Russian Government to Switch its entire Computers To Linux OS

What did Vladimir Putin choose as his government’s main operating system?
Not Windows… Not Mac OS… but rather GNU/Linux operating systems.

It’s an interesting move, because many would have thought a government would have considered some mainstream licensed s0lution, but it seems the plan to move to open source computing was in the works since 2007. It’s still particularly unclear as to why he made the move but the general theme points to cost savings. In the CNews story, the transition period will be from 2011 to 2015 where federal government agencies will have to determine the best way to convert their data to the new system’s format. There will also be some type of national repository “similar to App Store, but for free operating systems.”
Obviously the move raises controversy from a political/tech standpoint where some folks still have the idea that Russia still have strong communist tendencies. We will not delve into that area though but rather applaud them for using an alternative to the mainstream solutions offered.