Linux on the Desktop Fails in Germany

It took them 10 years, but Munich, Germany is now looking to rid itself of Linux on the desktop.

In 2003, the government decided that it would be cheaper and more reliable to switch about 15,000 computers to Linux, moving away from Windows and other Microsoft products. As is now being reported by Suddeutsche.de, due to the vast number of complaints from users, the city is hiring an independent expert group to advise on the best course of action to rid itself of the software that is consistently behind and not completely functional.

What we're hearing now is that the move to Linux was primarily politically motivated.

The problems that have escalated in the 10 years since the beginning of the migration are the same arguments many industry persons, including Microsoft, made in the beginning. Linux is hard to update, hard to keep current, free is not really free, support is limited, and open source software can lead to incompatibilities with the rest of the world.

Mayor Josef Schimd indicates that no matter where he goes in the government structure that "employees suffer" due to using Linux on the desktop.

And, as to if Linux is cheaper than Windows? Schimd had this to say…

"We have the impression that Linux is very expensive…"

Interestingly enough, if you go back through the timeline of the decision, it actually took 10 years to migrate. Starting with the go-ahead vote in 2003, it wasn't until 2006 when the migrations truly started due to initial problems and setbacks. And, it wasn't until December of 2013 before the migration project was finally deemed successful. So, 10 years from concept to completion, and less than a year later Linux is on its way out.

Source: Sudeeutsche.de via Neowin