3 ms·

Munich switched to Linux in 2012. But they switched back to Microsoft in 2020 because they never could get it to work completely. At least not to the level of c

Munich switched to Linux in 2012. But they switched back to Microsoft in 2020 because they never could get it to work completely. At least not to the level of comfort in the old system. Open source has its advantages, but MS dominates the business world because of its tech support that is truly second to none on that scale. If Europe wants independence, they need to support local businesses and not just technology.

imjonse 1y ago
Tech support is clearly very important but I have a hard time believing there wasn't a great amount of lobbying involved as well.
- sigmoid10 1y ago
  There was, but not from Microsoft. It was the employees who were not happy with the new systems.
  - sublimefire 1y ago
    Employees do not participate in the procurement process. It boils down to the requirements and how does it affect possible bidders. Most of the requirements can be easily met with OSS, there were prob others plus the drop of the price from MS
    - sigmoid10 1y ago
      This shows total disregard for the reality of the workplace. You can't shove 30,000 linux PCs onto boomer government workers and expect things to work like magic. It was a catastrophe. Especially since they no longer had the same level of tech support. The majority of them weren't even fully onboarded by the time they switched back to Windows.
- guappa 1y ago
  According to the former major, bill gates went all the way there and asked for a private meeting. Although at the time he was officially no longer actively involved with microsoft.
kirushik 1y ago
Well, Minich's return to MS tech oddly coincides with MS Germany moving their HQ there (and the ruling party change in the city); it's of course hard to explicitly call backroom deals on this (even though ex-mayor seems to be doing exactly that: https://www.linux-magazin.de/ausgaben/2019/10/interview-2/ https://www.linux-magazin.de/ausgaben/2019/10/interview-2/), but it might be that the decision wasn't fully technical.
JimDabell 1y ago
I’m not sure “they could never get [Linux] to work completely” is a fair summary of what happened. There’s a Hacker News thread here that goes into more detail: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21497372 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21497372
eeZah7Ux 1y ago
The reason is bribery.

imjonse 1y ago

Tech support is clearly very important but I have a hard time believing there wasn't a great amount of lobbying involved as well.

sigmoid10 1y ago
There was, but not from Microsoft. It was the employees who were not happy with the new systems.
- sublimefire 1y ago
  Employees do not participate in the procurement process. It boils down to the requirements and how does it affect possible bidders. Most of the requirements can be easily met with OSS, there were prob others plus the drop of the price from MS
  - sigmoid10 1y ago
    This shows total disregard for the reality of the workplace. You can't shove 30,000 linux PCs onto boomer government workers and expect things to work like magic. It was a catastrophe. Especially since they no longer had the same level of tech support. The majority of them weren't even fully onboarded by the time they switched back to Windows.
guappa 1y ago
According to the former major, bill gates went all the way there and asked for a private meeting. Although at the time he was officially no longer actively involved with microsoft.

kirushik 1y ago

Well, Minich's return to MS tech oddly coincides with MS Germany moving their HQ there (and the ruling party change in the city); it's of course hard to explicitly call backroom deals on this (even though ex-mayor seems to be doing exactly that: https://www.linux-magazin.de/ausgaben/2019/10/interview-2/ https://www.linux-magazin.de/ausgaben/2019/10/interview-2/), but it might be that the decision wasn't fully technical.

JimDabell 1y ago

I’m not sure “they could never get [Linux] to work completely” is a fair summary of what happened. There’s a Hacker News thread here that goes into more detail: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21497372 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21497372

eeZah7Ux 1y ago

The reason is bribery.