The city of Munich has accomplished its migration to open source software declaring it a success. Back in 2003, the city decided to adopt its own Linux distribution, LiMux. Regular operations were also migrated to the standard Open Document Format (ODF). Cost savings from this exercise amassed to €11.7 million in November 2012. The project has also broken the city’s dependence on proprietary software.
The project now boasts over 14,800 LiMux workspaces with a majority of its users and administrators now familiar with the LiMux OS through long time use. “Despite the migration of many thousands of PC workstations, the city government always remained operational.” – council report.
“With the project’s success and the sharing of results and solutions with the public, the city took an important step toward more openness and independence from individual software makers.” – Munich’s deputy mayor, Christine Strobl.
