Linux ensnares another European city

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Not absolutely analogous

From the article, at least as I read it, Bergen is looking at migrating only servers from Windows to Linux. This is not an area where corporations have been totally close-mouthed, as evidence Unilever and Merrill Lynch. But as for migration to desktop Linux, which has only been viable for a very short time, it is unlikely that any body - public or private - is that far along. And I'm not surprised the corporations aren't publicizing their in-progress efforts (my own outfit among them). As has been noted, this is all very political, and we don't need a 'friendly' offer from a buddy of a board member with nice concessions if we just drop the idea of converting. Of course we want to listen to any good deals once we have solid experience and a business case, but this is no time to be stampeded into what could be a bad deal for the organization. And this is likely the underlying reason that HP is telling us that they don't expect to be able to divulge the names of their customers that are moving toward full-scale implementation for another six months or so - frustrating, but understandable.

As for governmental bodies, they are generally required to conduct public business in the public eye. It's just a fact of life that you will see their tradeoff studies and trials earier in life than a corporation that has trade secrets and other reasons for maintaining discretion.

So why are we seeing municipalities come forth soonest? Why not states or entire countries? The apparently simple answer is that there are more of them - one, two or three out of thousands is much more likely than out of a few dozen. With perfect hindsight, it is not at all surprising that the first publicly-evident steps forward are from the Houstons, Austins, Munichs and Bergens. But it's a good, thought-provoking question.

Of course if there are further problems in Munich it becomes a victory for MS.

This comes in as a good solid 'maybe.' The engineering is the risky part, as anybody who lived through the near-death experience of NT can attest (it was fatal for some CIOs). But once you get to deployment, a whole new set of considerations come into play - much less driven by the technology and more by the nature of the organization. Admittedly, it is possible to find a manager that is unable to oversee a deployment (remember Peters - For every job in the world, there is somebody, somewhere who cannot do it); however, if the totally inept is put it charge it's an obvious loss for the city, but I would think MS-neutral.

Posted by: IT_User   Posted on: 06/18/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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