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Linux To Be Installed In Every Russian School
J_Omega writes "According to an article from last week at the Russian IT site CNews, Linux is slated to be installed in every Russian school by 2009. The article makes it appear that it will be going by the (unimaginative) name 'Russian OS.' As stated in the article: 'The main aim of the given work is to reduce dependence on foreign commercial software and provide education institutions with the possibility to choose whether to pay for commercial items or to use the software, provided by the government.' Initial testing installations are supposed to begin next year in select districts. Is 2008/09 the year of Linux on the (Russian) desktop?"
The software will be called ALTLinux. It is the typical lack of the use of articles in Russian which seems to be confusing the submitter. If written by an English author, the article would have started "A Russian OS...".
Call me old fashioned, but I like a dump to be as memorable as it is devastating - Bender
Vendekapetz blisitsa!
(The end of Windows is getting closer!)
The primary source of code improvements is from enthusiasts, and from companies that understand the inherent advantages of building upon the FOSS software and the FOSS community. Both of these groups of people will operate in a lax-copyright regime much the same way they would elsewhere. Enthusiasts contribute to GPL projects not because of copyright law (or any other law) but because of a desire to be part of the process. Russian enthusiasts are no different than those from any other countries.
On the commercial end, I suppose it's less likely that a company leveraging the GPL will appear in a place where copyright law isn't enforced. But, on the other hand, many companies do business internationally, so being based in Russia may have little effect on their code contributions to GPL projects, or their desire to leverage FOSS code in general (and contribute to said code).
At the end of the day, from the "get more code" angle, having more people exposed to open-source software is always a good thing. The more people are involved, the more enthusiast coders you get, and the more community volunteers you get. Not to mention that when a large number of people are using FOSS software, companies will find it in their financial interest to support that software (in terms of hardware, software, and support), and even to support "the community." If Linux were truly widespread in Russia, I see no reason why companies wouldn't actively support FOSS with open-source code.
I think the importance of the penetration of Linux is overestimated. What is more important than the penetration of Linux, is the penetration of Open Source programs. We now have a few very succesfull Open Source programs that are useful for a lot of people: Firefox, Thunderbird, Gimp, OpenOffice, and, to a lesser extent, Inkscape. They run on the three main operating systems: OSX, Linux, And Windows. The use of programs like the OpenOffice et al. ensures the use of open standards for documents, pictures, etc, which in the long run is much more important than which operating system is prevalent.
-- Cheers!
IMO the biggest driver of Linux on the Desktop is Microsoft and this article is but one example.
Their combination of their recalcitrant anti-competitive behavior and anti-piracy lobbying prompts governments to seek alternatives, which drives wider Linux awareness as Linux is adopted by educational institutions. Their anti-piracy technologies essentially prevent many multi-computer households from upgrading making Linux as an alternative (for tech savy users) that much appealing. Their zeal to dominate every market forces other industry players towards supporting alternatives as a defensive measure, which means more applications and codecs.
Linux is otherwise technically competitive with Microsoft but certainly it is facing a significant market disadvantage due to Microsoft's entrenched position, and so Microsoft's actions are likely to have the most impact in combating that position.
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It wouldn't be helpful if a school-OS wasn't available for students to use at home. So I think the source will be distributed. If it comes with a localized version of Pidgin (or other IM software), it might even become a serious Windows rival.
For the perfect anti-Unix, write an OS that thinks it knows what you're doing better than you do and let it be wrong.
On the contrary, now we'll have a great comeback line.
"Open-source is just like communism."
"No, communism failed in Russia. Open-source is succeeding. No matter what open-source is, it's not *quite* as bad as communism."
As you'll surely assume from this rant I do not have children, but I do have a nephew. I also use Linux, F/OSS as well as Windows and commercial software. Let me say, that I realize that Linux and OSS doesn't necessarily mean free or cheap but usually it does cost less. I'm all for using Linux and OSS in education. I do not feel it is necessary to spend (waste) taxpayer money just because some people will rant that the children deserve the best in name-brand, expensive software for kids. If so, buy them whatever you wish for their home use, but every student does not need to be issued a laptop with Windows/Office installed on it with my money. Then they send out kids with coupon books, candy, etc. to raise more money. Linux/OSS/Freeware can teach kids to use a computer and allow them to get their homework done without spending as much taxpayer money. I'm all for it.
By giving you a system with a number of programming languages day one.
If you have not noticed, may I remind you that windows have degenerated into a consumer device totally unusable for any computer science education without spending a significant amount of money and effort to install extra software. As a result Windows based computer literacy has long degenerated into mouse driven "button pushing".
Linux ships with 4 high level computer languages useable out of the box in the base install - perl, python, C and C++. The rest are easily available as packages. As a result the environment to teach CS is already there. The likelihood that the kids will have at least some hacking skills is much higher as well.
Baker's Law: Misery no longer loves company. Nowadays it insists on it
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I think it's safe to say that women are completely capable of astonishing cruelty. Of course the above theory isn't necessarily horrible by US standards of living, but most Americans, women included, just don't give a sh*t. I think female generals, would take the position, based on their own inherent ability for waging war, just like female politicians are not hesitant to vote in favor of war. It's a crap-ass-sexist delusion that women are somehow more peaceful than men or are better at raising children than men. Women are often just as volatile, psychotic, predatory and cunning as men. History is full of examples that discredit your opinions. Oh, and btw, women use metaphors for fucking too, not that penetration doesn't have less perverted meanings.
Now for my history, I'm a single dad, my bosses, supervisors, and higher ups (at work), consist of 3 women and 1 man. I have no grudges against these women, nor do I think any of them are unqualified for their positions, but it is disproportionate. I work in a field where I constantly hear about women crying "sexism" (not where I work, thank god). And dating I hear about women that complain constantly about horrible men (bad fathers etc), but often, I miss relationships with women because they go out and FUCK the proverbial epitome of their stereotypical asshole boyfriends they always complain about. Now, I'm a good guy, with a good job, that cares about his kids, honestly looking for someone to settle down with. I've been single for four years largely because I'm not a piece of shit, so please take your condescending feminist bullshit to Myspace where you can post a bulletin and all your 20-something retarded girlfriends can sit around further distancing themselves from the men they really want to be with. Hope I don't come off too confrontational, but you must understand that I have a vested interest in finding women that are nothing fucking like you. Hateful baggage is not something any man wants to carry for you.
At the risk of sounding trollish, but people have been getting Windows at no additional cost for a long time, and when you get something for "free" it's hard to get them to start paying for it. Now there isn't much purpose in buying a new computer, for all practical purposes a 5 y. o. computer is just as good as a new one, not like the old days when a 5 yo. computer was slow, so microsoft is in trouble now, they just aren't selling product to the OEM computer vendors and so aren't sell windows.
Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
Once you become proficient in using Linux you are having a better understanding of OS and network internals than your Windows-using peers.
You're making it sound like most windows users are proficient in using Windows. Just because something is there doesn't mean that it's going to be used. In this case, just because the code is there for everyone doesn't mean that many of these students are going to dig around and play with the code. They're going to treat it just like they do when they use Windows.