I’ve written before about Russia’s ambitious plan to install free software throughout its education system. Worrying news suggests that things are not going smoothly:

????????? ?? ??????? ???????? ??????? ??????????? ? ????????? ? ?????????? ? ?????????? ????? ?????????? ???????????? ??????????? (???). ? ???????? ?? ???? ? ???? ????????? ????? IT-???????? “??????” ??????? ????????, ??????? ???????, ??? ????????? ???????? Linux ? ????? ????????? ??? ??????? ?????.

[Via Google Translate: President Dmitry Medvedev instructed to deal with the situation with supplies in Russia's school of free software (ACT). The request for this approached by the head of IT-companies "Armada" Alexei Kuzovkin, who believes that the program supplies Linux to schools is in jeopardy.]

Part of the problem is money:

? 2009 ???? ????????????? ?????????? ??? ?? ???? ?????? ??????, ? ? 1 ?????? 2011 ???? — ?????????? ?? ??????? ????????????? ?? ??? ???? ?? ???? ???????????? ???????. ?? ? ?????? ???? ?????????????? ??????? ???? ??????? ? ??? ????, ????????? ? ?????? “??????”, ? ??????? ?? ????????? ??? ?? ??? ????? ?? ??? ??? ?? ????????. 13 ???? ???????????? ??????????? ? ????? ??????? ??????? ? ??????? ????? ?? ??????? 2009 ???? ?? ??? ????. ? ?????? “??????” ?????????, ??? ??? “????????? ???????? ? ??????? ????? ??????? ? ?????????? ???????? ??????????????? ????? ????????????”.

[In 2009, planned to be installed in all ACT schools across the country, and from January 1st 2011 - refuse to purchase commercial software for schools at the expense of the federal budget. But from the beginning of the year funding for the project was pared down to three times, the letter says "Armada", a competition for the introduction of ACT in all the schools have not yet been announced. July 13 The Ministry of Education and Science has decided on the topic of the project in 2009 to three lot. The letter "Armada" states that it "will inevitably lead to failure of the project as a result of spreading responsibility among the performers.]

Another factor seems to be problems with the free software discs that were sent out:

?? ???? ???????? ??????? ? ??? ? ???? ???? ?? ?????? (???????? IBS), ?????????? ???? ?? ?????????? ?????: “?????? ????? ??? ????????, ?? ? ????????, ??????? ???????? ??? ?????? ?? ?? ?????”. ??????? ????? ?? ???????? ?? ???? ?? ????????, ??????? ???????? ?? “?????” ??????? ????????. ?? ?? ??????, ?????? ????? ?????????? ????? ????? ??????????? ????? ?????????? ??????????? ?????, ?????? ???????? ? ?????????, ? ? ???? ? ?????????????? ??? ??????????? ???? ????????. ????? ????, ?????? ?????, ???????? ??????? ?? ?????????? ???????????? ???????, ?? ?????? ???? ?? ??????????? ?????. “?????????? ????? ???????? ??????????? ?? ???????????? ????????, ??????????? ?? ??????? ???????? ? Windows. ???????, ? ??????????? ?????????? ??? ??? ??? ????? ????? ? ???? ??????? ??????? ??????? ?? Microsoft, ?? ???? ? ???????? ??? ?????????. ???, ?? Linux ?????????? ????? ????? 1% ???????????????? ??, ?? ???? ?????? ???-???? ????? ???????????, ??????? Windows”,— ????????? ??????? ????????.

[But the experience of sending packets from the ACT this year was a failure (served IBS), recalls one of the market participants: "This package was sent, but with errors that occurred when recording to disk. Quick refusal to pay software is hardly possible, says analyst IK "Finam" Tatiana Menkova. In her opinion, first of all students will need an adequate amount of different software applications, with simple and understandable, and with that the producers ACT traditionally have problems. In addition, most likely have to pay for upgrading the operating system update for the same application software. "Quite a number of resources needed for retraining of teachers, most of whom are accustomed to Windows. Of course, in future years it will still be many times cheaper to purchase solutions from Microsoft, but there are costs to the economy. So, on Linux there are only about 1% custom operating system, that is, the country still in need of professionals who are familiar with Windows ", - points Tatiana Menkova.]

Finally, Microsoft has been up to its old tricks of offering special deals for its software: $30 per computer (it’s not clear whether that’s just for Windows XP, or includes Microsoft Office too):

???????? ?? ???????? ????????????? ???????????? ??????????? ? ????? ? ??????? 2007-2009 ????? ??????? ????????? ?????????? “??????????”. ??????? ?????????????? ??? ??????? ??-17 ???????????? ???????? ? 60 ???. ?????????? ???? (650-700 ???. ???????????) ?????? ????????????? ?? ? 2007-2009 ?????. ? ????? ?????: ?? Windows XP, Microsoft Office, ??????? Abbyy Lingvo 12, ???????????? ?? Kaspersky Work Space Security, Adobe Photoshop CS3 ? ??????. ???????? ? ?????????????? ?????, ??? Microsoft ??????????? ????????????? ?? Windows ?? ???? ?? ???????? ?? $20 ??? (????? $30 ?? ?????????).

[The contract for the supply of licensed software in schools during 2007-2009 was the system integrator "Compulink". Competition Rosobrazovanie numbered NP-17 meant the supply of 60 thousand Russian schools (650-700 thousand computers) license software package in 2007-2009. The package includes: operating system Windows XP, Microsoft Office, dictionary Abbyy Lingvo 12, anti-virus software Kaspersky Work Space Security, Adobe Photoshop CS3 and more. A source at the Federal Agency of Education knows that Microsoft has agreed to license the Windows on all PCs for about $ 20 million (about $ 30 per computer).]

So has free software lost its big chance to form the minds of a generation? And has Russia condemned itself to years more dependence on Microsoft’s products? Stay tuned for further instalments of this exciting Russian epic…

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