City of Munich poised to migrate back to Windows, throwing out both Linux and Libre Office

"The operation of the non-uniform client landscape can no longer be made cost-efficient," admits German city council

The City of Munich is planning to complete a reversion to Windows and Office, with City councillors poised to vote in favour of ditching the bespoke Linux system implemented from 2004.

The City Council made a much-publicised switch to LiMux, a customised version of Linux, in stages starting from 2004, ignoring a Microsoft delegation led by the company's CEO Steve Ballmer, who visited the City in person.

But the roll-out was beset by a series of technical and other problems, and took a lot longer than anyone had anticipated. In 2015, rumours began to emerge of a plan to switch back to Windows. By February of this year, the various switch-back initiatives had begun and with open source advocates expressing their dismay.

The City Council was forced in an article entitled ‘Penguin, Adieu!' to admit to the German Federation of Taxpayers that the migration simply hadn't worked: "Today, with a Linux client-centric environment, we are often confronted with major difficulties and additional costs when it comes to acquiring and operating professional application software.

"In the long term, this situation means that the operation of the non-uniform client landscape can no longer be made cost-efficient," reports Swarzbuch (German).

It is estimated that the failure will cost the City of Munich a total of €19m, although around €10m was saved in terms of the licensing cost of Windows and other packages, particularly Office, during this period.

Last year a survey by consultants Accenture found that the problem wasn't with the operating system, but the way it was deployed and managed by the City's IT departments. The report also suggested running the two systems side-by-side rather than throwing away everything invested in the open-source systems.

It is estimated that although the Linux project was complete, there were still 4,163 Windows based-PCs in the City network, compared to 20,000 Linux machines, as full compatibility with some vital services was never achieved.

A final decision is yet to be reached, but it is expected that the vast majority of councilors will vote in favour of the switch.

Tech Republic also reports rumours that the City is already in the process of switching back to an Exchange server for email and calendar, al though this hasn't been confirmed.