ComputerworldUK reports that Russia has mandated that all schools are to use free software.
This isn’t just an option for those brave souls who might want to try something different: this is now the official approach. If schools want to use proprietary software, they have to pay for it themselves:
Министр также отметил, что к 2010 г., как ожидается, число используемых в школах компьютеров достигнет миллиона. По словам Щеголева, по истечении трех лет школы смогут сделать выбор: использовать платные лицензионные программные продукты, приобретая их за свой счет, или перейти на отечественное свободное ПО.
[Via Google Translate: The Minister also noted that by 2010 it is expected that the number of computers in schools will reach a million. According to Schegoleva, after three years of school will be able to make a choice: pay royalties to use software products, buying them at their own expense, or go to the domestic free software.]
I hope this doesn’t result in a new wave of free software-communism comparisons.