Free software in educational institutions of Russia

2026: TAdviser podcast on the history of Linux in Russia

Alt Linux creators Alexei Smirnov and Alexey Novodvorsky in the TAdviser podcast talked about how the free software market was formed in Russia, what key stages it took place and what it represents in 2026.

Watch the podcast on VK Video or RuTube

2010: IDC School Cost of Use Study

IDC In February 2010, Microsoft offered for $8 to renew licenses for its software packages on each school computer, and software providers ask for about $6 for equipping a PC with an operating system only (the rest of the software is supplied free of charge), the IDC report says. Schools are cheaper to use licensed software than free software (SPO). This paradoxical conclusion was made by the research company IDC.

The IDC study (August 2010) was commissioned by the Center for Information Technologies and Educational Equipment of Moscow, which is part of the system of the city department of education. It turned out that using free software is 3.3% more expensive than licensed software. IDC-Russia analyst Viktor Tsygankov explains this by the cost of ownership structure different from the licensed software. SPO manufacturers, unlike licensed software developers, most often do not offer free support and personnel training. Microsoft President in RussiaNikolay Pryanishnikov says more than 100,000 teachers have been trained free of charge with the support of his company. There are not many specialists who could explain the basics of the SPO, and their services are expensive, Tsygankov believes. He did not specify how much more expensive it is to prepare teachers for an open source class than for a class with "closed" software.

It is inexpensive to train teachers to use SPO, says Alexei Smirnov, general director of the SPO Alt Linux developer. For example, over the past year, no more than 200 million rubles have been spent on this in Russia.

IDC measures software usage efficiency mainly for commercial companies, for which licensed software is often more efficient than software, says Alexander Chachava, President of Leta Group. But for the educational system, SPO is gradually becoming a standard: it is more difficult to master, but it better allows you to study a computer.

2009: Mass implementation of SPOs in schools

In 2009, it continued to join the project of unmanned educational institutions. The Software Development Kit (SDK), used to create Linux school distributions, was freely available.

In February, an expanded edition of the server distribution kit for educational institutions "School Server" was released.

In March, the number of unmanned schools that joined the SPO implementation project exceeded the number of pilot ones.

2008: Shkolny Linux, Pilots

In 2008, the implementation of the SPO package in schools in three pilot regions of Russia began: Perm Territory, the Republic of Tatarstan, Tomsk Region. Partner companies conducted installation workshops for schools and installation of the package on school PCs. In the pilot regions, a free support system was deployed.

Pilot testing was carried out in 12 schools of the Republic of Tatarstan, 12 schools of the Perm Territory and 10 schools of the Tomsk Region, as a result of the testing, the sets of SPO packages were finalized.

In the same year, the Federal Agency for Education issued a circular letter "On the use of PSPO for educational institutions of the Russian Federation" dated June 17, 2008 No. 15-51-450/01-09, in which it invites educational institutions from any region of the Russian Federation to take part in testing the SPO package. Applications for participation from different regions of Russia are received.

In July-August, the mass introduction of SPO in schools took place. As of August 31, its installation in pilot regions was completely completed.

In September, a new edition of the SPO package for schools was published.

2007: Launch of the project for the supply of SPOs to schools

In October 2007, the Chairman of the Government issued an order according to which the Ministry of Education and Science and the Ministry of Communications were ordered to purchase a license for 3 years for proprietary software for all schools and ensure the development and implementation of software programs in schools according to the list of programs included in the standard (basic) software package. This initiative was one of the first and main incentives for the development of the SPO market in Russia.

The purchase of three-year licenses for proprietary software was carried out in order to relieve the intensity of problems associated with pirated software, and during this time to qualitatively prepare the education system for the transition to open source software.

2.7 billion rubles were allocated from the federal budget for the purchase of software for 675,000 school computers. After the validity of the licenses of the proprietary software, each region had to decide whether to switch to the open source software or use the licensed software.

In November, the Federal Agency for Education held an open competition for the right to conclude a state contract to create a software package and pilot test it in educational institutions. According to the results of the competition, the contractor was RBC Center (Armada Group of Companies), and co-performers were leading domestic software developers (ALT Linux, Linux Ink, etc.).

Based on the requirements of the standard basic software obespeche­niya package, a software package was developed for the needs of educational institutions, which does not require royalties.

2006: The Ponosov Case

In November 2006, the prosecutor's office accused Alexander Ponosov, the former director of a rural school in the village of Sepych, Vereshchaginsky District, Perm Territory, of using unlicensed versions of Windows to teach children computer science. According to investigators, Ponosov deliberately used unlicensed versions of Windows and thereby caused material damage to the copyright holder - Microsoft - in the amount of 266 thousand rubles.

Ponosov claimed that Windows computers entered the school from the Capital Construction Department of the Perm Regional Administration with software already installed. The school principal also stated that he did not have a sufficient level of computer literacy to assess whether installed copies of operating systems were legal or not.

The case was the focus of many Russian officials and politicians who defended the teacher. In February 2007, the court closed the Ponosov case for the "insignificance" of the damage caused. In March 2007, a higher court overturned this decision and sent the case for a new trial, and in May the director of the village school was found guilty and sentenced to a fine of 5 thousand rubles. in favor of the state. In December 2008, he was fully acquitted by the decision of the Perm Regional Court.