Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Putin orders Russia to move to GNU/Linux

  • Original article here
  • Google translation of original article here
  • First commentary here
  • Discussion on slashdot here

Now, this is very good news indeed!  As far as I know, Russia is the last of the BRICS countries to take that decision (yes, I did put an 's' at BRICS since South Africa has now joined this group).  As far as I know, the first BRICS country to move to GNU/Linux was China which ordered all state organizations to make the move.  Brazil did something similar, but I am not sure about the details.  In the case of India, I remember that following a visit to India by Richard Stallman the Indian government also decided to favor a transition to GNU/Linux.  South Africa, the birthplace of Ubuntu GNU/Linux, has been using GNU/Linux for a while now, though I am not sure to what degree.  In the case of Russia, having a much more centralized regime than the rest of the BRICS with the exception of China, I expect that transition to be undertaken very fast.  In fact, according to Putin's decree, it should be completed by 2015.

Fantastic news indeed!

The Saker