All school computers in Russia go to Linux in two years.

[LinuxMint-4]

MSFT is in trouble, not from the EU or the ongoing Vista issues. This time it is seemingly a mass defection from proprietary software (namely Windows). Some of you might be aware of the recent defection from Windows to Linux in all of the 23,000 school computers in the Philippines. Now comes word that Russian schools will go to all Linux in three regions in 2009 and the rest of the regions in 2010. This isn't Microsoft bashing...this is reality.

http://www.russiatoday.ru/scitech/news/22094

"Linux is a piece of open source software, free online to anyone who wants it, and Russian schools are switching to it to save cash."

[Tsuroerusu]

I can already hear Steve Ballmer sending chairs flying in Redmond, while yelling: OH MY GOD THIS IS COMMUNISM!!!!

On a serious note, it's great to see people use GNU/Linux, but I find it a little sad that reason for them using it has to come down to price. Oh well, this part of the article made smile:

Aleksandr Ponosov, a former headmaster in the Perm Region, is a strong supporter of the move. He was prosecuted for using a pirate version of Windows on the school's computers.

“The problem that I've faced threatens most of my colleagues across Russia. The use of pirate software is common. And often there's no choice. So I've started a non-profit organisation to tell everyone about the advantages of free software,” Aleksandr Ponosov explained.

Emphasis is mine.

[davijordan]

The way I understand it is that Microsoft went in gestapo like to some russian schools and demanded payment for windows that had not been licensed, The school system decided that they did not want the hassle anymore, so they decided to completely get rid of ms.

[allix]

Lets not forget Microsoft being a American company with a lot of US government support must of added to the decision.
What with the US defence plans in some Eastern European countries pissing Russia of..

[Tsuroerusu]

Lets not forget Microsoft being a American company with a lot of US government support must of added to the decision.

I seriously doubt it, because if that was the case, why did they not switch earlier? Why did they wait until Microsoft went all stalinist on licensing! The argument of Microsoft being American and Windows being closed (Off limits for security audits) is moot because if it was a concern they would never have used Windows in the first place.

What with the US defence plans in some Eastern European countries pissing Russia of..

Everything that has to do with civil liberties pisses Russia off, so I'd take that one with a grain of salt.

[davijordan]

Like the old days with the "space race", we need to convince the U.S. Congress that we are behind in the "technology race" and to catch up we need to mandate linux in schools here also!

[snarkout]

I'd be a lot more interested in repairing what's broken with our badly decaying education system than forcing any particular OS down the throats of the kids. I'm not Creskin, but I'm pretty much calling bullshit on this whole thing - it smells like a stunt to get MS off their backs or force MS to reassess their price policy.

[davijordan]

You are absolute right! I was just being tongue in cheek. Having worked in the community college setting for almost twenty years, I have great respect for the fine teachers. I have seen how real teachers get caught between the non-teaching administration goals and what is important to get students educated. What really irks me is that all the sports figures get paid so much for their spoiled brat attitudes and teachers who are the future of this country get treated like crap with with low salaries and sometimes unsafe working conditions. And then we can not understand why the U.S can not compete in the world. prima facie case for change.