Universities of Russia will begin to train students to work in Linux



    In December 2016, the Internet Development Institute (IRI) announced the preparation of a training program for working under the GosLinux OS . The GosLinux operating system is specially created for the state authorities of the Russian Federation (initially for the Federal Bailiff Service), and in future it will require a large staff of qualified specialists: system administrators, developers and competent users. Learning Linux will be very useful for students.

    The GosLinux distribution ( ISO images , download statistics ) is based on the CentOS 6.4 package base. In turn, it is based on the commercial distribution of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). The desktop is based on GNOME 2.32.

    Reportedly, a pilot project for training students will be implemented at Vladimir State University (VlSU). If successful, the program will be expanded to other Russian universities throughout Russia.

    Lack of system administrators


    According to Anna Meshcheryakova, Director of the IT + Sovereignty Competence Center, IRI, first of all, it is necessary to train system administrators and programmers to work with this OS: “In the course of our work, we face a number of problems, but the most acute problem is the lack of qualified personnel - developers , administrators and specialists in the implementation of Russian software and its professional support, ” said Anna Meshcheryakova in a commentary to the Izvestia newspaper. “We intend to attract software developers, integrators, and federal and regional authorities who are ready to share competencies and successful practice of import substitution of software for cooperation with VlSU.”

    The basic course at VlSU is designed for ordinary students who are taught how to work at GosLinux. At the same time, on the basis of the university, it is planned to open advanced training courses for Windows users who want to learn how to work in a new exotic operating system for them.



    Rector of VlGU Anzor Saralidze noted that if the program allows to train qualified system administrators, they will find work without problems after graduation: “If we are preparing students in joint programs with leading industrial and financial institutions, for example, Sberbank or JSC VPO“ Tochmash ”, and we get about 20% of their “survival” (5 out of 25), then involving them in practical work on IT integration, where there are more opportunities and tasks, we rely on a 100 percent distribution. ”

    Russia's transition plan to open source software


    The transition of Russian government bodies to domestic software is very slow, although budget funds are being properly mastered. Recall that in 2010 the task was set of the complete transition of federal authorities and federal budget institutions to the use of free software. A full transition to Linux was supposed to take place before 2015, but this did not happen.

    Now the Internet Development Institute (IRI) is engaged in the translation of regional bodies into domestic software.

    Budget companies regularly purchased domestic software. For example, in 2015, Russian programs worth 21.9 billion rubles were purchased(Western - by 72 billion rubles), but the level of Linux implementation is still close to zero, although there is some activity in this direction. For example, in 2016, “testing” of two certified domestic distributions - GosLinux and ALT Linux in several regions of the Russian Federation began.

    According to the new “Plan for the transition of federal authorities and federal budget institutions to the use of free software”, the transition of authorities to domestic software should be completed in 2019.

    GosLinux and ALT Linux


    Two Russian distributions of Linux, GosLinux and ALT Linux, are considered as a domestic replacement for Windows in government agencies. Both of them are now being tested in different regions of Russia: GosLinux - in the Vladimir region, and ALT Linux - in the Ulyanovsk region.

    It is reported that GosLinux has been installed on 7 servers and 150 computers of officials in the municipalities of the region. After collecting feedback and addressing shortcomings in GosLinux, it is planned to continue installing the domestic distribution in Russian regions. In December, the administration of the Vladimir region reported on the progress of the pilot project, which started in the summer and will last until April 2017, and is currently implemented by more than 70%.

    According to the administration, when using GosLinux, the savings on the configuration of each workplace is at least 20 thousand rubles. The total savings from installing a domestic software suite is estimated at approximately 60%.

    The largest user of GosLinux, of course, is the Federal Bailiff Service of Russia (FSSP), which is formally considered the developer of GosLinux. According to Cnewsciting representatives of the FSSP, due to the centralized supply of GosLinux OS in 2016, the FSSP introduced about 7,500 means of technology, of which 448 - server equipment, at least 7,000 - automated workstations. Thus, at the beginning of 2017, GosLinux was installed on almost 28 thousand automated workstations of bailiffs, which is about 60% of the total fleet of service computers. In the new year, this figure is planned to be brought up to 70-80%.



    FSSP tenders for the implementation of GosLinux are always won by Red Soft . For example, in 2016, the contract for GosLinux (and other subsystems of AIS FSSP) went to this company for 111.3 million rubles.

    In 2015, the tender was won by the FSUE Research Institute Voskhod enterprise in the amount of 102 million rubles, which still hired Red Soft as a subcontractor in the amount of 81.6 million rubles. Accordingly, Red Soft itself did not participate in that tender. A similar situation is expected in 2017, since this year a tender for 110.5 million rubles. again won the FSUE Research Institute "Sunrise" .

    Theoretically, any state or commercial organization can use GosLinux free and free. Officially, all rights to it belong to the Russian Federation. At the end of August 2015, the FSSP, together with the Ministry of Communications, placed GosLinux in the National Fund for Algorithms and Programs, which implies its free and free use by any government agencies in Russia.

    But in practice, the introduction of a free OS is always accompanied by tenders and the remuneration of system integrators, which are played by the same companies.

    To participate in the tender on a priority basis, GosLinux must be included in the Register of domestic software, but there were problems. The opinion of the members of the Expert Council on Russian software was divided. Some of them said that this OS cannot be considered Russian software, because "the level of CentOS processing in it is less than 5%." In addition, some experts expressed the view that “in principle, it is not clear why the product of a government agency, which can be taken from the Algorithms and Programs Fund for free, is included in the Register, which determines the guidelines of other government agencies when they conduct government procurements — that is, it indicates which is preferable to spend money ".

    FSSP in response to criticism about the small amount of its own code provided a reference"About the differences between the CentOS OS package base and the GosLinux OS." It indicates that the CentOS distribution used 2559 software packages, and GosLinux included 2337. For GosLinux, 172 packages were added, which relate to replacing OpenLDAP with reOpenLDAP (a system catalog with declared increased stability), and introducing the company’s secure browser Cryptofox Cryptopro and other Russian developments. In addition, 92 packages have been updated in GosLinux, and 24 have been developed. An example of an “exclusive package” is TokenManager, a graphical utility for managing digital signature certificates and working with key information carriers. These are also DrWeb antivirus compatibility support packages, OS configuration management packages. According to the FSSP certificate, the source code was modified in 85 packages, including those

    Why, in fact, GosLinux is not allowed into the Russian Software Registry if other open source programs based on well-known open source projects manage to get there without difficulty? Moreover, some high-ranking Russian officials practically do not see the difference between the concepts of "domestic" and "free" software . At least, he was not seen by some speakers in April 2016 at a workshop in the presidential administration.

    For example, ALT Linux distributes Basealt(“Basalt SPO”), also specially created by competent persons to satisfy the state order for free software. The company's operating systems for servers (Alt Server) and workstations (Alt Workstation) are included in the Unified Register of Russian Programs for Electronic Computers and Databases, which gives them privileged status in state tenders, in accordance with Federal Law No. 44-ФЗ “On the contract system in the field of procurement of goods, works, services to ensure state and municipal needs”.

    The Red Soft company (which invariably receives tenders for the installation of GosLinux) at the same time is promoting its Red OS operating system". As stated on the site, the basis of this operating system "are the source code RHEL, specially adapted to Russian requirements." In particular, the system uses GOST 34.10-94 algorithms in the ssh and NX protocols, meets the information security requirements for OUD3 and Level 4 of the absence of NDV control, supports domestic cryptographic providers and encryption algorithms.

    In addition to “Red OS”, the company offers a DBMS called “Red Database” (RDB) and a document management platform RPD.

    It is believed that Red Soft and Basalt SPO can count on receiving a large number of government orders, not only from government bodies and budget organizations, but also from state-owned enterprises. For example, in December 2016, Bazalt SPO announced its launch"The first domestic line of OS at the enterprise level with a single guaranteed quality of technical support throughout the Russian Federation." Basalt SPO products rely on “one of the world's largest free software repositories created within the framework of the Russian project Sisyphus (Sisyphus) and independent of any other repositories.”

    So, it was the CEO of Bazalt SPO Aleksey Smirnov who was appointed the responsible expert of the Expert Council for Russian Software on the inclusion of GosLinux in the Russian Software Registry. The expert made a negative assessment, expressing the opinion that there is too little original Russian code in this distribution package based on CentOS 6.4. What is most interesting, the expert may be absolutely right.

    Saving?


    Of course, the introduction of free software in government and government is welcome. Theoretically, this should save budget money, that is, taxpayer funds. For example, in the FSSP, the specific cost of GosLinux with a 50% implementation is only 800 rubles . According to the experience of the FSSP, the implementation of GosLinux was 37 times cheaper than Windows licenses .

    Let's see what savings will come out in practice, taking into account tenders and the traditional section of public funds.

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