Munich Migrating To Linux 127
Rockgod writes with a progress report on the open sourcing of the city of Munich's administration. From the article: "The capital of Bavaria plans to complete its current migration of more than 80 percent of its desktop systems by 2008 and says that the first users of open software in the city's administration are pleased with the initial results. On Tuesday, Munich's mayor Christine Strobel said at the Systems trade fair that 'up to now, we are very happy about the results' of the migration currently underway. 'I am not a computer geek, but I must admit that it was easy to switch to the new software,' she reported. By the end of the year, some 200 workstations... will be running on a special LiMux client. If everything runs according to schedule, most of the approximately 14,000 PCs will be migrated to open source in the next two years."
You are going to regret it. (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
So what is Vista offering that Linux is not offering better. Old windows application compatibly that is it.
That might also change in the future. I'm about exclusively using Linux. About one week ago, my father asked me if I wanted to see a video about the Huygens probe on Titan. When I put the CD, I realised it wasn't a plain video but a (Windows) program. I did not want to reboot so I gave Wine a chance. I was astonished actually, the program launched and the video played flawlessly.
So, as the Windows
Re: (Score:1)
That's good news... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
Mod parent up! (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1, Troll)
I thought Munich was in Germany.
Mumbai, Myanmar... I hate it when these foreigners change names on me.
Re: (Score:2)
Linux with Active Directory (Score:1)
is Chicago next? (Score:4, Interesting)
Chicago's migration is from Solaris (Score:5, Informative)
From here [principal.com], regarding Chicago:
Given that they're migrating their Solaris server boxes rather than Windows desktop workstations (as seems to be happening in Munich), I'm not sure if it's quite the same thing.
Does it have solitare? (Score:5, Funny)
Particularly government workers.
Re: (Score:1)
There should be follow up to this periodically to see how progress is going for the switch. I think it's great publicity for Linux in the office world.
Re: (Score:2)
A customer is migrating to Linux at full scale. They have 100+ desktops over three branches and right now there's only a few Windows installed - mostly for running a couple Windows-only applications. For most office use, like spreadsheets and word processing, there's no rational reason to keep using Windows. The vast majority of users actually use a tiny fraction of office applications' features.
There are a few GUI differences between Microsoft Office and Open Office, of course. Some users complain about
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
BTW: I like (K)Sudoku the most
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
I have a friend who works for the civil service in Bavaria (in a city just outside Munich infact) and she often leaves for work at 5am. Maybe she is trying to get in a few early rounds of solitaire, I don't know but it's still a bloody early time to go to work!
But the Office suites are lacking... (Score:3, Funny)
Sincerely,
Some MSFT spokesperson's reason why ODF is bad. (I can't find the reference)
Re: (Score:1)
Voice Over Individual Pages?
Which distribution to go with? (Score:1)
It depends upon the requirements of the government (Score:5, Informative)
First off, they have to state what their requirements are. Just as with any other project.
Then they look at what is out there and how closely it matches those requirements and how much time/money would be needed to fill in the gaps. Munich decided to go with a Debian base with KDE and OpenOffice.org.
One of Munich's requirements seems to have been to become "independent of monopolists like Microsoft." In this, Debian's social contract would have been a major plus.
Re:It depends upon the requirements of the governm (Score:3, Informative)
The actual requirement was to avoid vendor lock-in, for which the free distribution of Linux is very useful. Red Hat and Novell don't have to be monopolists to present the same danger of exorbitant support fees and lack of choice.
Re: (Score:1)
Munich? Open Source? Free? (Score:5, Funny)
Free Beer!
Re: (Score:1)
Increase home adoptance of linux? (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm sure it's been discussed, but I think the risk of losing home users is the real impetus behind Microsoft basically giving away software to schools, and offering STEEP discounts to governments.
Eventually. (Score:5, Informative)
But the problem with home use is NOT about being easy to "install and maintain".
Home users tend to stick with whatever was pre-installed. Once you have a city using Linux, there is a financial incentive for OEM's to build boxes with 100% Linux friendly hardware and a nice recovery CD with all the Linux drivers on it. After all, a city buys a lot of computers and parts over the years.
But that's just the base platform. That still doesn't address the apps (games) that the home users will want to run. So the market will
I'm on 100% Ubuntu Edgy Eft and it handles everything that the average home user would do with the exception of games and certain IE-only websites.
Re: (Score:1)
That said, I haven't used it once since Flash 9 beta came out.
Actually (Score:2, Informative)
Personally I were delighted to discover http://www.system76.com/ [system76.com] and is looking forward for a Swedish reseller.
Re: (Score:2)
What you may well see happen is an increase in consumer demand for PCs with Linux pre-installed; that's part of the reason Windows became so popular at home. Not because people were installing it (althoug
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Precisely. Microsofts main advantage over Office competitors is basically "everyone is "trained" in MS Office". And the fact that Computer classes in schools are mainly just about using Microsoft Software is despicable.
Apart from the ludicrous Idea that using Powerpoint qualifies as a professional skill, that shoul
Re: (Score:2)
Actually, there are quite a few schools that have been using desktop Linux. The last two I've attended - UL Lafayette and MIT - have been using some *nix or another on the desktop for years, most recently Solaris. Now that Linux is the most popular* desktop *nix, they're starting to use it instead.
*Mac OS X might be more popular, and yes, it's real UNIX, but it's quite non-trivial to keep th
Re: (Score:2)
i'm assuming that by schools the parent poster meant the things they force kids to go to not degree level education.
Re: (Score:2)
common place (Score:1)
Re:common place (Score:5, Insightful)
The slow but steady adoption of Linux by Governments in Europe and Asia is not due to them being altruistic but pragmatic since the openness of the Linux (or all *nix) formats makes a great deal of sense and they are under scrutiny by their electorates and opposition (unless it is a dictatorship and then anything anti US business is acceptable) to cut costs. Once enough Government groups move to Linux, business and eventually the home user will follow.
Even more Pragmatic... (Score:3, Insightful)
My favorite line of this article (Score:5, Interesting)
It's lines like these that give Linux more promise and hopefully brings out the "If they can switch, so can we" line of thinking among others.
Conversely, I'm sure Microsoft HATES lines like these.
Re: (Score:1)
Well, not when it takes this long and when it costs this much. From the article:
After a decision was made in 2003 to migrate to Linux
If anything, this project demonstrates that open-source isn't a magic silver bullet solution to everyone's problems. It should also be noted that the final Microsoft solution was actually less expensive than the open-source one, so one cannot look to cost as a compelling factor for switch. This article - http://www. [usatoday.com]
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
As this same topic has been on slashdot [slashdot.org] many times before, it should be noted that the 'Microsoft solution' is less expensive because of discounting by Microsoft to avoid the switch over. I do not know how deep the discounts where, but I suspect a standard contract would have been considerably more expensive.
I do not expect that I would get the same treatment from Microsoft and told them that I was moving 25 desktops and 3 servers to linux.
Re: (Score:1)
And whether or not you personally would get a better deal is beside the point. When the original story broke one of the key points made repeatedly of the effort was to save mo
Re: (Score:1)
They can also choose from a wider selection of service providers. They can basicly get any software company that has knowled
Re: (Score:2)
Hey Coward, costs are for salary for the instructors and all the staff who have to attend the training classes, and who aren't doing their productive job during this time. That money is for real paychecks, which go out to real people for doing things unrelated to the companies focus of busieness. It certainly does leave the building.
If you want to argue for a Linux migration, please stick to facts and don't make b
I can't believe... (Score:5, Insightful)
How about Munix? Doesn't it sound a lot better?
München not Munich (Score:5, Informative)
Oh, and there is no 'k'-sound in the proper german pronounciation.
Re:München not Munich (Score:2, Funny)
Re:München not Munich (Score:1)
Re:München not Munich (Score:1)
Re:München not Munich (Score:1)
Re:München not Munich (Score:1)
Re:München not Munich (Score:2)
Re:München not Munich (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
Too long...!! (Score:2)
Re:Too long...!! (Score:5, Funny)
They decided to go with Gentoo Linux couple of years back. They are still waiting for the damn thing to finish compiling
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Please, please tell me you're joking. I guess I've been around Americans too long or something, but I honestly can't tell whether you're aware that there are, in fact, more than one city in Germany. There are several, actually. And now another city in Germany has decided to move to Linux. That makes two cities. Because, as we learned in the first sentence (you remember the first sentence, d
Re: (Score:2)
The first was Schwäbisch Hall [wikipedia.org] (sorry, the english Wikipedia article doesn't mention the Linux migration). They decided to migrate back in 2002.
It's a small city (about 36.000 people) but an important one as it's the home of a big german building society.
corrected WP URL for Schwabisch Hall (Score:1)
It seemed worth commenting on in the article, also.
Re: (Score:2)
since 1945 ... (Score:1)
But I'm pleased to have caused mirth.
Re: (Score:1, Informative)
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
--
Everything had to be translated, in Freestate Bavaria, Munich, they speak Bavarian, not German.
Also getting a Penguin to wear Lederhosen was no small feat.
Re: (Score:1, Funny)
If my local council in the UK moved this quickly I would think it was acting with undue haste or had suffered an outbreak of competence.
Re: (Score:1)
Relatively few technical issues, it seems (Score:4, Informative)
Open source administration (Score:4, Funny)
Cool, I always wanted to change the city of Munich's administration. Does the mayor come with full source code?
Re: (Score:2)
Cool, I always wanted to change the city of Munich's administration. Does the mayor come with full source code?
Yeah, but you have to build the Makefile.
Re: (Score:1)
Bert
ffs (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
lets find something negative .. (Score:2)
"By the end of the year, some 200 workstations close to Lord Mayor Christian Ude and a number of nearby organizational units will be running on a special LiMux client."
"The base client mainly runs on the Debian GNU/Linux 3.1 distribution and uses Desktop KDE 3.5 and OpenOffice 2."
'Furthermore, the City Council aims to use Linux to become politically "
Finally!!! (Score:1)
I hope we all can agree (Score:2, Insightful)
Linux to move to Munich.
the biggest success so far (Score:3, Insightful)
congrats to the munich mayor!
As a proud Bavarian (Score:1)
Now if only broadband would become more common in Bavaria, so that I could get a goddamn broadband connection and start using linux as a primary operating system instead of a dual-boot option that is never touched...
Re: (Score:2)
It must be true: who but a wannabe-geek with no real clue would choose Gentoo in such an environment? It has to be a maintenance nightmare!
Re: (Score:2)
(For what it's worth, Xen makes the process a lot easier to deal with. Clone a DomU, test out the new configuration, then decide whether to use the new DomU or stick with the old DomU.)
Re: (Score:2)
Oh, yes, it is!
"You treat it the same as you would any other distribution"
And then you are doomed. I'll tell you how do I treat distribution maintenance: I have my boxes look at the distribution spools so when there're security updates they download them and send an e-mail for me to know. Then I have a look at what security menaces they provide protection to, then I install them and forget about the issue. You just try to do the same on a G
Re: (Score:2)
Munich has always been ahead of the curve (Score:2, Informative)
Munich [muenchen.de] is the Capitol of Bavaria, Germany. Bavaria is the high tech capitol of Germany and the richest state in Germany. They have always been ahead of the curve. It is no wonder that they are migrating to Linux and adopting open source software where it makes sense. With Munich being home of some of the largest high tech companies in the world, it would make sense for the government of Munich to adopt similar policies. I for one, praise Munich and it's government for thinking out of the box. The lice
WRONG (Score:1, Informative)
The typical small - medium business (Score:3, Interesting)
The fact is, people don't have a clue, and never will - if I'd setup a system with a properly configured Samba-server, LDAP, Kerberos and imap, they'd still complain and blame me if the slightest thing broke (i.e. they had to learn a couple of new things). So I basically gave up and don't care any more if they lose data or get fucked by the prosecutor.
If people are willing to listen to you, or respect your technical expertise (our Linux system) it's relatively easy going. If they don't, don't waste your time. Let them have a very bad awakening one day (after all, you tried to explain
Re:The typical small - medium business (Score:4, Insightful)
So I basically gave up and don't care any more if they lose data or get fucked by the prosecutor.
This works for the short term but in the end it eats you up. You'll be labeled a constant complainer, become bitter, isolated and stuck in a dead end job. Just get out of there.
If people are willing to listen to you, or respect your technical expertise (our Linux system) it's relatively easy going. If they don't, don't waste your time. Let them have a very bad awakening one day (after all, you tried to explain ...)
This goes for more than just Linux expertise. It's a fundamental requirement for a decent job. I just ditched a comfy telco developer job for a senior consultant position. I'm going to be working more than twice as hard but it won't be for a bunch of retards.
Wake up and smell the coffee. The grass is greener elsewhere.
Taking until 2008 to finish migration? Slowwwwww.. (Score:1)
Re:Taking until 2008 to finish migration? Slowwwww (Score:2)
compare that to a migration from windows+office+IE to linux+openoffice+firefox where you have to
1: find every macro heavy excel spreadsheet that is serving some vital function and get that f
Re:Taking until 2008 to finish migration? Slowwwww (Score:2)