[ Thanks to Amy
Bennett for this link. ]
“Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin [cq] has ordered
government agencies there to open-source software by 2015,
according to translated documents.“Putin’s order, signed this month, follows news reports from
October saying the Russian government was planning to drop
Microsoft products in favor of a national open-source operating
system based on Linux.“The transition to open-source, or free, software will begin in
the second quarter of 2011, with the Ministry of Communications
examining what base software packages are needed for government
agencies, according to the documents. During the same quarter, the
ministry and other agencies will develop proposals for user support
centers and for mechanisms to support software developers, the
documents said.”