Russian government decides to develop Windows alternative

[captaincranky]

I'm impressed at how many people feel this is doomed to failure.

If the Russian Government wants to develop a Secure OS, I don't think it will be as catastrophic as everyone believes. Their goals are different from M$'s. They're focused on security and stability, not pandering to the needs & demands of a mass public.

I don't think it's doomed to failure. I think it's comical. I've lived through the entire cold war, and unless you've seen the Russian copy of the XB-70 "Valkyrie" bomber, you probably wouldn't get the joke.

Russian engineering has always lacked a certain amount of subtlety. Most of their approach is brute force. The Mig 25, "Foxbat" is a prime example of this, especially when compared to the SR-71. Both of these aircraft are claimed to be Mach 3 planes. The Foxbat however will do it for about 10 minutes, before the engines are totally destroyed.

OK, so that's apples to oranges.

Reinforcing your viewpoint, don't the Russians write some of the best malware around? That said, it's a long way from a spambot, to Windows 7. I suppose we'll see.

A final note, while there is a huge disparity between 5 million, and M$ claimed development estimate on each Windows issue, one wonders how much of that is waste.

I still think they'll be decompiling other OSes, to bring their project in at that figure.

 

[grvalderrama]

Hmm, it's said that vodka can kill any virus xD. Poor russians, they've always wanted to exceed US technology. I hope they get thier own OS.

 

[Micro Watt]

What is it that they have that they want to keep secret. If I think that there are security vulnerabilities, then I would probably install puppy linux and tell no one, so no one will hack my computer. On a more serious note, that is alot of money they are spending to try and secure their internal information. I can already see complications waiting to happen. They will also have to retrain everyone that uses a computer to learn using a linux user interface. The less technical would have a hard time re-learning.

Good Luck Russia! :>

 

[Afenix]

Well I really love my Windows 7 , and windows 8 is coming in about 2 years. Russians have a lot to do

 

[jazboy]

I believe its good for Russia but $5 Million is nothing in front of what microsoft, Red Hat put on OS development.

 

[aj_the_kidd]

Decimae said:
The comments thread seems to get really full of spam:
"In soviet Russia. Crysis runs you~! "
"Its a $5m epic fail in the making "
"Just because the Russian government wants to develop an OS, doesn't mean people will actually use it... "
And these were just the obvious ones. Even though I am part of it, this contest really devalues the comments thread.

Anyway, back on topic. I think of this as a good iniative; using OSS is a good stimulation for OSS. They may even make good upstream changes.

Sorry I'll try to make my comments more meaningful and enlightening next time

 

[Puiu]

This is just one of those plans that will fail miserably. Using ONLY 5 mil is not going to produce you any gov ready OS.

 

[miska_man]

This just goes to show that Microsoft was grown so big that even if a successful industrial COUNTRY tries to make an OS to replace Windows, people are skeptical. Good thing Google is just as big so it can keep Microsoft in check.

Oh, and gotta throw this in:
"In Soviet Russia, Crysis plays you!"

 

[akannitaoheed]

China beat USA with a super computer with over 14000 processors and over 7000 graphics card. Anyonse can do even more than that. I dont consider an O/S development to be unachievable.

 

[AbsolutGaloot]

They must be doing this to get geared up to compete with china's shiny new supercomputer.

 

[AnonymousSurfer]

Back to the bad old days of the Cold War and Russian national pride.

Agreed. They are just mad because America is so D*** Awesome!

 

[akannitaoheed]

I dont know why some people are being so pessimistic about Russia being able to come up with somehing good, unless maybe they think that microsoft has hijacked all the good programmers in the world to themselves. It's all about taking the right approach, do extensive research, gather the best programmers they can lay their hands on, strictly "NO POLITICS", and stay focussed.

Even if they fail now, they will have learnt a lot and a second attempt could turn in a success. I dont believe no one cant be better than microsoft.

Am only more interested in seeing alternatives, and I still give some thumbs up to WINDOWS XP. Bet would still be in use for decades to come even when vista and 7 could have been dropped by most users.

As of now windows xp still powers about 75% of businesses in North Americe while 7 powers only 10% after one year of release.
https://www.techspot.com/news/40980...-business-pcs-growth-to-explode.html#comments