... And they didn't win the contract. (Munich).
The low-bidder (an American company - Microsoft) gets shafted by Munich, despite the fact that it was the low bidder. And American open source proponents cheer.
And you guys wonder why I don't want to be associated with you.
Their bid was much higher initially, but when it looked like they wouldn't win, they dipped into their "Linux can't win" fund to undercut the other bid. You know they took a possibly illegal loss leader if they could undercut the price of free software.
There were a few reasons Microsoft lost, none dealing with bid price. First, Munich contracted-out a technological merit assessment to a third party and Linux came out clearly on top. Second, even though Microsoft extended the "software assurance" period to sweeten the pot, Munich was afraid of the consequences when their renew period approached -- would they be forced to upgrade software they didn't need to just to save money eventually? Third, as Microsoft got closer to losing the contract their actions really started pissing off the people in Munich. Their attitude, as it was in Florida, was that the city was expected to justify to Microsoft why Microsoft products shouldn't be bought. That's BS.
And American open source proponents cheer.
Cheer that a convicted monopolist is finally losing its monopoly power despite leveraging it to win deals. Competition is good.