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EU Studies Linux Migration

Posted by michael on from the reverse-assimilation dept.

LeftOfCentre writes "The Register reports that the European Commision, the executive arm of the 380 million population European Union, has decided to spend 250,000 Euros on studying how government computers in EU states could be migrated to Linux and open source."

16 of 339 comments (clear)

  1. Let's wait by spacefight · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I bet 100 that Microsoft or similar companies will put a lot more than 250'000 into a study _against_ a Linux Migration as we've seen quite a lot in the past.

  2. Fasibility Study Only - As yet.... by anonymous+cupboard · · Score: 5, Interesting
    This is currently only a feasibilty study, and I gather the Germans in particular with thir own initiatives are quite strongly behind this.

    However, many persons in the EU are aware of the perils of depending upon a single vendor and their propietary formats, and also how ill-served we are when pushing documents around between PCs configured for different languages.

    1. Re:Fasibility Study Only - As yet.... by plugger · · Score: 5, Informative

      Police in the UK are also piloting a Linux desktop system. Reported here.

  3. Easy solution. . . by cordsie · · Score: 5, Funny
    EU Studies Linux Migration

    Just wait until it flies back north, then get out the hunting rifles.

  4. It's not the computers that need migration... by mvdw · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Migrating computers is easy enough - the hard part is migrating users.

    1. Re:It's not the computers that need migration... by EvilAlien · · Score: 5, Insightful
      The great thing about business or government or anywhere that isn't the users' home... "Use this computer. Or you're fired".

      Migrating users isn't that difficult, basic desktop usage of Windows, MacOS or Linux is mostly portable. Anyone who can't learn how to do very basic things on another OS (I'm not talking about system administration here, but typing and printing memos) doesn't deserve their job. Sometimes people just have to learn and adapt to change, it is one of the requirements of being a living thing.

      --
      perl -e 'print $i=pack(c5, (41*2), sqrt(7056), (unpack(c,H)-2), oct(115), 10)'
    2. Re:It's not the computers that need migration... by ArtDent · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Really? You must be using a different Office XP from the one I've been battling with lately. I *thought* that the simplicity of the UI (relative to the size of the feature set, of course) and its consistency across versions (since the Word 6 era, at least) had been Office's greatest recommendation.

      Then I met XP. Why does the interface look completely different...and feel as sluggish as Mozilla M18? Why are things that used to be dialog boxes now in these weird Window-embedded pallette things that cause the view of my document to resize? Speaking of that, what's with the window automaticlaly resizing to do battle with the help window, anyway? Does that actually work for anyone else (I frequently get a mostly blank help window with the left-most 15 pixels or so of what's supposed to be its content peeking in on the right side).

      The old, simple, clean feeling is gone. Now there's all kinds of freaky interface features that obviously "seemed like a good idea at the time."

      I'm not sure how much difficulty all of the changes would cause the mystical "typical user." For the people who accomplish a task by repeating a series of memorized mouse clicks/key strokes, these changes would be trouble.

  5. Next on the Discovery Channel by MosesJones · · Score: 5, Funny

    Watch as the Elegant Linux penguins migrate from Finland down into central Europe for the harsh winter ahead. Linux Penguins are unusual as the only northen hemisphere penguins in the wild, this documentary shows they unusual mating dances and how they manage to move their young thousands of miles by transporting them as small ISO images.

    Truely one of natures great wonders.

    --
    An Eye for an Eye will make the whole world blind - Gandhi
  6. This is the EU not the US... by MosesJones · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The EU has no love are large US Companies, they are after all the competition. There is less lobbying in the EU (though loads of corruption) and at the end of the day do you think that the French, Germans, Italians, Spanish etc etc would prefer to see a US Monopoly or something else ?

    Or put it another way. If MS had been French, the DoJ would have remedied them out of existence by now.

    --
    An Eye for an Eye will make the whole world blind - Gandhi
    1. Re:This is the EU not the US... by pubjames · · Score: 5, Insightful

      There is less lobbying in the EU (though loads of corruption)

      That's right. There's much more corruption in the EU than the USA. That's because the EU doesn't have lots of sensible mechanisms in place to prevent giant corporations and friends of those in power from influencing policy in the way the USA does.

      (Yes, more sarcasm!)

    2. Re:This is the EU not the US... by oreilco · · Score: 5, Funny

      Corruption / Lobbying ... it's just a spelling difference.

  7. Europe out in front again... by Broken+Bottle · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Does anyone else get the impression that this will be yet another area where, yet again, Europe is going to be WAY out in front of the US. Europe and progressive social policy (or, if you live there, I guess you'd just call it "social policy" :) ) are practically synonymous and the US is once again made to look like a country run by bankers... Government is a public institution. Therefore, in my mind, it makes perfect sense for a government (a democratic one at least) to setup it's IT infrastructure based around a platform created by the people for the people rather than a platform that lines the pockets of a monlithic corporation (and, in this case, a foreign one at that).

    Chris

    1. Re:Europe out in front again... by pubjames · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Of course we have the example of UK to show it is possible to transition from a welfare state to a free market.

      That's right. As a UK citizen I am proud of how the UK has lead the way with privitizing its public services. It's made the UK a much better place to live! What with the expensive public transport system that fails to run on time and a health service that is now one of the worst in Europe. And what joy it brought when The Post Office spent vast sums renaming itself "Consignia" to be more commercial, and then reverting back to "The Post Office". How jealous the rest of Europe must be!

  8. Re:Undemocratic executive arm by xutopia · · Score: 5, Insightful

    in a world of american companies trying to force the world to use their software america created the FSF.

    France is helping to create a Europe that doesn't require MS's permission to go to the washroom.

    The commission is forcing no one. It gives recommendations that the states of the new Europe take or reject based on wether or not it gives them advantages.

    Grow up.

  9. Re:Taxes by blancolioni · · Score: 5, Informative

    I know most European nations are generally socialist at their core and tax their citizens quite heavily.

    I pay about the same amount of tax here as I did when I lived in the US. The difference is that in the EU, the money goes to social policies; while in the US it goes on the military.

  10. Re:Since when by tve · · Score: 5, Funny

    Since when do penguins fly?

    Penguins can fly when being thrown, when on a plane or when you shoot them from a canon. I don't know exactly how migration would work. That's why I think this study is really great.

    --

    If there is hope, it lies in the trolls.