Re: The problem is not Linux itself...
So ... what is going on?
Politics. Another SPD-CDU coalition has decided to migrate to Windows, this time before the cost-benefit analysis has even come out (wonder who's going to write that one anyway):
Windows scores a win over Linux as another state decides to switch
The Munich decision was made by the city's ruling coalition of the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) and centre-right Christian Social Union (CSU), a party that only operates in Bavaria, and that is the long-running junior partner to Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU).
Again, Lower Saxony is governed by an SPD-CDU coalition, which was formed last year with an agreement that included turning the state's back on Linux. Other administrative departments there, including the police, are already using a Windows 8.1-based client developed by a local company.
Lower Saxony's tax authority will now conduct a cost-benefit analysis on the migration. The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE), which is highly critical of the decision to turn away from Linux, welcomed the procedural formality, but program manager Max Mehl said it was important to keep an eye on who conducts the analysis.
The Munich migration followed the recommendations of a report from consultants at Accenture, a Microsoft partner.
"It is already apparent that the desired consolidation of the IT landscape is going in the wrong direction," said Mehl. "Instead of taking the chance to expand the existing infrastructure of Linux systems, the state voluntarily goes back into a cage of artificial dependencies from individual manufacturers."
Mehl pointed to Lower Saxony's neighbour, Schleswig-Holstein, for an example of a more "future-oriented IT strategy". Schleswig Holstein has been governed since last year by a 'Jamaica' coalition of the CDU, the Greens, and the liberal Free Democrats (the party colours of which match the Jamaican flag), which decided last month to go in entirely the opposite direction, abandoning Windows for free software.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
