Considering what's at stake for Microsoft, it's amazing that
Munich's Limux project continues.
Over the years I've read a great deal about various efforts
to belittle and undermine it. The Munich Limux Watch blog
seems like an attempt to systematically discredit the entire
project. I'd love to find out who's behind it. I doubt it's
directly supported Microsoft, but I'd wouldn't be surprised
if there is some business interest, perhaps a disgruntled
IT supplier or even a public sector employee who doesn't want
their desktop system changed, behind it. Perhaps some clever
Slashdot reader can find out more.
Don't be surprised that there are unexpected costs on a
project of this size and complexity. Think about similar
projects in the (semi-)public sector, some of which had
factor 10 cost overruns and were abandoned (for example:
Denver airport luggage processing system). In the end, the
ability to actually complete the project, even if years
late, and the long-term cost savings will determine its real
success. [See my signature below]
We shouldn't expect Limux to have an instant pay back. Even
though the operating system is free, the installation
scripting, customization, roll-out, training and support have
real costs, which will take years to amortize. The gain will
only be in the long-term when the infrastructure to support
Limux is in place and saves from not having license costs
associated with forced upgrades are realized.
Further, you must bear in mind that Munich is a pioneer in
even attempting to replace a major Microsoft based
infrastructure with open source software. They are having to
to do everything from scratch, which I'm sure increases the
cost.
Munich's Limux project is a battleground for Microsoft. It
it succeeds then it will become the model for similar
initiatives. This could make non-Microsoft desktop systems
a real alternative for large institutions. This is
Microsoft's disaster scenario, and could ruin their
monopoly hold on the marker. They might even have to,
gasp, compete.