It is generally accepted that open source software (that is, free software products that are publicly available, developed by the programming community) has at least one advantage - it is free. In reality this is not the case. You will still have to pay to use Linux, and it is not a fact that it will be cheaper than paying for Windows. Our correspondent talked about the features of an alternative Windows operating system with Inna KUZNETSOVA, IBM's director of Linux strategy.

The Serbian government believes the word of Igor Sechin The official delegation of the Serbian government yesterday agreed on a deadline for signing a purchase and sale agreement for a controlling stake in the oil refining monopolist NIS Gazprom Neft.

KD Avia cannot fly without government support KD Avia executive director Leonid Itskov said yesterday that the air carrier will cease its operations on November 28 if it does not receive emergency financial injections from the state. In response to this call for help, the Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviation) promised assistance not to the airline, but to its customers.

German Gref considers the outflow of deposits from Sberbank insignificant In October, citizens withdrew more funds from Sberbank than a month earlier from all Russian credit institutions. From the largest domestic bank, depositors withdrew 95.1 billion rubles, that is, 3.2% of the total amount of funds on deposits. Sberbank President German Gref considers this outflow of deposits to be insignificant and claims that in November citizens again began to bring money to the bank.

Child care cannot be paid for twice Is it necessary to pay temporary disability benefits to the father if he takes care of the baby while the mother is sick? This quite everyday issue was discussed yesterday in St. Petersburg by the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation. I appealed to the highest authority, the Avtozavodsky District Court of Tolyatti. Local Themis herself could not answer the question posed to her by electronics engineer of AvtoVAZ OJSC Mikhail Ermolov.

Partners in the Great Three are now rivals The central match of the next day of the Continental Hockey League took place in Moscow. Probably, there was no great sporting interest in the game between the CSKA and Sibir teams. The guests are trying their best to get into the playoffs, and the army coaches admit that they have already begun to form a combat-ready squad for the knockout matches. It was interesting to watch the head coaches Vyacheslav Bykov and Andrey Khomutov in this meeting.

Ex-Siemens manager received four years probation The scandal surrounding the German concern Siemens, which has been ongoing over the past few years, has entered the stage of trials and sentencing. Yesterday, the regional court in Nuremberg found the former chief of Siemens central board Johannes Feldmeier guilty , sentencing him to two years in prison, which was commuted to four years of probation. In addition, the ex-manager of Siemens will have to pay a fine of 228.8 thousand euros.

Musica Viva celebrated its 30th anniversary with Bach and Handel Thirty years is a fairly respectable period of time and quite sufficient for not only to have regalia, but also to develop stamps and begin to be proud of oneself. But the chamber orchestra Musica Viva by Alexander Rudin avoids this stereotype.

Kaliningrad authorities hope to build a nuclear power plant despite the crisis When the economies of many countries, one after another, began to “fall” into recession, and on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, governments started talking about a global economic crisis, a rumor began to circulate in the Kaliningrad region that it was precisely because of monetary problems that the project so troubling to many would not be implemented here - construction of the Baltic nuclear power plant .

Russia can only monitor how Iraq and the United States negotiate The vote scheduled for today in the Iraqi parliament on the signing of a strategic security pact with the United States will be heated if it is not once again postponed to a later date. But it’s indecent to postpone it any further, and there’s no time.

Iran has accused British Foreign Secretary David Miliband of colluding with the Zionists. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Kashkavi said that Tehran “read Miliband’s statements that Iran is a threat to the region” and came to the conclusion that the Briton “undoubtedly has close ties with the Zionists.” “If his speech was written in London, then most people will confirm that the main danger to the region is the Zionist regime, Israel,” the Iranian diplomat concluded.

"Concept 2020" and the government work plan until 2012 came into force Prime Minister Vladimir Putin yesterday signed two documents that are intended to set the direction, qualitative and quantitative parameters of the country's development for the medium and long term - "Main Directions of Government Activities for the Period until 2012" and "The Concept of Long-Term Development of Russia until 2020" " Now government bodies are required to be guided by the above documents when developing their

In Poland, they are investigating the cause of the death of General Sikorsky Yesterday in Krakow the body of General Wladyslaw Sikorski, who died on July 4, 1943 in a plane crash, was exhumed. The American-made Liberator 2 aircraft carrying the general, who was returning from an inspection tour, crashed into the sea 16 seconds after takeoff from the British base in Gibraltar.

An attempt was made on the head of the regional court in Samara In Samara yesterday, an attempt was made on the life of the chairman of the Samara regional court, Lyubov Drozdova. In the morning, when she was heading to work, an unknown person fired a single, but effective shot at her. Seriously wounded in the abdomen, Mr. Drozdova was taken to the hospital, and until the evening doctors continued to fight for her life.

Signs of economic instability in Russia reminded many of my friends of the feeling that August 1998 gave them. Left without a significant part of their salary, but having retained their jobs, they then saw queues in stores with empty shelves.