[ Thanks to Tom
Mathews for this link. ]
“In May, the city of Munich decided to oust Microsoft Windows
from the 14,000 computers used by local-government employees in
favour of Linux, an open-source operating system. Although the
contract was worth a modest $35m, Microsoft’s chief executive,
Steve Ballmer, interrupted his holiday in Switzerland to visit
Munich and lobby the mayor. Microsoft even dropped its prices to
match Linux–a remarkable feat since Linux is essentially free and
users merely purchase support services alongside it. But the
software giant still lost. City officials said the decision was a
matter of principle: the municipality wanted to control its
technological destiny. It did not wish to place the functioning of
government in the hands of a commercial vendor with proprietary
standards which is accountable to shareholders rather than to
citizens.“Worryingly for Microsoft, Munich is not alone in holding that
view. Across the globe, governments are turning to open-source
software which, unlike proprietary software, allows users to
inspect, modify and freely redistribute its underlying programming
instructions. Scores of national and state governments have drafted
legislation calling for open-source software to be given
preferential treatment in procurement. Brazil, for instance, is
preparing to recommend that all its government agencies and state
enterprises buy open source…”