Linux in all Russian schools by 2009

There is an interesting article here, which states that by 2009 a derivative of Linux - with the strange name of Russian OS - is going to be installed in all schools in Russia. This article is also currently being discussed on Slashdot. The article states two main reasons for the decision of the Russian authorities to do this:

1. More independence from foreign, commercial software.
2. Avoiding tying young users to the products and platform of one company.

I don't want to comment on the current political leadership in Russia, and on what appears to be a desire there to stress greater independence again. Also, mandating things like this from high up is not necessarily in the spirit of openness and choice. And why reinvent the wheel, when there are ready-made Linux distributions for educational purposes already? Edubuntu, for example. Some commentators have pointed out that this might be more about regaining control over the students' desktops. But whatever other reasons Russia might have to pursue this goal, and whatever shortcomings there are in this particular approach, I cannot argue with those two points I listed above.