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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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German state moving 30,000 PCs to Linux and LibreOffice - The Document Foundation Blog (blog.documentfoundation.org)

submitted 7 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 64 points 7 months ago (19 children)

So the Germany has been moving back and forth between Microsoft and Linux / open-source.

When Munich decided to ditch many of its Windows installations in favor of Linux in 2003, it was considered a groundbreaking moment for open source software -- it was proof that Linux could be used for large-scale government work. However, it looks like that dream didn't quite pan out as expected. The German city has cleared a plan to put Windows 10 on roughly 29,000 city council PCs starting in 2020. There will also be a pilot where Munich runs Office 2016 in virtual machines. The plan was prompted by gripes about both the complexity of the current setup and compatibility headaches.

Do you know what this smells like? Corruption and consulting companies with friends in the govt looking for ways to profit.

What else can be more profitable for a consulting company than shifting the entire IT of a city or a country between two largely incompatible solutions? :)

[–] [email protected] 51 points 7 months ago (8 children)

Do you know what this smells like? Corruption and consulting companies with friends in the govt looking for ways to profit.

No it doesn't. It smells like Microsoft has a monopoly on office software, and city employees are not tech enthusiasts. Anyone who used Office at home or in another job is going to complain when they have to learn a new software (regardless of which is "better" - for the average person, different is bad)

Plus, every document they receive from outside is almost certainly formatted in Office, so if there isn't 100% compatibility, people will again complain.

Migrating an entire enterprise to FOSS software is not easy, and in government where leadership changes can be more regular, it's not shocking to see the pendulum swing back and forth.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Could be both of those things as well.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 7 months ago

Definitely could be both, but I'd posit that it would still happen regardless of corruption, just because they're taking on the ambitious task of trying something new.

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