Posted on 04/16/2005 9:03:36 AM PDT by Golden Eagle
The City of Munich has selected two local German software companies to equip all 14,000 computers in its public administration with Linux and other open source office applications.
Softcon and Gonicus, which submitted a joint bid, were selected to install open source software provided through the Debian GNU/Linux project. The two companies will also provide a range of applications designed specifically for the city administration. Financial details of the deal were not available.
The high participation in the public tender to supply software and support for Munich's LiMux open software project showed that Linux on the desktop is no "exotic solution," Peter Hofmann, LiMux project manager at Munich City's Data Processing Center, said in a statement.
Hofmann could not be immediately reached to comment on the other companies that submitted a bid.
Suse Linux, a unit of Novell, and IBM worked closely with city government officials on their decision to use Linux, reached in 2003.
The city aims to complete the migration project by the end of 2008.
IBM clearly now has egg all over it's face, with their stock down 25% in the last few weeks, and the CEO blaming their "inability to close the deal." However if you've been following my commentary on the matter all along, you'll know it was a disasterous plan to begin with.
Munich fires Microsoft Ping!
You got it wrong. The story is, IBM spent millions in convincing Munich to go with Linux instead of Windows, and assured everyone that they, IBM, would win the contract. Many of us laughed, and said there's not chance in hell they will pick IBM, no matter how much software IBM has contributed to Linux or not, they will pick some completely free version of Linux instead, which is exactly what they did.
And why wouldn't they, just because IBM is stupid enough to try to sell software they are simultaneously giving away for free, doesn't mean anyone else is stupid enough to go and buy it. They'll just strip the name off of there, slap their name on there instead, and away they'll go.
In fact, they had already done just that. I've only been posting this link since it first came out, but here it is again.
http://www.debianplanet.org/node.php?id=1118
Why would the Germans buy the name IBM, when they can get the same thing for free, and rename it "German Government Desktop" instead? Answer: rhetorical.
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Now you're stuck hoping to land these high dollar contracts for supposed freeware. If this is any indication for how things are going to go, you're toast.
What really pisses you off is that you and the Butterfly told us all that this shift to linux in Munich was a big flop, and that they weren't going through with it. But apparently you were full of canal water; they are going through with it. Which means we all get to see whether a sizeable municipal government can toss Microsoft over the side, and live to tell the tale. I'm sure you'll keep us up-to-date on every hiccup that comes along, perhaps accompanied by a totally unrelated graph like this one was. May foul-smelling ants munch your cartesian coordinates. |
That graph is perfectly relevant, and never have I seen a more representative "dive bomb" appearance in my life. IBM's plan of free software for the world, and handing over their hardware operations to the Chinese, is blowing up right in their faces, to the tune of 25% of their stock value in just a few weeks. And I certainly have every right to rub your nose in it, since I've predicted it backfiring from the begining, and you've defended them with every breath.
Sure, they'll survive, but not before they permanently damage the entire US tech industry with their intellectual property givaways, and questionable partnerships with foreign governments. You cheered as they wrecked Sun and SGI and Cray's business by giving away Unix secrets, but now IBM's business is in the shitter too. Too bad theirs wasn't the first to go, they certainly caused this mess to begin with. Maybe finally IBM's shareholders will call an end to this foolishness, somebody needs to, and quick.
Do you still get a nickel for every reply you get to your trolls? Here, have a nickel.
There you go, accussing me of what you're guilty of again. Obviously, I'm not the troll, I'm the one that knew this was going to happen despite the claims from you and others to the contrary. And no amount of denials and finger pointing by you now is going to change that.
Shoot at everything that moves and your bound to hit something..
You're twisting things and wrong, just like always. I never said it wouldn't work, I said it was extremely foolish of the Germans to choose an unknown product (Linux) when the estimate to use it was actually higher than the cost to stick with what they had (Windows). But when they did choose to use Linux, at the higher cost, it was obvious they were only doing it out of blatant anti-Americanism, which meant that IBM didn't have a chance at landing that contract.
I'm not surprised you like to try to twist things constantly, being the only way you could ever win a point. Unfortunately for you, I don't ever let you get away with it. The bottom line is clear, no matter how much you twist and squirm - Linux is costing US technology companies business, it always has and always will.
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Eagle you're being an idiot, as usual. IBM does not care what happens on the desktop. They don't care to the point that they sold their desktop computer division. What they want is the back office iron and the middleware. They'll get their share.