The city is only conducting a review to see how the adoption of Linux is going

Aug 20, 2014 06:00 GMT  ·  By

Reports coming from German media in the last couple of days have revealed that Munich, one of the pioneers of the transition from Windows to Linux, might actually go back to Microsoft’s operating system after 10 years of using the open-source rivaling platform.

But an official of the Munich city council has said in a statement that all these reports are actually missing one key point which could make the information provided to readers inaccurate: nothing has been decided until now, and local authorities are only conducting a review to see how the adoption of Linux is going now that the transition has been completed.

Council spokesman Stefan Hauf explains that the newly elected mayor Dieter Reiter himself required the review in order to make a decision on how to proceed with the other departments that are yet to move to Linux. Hauf adds that, while the transition to Linux has gone well until now, the city is currently trying to figure out whether the same direction should be maintained for new departments as well.

“The new mayor has asked the administration to gather the facts so we can decide and make a proposal for the city council how to proceed in future,” he is quoted as saying by TechRepublic.

“Not only for Limux but for all of IT. It's about the organisation, the costs, performance and the useability and satisfaction of the users.”

What’s more, Hauf points out that reports suggesting that Munich might dump LiMux for Windows are inaccurate because no decision has been made yet. He does however leave some room for interpretation, suggesting that a transition to Windows could be possible in case the results of the survey indicate that sticking to Microsoft’s operating system would be a more productive decision.

"Nothing is decided because first we have to see the report and then we can decide," he says.

At the same time, the Munich city council official clearly states that this review has nothing to do with the way Linux is being adopted by staff, and no sign of dissatisfaction has been spotted until now. It’s all just a way to determine whether going the open-source way is a good decision for all city departments or not, he points out.

Needless to say, news that Munich could move away from Linux and go back to Windows has caused quite a stir in the open-source community, with many users accusing media for keeping Microsoft’s side and publishing what they call paid articles.

Obviously, there’s no evidence right now that Microsoft has anything to do with all these reports, but it’s easy to understand why so many people believe that Redmond could get involved in a return back to Windows. Microsoft would clearly benefit from a contract with Munich authorities, but until signs of a possible involvement in this case are revealed, speculation in this regard doesn’t make much sense.