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New Munich city government agrees to use open source software where possible

zdnet.com

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Re: New Munich city government agrees to use open source software where possible

#2
Except they didn't. It's just a campaign to strongly consider open source software in future contracts. Currently, there is a contract with Microsoft that isn't ending just yet. So they will have a mix of LiMux and Windows for the foreseeable future.

Re: New Munich city government agrees to use open source software where possible

#3
This is a bluff that almost every government and municipality with huge contracts with MS does whenever they come up for renewal as part of their negotiations, nobody in MS is impressed.

In other news: 2020 is not the year of the linux desktop.

Re: New Munich city government agrees to use open source software where possible

#4
Key quote: "So these kinds of decisions must come down to political philosophies about the marketplace as well as increasingly important issues like digital sovereignty. This issue is one reason why this time Munich is unlikely – or any other German city or state – to flip-flop on open-source software decisions again. "

Re: New Munich city government agrees to use open source software where possible

#5

This is a bluff that almost every government and municipality with huge contracts with MS does whenever they come up for renewal as part of their negotiations, nobody in MS is impressed. In other news: 2020 is not the year of the linux desktop.

Do you assume it's bluff or is there more behind that statement?

I understand that it has been in the news that MS spent a lot of energy on preventing people from moving away from Windows, and I think I remember steep discounts but it has been a while since I read about it, but while the government could be going "haha let's put out another statement and get more discounts" I would say it's more likely that there are people in power in Europe that genuinely want to lessen our dependency on the benevolent big brothers from the USA. But that's just how the news reports it, perhaps I'm not cynical enough. Anyway, if you know of a statement by anyone in a relevant government that claims this was a negotiation tactic, that would be interesting.

Re: New Munich city government agrees to use open source software where possible

#6

This is a bluff that almost every government and municipality with huge contracts with MS does whenever they come up for renewal as part of their negotiations, nobody in MS is impressed. In other news: 2020 is not the year of the linux desktop.

They're already on Linux currently. A government change and Microsoft Germany moving their HQ to Munich made them reconsider. Now the government changed again.

The actual migration to Linux went mostly fine and was largely a success as far as government software programs go, FWIW.

Re: New Munich city government agrees to use open source software where possible

#7

This is a bluff that almost every government and municipality with huge contracts with MS does whenever they come up for renewal as part of their negotiations, nobody in MS is impressed. In other news: 2020 is not the year of the linux desktop.

Pessimistically, I agree with you.

But that lends the question; what does it take to end the Microsoft monopoly on our governments?

It can’t just be open document standards. I think it goes further than that; into our schools maybe.

I don’t have answers, but it’s a serious question I have.

Re: New Munich city government agrees to use open source software where possible

#8

This is a bluff that almost every government and municipality with huge contracts with MS does whenever they come up for renewal as part of their negotiations, nobody in MS is impressed. In other news: 2020 is not the year of the linux desktop.

The term is "threat". A bluff is a threat you can't follow up on. Munich have shown they can and will follow up.
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