[NBLUG/talk] The Wall.... is coming down...

[Mark Street]

All right, so it isn't Berlin.......  No wonder Ballmer sold off a billion 
worth of MS stock last week.

Microsoft Loses City of Munich Deal to Linux
Wed May 28, 2003 12:38 PM ET
By Hans Nagl

MUNICH (Reuters) - The city of Munich said on Wednesday it would switch 14,000 
computers from Microsoft's Windows operating system to rival Linux in a deal 
estimated to be worth tens of millions of euros.

The decision is a blow to U.S. giant Microsoft, whose chief executive Steve 
Ballmer had personally campaigned for Microsoft's counter-offer to the city, 
based on Windows XP.

Microsoft has created two funds to discount its products against the emerging 
Linux software, which is eating into its most profitable business.

"This strategic decision makes Munich less dependent on one IT supplier and 
sets a trend toward more competition," Munich mayor Christian Ude said in a 
statement.

Analysts said Munich's decision to choose open source software, which means 
Linux, was a breakthrough.

"It is one of the largest desktop migrations to Linux ever seen," said Gartner 
Dataquest analyst Nikos Drakos in London.

Linux suppliers welcomed the move by of one of Germany's largest cities, where 
many of the country's biggest corporations have their headquarters.

"You can compare this to the fall of the Berlin Wall," said Richard Seibt, 
Chief Executive of Linux software provider Suse. Suse is bidding for the 
Linux contract together with International Business Machines Corp.

Linux is considered by many to be the only big rival to Microsoft's Windows 
and can already be found on 15 percent of all computers sold in Western 
Europe.

A Microsoft spokesman in Munich said his company was still at hand if the city 
found that certain units could not switch over to Linux. "Some applications 
do not run on Linux," he said.

LINUX GROWING IN GERMANY

The Munich decision comes as the German government is installing Linux 
throughout certain ministries and public institutions.

In the northern state of Lower Saxony, 11,000 police computers will be 
switched from Microsoft Windows to Linux from next year, according to the 
interior ministry.

Companies and governments are increasingly opting for Linux, written by Linus 
Torvalds and further developed on the Web with the help of thousands of 
volunteer programmers, because it is a stable software and not controlled by 
just one company.

Hundreds of companies distribute the software, charging little or nothing for 
the core software, but taking fees on modifications, services and 
maintenance.

IBM and Suse declined to give the value of the bids for their Linux offerings.

Media have reported that Microsoft's offer of about 27.3 million euros ($32.3 
million) had been almost three million euros below that of the Linux 
competitor, but the city had still chosen Linux for strategic reasons.

Microsoft confirmed it had offered discounts for the total project, but 
declined to give details.
-- 
Mark Street, D.C.
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