> By the late 1960s Lebedev, Glushkov,and their followers believed that Soviet scientists had accumulated a significant amount of experience in computer technology and had a considerable production potential. They wanted to collaborate with large Western European computer manufacturers in developing a fourth-generation machine before the Americans did. Lebedev’s political adversaries proposed a different option – to duplicate the American third-generation IBM-360 system, created several years earlier. Although no scientists of Lebedev’s caliber were among them, they were the political figures who had decision-making power. The Soviet government passed a resolution to develop a Unified System of Computers, reverse - engineered from the configurations of the IBM - 360.

The history there takes a turn and after 70s they just started mostly copying Western machines. It was interesting how they would justify it to themselves copying the product of the "decadent and failing Western capitalism" while they also had to attend parades and sing songs to Lenin about how their country was at the forefront and leading the world to better and brighter future.

However, to be fair, I also learned computers by using a crapy Soviet ZX Spectrum clone. So on a practical level copying became an obvious choice perhaps. At least it would have been soon enough.

Also, I always liked Setun, the ternary computer. It ends in kind of a sad story though:

> Unfortunately, after the Setun-70 project, Brusentsov’s lab was relocated from the Computer Center at Moscow University to a windowless attic in a student dormitory and was deprived of any serious support. The new university rector considered computer design a pseudo-science. Brusentsov’s original Setun computer, an experimental prototype that had faithfully worked for seventeen years, was barbarically destroyed and carted off to the dump.