Russia Mandates Free Software For Public Schools
Slashdot quotes Cnews.ru where the Russian government mandates free
software in public schools:
After running some successful pilots, the Russian government has decided
to make open source the standard for all schools. If a school doesn't
want to use the free software supplied by the government, it has to buy
commercial licenses using its own funds[1][2][3].
Several hundred schools in three regions was piloting Linux this year,
first reported April 2008[4]. The pilot went ahead faster than scheduled,
and more regions joined. The schools are using a light weight version of
Alt Linux made for education with Xfce Windows Manager and several KDE
Edu and Gnome applications.
Russia's Vice Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has repeatedly stated that
the development of a Russian freeware package was one of the pivotal
challenges, which should be met in order to guarantee the nation’s
information security. According to Medvedev, by 2010, Russia should have
an own open source operating system as well as a comprehensive set of
applications, which will enable the effective operation of Russia's
government agencies and state-financed organizations.[5]
Sources:
1. http://spo.cnews.ru/news/line/index.shtml?2008/10/22/324234
2. http://news.slashdot.org/news/08/10/23/1627250.shtml
3. http://www.computerworlduk.com/toolbox/open-
source/blogs/index.cfm?entryid=1423&blogid=14
4. http://robertogaloppini.net/2008/06/30/the-russian-schools-linux-
pilot-goes-nationwide/
5. http://www.armadaitgroup.com/en/press/index.php?id21=100909
Best regards
Knut Yrvin
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Relation manager Skolelinux
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