The operating system, communication software, office suite, email applications, organizer, viewer, Internet browser, presentation editor, spreadsheet editor, text editor, file managers, reference and legal system, electronic document management systems and antivirus protection all this, according to The registry is included in the concept of «office software». And all this, according to the signed decree of the Head of the Russian Federation Government No. 325, dated March 23, 2017 (full text: http://www.tadviser.ru/images/1/1c/Ucxke5tjnh0jadWZ0EFK3xVr2uTXbOmn.pdf), now must meet several general requirements:

• – Russian-language interface;
• – the ability to authenticate and identify users in the UIAS (Unified Identification and Authentication System), if the program has an identification function;
• – no requirement to install additional software (additional software modules, fonts), which has restrictions on its free distribution in the territory of the Russian Federation, with the exception of operating systems;
• – for the web access of the user to the office software, there must be provided the possibility of using Internet browsers for at least 3 different rights holders, with information on one of which included in the register of Russian software.

In addition to general requirements, the Resolution also includes clarifications on individual software groups. So, if we are talking about an automated workplace, office programs should run under at least two Russian operating systems, as well as Microsoft Windows (version 7 and higher). For server software, the requirements are the same – 2 Russian OS + Microsoft Windows Server (version 2008 and higher).

Text and spreadsheet editors, as well as editors of presentations as part of the office software package, are required to provide the opportunity for collective work on the document, including recording changes in the on-line mode. The list of formats that should be able to read Russian document viewers without any problems includes almost all known spectrum (bmp, jpg, jpeg, png, gif, tif, tiff, OOXML, docx, doc, pptx, rtf, txt, pdf, xls, xlsx, odt, ods, odp, avi, mpeg, mp3). And in the creation of new electronic text documents, presentations and tables, Russian office software must necessarily support Open Document Format (GOST R ISO / IEC 26300-2010), Office Open XML (OOXML, PPTX) and PDF.

The registry entry itself – the «profile» of a particular software in the Registry – will now include a separate mark in the line: if the software adequately meets the requirements for composition, architecture and functionality in order to be considered an alternative to imported analogues and replace them.

Within 3 months from the date of signing, the Ministry of Communications will have to decide on the procedure and methodology for verifying compliance of the software with the established requirements, and within six months to deal with all the software already included in the Register – whether it meets the updated standards.

Dmitry Kudryavtsev, Director of Development of GC «IT Systems» comments:

– The decision implies the creation of a parallel landscape of operating systems and office applications. All developers understand that starting to build OS «from scratch» is economically unprofitable, so it is obvious that transformed POSIX-systems, or QNX will become «Russian». Office packages are reasonable to make in cloud (with interfaces in the browser), or develop solutions on open source.

The focus is on the cost of ownership: in the target systems there should be no hidden fees and burdens in favor of the authors of the components. The government can be understood – the course towards sovereignty has been chosen, and in the Russian IT industry it is still very far from it. And budgets are limited. So they hurry to get at least something, but their own. This haste, as is customary, dotted – one ministry can not do the work of all at once, and does what it can do.

However, it is necessary to understand that without a systematic approach, nothing solid can come out:

1. The server operating system is only a base for launching hundreds of services that perform different functions – and there are no requirements for their list and capabilities. It is necessary to analyze the functional landscape of all protected ministries. This is a great job.
2. The operating system of a personal computer is a paradise for leaks of sensitive information (the user a priori looks more at the world than the administrator of the server OS and his data is most easily stolen or spoiled). So, it is necessary to put into support the requirements of Russian leak monitoring systems (DLP). It does not exist, although such structures as the FSB and FTEC can help in this task, if there is a desire on their part.
3. Hardware (servers, storage systems, PCs), quite a lot of Russian companies are engaged in its engineering and production, should also be taken into account as a part of technical limitations. Otherwise, the state body will pay three times: first for the OS and the office then for the «Russian server» and the «Russian monoblock», and then for the first to work on the second.
4. The periphery is absolutely forgotten: scanners, printers, multifunction devices, fax machines, etc. By the way, all this equipment supports UNIX very poorly due to its low prevalence in the rest of the world. It is clear that all the costs of launching the equipment already purchased on the «legal» landscape will fall on the organization. I am sure that the buyer will not solve the problem, because in state bodies, unfortunately, the level of remuneration for retaining competent staff leaves much to be desired.

In general, this is a very useful and necessary case, of course, but it will be very difficult for the «affected» organizations to use products. They were simply forgotten.

We take into account these difficulties and we will surely support the Russian landscape of system and application software In the project of the first Russian printer / MFD «katusha».