Windows is expensive
The Ministry of Economic Development and Trade has criticized the program for supplying licensed software to schools, developed by the Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications. The Gref Office proposes to buy open source software - it will be cheaper for the state. But it will not be possible to transfer all schools to free software quickly - even the developers of such products admit it.
According to the Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications, over 650,000 computers are used in Russian schools, and 70% of them have pirated versions of the Windows operating system. In April 2007, the Minister of Information Technologies and Communications, Leonid Reiman, promised that by the beginning of the school year, all Russian schools would be provided with licensed software. The ministry agreed with a number of software vendors (Microsoft, Adobe Systems, Kaspersky Lab, Doctor Web, RarLab, Corel Draw) to supply their products to schools at a reduced price, proposing to allocate 3.8 billion from the federal budget for the entire licensing program. rub. In mid-April, the first deputy chairman of the government, Dmitry Medvedev, instructed the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Information Technologies, the Ministry of Economic Development (MEDT) and the Ministry of Education and Science to submit agreed proposals for the project within 10 days.
As it became known to Vedomosti, on April 28, the Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade Andrei Sharonov sent a letter to the Ministry of Finance, in which he spoke in favor of finalizing the program prepared by the Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications. “The measures proposed by the Ministry of Information Technologies <...> threaten the creation of a monopoly position of suppliers, primarily Microsoft, on the Russian market,” reads a copy of this letter, which is at the disposal of Vedomosti. In addition, the Ministry of Communications and Telecommunications violates the law “On placing orders for the supply of goods ...” by offering to purchase software from specific manufacturers without a tender, notes Sharonov. He himself is in favor of installing open source software on school computers: this will allow free replication of programs and stimulates the development of the Russian IT market.
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A spokeswoman for the ministry declined to comment on the letter. A source close to this ministry explains: the department is not against replacing pirated software installed on school computers with a licensed one. But in the future, he believes, the state needs to hold a new competition for the supply of programs for schools and give preference to open source software - in particular, operating systems (OS) such as Linux. One of the main requirements for school software, according to the Vedomosti source, is that it should work not only under Windows, but also under other OSs.
Tenders among software suppliers will be held, promises the official of the Ministry of Information and Communications. So far, this ministry has conducted only preliminary negotiations with software manufacturers in order to navigate the price level, he explains. Strategically, the Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications for the introduction of open source software in schools, but transferring all school PCs to it in a few months is impossible, the official said. “We planned to license Windows in schools by September 1, and we will start introducing open source software in parallel in the pilot region,” he says.
According to estimates of the Ministry of Information Technologies, Linux systems plus office software packages will cost 150 rubles to the state. on one PC per year, and the annual cost of purchasing and supporting Windows - 353 rubles. on one PC (including MS Office, MS Visual Studio and MS Front Page). But, having stopped the choice on Linux, the state will have to spend another 50 million rubles. the development of a separate version of the OS, taking into account the features of the educational process in Russian schools, warns the official of the Ministry. Most of the training programs do not work under OS of Linux type, according to the letter of the head of the Federal Agency for Education Alexei Karpov in the Ministry of Information Technologies (a copy is available to Vedomosti). Based on the calculations of the Ministry of Communications, the difference between the cost of packages based on Windows and Linux is about 130 million rubles. in year; Thus, the cost of developing a special version of Linux for Russian schools would have paid off in less than six months.
The representative of the Russian office of Microsoft did not comment on the situation, having sent a correspondent for Vedomosti to a recent official statement by the corporation. Then Microsoft expressed the hope that "the desire of the Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications of the Russian Federation <...> to install licensed software in all schools of the country by the beginning of the new school year will be positively assessed by the Russian government."
Technically and methodologically, Linux-based OS schools can be implemented now, says Alexey Smirnov, CEO of Alt Linux (which develops Linux-based systems). His company is ready to develop a special “school” kit Alt Linux Junior, which, in addition to the OS, will include a complete set of programs that meets the mandatory minimum of informatics teaching approved by the Ministry of Education. According to Smirnov, the large-scale introduction of Linux should begin as soon as possible, but “given the current realities.” For a soft switch to free software, he proposes to buy for schools only programs that work simultaneously under Linux and Windows, having installed both of these operating systems on all school computers. “It is unlikely that open source software can be seriously considered as an alternative to Windows / MS Office during mass delivery,” said Felix Muchnik, director general of software selling Softkey company. “Maintenance, technical support, and updating [open source software] are carried out by qualified specialists, and as a result, the cost of owning this product over a long period of time is comparable to the cost of owning paid software.”
FREE AND PAID
Open source software is free. Its manufacturers do not earn on the sale of licenses, but on the distribution of updates, technical support systems, etc. For free products include, for example, operating systems such as Linux. Microsoft, and many other software vendors, on the other hand, sell licenses to use each copy of their software products.
UPD
www.vedomosti.ru/newspaper/article.shtml?2007/05/07/125389
(corrected the link, indicated the source)
Thanks for the criticism stassia.habrahabr.ru
According to the Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications, over 650,000 computers are used in Russian schools, and 70% of them have pirated versions of the Windows operating system. In April 2007, the Minister of Information Technologies and Communications, Leonid Reiman, promised that by the beginning of the school year, all Russian schools would be provided with licensed software. The ministry agreed with a number of software vendors (Microsoft, Adobe Systems, Kaspersky Lab, Doctor Web, RarLab, Corel Draw) to supply their products to schools at a reduced price, proposing to allocate 3.8 billion from the federal budget for the entire licensing program. rub. In mid-April, the first deputy chairman of the government, Dmitry Medvedev, instructed the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Information Technologies, the Ministry of Economic Development (MEDT) and the Ministry of Education and Science to submit agreed proposals for the project within 10 days.
As it became known to Vedomosti, on April 28, the Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade Andrei Sharonov sent a letter to the Ministry of Finance, in which he spoke in favor of finalizing the program prepared by the Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications. “The measures proposed by the Ministry of Information Technologies <...> threaten the creation of a monopoly position of suppliers, primarily Microsoft, on the Russian market,” reads a copy of this letter, which is at the disposal of Vedomosti. In addition, the Ministry of Communications and Telecommunications violates the law “On placing orders for the supply of goods ...” by offering to purchase software from specific manufacturers without a tender, notes Sharonov. He himself is in favor of installing open source software on school computers: this will allow free replication of programs and stimulates the development of the Russian IT market.
')
A spokeswoman for the ministry declined to comment on the letter. A source close to this ministry explains: the department is not against replacing pirated software installed on school computers with a licensed one. But in the future, he believes, the state needs to hold a new competition for the supply of programs for schools and give preference to open source software - in particular, operating systems (OS) such as Linux. One of the main requirements for school software, according to the Vedomosti source, is that it should work not only under Windows, but also under other OSs.
Tenders among software suppliers will be held, promises the official of the Ministry of Information and Communications. So far, this ministry has conducted only preliminary negotiations with software manufacturers in order to navigate the price level, he explains. Strategically, the Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications for the introduction of open source software in schools, but transferring all school PCs to it in a few months is impossible, the official said. “We planned to license Windows in schools by September 1, and we will start introducing open source software in parallel in the pilot region,” he says.
According to estimates of the Ministry of Information Technologies, Linux systems plus office software packages will cost 150 rubles to the state. on one PC per year, and the annual cost of purchasing and supporting Windows - 353 rubles. on one PC (including MS Office, MS Visual Studio and MS Front Page). But, having stopped the choice on Linux, the state will have to spend another 50 million rubles. the development of a separate version of the OS, taking into account the features of the educational process in Russian schools, warns the official of the Ministry. Most of the training programs do not work under OS of Linux type, according to the letter of the head of the Federal Agency for Education Alexei Karpov in the Ministry of Information Technologies (a copy is available to Vedomosti). Based on the calculations of the Ministry of Communications, the difference between the cost of packages based on Windows and Linux is about 130 million rubles. in year; Thus, the cost of developing a special version of Linux for Russian schools would have paid off in less than six months.
The representative of the Russian office of Microsoft did not comment on the situation, having sent a correspondent for Vedomosti to a recent official statement by the corporation. Then Microsoft expressed the hope that "the desire of the Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications of the Russian Federation <...> to install licensed software in all schools of the country by the beginning of the new school year will be positively assessed by the Russian government."
Technically and methodologically, Linux-based OS schools can be implemented now, says Alexey Smirnov, CEO of Alt Linux (which develops Linux-based systems). His company is ready to develop a special “school” kit Alt Linux Junior, which, in addition to the OS, will include a complete set of programs that meets the mandatory minimum of informatics teaching approved by the Ministry of Education. According to Smirnov, the large-scale introduction of Linux should begin as soon as possible, but “given the current realities.” For a soft switch to free software, he proposes to buy for schools only programs that work simultaneously under Linux and Windows, having installed both of these operating systems on all school computers. “It is unlikely that open source software can be seriously considered as an alternative to Windows / MS Office during mass delivery,” said Felix Muchnik, director general of software selling Softkey company. “Maintenance, technical support, and updating [open source software] are carried out by qualified specialists, and as a result, the cost of owning this product over a long period of time is comparable to the cost of owning paid software.”
FREE AND PAID
Open source software is free. Its manufacturers do not earn on the sale of licenses, but on the distribution of updates, technical support systems, etc. For free products include, for example, operating systems such as Linux. Microsoft, and many other software vendors, on the other hand, sell licenses to use each copy of their software products.
UPD
www.vedomosti.ru/newspaper/article.shtml?2007/05/07/125389
(corrected the link, indicated the source)
Thanks for the criticism stassia.habrahabr.ru
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/8036/
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