Russian schools move to Linux (BBC) {'Nyet' to Microsoftsky}

Schoolchildren in Russia are to be taught using the free, open-source Linux software in an effort to cut the cost of teaching information technology.

By 2009, all computers in Russian schools are to be run on Linux - which means they will not have to pay for a licence for software, such as Microsoft's Windows.

Alexey Smirnov, Director General of the Company ALTLinux, said that schools formerly tended to run illegal copies of Microsoft operating systems, but after Russia entered the WTO, the laws became much stricter and schools began to be prosecuted for doing so.

"The situation became rather serious, and something had to be done," he told BBC World Service's Digital Planet programme.
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more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7034828.stm

Read entire article and learn why. With Linux the knowledge you get from using it will make learning other applications easy and you are not locked into to a single 'computer mindset'.

1. It costs MUCH LESS to use than Microsoft software.
You can download a Linux distribution for free, which includes a plethora of useful software for word processing, web surfing, multimedia, etc. Download an open source program such as Open Office, also free, and you have a word processing program and spreadsheet program highly compatible with Microsoft Office. If you are into programming, there are various programming languages supplied with Linux or downloadable for free.

There are a number of distributions available for various purposes. These can be purchased on a DVD often as part of a book that explains how to get started. These books cost about $50.00. Either way you obtain a Linux distribution, you can put your copy on one computer, or 100 computers for the same price: zero cost for a free download or about $50.00 when purchased in DVD format with a book.

By the way, there are a number of free or low cost open source programs, such as Open Office, that can be downloaded to run under Windows on a PC. One copy can be put on one machine or a hundred for the same price.

2. Open Source software such as Linux is far more stable than Microsoft Windows or MS Office. Computers running Linux can run continuously for 24/7 without crashing or needing a reboot. Hard drives seldom need defragging. Checking a hard drive's integrity takes minutes instead of hours.

3. Whereas Microsoft software is susceptible to thousands of viruses and worms, there are only a relatively handful that can attack a Linux system. Linux is much more secure than Windows.

4. Open source software is constantly being improved and updated by the best programmers worldwide. Updates and patches are available every few months and are available for free. Since the programmers who write and maintain the code are also users, they have a vested interest in having it work properly. There are systems in place for bug reports, and somewhere there is someone familiar with the code who is going to work on fixing the bug as soon as possible.

5. Linux is not limited to Intel compatible hardware, as Windows is. There is a Linux distribution that will run on almost any hardware from Intel or AMD or Motorola to IBM mainframes. You can scale Linux to run on an old PC with 256 MB of ram or a 64-bit AMD processor with several gigabytes of ram. Microsoft requires you to buy faster hardware and more memory with every upgrade. Linux software will run circles around Windows even on older hardware.

6. Many programs for Linux can be configured to look and act like Windows programs, except without the bugs, crashes, and virus attacks.

09:10:00 up 214 days, 2:56, 1 user, load average: 0.00, 0.00, 0.00

Lovely *!* ;-)

stability and support... but I have used Linux and I am happy to see it deployed all over the world

I expect Winows, espeically after that dog called Vista, to actually loose market penetration

Meaning that stuff produced on a PC running Linux and also be read/used by a mac running Linux and vice versa.

(thou I still wish it has a Mac like interface tho)