A decade later, page 47 of this hefty council PDF declares that the system has received a “project acceptance certificate” and that “ the IT project is formally completed and … in regular operation.”The article doesn't say this, but likely installing the Linux desktop software and training the end users was the easiest part of the project. Back end applications typically have a lot of code that expects Windows-specific interactions - for example, custom web apps that only work with Internet Explorer. Changing these was very likely a major part of the effort.
The council's facts and figures page for the project says that as of May 2013 “15,000 jobs use free software such as Thunderbird and Firefox , 15,000 jobs use OpenOffice.org and the WollMux” while “14,000 jobs use the LiMux client”.
WollMux is Munich's set of extensions to OpenOffice that enable easier customisation of documents. LiMux is a client tailored to Munich council's needs.
Of course, now the new systems will be Mac friendly as well.
"Free at last, free at last! Thank GNU Almighty, I'm free at last!"
ReplyDeleteAlthough I can't see German bureaucrats saying anything that emotional in public. Even in German.
Ah, music to my ears. Folks, you can get along nicely without Mr. Gates and his execrable software. I believe towns in Italy have begun to leave his thrall as well.
ReplyDeleteNo Microsoft Office for my money, thank you, and no Windows as well.