The Russian government says it is looking to dump Microsoft and adopt Linux as the operating system for agency PCs.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Russian internet advisor German Klimenko said the state will consider moving all of its networks off the Microsoft platform and onto an unspecified Linux build instead.

Citing Microsoft's capitulation to the US government in honoring sanctions against Russia, Klimenko said that the Redmond software giant had reached the "point of no return" with Moscow and that 22,000 government agencies and municipal offices were prepared to drop Windows right now.

"It's like a wife seeing her husband with another woman – he can swear an oath afterward, but the trust is lost," Klimenko was quoted as saying.

Elsewhere in the interview, Klimenko promised to place additional taxes on goods sold by Microsoft, as well as Apple and other foreign companies who do business in Russia. He also slammed Google for what he sees as working with the US government in what he called a "threat to national security."

It should probably be noted that Microsoft itself isn't exactly best buddies with the US intelligence community either these days.

This is not the first time a government has mulled dropping Microsoft in favor of Linux. Nations around the world have at various times considered the idea of moving away from Redmond in favor of Linux.

Meanwhile, over in the US and UK, Windows is so entrenched that some agencies are still relying on their XP boxes and even paying Microsoft to provide them with extended support. ®