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IBM Opens A Linux Training Center In Russia
prostoalex writes "IBM and Russian Ministry of Communications announced the opening of the first Linux Competency Center in Moscow. Representative of the goverment was quoted saying that such a center will help 'create a Linux ecosystem enabling Russian hi-tech companies to expand into global markets faster. IT solutions based on Linux and open standards will open up great opportunities to businesses in Russia.' This news piece in Russian also quotes Russian government official planning to expand the Linux initiative into provincial cities as well, if the center in Moscow turns out to be a viable idea."
Ya lyublyu Microsoft Windows.
...no, no, I won't. Millions after me will, though.
I see this as a good thing. Open source will definitely help give some countries a good advantage into getting on a competitive tech level with the rest of the world. Of course, if enough non-America nations wind up embracing Linux as their sort of official operating system, we could have a situation like the English units/metric units thing... but maybe I'm looking too far ahead. Or maybe I'm just being stupid.
"Why Subscribe?" Good question...
Ballmer just got the Microsoft private jet out, and is on his way to sell the Russians Windows XP and Office at a GREATLY reduced price ;)
"Hey! Unless this is a nude love-in, get the hell off my property!!"
IBM trains you
Thus causing U.S. companies to export even more IT jobs from the U.S.
These are great news.
Just a year or so Russian Ministry of Education approved a deal to Microsoft, not to local educational system developers. It was a normal case with a rumors of bribery wich usually turns out to be true.
Today we see that technological superiourity and the development model of Linux opens the doors even in Russian political system.
I am happy for Russia, and you know, we have a lot of smart people who will contribute back to Linux soon.
...a stunned silence fell upon the hall.
... Subject says all.
http://saveie6.com/
English is great. European languages... okay. But how many friggen users can read Russian? You expect us to believe that Soviet Russia actually reads the trolls?
Geez.
Imagine Selvestre Stallone promoting this new center for IBM:
Rocky: Yo, Adrian! Check this out! ADRIAAAAAN!
Adrian: I CAN'T DO IT ANYMORE, ROCKY! Windows has hidden it's network configuration from me and put it in another place where I can't find it! IT'S JUST TOO MUCH!
Rocky: Yo Adrian, I was just doing some pull-ups on this tree branch out in the middle of nowhere, with two-foot logs tied to my shins, and I saw IBM opening a Linux Competency Center over there! Yo!
Suddenly, Mr. T appears out of nowhere
Mr. T: I PITTY THA FOOL DAT RUNS MICROSOFT IN RUSSIA!
Oh wow... It really is Saturday. I'm spending way too much time trying to be funny.
It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
somehow I don't see the USSR running anything out of Digital or AT&T... They probably developed their own operating systems and hardware... does anyone know what this was or weather it was developed after the fall of the Soviets?
Buttsex.
150+ mln. people in the world understand Russian, guess how many among them read and post to slashdot?
Uchitesj ponimat i lubit russkii yazyk, yazuk velikih uchenyh i khudozhnikov!
...a stunned silence fell upon the hall.
Linux training centers open IBM!
One is a huge, slow-moving, ultra-conservative, monolithic bureauocracy which has recently been forced by circumstance to open up to unconveltional methods ...
and the other is Russia.
=brian
There is still a supported working PT-DOS, developed in my University for govermental and military use (even for sattelite systems).
...a stunned silence fell upon the hall.
Damn thats a lot of rubles isn't it...
Well, pay up you commies, or else switch to XP
Excellent news. Way to go IBM!
Say Nyet, say Nyet...to .NET!
News that IBM is opening a Linux Competency Center in Russia comes a day before Moody's Investors Service upgrades Russia's foreign debt to investment grade, according to "Russia Earns Investment-Grade Status". These developments are wonderful news for Russia and the West.
Russia certainly has many flaws: there are signs that civil rights are being abridged in Russia under the Putin government. However, Russia is far ahead of China in human rights, civil rights, and basic decency. Consider the recent atrocity described in "China Detains Health Official for Publicizing AIDS Coverup". The Chinese arrested (and possibly tortured) a person for revealing that Chinese officials had attempted to sell AIDS-tainted blood products to Americans in the USA.
It is a no-brainer as to which country deserves American support. American companies should bypass China and put all their investments into Russia and Eastern Europe. American consumers can encourage the American companies to do so by boycotting any product or service that is "Made in China" (which includes "Made in Hong Kong" or "Made in Taiwan"). Furthermore, we should pull our money out of mutual funds that invest in any company located in China (which includes Hong Kong and Taiwan).
It is imperative (for the preservation of Western society) that Russia outperforms China economically. The Russian value system shares much more in common with the American value system than the Chinese value system.
Russia my friend is one fuckin huge peice of real estate.
This is the best I can make of it:
... will include Intel-architecture IBM eServer xSeries, high-performance Linux clusters, data storage systems. Use of the full specter of IBM software for linux, including WebSphere, DB2, Lotus, Tivoli and Rational, is expected.
The Ministry Of Communications will promote Linux.
Yesterday, the Ministry of communications and information of Russian Federation and IBM corporation have signed an agreement about the creation of a Linux competency center in Moscow. Among its tasks will be not only support of governmental institutions in using Linux, but also testing and porting of applications based on open source. Up to 60 people (including foreign specialists from IBM) will be employed at the center, which will open in 2004.
(snipplets follow, translating the whole thing will take too long):
-The center will be located on the territory of a university, and students will also take part in its work.
-The federal government already has limited experience in using IBM technologies
-"Our task now becomes usage of open source programs in making current and future systems in the government work as a whole" (A. Korotkov)
-Experience shows that, in other governments, open source software may constitute 30% of [all software]. Our country is far behind that, and it's unlikely that usage of standard software, such that [software products by] Microsoft, can be left behind completely due to the aggressive promotion by the manufacturers.
-"Open source programs aren't completely free, and I cannot say how much we will have to pay for the center"
-The resources
-The first meeting [between the sides] occured back in september 2002.
-Once the center [is fully operational, tested, etc], similar centers may be deployed in other cities.
-"This will save tremendous amounts of money for the budget, and this is just the beginning" (minister of communications)
Pardon any awkwardness in the language, it's hard to translate on the fly.
Pora uze, tvoiu-to matj, umom Rossiu ponimajt!
A lozung "Mozhno tolko veritj" nadolgo sleduet poheritj!!!
...a stunned silence fell upon the hall.
In Soviet Russia...nah, too easy.
For the broader public I am translating the news into English. At the moment of posting I am still in the process, but hope to put it in a readable form soon. The first snapshot is already available there (produced by Babelfish)
...a stunned silence fell upon the hall.
We have several Linux user groups here
and the penetration is very high - for instance every businness here in russia uses linux for sure... bc it saves bucks and opens up some deals.
Generally linux prevails here (i live in siberia)... Every government entity won't buy microsoft snake oil but hire competent sysadmins/developers to support some apps.
So the support is very strong here.
- Arwen, I'm your father, Agent Smith.
- Well, you're just Smith, but my father is Aerosmith!
Pardon my ignorance, but is the Russian government so unstable that its members can't even be named in a press statement? That is, do we not expect this guy to be in office next week, or what...?
Emacs: for people who just never know when to
I will post an accurate translation of that article in about 5 mins as a reply to this post. Start counting!
Cover your eyes and click this link!
Great news but will it make any difference? Linux is seen as a "cheap" alternative to Microsoft in the West, but when you can purchase virtually ANY piece of software for 2$ at any corner store, why would people want to switch/learn about Linux? Those who want already do know what Linux is.
By the way, how come no one has ever discussed OwL Linux here -- a security-enhanced operating system made in Russia. It is worth a mention.
One of the VA Software SourceForge developers is based in the Ukraine. Just an excellent engineer. We only met him for the first time a few months ago -- he's been with the team for over two years. Shows what can be done using SourceForge for distributed development. It's great to see staff in the Ukraine, US and Japan all working together on new development and bug fixing.
Rich people are eccentric. Poor people are strange. Me, I'd be happy with odd.
There's a really interesting org called the Long Bets Foundation which takes bets that won't be resolved for many years. One for the first was Esther Dyson's for ten grand:
"By 2012, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times will have referred to Russia as "the world leader in software development" or words to that effect."
It will be interesting to see if the world looks back in nine years at this event and sees it as a turning point.
Such a price the gods exact for song: to become what we sing - Pythagoras
IBM has signed an agreement with Russia's Department of Communications as part of an effort to increase the use of Linux within Russia's government. A "Linux Computer Center" will be created in Moscow that will hire up to sixty people (including IBM's own specialists) by early 2004. It's purpose will not only be to encourage government organizations to use Linux--the employees will also spend time testing the operating system source code and porting applications to this platform.
The Center's location will be an important asset. The Center will be constructed as an additional building on a Russian university campus, thus offering active participation and employment to students as well as members of the DOC and IBM.
There are many important things the Center staff will have to do. Two are to translate and localize the operating system to the Russian language, and to train government employees on Linux operation. But an important goal of the organization is to push forward a "Digital Russia".
According to Andrew Korotkov, organizations of the federal government already contain examples of using IBM technology to for solutions. "We will switch our current computer systems to Linux and use Linux solutions on our future computers. Our goal is to put all branches of the federal government on a large-scale open source solution, united as one."
It will be hard to switch to open source completely, as closed source applications, from companies like Microsoft, might be required for some tasks. However, the hope and drive remains exactly that.~
Translated by Integer
Cover your eyes and click this link!
look here for a full translation
...a stunned silence fell upon the hall.
...nothing is enough for them!
First, they conquered 10% of our territory during WWII, as they wouldn't have had enough already. Now, they're hijacking our uni department, too!
Couldn't they just go and download some MS stuff from KaZaa?
“Wait for Hurd if you want something real” –Linus
IBM has a major presence in Austin -- and one of the things they've been able to use as a (quite lucerative) bargaining chip with potential customers is use of their local labs to port our software (which already runs on Linux) to their big-iron hardware (or to AIX).
I'm curious whether their Russian "Linux Competency Center" will also have an AIX box or two available -- basically, I'd be unsuprised if this is something completely new for them as opposed to having similar facilities elsewhere.
Yet another opportunity for labor outsourcing. Woohoo.
Hey, maybe we can make up for it with the increase in bread-line-serving jobs that will inevitably be needed as the unemployed of America become the poor, homeless, and starving of America.
Personally, I think Russia is a far better place to encourage technology than China. Russians are nice people, and their government is slowly but surely becoming more reasonable as the years go on. The Chinese government, on the other hand, doesn't really like the US and is only trading (er, dumping their goods) with us just so they can raise the money needed to build up their military. China will never allow US companies to penetrate their markets or make any money there...
The United States and Russia have the potential to be great trading partners, in stark contrast to the mortal enemies we were a few decades ago. China on the other hand, is in a relationship of convenience (for them), and as soon as they've drained the US dry, they'll become a far larger problem and threat to the US than Russia ever was...
We should not encourage (or even allow, I say) technology transfers to China (of course, Clinton sold us down the river by giving all sorts of secrets to the Chinese, so the damage may have already been done).
In Soviet Russia
This is the best it can make of me!:
The Linux will promote Ministry Of Communications!
Yesterday, the creation of a Linux competency center in Moscow have signed an agreement about the Ministry of communications and information of Russian Federation and IBM corporation! Among its tasks will be not only support of Linux in using governmental institutions, but also testing and porting of applications based on open source! The centerwill be employed at up to 60 people (including foreign specialists from IBM) , which will open in 2004!
etc....
Great! Now all of the exploits and worms written by our overseas friends can be for other operating systems besides Windows.
Will they be rounding up capatalist^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^HMicrosoft sympathizers and shipping them off to Syberia?
--
Watch out Red Hat
use of Linux. This becomes a completely different story then.
...a stunned silence fell upon the hall.
Bung.
... learn how to design desktop OS'ses well there in US. (should I remind you where the Linux comes from?)
In Soivet Russia, we use communal software!
see subject.
"Russians are nice people"
And the Chinese aren't? You should know of course, having personally met over 50% of all Chinese and Russian citizens (isn't that around 600 million people?). I doubt that you ever met a single native Russian or Chinese person.
"their government is slowly but surely becoming more reasonable as the years go on"
After Putin came into power the government's grip on the "independent" TV and print media has clearly tightened. And of course there is Chechnya, but that is a different debate...
"The Chinese government, on the other hand, doesn't really like the US and is only trading (er, dumping their goods) with us just so they can raise the money needed to build up their military. China will never allow US companies to penetrate their markets or make any money there..."
This couple of sentences is just bizarre... Do you have any support for any of your statements? And when's the last time you've looked at the "MADE IN..." message on something you've bought in America?
"The United States and Russia have the potential to be great trading partners"
Why? You have given no valid reasons.
"China on the other hand, is in a relationship of convenience (for them), and as soon as they've drained the US dry, they'll become a far larger problem and threat to the US than Russia ever was..."
Draining the U.S. dry... I suppose the U.S. is just giving China stuff for free? And that the U.S. has no other sources of revenue besides trade with China?
"We should not encourage (or even allow, I say) technology transfers to China (of course, Clinton sold us down the river by giving all sorts of secrets to the Chinese, so the damage may have already been done)."
Off topic tangent. And what have you been smoking?
If your post is not intended to be a troll, then please, before you make such strong opinions, use something other than American movies and computer games plots as your sources of information.
Yob t'voyu mat.
You'll have to forgive any and all errors in this. I'm in Boston and the Sox just lost again. We're all drowning our sorrows in town, but I saw this and thought I should translate it.
MiniComm Will Promote Linux
Yesterday, the Communication and Informations Ministry of the Russian Federation and IBM signed an agreement for the creation of a Linux competency center in Moscow. Therein, the plan is not only the support of governmental organizations in using Linux, but testing and porting based on open-source code. Up to 60 people will work at the center starting in 2004, including foreign IBM specialists.
The agreement of intent signed in the company of journalists by the acting premier minister of communication and information, Andrej Korotkov, and the vice-president of corporate strategy for IBM, Mrs. Val Rahmani, makes provisions for the creation of the center and the joint work of IBM, MiniComm, and Moscow Technological University of Communication and Information. The center will be built on the territory of the university, and the work there will be undertook not only by MiniComm and IBM specialists, but by students as well. Apart from the education of working with Linux, adaptation and localization of different programs, the center will fulfill another important task: the promotion of "Electronic Russia." As stated Andrej Korotkov, in there are already examples of the use of IBM technology in the federal organs of government, for instance in Tatarstan. "Our task now becomes, using open-source programs, making already-existing and future systems in the government organs work together as one whole," said Mr. Korotkov.
The experiment will show that in other governments, open-source programs can take up to 30% from the total programming outlay in the government. Our country is still far from that, and it is hardly likely that it is possible to get away from the use of a standard program, for instance Microsoft, completely during such active politicking of its promotion from the side of the creators / authors. However, hope exists on the widening of the use of Linux as an program unto itself; just as in MiniComm the intention to do this has been set off, including the "Electronic Russia" initiative. Thus, considers Andrej Korotkov, "if in two years within the confines of the russian government the use of [Linux] will be up to 30%, that will be very good." The Linux Competency Center will be open for the stimulation of growth of applications and solutions, the provision of support, consultation, education of Linux technology, promotion of Linux products and a feasible localization of solutions on the platform. Therein, says IBM says it's ready to offer access to resources of the center and it's partners who can test on it's platform and solutions on a Linux platform or on another open-source program. Also, IBM is ready to work with independent russian developers of such programs.
Andrej Korotkov declined to offer even a rough number as to the amount MiniComm will put into the Center. "Open-Source Programs aren't free themselves, and I can't say how much we're going to have to spend on the Center," said Mr. Korotkov. A general count of the personnel of the center should number 50 to 60 people, however that number should possibly change in connection with the beginnings and ends of projects.
The use of technology provided by the russian office of IBM in the Competency Center. Although the list is concrete, the equipment is not yet guaranteed. It is already clear that the resources which will be found in the center will include various server systems, including the IBM family of Intel-based servers, eServer xSeries, high-performance Linux clusters, and data storage systems. It is planned that in the Center, the entire spectrum of IBM's Linux-based programs, including the WebSphere, DB2, Lotus, Tivoli, and Rational families, providing for the creation of complete, integrated, safe solutions. IBM will also provide access between the Center's workers and those in
Most Russian live in Europe, therefore Russian is a European Language.
Siberia is in Asia but is not really Russia,only a Russian colony.
The British, the Spanish and the French conquered colonies overseas, the Russians conquered their own backyard, Siberia. Anyways most Russians dont live in Siberia but west of the Ural Mountains, in Europe. Nobody says that English is not a European language becuase is spoken in its former colonies, India, USA, etc. Why do you think this about Russian?
Unlike other European empires Russia did nor lose their colonies.
BTW I am not Russian, but Hungarian.(Hungarian is also a European language, because Hungary is in Europe)
The best way for Americans, at a personal level, to deal with the Chinese is to boycott all products made in China (which includes Hong Kong and Taiwan). Further, avoid putting money into any mutual fund that invests in companies based in China (which includes Hong Kong and Taiwan).
Like we aren't already called linux commies enough already....
.ru?
Seriously though, this is the march of globilization, but I wonder if this will cause more outsourcing and more cracking coming for
Russia attacks Chechnya because they want to help the US, Bin Laden hides there!
Bill Nye the science guy said that on public television last Friday.
Did he report on Bin Laden research in nuclear physics?
Sure Bin Laden is building an H-bomb in Chechnyan caves.
That really, really shouldn't include "Made in Taiwan." Despite what the PRC's government may want you to believe, Taiwan IS a seperate, democratic country.
--Greg
any top student will have to keep his head down since the retarded materialistic russian mob will want him to extort someone somewhere.....guess those fools never saw "outer limits"....the one where some poor sap from the past who stole gold at great expense then went to the future and found it meaning less.....dumb ass materialistic criminal fools.
It is sick and disgusting. (reference: "Reality of Taiwan") The USA should immediately stop selling weapons to China.
As far as I know Sun has MUCH stronger market presence there than IBM. Why? Because their hardware is cheaper. The main purpose of IBM coming to this market is to push their hardware there (and then services when buyers discover what kind of poorly-cobbled-together crap they've bought). In Russia this is a hard thing to do, there are not that many companies with multimillion dollar IT budgets. Some can afford Sun servers and workstations, and virtually nobody can afford ultra-expensive IBM mainframes. Also, there is a great shortage of UNIX/Linux specialists. In a situation when you can buy the latest release of Windows (or, say, Photoshop or Visual Studio or whatever) for a couple of bucks Linux being free doesn't sound as compelling.
are we gonna have to call it Cyberia from now on? (which, I've just noticed sounds like the title for a Neal Stephenson novel)
As an American living in Russia, let me tell you about the linux scoop:
there is practically no linux here. why? because MS is free, or practically free.
I can run down to the metro station and pick up MS winxp, MS office for 2 bucks a pop (licenses included).
Games and DVD's are no different, and they have all the latest stuff.
it's quite common when purchasing commerical software that the 'crack' resides on the same CD as the software.
Games are just the same
Russia has a beyond serious pirating problem (I'm sort of not complaining, I was tired of paying $50 per game in the US).
If a business has an option to run on linux for free or windows for free, they would probably choose windows, and that's what they do here.
I would love to see some member of the SPA or MS come here and try to do an company audit on any of the businesses here. i guarantee you these people would be left crawling out of the building with broken legs.
I've been a linux consultant and my business has been running since 1999, and in the States we're doing pretty good. I thought it would be easy to do some consulting here in Russia.
are you kidding? the only consulting I've been doing here is for a company in Sweden...
because internet costs here by the megabyte (usually between 3 and 6 cents per meg), i've written an accounting and billing application (iptables, php, mysql) that counts packets NAT'd behind the firewall for each machine. the whole thing runs on linux, and i'm finding more and more private underground networks that are more than willing to adopt linux to perform this function.
believe me, i'm trying like mad to get people interested in linux over here, but the fact that all MS products are practically free keeps getting in the way.
It's none of our friggin problem if your brain is so incompetent that it can only use one language. Poor sob.
Software is not supposed to be about how to work around a useability issue. - Ken Barber
Desktop is taken by MS. Contrary to other countries, there is no reason to switch to Linux to save money because Linux and WinXP costs the same - about $3. You can buy pirated XP and almost any Windows software and development tools for the same cost - about 100 rubels - everywhere. What works for Linux in eastern countries doesnt work in Russia.
Servers are taken by FreeBSD. Ask any russian sysadmin and you will hear that Linux sucks on server side. Almost all major ISPs and hosting companies are running *BSD.
There is some tuny amount of commercial Linux development coming from outsources projects, mainly in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
The unfortunate truth is that IBM opens this center to push IBM hardware not Linux in Russia. Russia has always been a Sun land and IBM realises this.
America is bad and our greatest enemy and
this is a great news as we will be able to narrow
the technology gap between us and them.
The next time our tanks and anti-aircraft missiles,
running stable and powerfull Linux OS
won't be as easy target for US Army as in the
Iraq's war! As Lenin said - capitalists will
give us the rope we will hang them on !
Not mentioning that outsourcing many jobs
from the US to Russia is bad for them and
good for us!
Ya njipini mai
Irene KHAAAAAAN!
A more appropriate description is:
"Redubyacans".
Thanks and have an Ashcroft-free day,
W00t
If you think this ibm move is bad for russians
then look of what ms does in romania
http://www.mcti.ro/mcti0.html?page=1610
18th of September - Strategic partnership between Romanian Government and Microsoft Corporation
Yesterday, 17th of September 2003, the Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Dan Nica, cosigned, at Rome, with Steve Ballmer, CEO Microsoft Corporation, a document that initiates a strategic partnership between the Romanian Government and Microsoft Corporation.
Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO, stated: On behalf of Microsoft I am very, very excited to have the opportunity to enter this agreement with the Government of Romania, we had a very strong relationship with the government for a number of years. I am amazed to see how they quick progressed, their ambition and impressive work is being done by the Romanian government, bringing itself online, using the Internet and the electronic techniques to save money for the people of Romania and to really be on a worldwide level, leading as user of information technology. We certainly appreciate the high caliber, talent in the Romanian market, in mathematics, in computers. Microsoft recently acquired a Romanian company, one of the best in the world, the best in the world, we think, in security technology and it's exciting to have the chance to really help and support Minister Nica, to continue to improve our relations with Romania."
The partnership will run for three years, with possibility of renewal, and has as object the support provided to the Government in reaching its strategic purposes, with a view to creating an Information Society and the support for the development of the IT sector in order to enable Romania to become an European leader in software development. Also, the partnership creates conditions for concluding a framework-agreement of license between the Government and Microsoft. In order to unfold the strategic partnership, the Government and Microsoft will form a special team, which will be established by the end of October this year.
The agreement also includes the possibility for Microsoft to provide experts from its local or regional branches, in IT projects, and to support the development of the activity and capacities in this sector. In addition, the company could run IT training courses for the public administration personnel involved in complex projects and work out an adequate curriculum for training centers. The agreement also includes the possibility to launch a specific educational program and to continue the Academic Program initiative, which will develop the entrepreneurial skills of the students.
developer http://flamerobin.org
I was just able to image all of that like it would be in the movie and it made me laugh for a sec.
I for one welcome our Soviet Russian Linux-using overlords who are about to have their license revoked by SCO's GNAA/Trollkore squad, while chanting about the death of BSD and explaining their illogical three-step business plans!
This is not part of my post. It's my signature. I bet you're disappointed.
Why do I get the feeling that the posts about $2 MS products in Russia are being made by MS representatives?
Is it possible that MS actually wants piracy to be widespread in economically underdeveloped nations in order to compete with free alternatives? Am I just being paranoid?
The main reason that I ask is that I keep seeing all of these posts about how Linux isn't used much in Russia because MS is $2 on the corner (always $2). But, everyone I know in Russia uses Linux and there is a ton of OSS activity there with many many OSS contributors.
So what's the scoop? The people posting here that nobody uses Linux because MS is $2... Where do these people get their info? Is there a different part of Russia that is all MS?
It is your personal duty to fight for what is right on a daily basis. Ignoring injustice is identical to approving
Desktop is taken by MS. Contrary to other countries, there is no reason to switch to Linux to save money because Linux and WinXP costs the same - about $3. You can buy pirated XP and almost any Windows software and development tools for the same cost - about 100 rubels - everywhere. What works for Linux in eastern countries doesnt work in Russia.
I don't know what rock you are living under, but there is a very heavy Linux base in Russia... Just go google for Russian Linux sites if you want verification... I think you are just tossing around wishful thinking. It is hard for some of you MS fanatacs / zealots to stomache the idea that when MS software is also free, people and business still choose OSS. But that is the deal. It is about control and quality more than costs.
It is your personal duty to fight for what is right on a daily basis. Ignoring injustice is identical to approving
Too much FUD in this discussion about MS $2 CDs making OSS irrelevant. The truth from someone is Russia should be modded up.
Why do I get the feeling that the posts about $2 MS products in Russia are being made by MS representatives?
ack, have at you! i've never been so insulted...
The main reason that I ask is that I keep seeing all of these posts about how Linux isn't used much in Russia because MS is $2 on the corner (always $2).
ok, ok i'll be a bit more honest. i've seen winxp for between 60 and 120 roubles, which is between $2 and $4.
i've been living in Saint Petersburg now for 6 months. i haven't met a fellow linux geek, but i have met a ton of windows weenies. i've installed linux on a dozen computers, but i find that the users play with it for 2 or 3 days, then boot back up into winxp.
perhaps i should look into locating a Saint Pete users group here.