Swiss boot out Linux in favour of Windows 7

[Night Hawk]

Swiss boot out Linux in favour of Windows 7

U-turn in the Alps

By John E Dunn Techworld
Published: 13:49 GMT, 20 September 10

The government in the Swiss region of Solothurn has reportedly confirmed that it will turn to Windows 7 after hitting problems in a long-running desktop Linux migration project.

According to third-party Internet sources, the plan, whose origins go back as far as 2001, had been for the canton to have deployed Debian GNU/Linux distribution for desktop users, backed up by OpenOffice, the Scalix email system, Firefox and a number of KDE desktop applications.

This headline part of this has now been abandoned, says a German language site, and Windows 7 will become the standard desktop operating system for the canton’s government users, backed by Outlook for email.

A small but significant defeat for Linux or an example of poor management that can hit any IT project?

The reported evidence points firmly to the latter, not least because an unspecified number of the open source and free software applications will still be retained.

Microsoft's involvement in the change of heart is unknown.

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Even in those places where things move at a slower pace 7 is catching on!

 

[KazeNoKoe23]

Not like this was a bad idea on the Swiss' part.

 

[smarteyeball]

That's a big slap in the face for the open source movement

 

[mikedl]

Yeah, my thoughts regarding this are a bit ambivalent.

I always hate to see bumps in the road regarding open source applications and OS's but then I do know how stable MS has been able to make their most recent offerings.

 

[Tews]

I believe that this shows how much MS has improved Windows... is this a coming trend??

 

[jimbo45]

Hi there
I'm ALWAYS sceptical when I read about these sorts of projects.

Any Government project in the KNOWN UNIVERSE is always riddled with beaurocracy, Political shenanigans, Nepotism, and just sheer Bad Management -- even in a legendary efficient country such as Switzerland.

Generally a wholesale migration project to Linux makes NO sense -- it always depends on what the end result is expected to achieve.

Usually the pressure is on to reduce up front costs WITHOUT REGARD TO ANYTHING ELSE and this is where disaster usually strikes.

There's a LOT more involved than just paying fewer dollars for the software.

Linux may be perfectly suitable for some places as a desktop OS but I would imagine in busy government offices it could be a DISASTER zone since the calls on Help desk etc etc would swamp the whole system.

Also most of the access of facilities of these govt services would be done by people with Windows Machines so another level of service complexity here too.

Finally in a large organisation people would be using things like ESS (Employee Self Service) via ERP / Portal software like SAP and usually this stuff needs a Windows GUI on the front end even if the undelying Database servers etc can run on Linux.

ESS for those who don't know is a facility in a large organisation for Employees requesting leave, swapping shifts, booking travel expenses, arrange training courses (internal or external) and a whole slew of stuff more. It can really reduce the amount of paperwork in large depts such as Government services.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[Nigsy]

I believe that this shows how much MS has improved Windows... is this a coming trend??

No!

Open source is gaining (industry) market share at a greater rate than windows 7.
Most companies I deal with have no intention of upgrading to W7 and are looking at opensource alternatives.

As I work with Oracle I am seeing this more and more especially where a company already has a Unix platform. In roads are small, open office insted of MS, Zimbra instead of Outlook, and use of Linux to run some new installations, but Linux/ Open source is growing.

 

[jimbo45]

I believe that this shows how much MS has improved Windows... is this a coming trend??

No!

Open source is gaining (industry) market share at a greater rate than windows 7.
Most companies I deal with have no intention of upgrading to W7 and are looking at opensource alternatives.

As I work with Oracle I am seeing this more and more especially where a company already has a Unix platform. In roads are small, open office insted of MS, Zimbra instead of Outlook, and use of Linux to run some new installations, but Linux/ Open source is growing.

Hi there
Absolutely true for small manageable businesses and also for Start up or new ones too -- but there is a HUGE difference in this type of operation compared with Government Service in a major country such as Switzerland.

Different systems entirely. This is an area where a "One size fits all" Cannot possibly work.

Large organisations need the consistency of proven software and the ability to get it fixed when (and if) it goes wrong.

They can't take the chance on whether xxxxx who is reponsible for a piece of open software has been drinking at the pub last night so won't be able to look at the problem for a day or two.

Nothing wrong with Open Source where applicable and I always support it on Linux too -- but there are conditions where this is simply not practicable and the example made by the OP was one of them.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[Night Hawk]

I suspect the optional support for Linux applications seen with 7 along with a growing trend being seen with things like 20 great Windows open source projects you should get to know and Run Linux Apps On Your Windows Machine the Easy Way would only be a small factor in why they made that decision if any of that had any bearing.

The improvements seen in 7 are obvious for most from the start. While past trends to upgrade into a newer version typically meant an upgrade of all softwares 7 has something else new to offer namely the XP Mode to consider as well as being the most reliable version seen prior to the first service pack.

I think jimbo45 touched on the one other thing called "flexibility" since not everyone is an open source user while even the novice user can run a Windows desktop without too much strain. That would be the typical office worker enviroment.

As for maintaining things however that wouldn't be placed on the shoulders for just one individual where any branch of a government, larger corporation, or even a large non profit agancy is concerned but would have their own internal dept. set aside. Could you imagine one person trying to keep things going on several hundred machines?