Another German state plans switch back from Linux to Windows
The German state of Lower Saxony plans to follow Munich's example, and migrate a reported 13,000 users from Linux back to Windows.
Apparently undaunted by the cost of the Munich switch (which we reported in January could be as much as €100m), Lower Saxony is considering making the change in its tax office. The state seems to expect a much cheaper transition, with Heise (in German here) reporting the first-year budget is €5.9m, and another €7m further out.
The tax office argues its decision is driven by compatibility: field workers and teleworkers overwhelmingly use Windows, while the OpenSUSE variants are installed on its office workstations. The office workstations are also ageing and due for replacement, something that helped open the door for Windows.
Related: Linux Champion Munich Takes Decisive Step Towards Returning to Windows
Munich Switching From Linux to Windows 10
German Documentary on Relations Between Microsoft and Public Administration Now Available in English
(Score: 2) by bobthecimmerian on Saturday July 28 2018, @08:56PM (4 children)
I don't see what systemd has to do with any of this. Nobody is forced to use it. Nobody is blocked from using something else, or blocked from producing their own fork.
That's totally different from proprietary software. You seem to have the common mistaken belief that "free software" means "I have a right to demand that the community follow my own preferences". FreeBSD doesn't use systemd. Void Linux doesn't use it. Gentoo can be run with or without it. Choose one of those, or make your own.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 28 2018, @10:44PM (2 children)
Kinda. I really don't care if redshat screws the pooch with systemd, but the BS where things that should not care about init are dependent on systemd pisses me off. I've been able to continue to run Debian through Stretch (v9) with systemd purged, but recently I installed Debian testing (will be Buster), on a new laptop my work gave me. When I went to purge systemd, just about half the f-ing system was going to be uninstalled because systemd was a dependency.
Someone a few years ago described systemd as a cancer. I have to agree.
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 29 2018, @05:52AM
I have a different theory: SystemD is the NSA's Linux backdoor. I know, this sounds tin-foil-hattery nutty, but it's one of the few explanations that make sense (another one being that Lennart Poettering is one of the most elaborate and succesful trolls in history).
Call me a conspiracy theorist. But from how things stand, I'll default to assuming that SystemD is an NSA trojan - until proven otherwise.
(Score: 2) by bobthecimmerian on Sunday July 29 2018, @03:10PM
I've never had a problem with systemd, I've been using it without headaches for years on personal Linux desktops and hundreds of work servers. But I was upset by the changes in GNOME 3, and Ubuntu's Unity desktop so I understand your general class of frustration. (I find Unity and GNOME 3 acceptable now... after years of adjustments that came because of user screams of anguish and jumps to other desktops.)
I think the long term solution to these kinds of problems is to try to get as many people as possible using open source. Maybe 0.0001% to 0.1% of users will become contributors, and if we have 3 billion users then that's enough contributors that any project anyone could possibly care about will have a ton of supporters. Then Linux can have fifty well-engineered, actively maintained init systems and desktop environments and we can all choose awesome things without being forced to go with a handful of defaults or write our own.
(Score: 2) by Bot on Sunday July 29 2018, @09:40PM
let me explain.
Linux is FOSS, if I don't want to run systemd, I can. It will be difficult? sure.
Windows pushes the update, you either consume it or eventually be locked out by compromises or incompatibility.
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