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Berlin Senate opposes complete migration to Linux (Heise online)
Heise online
reports
on a slowdown in Berlin's plans to move to Linux.
"The administration of the Berlin Senate (the governement of the German federal state Berlin) has voiced its opposition to a complete migration of the authority's computers to Linux. It thus opposes the Berlin Parliament, which called for a two-phase migration of servers and workstations to Open Sources systems. The report presented to heise online on the Parliament's position states that the Senate does not believe the migration to free software called for in the resolution "would conform to the market or be a tenable step either technologically or economically.""
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Berlin Senate opposes complete migration to Linux (Heise online) Posted Jun 15, 2006 22:21 UTC (Thu) by blecoint (subscriber, #131) [Link] I believe this is the original articleIt would also be great if there was an easy way to report such issue to the editor: a button similar to the "Post a comment", or a link for the lazy readers.
Berlin Senate opposes complete migration to Linux (Heise online) Posted Jun 15, 2006 23:13 UTC (Thu) by petegn (guest, #847) [Link] makes you wonder just how much of a bung this cost microSloPs..
Berlin Senate opposes complete migration to Linux (Heise online) Posted Jun 16, 2006 11:04 UTC (Fri) by smitty_one_each (subscriber, #28989) [Link] >does not believe the migration to free software called for in the resolution "would conform to the market or be a tenable step either technologically or economically
Begs for a follow-up with Munich. How are they doing?
Berlin Senate opposes complete migration to Linux (Heise online) Posted Jun 16, 2006 15:34 UTC (Fri) by cantsin (guest, #4420) [Link] Munich is doing badly. The problem is a jungle of proprietary one-purpose applications written for the city administration that only run under Windows and can't be ported easily. The management of the migration process in Munich doesn't seem to be very competent either, and many things were done badly there from the beginning on. For example, a non-official, yet important reason for the migration was that SUSE used to be a Bavarian company, and Munich, the capital of the state of Bavaria, intended to help its home industry. A few months after the migration plan was decided, SUSE got bought up by Novell, and Munich eventually turned to Debian.As a matter of fact, the Berlin senate cites the Munich example as a reason for not going 100% free software. [Note: I am a Berliner.]
Berlin Senate opposes complete migration to Linux (Heise online) Posted Jun 17, 2006 18:12 UTC (Sat) by vblum (guest, #1151) [Link] I, too, am a Berliner.
Being conservative in a complex migration is probably wise on the part of whoever would have to implement a badly defined transition (defined by political rather than technical goals). Munich did not help as an example. The Senate press release may reflect just that.
On the other hand I also observe that a number of unrelated decisions in this city are made based on strange principles; examples include a subway line which will not be opened in order to keep Tegel airport unattractive, so as to not endanger Tegel's scheduled closing; trying to shut down a fully operational conference center based on a renovation cost estimate by the very guys that would build the replacement center; keeping a credible 80m investment into a conference center out of Neukoelln (of all places) because it does not fit into the city's overall "development plan"; and more.
In each case, pure economic reasoning would suggest the opposite path. In each case, however, there are strong interest groups who stand to benefit from the Senate's alternative policy line.
This city has a courtroom-documented history of corruption over many decades, irrespective of the party in power. The wording in the Senate press release might well be stronger than necessary for different reasons than plain economic ones. At the very least, the Senate is not doing very much to avoid this unfortunate, and damaging, impression.
Berlin Senate opposes complete migration to Linux (Heise online) Posted Jun 16, 2006 12:47 UTC (Fri) by etienne_lorrain@yahoo.fr (guest, #38022) [Link] > the Senate does not believe the migration to free software called for in the resolution> "would conform to the market or be a tenable step either technologically or economically."
IHMO the main problem is for the hardware manufacturers/resellers.
This software industry like it too because each time a new hardware is bought, another software license is sold.
The is no incentive for hardware manufacturer to provide specs, that would *reduce* their sales over a period of few years.
The real solution IHMO is to have a special class of hardware which is certified for Linux (or other free software) and so cost 30+ % more, but is documented and will work easily 30+ % longer - because Linux user do not upgrade as often their hardware.
Berlin Senate opposes complete migration to Linux (Heise online) Posted Jun 16, 2006 13:48 UTC (Fri) by vonbrand (subscriber, #4458) [Link] The real solution IHMO is to have a special class of hardware which is certified for Linux (or other free software) and so cost 30+ % more, but is documented and will work easily 30+ % longer - because Linux user do not upgrade as often their hardware. If it costs 30% more, almost nobody will buy it (yes, we do tend to buy more expensive stuff, but that is because we know it works (unlike the cheaper alternatives). But we probably would't (even couldn't) if it was just for "Open Source Friendly" stickers). If it works 30% longer (i.e., 13 years instead of a mere 10) it won't make any difference to anybody.
Berlin Senate opposes complete migration to Linux (Heise online) Posted Jun 16, 2006 18:50 UTC (Fri) by tristangrimaux (guest, #26831) [Link] Don't bother trying to find guilt where there is not. Hardware vendors do what they think will profit the better. Windows has crappy drivers and they sell it anyway.When the prices get too tight, they will drop the software licenses and sell them separately. And the story will be over for Redmond guys unless they came up with a good OS (ji-ji-ji) --- Donde Ser Geek No Duele
Berlin Senate opposes complete migration to Linux (Heise online) Posted Jun 16, 2006 18:43 UTC (Fri) by tristangrimaux (guest, #26831) [Link] the Senate does not believe the migration to free software called for in the resolution "would conform to the market or be a tenable step either technologically or economically"This phrase will be remembered by history as a good example of lack of vision and bureaucratic stupidity. --- Donde Ser Geek No Duele
Berlin Senate opposes complete migration to Linux (Heise online) Posted Jun 18, 2006 2:26 UTC (Sun) by stock (guest, #5849) [Link] i find it rather strange that a country like Germany who builds theworlds best industrial precision tools, cars and manufacturing equipment, cannot manage to migrate its own software applications to a open source platform. Something smells very foul here. Robert
Berlin Senate opposes complete migration to Linux (Heise online) Posted Jun 19, 2006 7:39 UTC (Mon) by Wol (guest, #4433) [Link] Contrary to their reputation, the Germans are NOT organised ... they are not a homogenous whole.
It's the Prussians - the Germans from the north - who have the reputation for efficiency. Bavaria (the Land with Munich) is in the south and, indeed, was pretty much the last petty kingdom assimilated into modern Germany.
And like many South-European states, Bavaria is far more easy-going, slapdash and happy-go-lucky than their northern brethren.
Cheers,
Berlin Senate opposes complete migration to Linux (Heise online) Posted Jun 19, 2006 11:45 UTC (Mon) by tobor (guest, #36736) [Link] > It's the Prussians - the Germans from the north - who have the reputation> for efficiency. Bavaria (the Land with Munich) is in the south and, indeed, > was pretty much the last petty kingdom assimilated into modern Germany. > > And like many South-European states, Bavaria is far more easy-going, > slapdash and happy-go-lucky than their northern brethren.
... and nowadays, Bavaria is the most wealthy region of Germany, far more
To be honest, i don't think it's still helpfull to think in schemes like
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