14 DAY TRIAL // The City of Munich will explore ways to move to Windows 10 by 2020, as part of a historic vote that could represent a major step towards the demise of its own Linux-based LiMux.
The city council voted today to create a draft plan that would include information such as cost estimates to move computers to Windows 10 and abandon Linux. In case the plan gets the go-ahead, Munich plans to complete the transition to Windows 10 by the end of 2020, meaning that in 2021, no LiMux computers should be in use.
And although this seems to be a big step towards Windows, city officials say that they’re still evaluating the migration to Microsoft’s operating system and this is one of the reasons they asked for a report that would determine how much it will take and cost to move to Windows 10.
Munich mayor Dieter Reiter was one of the biggest supporters of the return to Windows, explaining that “employees are not satisfied with our IT and more than half are not happy.”
Today’s vote is a result of a proposal that was made by the SPD and CSU coalition based on a research that was made by Microsoft partner Accenture and which brought to light issues that Munich employees experienced after the switch to Linux. What’s important to mention, however, is that the report didn’t specifically mention Linux issues, but difficulties that employees came across, such as printing, viewing, and editing documents.
Kristina Frank, party member with the CSU, says LiMux is no longer a good choice for Munich, pointing out that although open-source software could be useful, the city should pick solutions that are more effective for their purpose.
“I really don't care what the OS is called. I don't care where it comes from. For me all that matters is that it works. We've taken this step because Munich is alone struggling against the tide. This experiment has not ended up where we would have liked it. Munich took a unusual path. Most workplaces in Germany and worldwide are running other clients. Linux may be the right choice for many users but it's not for Munich,” she was quoted as saying.
“Our LiMux client fundamentally works but it's not efficient or intuitive and there are regular problems when you have to add other software, regular compatibility problems.”
Returning to Windows just a matter of time
On the other hand, Nadine Englhart, chairperson of the Pirate Party in Munich, says the city will now spend millions of Euros to revert a decision that actually helped save money.
“The change to LiMux saved about €10m Euros. Spending that money to do another migration, which will not assert further improvements, instead of solving the real problems is quite a bad idea. After all we are talking about taxpayers money.”
Although Munich authorities are still waiting for a report that would estimate time and costs of the migration to Windows, there’s a big chance that the transition will be made anyway. And at this point, it all seems just a matter of time.
“The final decision will be later, but it's a formal decision. It's only that we will decide again, once we know everything about the costs, but the direction stays the same,” Florian Roth of the Green Party said.
The controversy on whether returning to Windows is a good or bad choice will continue, that’s for sure, but with today’s vote, Munich made a huge step towards giving up on Linux. At this point, there’s no ETA for the report that would assess the migration back to Windows.