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We should look at this as it really is: Russia is super paranoid, and increasingly isolationist. Putin is also realizing that all of his technology comes from

We should look at this as it really is: Russia is super paranoid, and increasingly isolationist. Putin is also realizing that all of his technology comes from western companies, and they are trying to build their own, so that they aren't so reliant on Cisco routers, Intel CPUs, and Apple smartphones. This will be a russian OS, designed to allow russian companies to buy routers, switches, and firewalls that are not made by western companies. It has to scare the shit out of russia to think that if they did have a war with the west, they would lose their access to the technology needed to run their businesses. This is a first step towards trying to build some type of technological independence from the west.

throwaway5752 10y ago
There is no reason why both cannot be true. You should expect that there are FSB accessible backdoors/0-days.
- illumin8 10y ago
  Absolutely, but it's also helpful to understand why an FSB/KGB aligned company would be building their own OS from scratch anyway, when they could just adopt any BSD or Linux-based OS with a permissive license.
CaptSpify 10y ago
> Russia is super paranoid, and increasingly isolationist And they have good reason to be. The US has really shot itself in the foot by intentionally compromising the systems we create. Hopefully we can use this (and similar actions by other countries) to turn that around.
- nine_k 10y ago
  Let's cautiously assume that China also does this. Open-source hardware would be great at counteracting this (and for other reasons), but it's harder than open-source software.
  - nickpsecurity 10y ago
    That's why China built their own OS on top of an open-source BSD. :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kylin_(operating_system) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kylin_(operating_system)
    - distances 10y ago
      Nowadays it's Linux though, according to the article.
      - nickpsecurity 10y ago
        Ecosystem effects most likely. Most users prefer new features over stability or security. Theirs must be the same. They've followed in the U.S.'s footsteps it seems where DOD & "Trusted UNIX" vendors started with stronger stuff then gradually moved to weaker ones (esp Linux-based) for kernel features or specific apps.
  - 77pt77 10y ago
    > Open-source hardware would be great at counteracting this (and for other reasons) This is actually the crux and to my knowledge is non-existent.
    - cheiVia0 10y ago
      Not just open hardware, you need trustworthy fabs: https://lwn.net/Articles/688751/ https://lwn.net/Articles/688751/ Some folks trying to do open hardware: http://riscv.org/ http://riscv.org/ http://www.lowrisc.org/ http://www.lowrisc.org/
PerfectDlite 10y ago
> This is a first step towards trying to build some type of technological independence from the west. And this is not step forward, but to the side, since they're becoming technically dependent on Chinese now.

throwaway5752 10y ago

There is no reason why both cannot be true. You should expect that there are FSB accessible backdoors/0-days.

illumin8 10y ago
Absolutely, but it's also helpful to understand why an FSB/KGB aligned company would be building their own OS from scratch anyway, when they could just adopt any BSD or Linux-based OS with a permissive license.

CaptSpify 10y ago

> Russia is super paranoid, and increasingly isolationist And they have good reason to be. The US has really shot itself in the foot by intentionally compromising the systems we create. Hopefully we can use this (and similar actions by other countries) to turn that around.

nine_k 10y ago
Let's cautiously assume that China also does this. Open-source hardware would be great at counteracting this (and for other reasons), but it's harder than open-source software.
- nickpsecurity 10y ago
  That's why China built their own OS on top of an open-source BSD. :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kylin_(operating_system) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kylin_(operating_system)
  - distances 10y ago
    Nowadays it's Linux though, according to the article.
    - nickpsecurity 10y ago
      Ecosystem effects most likely. Most users prefer new features over stability or security. Theirs must be the same. They've followed in the U.S.'s footsteps it seems where DOD & "Trusted UNIX" vendors started with stronger stuff then gradually moved to weaker ones (esp Linux-based) for kernel features or specific apps.
- 77pt77 10y ago
  > Open-source hardware would be great at counteracting this (and for other reasons) This is actually the crux and to my knowledge is non-existent.
  - cheiVia0 10y ago
    Not just open hardware, you need trustworthy fabs: https://lwn.net/Articles/688751/ https://lwn.net/Articles/688751/ Some folks trying to do open hardware: http://riscv.org/ http://riscv.org/ http://www.lowrisc.org/ http://www.lowrisc.org/

PerfectDlite 10y ago

> This is a first step towards trying to build some type of technological independence from the west. And this is not step forward, but to the side, since they're becoming technically dependent on Chinese now.