National operating system

2017: Creation of national OS for Internet of Things

On October 10, 2017 it became known of creation in Russia of the national operating system for Internet of Things. According to market participants, such product can cost in the amount to 1.5 billion rubles.

About development of the platform at which structures of Internet of Things and the industrial Internet will work, the Kommersant newspaper with reference to the document developed by the working group led by Sberbank within the actions plan on cyber security for 2017-2024 according to the Digital Economy program reported.

Follows from materials that until the end of 2021 development of "the domestic free OS for use in all types of the cyberphysical systems exceeding foreign OS on keyword parameters of high-speed performance, security and fault tolerance" should be completed.

Responsible for implementation of this program made Minpromtorg, the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications and domestic car makers and software developers (who will represent two last, the edition did not specify).

By estimates of the head of IVK Grigory Sizonenko, the cost of creation of OS for Internet of Things taking into account use of the available practices can be about 200 million rubles, and in case of attraction of budgetary funds the price can grow to 1.5 billion rubles.

Should invest private companies as it is essential more effectively in development of the domestic operating system, than to select the state money for the state order, the CEO of BaseALT Alexey Smirnov says.

According to him, a considerable part of expenses should be connected not with the operating system, and with ensuring conveniences to developers of application programs who will transfer to it the solutions.

Such investments really create the market. And OS developers will finish the solutions — there will be enough internal resources — he adds.[1]

2015: IRI suggests the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications to develop OS by 2025

On October 5, 2015 it became known that in Russia the new project of own operating system is developed for the PC and mobile devices to which it is going to transfer all public institutions and the strategic enterprises.

According to Izvestia, on October 5, 2015 members of the supervisory board Institute of Development of the Internet (IDI) will provide to the head Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications To Nikolai Nikiforov and representatives Presidential Administration of the offer to the Program of development of the Internet in whom it is about development of national OS by 2025-2030.

"In the next three years, I hope that it will be possible to transfer to the domestic operating system municipalities, whom 22 thousand now. To transfer to it state agencies, it will be necessary to conduct a big research and examination", - the chairman of the board of IRI German Klimenko which will submit offers said ^[2].

According to the head of SoftKey online store Felix Muchnik, national OS needs to be created from scratch, and in this case about 10-15 years will be required. Muchnik considers use of a kernel of Linux wrong as in development of the platform not the speed, but security is necessary. Besides, the head of SoftKey is sure that it is necessary to base development of OS on Russian "iron" and to continue to develop the microelectronics.

2011: Pingwin Software develops a natsprogrammplatforma prototype

• In October, 2011 based on the tender of the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications the development contract of a prototype of the national software platform (NSP) was signed. Within the project also creation of a prototype of the national operating system is supposed. The tender was won by Pingwin Software company. In 16 days and 5 million rubles it should perform this preparatory work.

"It is considered that in a public sector about 3 million computers — Dmitry Komissarov, the head Pingwin Software said in 2011. — the Average cost of a corporate packet of Microsoft which includes the operating system, a set of office applications, a packet of client licenses and so forth is about 20 thousand rubles. The state does not want to spend tens of billions of rubles for a computerization of officials. Also does not spend. Come into any municipality in the province. I will be surprised if all software is legal. In this situation of Open Source^[3] competes more not with proprietary (i.e. paid) software, and with piracy"].

In November, 2011 Komissarov said to journalists^[3]that from 2012 to 2020 the state can save 137 billion rubles due to implementation of Open Source. The digit is brought out of calculation that officials have about 3 million computers now, paid software for everyone costs 20-27 thousand rubles of times in three years. From the state expenses on development, implementation and support will be required, but support is required and now, and development will cost several billion rubles, Komissarov notes. Use of Open Source promises reduction of import of software.

According to this model, the distribution kit of the Russian system will be free, but it will be necessary to pay for its service. Practice of compulsory use of national OS in state agencies will not be, its implementation will have only advisory nature, Massukh assured. But in a case of purchase of any foreign systems public authorities will have to explain why they give a priority to them, but not the national platform.

For full implementation in the country of Open Source it is necessary to adopt 18 amendments, mainly to the civil legislation – for example, for refining of the regulations connected with voluntary conveyance of the rights. Komissarov told^[3]that the police of small localities when checking often require from firms paper agreements - licenses to use softwares.

• On November 03, 2011 - day of sending results of work Pingwin Software in the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications. According to the head Pingwin Software Dmitry Komissarov, 147 people who are brought together under the auspices of RASPO association coped with the contract^[3]. The complex of analytical reports 2 cm thick and also moditsifirovanny versions of the operating systems which were already existing before – from related Pingwin of ROSA company, from VNIINS and also from Linux Ink became result. The customer required to provide a prototype of "reference OS" – as a result all three were built in discharge of reference. According to Komissarov, inclusion in the list of the fourth system, from Alt Linux company, despite its recent demonstrative exit from RASPO is in the future possible.

The most part of the code of these systems is created outside Russia, but domestic specialists finished them, including under security requirements of FSB – and it is not screwdriver assembly, Komissarov emphasizes. Also the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications received assembly systems and administrations, an interface prototype to uniform fund of algorithms and programs and software for management of databases.

The testing received the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications will require not less than two weeks, estimate in Pingwin Software. After that the reports and distribution kits prepared will be published, representatives of the company promised. If the state does not forget about the program "Information Society", then in 2012 approbation of systems in departments, and in 2013 – mass implementation will take place, Komissarov calculates.

As for analytics, it includes not less than one hundred documents. Among them – the concepts concerning in general a national software platform, the overview of foreign experience, technical specifications on continuation of works. Among other things – financial and economic justification of introduction of Open Source.

• In November, 2011 Marker.ru studied the software package which contain in one of systems transferred Pingwin Software in the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications. Contain in assembly of Rosa Linux:
• calculator,
• services for installation and
• players of audio-and video files,
• office programs,
• browsers of documents, pictures.

There is also software fully to use the benefits of the Internet:

• Kopete instant messenger,
• KTorrent torrent client,
• KGet download manager and also
• the utility which can be connected to mikrobloggingovy services, – Choqok.

According to Komissarov, in a number of departments together with Windows the packet of standard games is put, than employees successfully use. He refused to give examples with users of Solitaire, but emphasized that complete with Open Source systems for officials the built-in games will not be.

2010

Creation of the Russian OS is declared in the Information Society program

Creation of the national operating system is declared in the Information Society program calculated on 2011-2020.

Rostec purchases a block packet in Alt Linux

In May, 2010 the head Sirius Leonid Ukhlinov declared plans for creation of the national operating system.

In the summer of 2010 Sirius entering into Rostec state corporation announced acquisition of the blocking packet in Alt Linux company and received the option for bringing the share to control. The deputy minister Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications Ilya Massukh positively spoke of intention of state corporation "Rostec (state corporation)" to acquire a blocking stake AltLinux and hoped for cooperation with this alliance. The Deputy CEO of ALTLinux Alexey Novodvorsky confirmed intention of the company to participate in the tender and to create a special repository for the state needs. Concerning the project – the French developer Linux Mandriva which shareholder with mediation of the ex-Minister of Communications Leonid Reiman was the Russian fund NGI recently – Ilya Massukh spoke skeptically.

"This company is not in Russia and has no developers here, and its repositories are located in the USA and France, - says to the deputy minister. - Support from the state of any company only because of her Russian owners would be strange". Besides, Massukh added, Mandriva is strong in the desktop systems, but not in the field of server solutions which interest the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications in view of orientation of department to the Software as Service model.

Intention of the industry ministry to be guided by domestic developer Linux and to create a domestic repository is supported by Alexey Kuzovkin, the chairman of the board of directors of Armada group.

"The western companies working in the field of the open source actually a little in what differ from the same Microsoft, - he explains. - For example, from codes which are opened by Red Hat it is impossible to collect their distribution kit due to the lack of necessary additional packets, rules of assembly and so forth. And from codes of ALTLinux it is possible to collect a full-fledged distribution kit in two-three hours".

Existence of the state repository should allow, according to Kuzovkin, get rid of duplication of expenses on IT in state agencies.

"Now in Russia in the state organizations hundreds of electronic document management systems are used, - Kuzovkin notes. - In a repository one system which all users will be able to set will be available. In case some of state structures wants to order creation of an own system, it should prove at first, than it does not accept already having system, and then to add to a repository the development together with source codes".

The development plan of national OS based on Linux within Scientific Production Enterprise

The national operating system will become a part of Scientific Production Enterprise. The tender for its creation will be announced after the approval of the program, project cost is still unknown. It is planned that trial version of the operating system will be available in 2011, full – by 2013, the Deputy Minister of Telecom and Mass Communications Ilya Massukh reported.

The Deputy Minister of Telecom and Mass Communications Ilya Massukh dispelled concerns concerning the fact that new OS will be written "from scratch". "Even in Soviet period own operating systems were created under some specific tasks, for example, calculation of a flight trajectory of rockets, - reminded the deputy minister. - Full OS were clones of the western products – for example, Virtual Machine (VM) from IBM was taken as a basis of the System of Virtual Machines (SVM) for the computer Uniform series".

With respect thereto national OS will be written on the basis of Linux. According to forecasts of the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications, in the first version of the national operating system up to 90% of the code it will be borrowed from Linux. At the same time the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications considers necessary that national OS gathered Russian developer. The ministry understands the companies as like those, in the license agreements specifying by the country of Russia, for example, AltLinux, ASPLinux of Fedora.ru, etc. It will allow to transfer money for system maintenance to the Russian engineers, consider in the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications.

The President of Russia Medvedev and the head of Rostec Chemezov discuss OS of Russia

On September 13, 2010 implementation of the open source was discussed at a meeting of the President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev and the head of Russian Technologies Sergey Chemezov. "I still when in the government worked, began to deal with issues of the open source, - Medvedev reminded. - Then we prepared some programs and transferred to schools, the universities. Generally, this case went especially as if to estimate, then our educational structures spend big money, these are, probably, hundreds of millions dollars year on year on acquisition of software products at the main grandees of production. It is not always correct especially as Open Source so-called on the quality is not worse, and often, what is called the interface, i.e. a cover, is even more convenient for communication to work".

Chemezov reported that in Russian Technologies the Sirius IT holding was created.

"It included the new enterprise which is a creator just of the open source – Alt Linux. And based on this enterprise we create our national software platform now", - he said.

- Based on the general Linux platform? – Medvedev specified.

- Yes, the general platform, - Chemezov confirmed.

- Because we do not need to create something separate, it is after all the linuksovsky platform, but with our specifics, - the president concluded.

As an example, according to Chemezov, the national software platform is implemented in three areas – Samara, Novgorod and Tula (at the time of the meeting in the specified regions still nothing was implemented).

"Too based on Alt Linux, - Dmitry Medvedev added. - It is important for various reasons because it is after all security issues. Because often owners of the rights to the corresponding products of the large program companies, they do not transfer codes. At emergence of any problems or we cannot customize a system. And if to speak about more complex systems, including the defense systems, it is simply unsafe".

The Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications said that welcome an initiative of Russian Technologies to become Competence Center according to the free software in regions of Russia. Within a pilot project, according to the representative of the ministry, creation and ensuring pilot implementation of standard solutions for regional and municipal authorities and also budgetary institutions is planned: "According to the approved card of the Electronic Region project, these solutions cover all industries of social and economic development of the region: property and land complex, transport complex, health care, education, housing and communal services, social security, culture, security and law and order, development of economy and industries".

Regional informatizations is in the field of competence of the leaders of the subjects of the Russian Federation, add in the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications therefore the budget of a pilot project should be defined proceeding from the current level of informatization of regions and also specifics and technical features of the information systems which are already functioning in these regions.

The plan for transfer of state agencies on Open Source

In December, 2010 the plan for 2011-2015 on transfer of federal executive authorities and federal budgetary institutions on use of the open source was approved. Responsible for point of the plan for implementation of the free software it was appointed the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications, and completion date - the third quarter 2014^[4].

Notes