> For that matter: all devices sold in USSR were coming with principal schemas so anyone can repair and reproduce.
Repairability was an absolute necessity for Soviet tech. There simply wasn't enough production capacity to adequately supply most households with even one of a certain item, not to mention replacement items for those that broke down. Appliance repair was an everyday necessity and it was seen as a somewhat lucrative career path. For example, Latvia was where the washing machines were made, and here everyone had one in their homes, wheres other soviet republics had queues 10 years long just to get a washing machine. Similarly, when my grandpa wanted to get a car, he would have to sign up for a 6-7 year queue, with no guarantee, and he'd still have to pay an exorbitant price for it (I think it was something like 5000 rubles when the monthly salary was 120 rubles.) In the end he somehow (probably bribery and underhanded dealings, like so many things happened then) bought two wrecked Moskvitches and made a single working car out of them.
Anyway, back to the repairability stuff - a common story heard everywhere was about women complaining about their lazy, good for nothing alcoholic husbands - that they'd get rid of them if it weren't for their "golden hands," meaning they could build or repair anything, if they got to it. Capability to repair something was more valued in a person than most other personality traits, and it mattered because if you couldn't get something built or repaired yourself, you'd never get it done. In that sense, in those matters that fell through the cracks, the Soviet Union was the ultimate libertarian society.
