"Linux vendor Red Hat, and 17 other vendors, have protested a
Swiss government contract given to Microsoft without any public
bidding. The move exposes a wider Microsoft monopoly that European
governments accept, despite their lip service for open source,
according to commentators.
"The Red Hat group has asked a Swiss federal court to overturn a
three-year contract issued to Microsoft by the Swiss Federal Bureau
for Building and Logistics, to provide Windows desktops and
applications, with support and maintenance, for 14 million Swiss
Franc (£8 million) each year. The contract, for "standardised
workstations", was issued with no public bidding process, Red Hat's
legal team reports in a blog - because the Swiss agency asserted
there was no sufficient alternative to Microsoft products."
