more than a move to combat pirating..take a look at the torrents like iptorrents, they have made their move to Russia after COICA was signed anyways so that in it shows russia still loves pirates so to speak. The idea of a complicated system like linux going mainstream poses questions like. Are we safe anymore? What if (and they will) become masters of the craft?
U.S. Agent said...
>Yeah, but we don't assassinate >journalists.
Really?
When the US killed 2 reporters and wounded a handful in 2003 when it bombed the Palestine Hotel in Bagdad... that wasnt murder?
Over 100 hundred journalists where at that hotel.
Or in 1999 when Serbian state television was bombed by NATO and about 25-30 employees were killed?
That wasnt murder?
They station was bombed because
it was 'dispersing propaganda' therefore murder was considered a reasonable solution.
BBC or CNN can also be now called legitimate targets as can every media source from foreign governments because anyone who opposes us 'is dispersing propaganda' and deemed a viable target.
The US made killing journalists because you basically dont agree with their stance OK.
So take your smugness and smoke it.
http://cpj.org/reports/2003/05/palestine-hotel.php
And kudos to the guy using the NYT as a symbol of a combative press. Its funny as hell. Americas war of conquests, the 30-40 countries they have bombed since WW2 and twice/three times the amount they have helped overthow are never opposed. The war machine depends on the cheerleading and moral values (!) of the press to make the empire's work more efficient.
Embedded journalism doesnt help independent journalism but it helps mold the message the war department is trying to peddle.
Reading some of the american numbnuts speak in cold war lingo reminds us that some things never change. (Ive done two documentaries about cuban doctors treating the poor indigenous tribes of Venezuela and know the rhetoric the yanks have towards the 'dictator' Chavez who gets that moniker even though his elections are fairer than the US ones in 2000 and 2004)
Then there are people who are simply deranged.
You gotta love the internet.
It takes a dictator to rule out a dictator ;-)
In my opinion MS just didn't offer enough money on the table. In all recent history money (and fear) were the methods that MS used in so called democratic countries to force his way (last example was in Brasil where MS started to fund oposition parties when Brasilian government decided to use open source in their schools).
If things will go as planed this small battle lost may be beginning of dethroning of a king. But until then you can bet that MS will spent a lot of money to mine the project.
First step in right direction. We don't our students and future scientist to think the way big multi-billion monopolistic corporations want them to think. They are busy in knowledge hoarding i.e they will hire every possible engg and use them to file software patents to screw the whole world for the years to come. In India Kerala state became opensource from 5 years and Indian govt prefers OSS whenever possible.
@Cronic Surge: first: combat pirating? In my opinion, there are two very small groups in Russia who want to stop pirating: recording and motion picture industry distributors (those analogous to well-known RIAA) and FLOSS enthusiasts (should I describe why?). They are obviously powerless in this field.
And second, about (imaginary?) complicacy of GNU/Linux: ordinary clerks normally use software, not OS and its basic utilities itself. So is there any difference in running specialized software under GNU/Linux or Microsoft Windows? The lack of qualified system administrators is possibly a problem, not users' incompetence.
windows are good for games nobody can say the opposite but lets see the truth Big and Succesfull companies dont have windows on their servers ! If you say something like this they would laugh at your face!
And they dont have many machines to need many many licenses , they just want to have the best and powerfull os. And they choose Bsd Unix or Linux !
Ask your webhosting service!
Ask yahoo,google etc etc
Why they have unix?
I believe Putin has taken a right decision and this will surely help opensource community.
Many countries are switching to Linux , it's better cheaper and safer ...
OMFG, Fox News is cited as opposition news?
Fox News is an element of the corporate, right-winger religious zombie segment of the US-society. When such a reactionary force "opposes the government", it doesn't mean anything. Nobody at Fox News is capable of critical thinking. If there was, there would be no Fox News.
The U.S. is about as free as China. The difference between the U.S.-society and Chinese society, is that the Chinese are "honest" (don't care) about being opressive buttheads.
That said, it really doesn't matter who uses FLOSSy software, if a silly person thinks ad hominem is valid reasoning, why should that persons opinion matter? Since when should the silly be the smallest common denominator to which we adhere to in the question of how we value FLOSSy code?
I think that switching to OSS is more of a security move. Same thought as the BIG companies have. It's an obvious risk when you depend on one vendor. No real politics behind it.
@butch: maybe; it's still a bold move.
@glyn: re: Linux vs. GNU/Linux debate with @anonymous:
I admire and respect how you've made a habit of consistently referring to the OS as GNU/Linux. Your reasoning for doing so is sound and well-stated.
However, even though I've been aware (and an admirer) of the GNU project since long before there was a Linux kernel to pair it with, and now use it daily, I still usually short-hand any references to my OS of choice these days as just plain Linux. I'm not trying to short-change RMS his due recognition, it just rolls of the tongue (and keyboard) easier.
In a similar way, I usually refer to my favorite vehicle as my Harley, even though it is more proper to say Harley-Davidson, and even though Willie G. Davidson is the driving force behind the company these days and deserves recognition for that. Having said that, I can't imagine feeling the need to criticize someone for always saying Harley-Davidson unless they had the attitude that I must do the same, which of course you do not vis-a-vis GNU/Linux.
What can I say? You're a proper Englishman and I'm a grammatically lazy American. Anyway, apologies for wandering off-topic a bit and thanks for standing firm on the GNU/Linux references and explaining your reasoning so well for doing so. Your fine example is recognized, if not well-followed.
@Freeman: thanks - as you know, Linus agrees with you, but having spoken to RMS on several occasions I feel duty-bound to give him the credit due...
خطوة جد هامة في كون أن روسيا تعلن لينكس رسميا كنظام التشغيل لديها
نتمى أن نرى الدول العربية تخطوا نفس الخطوة التي خطتها الكثير من الدول بل و وفرت وزارات خاصة بالمصادر المفتوحة
نتمنى ذلك , و نتمنى لروسيا النجاح مع هذا النطام المميز
Fox news is only critical of the government, when that government is run by the Dems. Anti-partisan != Anti-government.
Pete Gilbert:
You would wish that the psychos who run our "Human Rights and Democracy" had 1/100 of Putin's moral fiber. Stop watching CNN, Fox News, BBC, MSNBC, Guardian, Spiegel and all other "pravda".
As for this:
Glory for Putin and Glory for Russia.
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