“Similarly, when it comes to open source adoption, Germany has a
long tradition of leading the world. For example, a study of Linux
contributors by Paul Jones of iBiblio in 2000 found that Germans
were the second largest contributors.“‘I am convinced that open source development can form the
European base model in the information age,’ stated the then German
Secretary of State in the Federal Ministry for Economy and
Technology, Siegmar Mosdorf, at LinuxTag 2000, signaling the
federal government’s official support for open
source software with the aim of cutting costs and improving
security…”