Prime Minister Putin Wants Russian Government On Open Source Programs By 2015

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Is Russian Prime Minister Putin a trend setter when it comes to government computer programs? Putin has ordered that his government must abandon its Microsoft based programs and adopt a Linux based program by 2015. This national open sourced network would be a first for a country the size and scope of Russia.

While the country has five years to complete the transition, they will begin in the second quarter of 2011 with the Ministry of Communications examining what sort of open sourced programs they will need for the government offices. At the same time the government will begin to asses the kind of equipment they use and decide whether upgrades will be needed to accommodate the change.

While Open Source advocates have been pushing for the Russian government to make this change for several years, this is the first time they have had the backing of Putin. It is estimated that nearly 70 percent of the software Russia used in 2009 was pirated.