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Will Munich Ditch Linux for Windows?

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Munich is famous for running public administration on Linux-- but a pair of councillors from the conservative CSU party are demanding the city switches back to Windows and Microsoft Office.

MunichA letter to the mayor from Sabine Pfeiler and Otto Seidl describes the notebooks, tablets and smartphone running on Linux-based software (specifically "LiMux," a version of Kubuntu 12.04 developed specifically for the city) used by council as "cumbersome" and lacking in familiar software such as Office and Skype. As a result many town councillors bring their own notebooks to work, leaving a "large number" of Linux-based devices unused.

Further complaints involve a lack of user permissions.

The proposed solution? The council should "acquire Windows licences together with Office for the notebooks."

The councillors' plea might not fall on deaf ears-- current mayor of Munich Dieter Reiter (elected back in 2014) is also not a fan of the open source OS. As such last year he commissioned a report on the future of IT in the Munich council, one set to completion on H2 2016.

However the mayor is still to comment on the letter from Pfeiler and Seidl.

The German city completed its dropping of Windows in 2013 following a 10-year transition involving the migration of around 14000 PCs to LiMux. According to a study by Ubuntu Linux developer Canonical the move saved the city over €10 million-- a sum (unsurprisingly) contested by Microsoft.

Go Munich Councillors Letter

Go New Leadership Challenges Munch's Open Source Strategy