| By Maureen O'Gara |
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| February 20, 2004 12:00 AM EST |
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The migration of the city of Munich and its 14,000 PCs from Windows to Linux, the vaunted Linux win, has hit a speed bump and is behind schedule, according to reports in the German press.
The delay is attributed to financial and technical issues as well as rebellion in the ranks. Evidently Munich's civil servants aren't thrilled about switching.
Among other things, the ISVs that usually develop programs for the town are having trouble programming for Linux and as a result Munich may wind up using an emulator to run Windows programs on Linux.
One can almost hear Microsoft, whose CEO flew to Munich last year to try to save the account with hefty discounts, mumbling about Linux not be ready for the mainstream.
The city council also wants to know how much all this is actually going to cost -including retraining. It's supposed to be handed a cost analysis by May.
When it voted to go to Linux in the first place, the council was willing to spend more for Linux than for Microsoft figuring it would be cheaper in the long run. It reportedly could have stayed with Microsoft for $23.7 million. It's supposed to run it around $35.7 million to go to Linux.
According to Computerwoche, Munich doesn't have the money for testing and development.
IBM and SUSE, Munich would-be suppliers, are reportedly going to lend a hand and do some of the feasibility studies the city wants like on open source security, stability, ergonomics and compatibility with other programs.
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