Munich Linux Setback

The Register (UK) ^ | January 15, 2004 | Jan Libbenga

[Golden Eagle]

Munich Linux setback

By Jan Libbenga

Posted: 15/01/2004 at 09:50 GMT

Last year, the city of Munich, Germany opted to go with Linux instead of Microsoft software on more than 14,000 desktop computers. This was seen as a significant setback for Microsoft and a clear sign of Linux' increasing viability. But now the project is in trouble, according to Computerwoche.

This Spring, Munich needs to finish a migration plan as well as present a budget for the project. But according to Computerwoche there is not enough money and technical difficulties may result in stalling of the LiMux Project. In particular, smaller software vendors seem to be unable to migrate Munich to Linux, simply because they lack open source knowledge.

[Golden Eagle]

Looks like Munich is finding out this free software stuff doesn't work as well as they say it does.

Here's the original discussion...

Microsoft loses city of Munich deal to Linux

[TomServo]

Man - you're just askin' for it. ;-)

[Golden Eagle]

update on Munich...

[Mr. K]

"Free" software isn't.
I am a software engineer- trust me on this- I have seen the TIME and effort put into Linux software- when a Microsoft solution was available for LESS than the cost of one weeks programmers salary.

[Golden Eagle]

Just trying to get the truth out there, not always easy.

[rdb3]

Yaaaaawn...

Oh, were you saying something?

[wireplay]

Bingo! You get what you pay for.

[Only1choice____Freedom]

It's not free as in costless, it's free as in freedom.

The opensource movement is all about removing the constraints of a propriety system. The initial cost of M$ is most likely cheaper, but when you add all the pieces you have to have to make it work, it ends up being much more expensive over time. Esp. with M$'s idea of renting software.

[Golden Eagle]

"Free" software isn't. I am a software engineer- trust me on this- I have seen the TIME and effort put into Linux software- when a Microsoft solution was available for LESS than the cost of one weeks programmers salary.

Dittos on that. Not too long ago we had some guys trying to get a simple web application setup on apache, they were 12 weeks behind the ship date and still trying to get it working when some of the MS apps guys came in and knocked it out from scratch in 2 and a half. Most pathetic of all, those guys wanting to use apache and java are still saying they 'require' it.

[Mr. K]

I understand your sentiment- but in the business world the bottom line is what matters.

[Mr. K]

I know what you mean- I had a guy who wanted to do an XML programmed interface (two weeks work) to a database when I whipped out an ACCESS solution within one hour after the meeting was over.

[Golden Eagle]

Yeah, you might want to ping your linux buddies so they don't keep going around claiming what a great victory this is for linux. They'll have to settle for knowing all those profits will come straight back to America now.

[rdb3]

You're hillarious!

You ping them. It's your thread. It's news that you are just dying to spread.

Have at it!

[Cicero]

I'm not that fond of Bill Gates. But I don't have much sympathy for socialist governments who turn to linux because they don't want to pay Microsoft for their intellectual property. It's symptomatic that the people who tend to do make these decisions are so often third world countries and government bureaucrats that resent paying royalties to American companies. China for instance. Not exactly my idea of freedom.

[Golden Eagle]

You're hillarious!

Thank you, thank you very much. Not a bad guy at all, really.

It's news that you are just dying to spread.

Not really, I don't actually trust anything I read on these foreign tech websites, they are wrong so many times it's not even worth keeping up with.

And like most weekends I won't even be on here, going on vacation like usual. It's what you get to do on weekends when you don't have to recompile your kernel, check out one of the countless new distros, or most importantly look over source code to make sure you find security holes before the hackers do.

[ThinkDifferent]

But I don't have much sympathy for socialist governments who turn to linux because they don't want to pay Microsoft for their intellectual property.

So governments shouldn't try to minimize their costs? (That does seem to be the opinion of the Bush administration much of the time, but that's another matter...)

[rdb3]

You're all over the map, Golden Eagle.

Don't go away mad. Just go away.

Please.

[lormand]

"And like most weekends I won't even be on here, going on vacation like usual. It's what you get to do on weekends when you don't have to recompile your kernel, check out one of the countless new distros, or most importantly look over source code to make sure you find security holes before the hackers do."

I'm just lurking on this thread, but that is one hell of a comeback I have to say. I expect a weak response if any.

[Only1choice____Freedom]

I know what you mean but the total cost of "ownership" is more in the end but looks better up from for M$. CFO's don't look at that, they see the pretty ads for Microsoft in their trade mag's and tell the IT staff "buy this" not knowing the whole story.

They big problem here is knowedge. Linux has a learning curve and there are not enough Germans with the experience to do the job. I hope it plays out well for Suse/Novell. There are more stories yet to be written about this.

[Golden Eagle]

I'm just lurking on this thread, but that is one hell of a comeback I have to say.

Thanks, my friend, but actually these guys are easy targets when you have a clean thinking mind. Feel free to join in the discussions anytime.