Slashdot Mirror
Munich to Go Ahead with Linux After All
Saeed al-Sahaf writes "According to Groklaw and the German publication Heise (it's in German, of course) Munich's mayor Christian Ude has held a press conference, in which he said that the bidding process for the switch from Windows to Linux will go forward as originally planned, despite patent issues. InfoWorld (in English), quotes Bernd Plank, a spokesman for Munich town hall, saying that he expected that the administration would take a maximum of 'two to three weeks' to decide whether the EU's Directive on software patents could affect the city's plan to switch to Linux, and that would be no 'dramatic setback.'" We reported this earlier as well, but now that it's making the rounds again in English, more of us can read it without resorting to Babelfish.
Did Microsoft not lower their prices enough at the mention of them going to Linux?
Would the city of Munich care about the UE software patents issues ?
Is it absolutely necessary to have a sig. ?
What the hell fun is that?
--------------
ABSURDITY, n.: A statement or belief manifestly inconsistent with one's own opinion.
The more organizations deploy Linux, the lower the cost will become for further deployments. For example Munich will use VMWare while slowly porting their special Win-only software to Linux.
The next generation will do without VMWare and will lower the cost to migrate to Linux.
Oh, and I might add that 5 cities in Bavaria are also thinking in joining Munich directly.
Also, in 3-4 years, if any hardware company will want to sell hardware to Europe or Asia, it will have to provide Linux drivers which will be beneficial for ALL Linux users.
Before you bring up some of the standard arguments in defense of software patents, please read the FAQ. There is a lot more good analysis in that section. For an easier to understand example of how software patents affect real world applications - a big reason many small businesses oppose them - look at the webshop demo.
It's german.
This is totally insecure, but very convenient.
Der fingerpoken filterin Unix tochen English softranslaten Deutch offen. Sour kraut.
All they're doing is re-opening the bidding process. Not the actual migration.
From TFA:
Mayor Ude, who said he's been thinking it over for a few days, says there will be a legal study completed by Autumn concerning the migration, and if it looks safe, they will go forward and meanwhile the bidding begins.
With any luck, this will crystallise the issues surrounding software patents more clearly in Euro MPs minds and make them think about more than Microsoft et al's bottom line. Indeed, looks like Munich is really pushing that bit:
He also announced that the city is going to request a legal study on the question of what consequences the EU-directive on the patentability of "computer-implemented inventions" will have in the current version of the Council of Ministers's proposed law.
(All emphasis mine)
I just expressed my respect to those people a minute ago. It takes a lot of courage to do this, having Microsoft Germany in your city and all that...
m l and put in your thanks!
If you want to show them respect, go to http://www.muenchen.de/home/81124/contact_form.ht
The fields' descriptions are as follows (top to bottom):
Name
Given name
Location
E-Mail
Topic (use "Sonstiges" = Miscellaenous)
Comments / Questions / Suggestions
Two Worlds - One Sun [Spirit]
i forgot where i read this, probably linux today or here at slashdot. but apparently the guy who stalled the linux implementation because of the patent problem is in the Green Party which is very much for open source and against software patents.
the article suggests that stopping the linux roll out and citing software patents as a roadblock was a way to wake up the government and public to get them to see why software patents is a bad idea
So the Munich Greens thought that having a small temper trantrum about the patent trheat in Linux would have an effect. Instead, they discovered that all they'd done was shoot themselves in the foot.
Dumb, dumb, dumb.
So now what happens? The city government takes the same gun, and shoots itself in the other foot. "No, Linux is still threatened by software patents, but...uh...well...we're going to go aghead with the bidding because...we're going to ignore the threat we tried to blackmail all of Europe with." Yeah, that's the ticket, boys -- make it intentionaly infringement. Right.
Somebody send these guys a clue, please?
I hope for Linux's sake that the community gives Munich some special attention/aid if they decide to migrate and that whoever they have doing the migration knows what they're doing.
Imagine the field day Microsoft will have if the project goes over budget or outright fails!
I still say you have to throw the cost argument right out the window though. In the end, organizations will pay a premium for quality support/service and applications that play nice together easily. That is the biggest challenge Linux has to overcome before it can truly stand toe to toe with Microsoft.
With the trouble the US has had with Europe, this very well might be political. Microsoft is a very big US company and switching from Microsoft to identityless software may improve the mood of some Europeans. This is not a unfounded belief. Korea-Japan-China initiative to develop an alternative OS was to depend less on the US software industry. The result was Red Flag Linux.
'Ve vere invited. Punch vas served. Check vit Poland.'
The Neo-Bohemian Techno-Socialist
they might have a long-range clue. this dilemma raises the issue of software patents in a stark way *now*, while policy is still being formed.
can you imagine trying to roll back software patents *after* they've been absorbed into the consciousness (and bottom line) of the german economy?
pr0n - keeping monitor glass spotless since 1981.
That's like the question "when did you stop beating your wife?", which simply plants the idea in everybody's head that the person questioned did, in fact, beat his wife.
The fact is that Linux does not have any more or less "patent issues" than any other OS: nobody who develops software and has good legal advice will try to do background searches on patents. Instead, the rational thing to do is to develop the software and then see who complains. As a result, just about every major piece of software infringes on lots of patents.
Given that Linux source code is out in the open, any patent holder who believes that their patent is being infringed can complain, and as soon as they do, the infringing code will be removed from Linux and life will go on.
Everyone's focused on Europe and America. The battle of MSFT and SCOX and patent.
Not paying any attention to China and Korea. China has the man (and woman) power to develop and manufacture their own processors. And they're already switching over to Red Flag. At some point, companies on both sides will have to exchange documents in a format that is intra-compatible. More than likely, American companies will convert their documents to something the Chinese can use, negating MSFT Office's proprietary format. The only way MSFT could combat this, directly and in their current spirit, is by not allowing conversions from within Office or Windows.
I honestly believe China will bail us out of this whole mess. Just give them a bit more time; they're industrious people.
What a transparent attempt to get cheaper GPL licensing terms from Stallman and the FSF!
Germany probably demanded something extreme, like perpetual access to source code.
Well, to give you a hint: she calls me Hunnybun. I call her Bunny-Hun.
Get the picture? ;-)
Sure, some Germans (mostly northern Germans) have had their sense of humor surgically removed. But most that I know have a pretty black sense of humor, too.
Cheers,
Ethelred
Everyone wants to be Ethelred. Even I want to be Ethelred.
If they'd had a single clue to rub together, much less two, they'd have gone about this in a different way. What they've done is make themselves worse off. First, they tried to blackmail Europe with one small politically-motivated project in one city. Then, when the EU called their bluff, they turn around and say, basically, "Didn't mean it! Don't worry, we were just trying to scare you." That's not going to stop software patents in Europe. It only makes the opponents of software patents look foolish and out of touch with reality. (Of course, that could be said of the Greens in general, but...)
The city could have done much better. For instance, Munich could have applied to the EC asking for a grandfather clause in the patent legislation, arguing that the current proposal essentially criminalizes acts which were legal at the time they were committed. Alternatively, after their first stunt, they could have recovered by saying: "No, we haven't stopped the process indefinitely, we're waiting for this committee to report to reopen bidding." Instead, they're reopening bidding with some vague contingency that they'll stop if the committee reports the wrong way.
So, somebody please send these guys a clue. I'm told that air freight is really cheap these days.
Insightful, my ass.
This was incredibly smart as they are now producing a legal report that the goverment will have to act upon, thus derailing the European directive to approve software patents as unanimity is likely to be needed on the Commission.
They have not admitted to the existence of any patents that affect Linux, but rather have stated that it is a troubling issue that needs to be examined.
This was very shrewed. They raised public awareness, will get the city's legal department to produce a patent-unfriendly report which will be elevated to the German national government, which will then adopt a no-patents European position at the Comission.
The trees not letting you see the forest?
Pragmatism as an ideology is not particularly pragmatic in the long term. Keep it in mind when you dismiss Free Software
I think that Munich is doing more than just what is best for their network. They have been in a bright, global spotlight since the news that they rejected Microsoft's offer broke, and they are now in a very favorable position to set an example for other city and state governments, (national?), to migrate and stand up to the Giant's licnesing trap.
I for one, welcome our new open source leaders...
One of Linux's large benefactors needs to step up and protect Linux under the aegis of their existing patent portfolio, with some kind of cross-licensing arrangement. Or HP or IBM buys Novell to the same effect. If they care enough about screwing Microsoft to the wall they will need to protect linux (define it somehow) in this manner eventually.
Software patents have gotten out of hand but at least linux has a godfather or two that can and should step in to defend it. IBM or HP should make some announcement about cross licensing some patents to linux dispel the evil spin being applied to linux in the current press. A small portfolio of patents that is enough to make Microsoft or anyone hoping to attach linux on patent grounds realize their own weaknesses and want to avoid endless retaliatory patent litigation.