Campaign for Free Software in the Bundestag

mpawlo writes: "According to Swedish IDG.se, the president of Microsoft Germany is outraged over the Bundestux campaign. The campaign aims to put Linux in the Bundestag (German Parliament). He has sent a letter to the campaign workers - some of them members of the German parliament - stating that Microsoft is not a threat to democratic values (as argued by the campaign). Kurt Sibold also states that the only thing achieved through the campaign is a public slander of Microsoft." Also reported by the Register, if you prefer English.

Comments

This is just so silly..

[WorldSpawn]

As someone has probably already pointed out, they should chose the best tools for the job, that give the best price/performance ratio. If that happens to be Linux, good for ya. If it happens to be MS, too bad.

Additionally, claiming MS and/or closed source software is "Anti-democratic" is just as lame as MS were when they claimed the GPL was a cancer.

Slanderous, misinformed statements like these, from either side, are the last thing needed.

/W

If you havent been there.....

[CDWert]

If you havent been to Germany, or If you havent worked with Germans in an IT related role. IT IS VERY different from here in the states. The mindset for one is completley different, I say that from experience, things that are the most important in the world to us mean little to them. Ive seen this first hand. Usablity many not even be anywhere on their list of issues, or something that we find indespensable, this is changing slowly, but if you bought or owned a computer in Germany say in the 80's on you know what I speak is the truth. I can actually see many of the monopolistic point we see as weakenesses, being strongpoints to those in German Parliment, the Goverment situation is VERY different from here, they live in pseudo-democratic goverment where, trade unions(they are VERY unlike here) still wield large amounts of power and freedom of speech isnt a freedom, or even an option of one. For people that dont know the situation in Germany, political, technical, or social, Pushing something on them isnt going to fly.