SoylentNews

"gewg_" writes:

from the freeeedom! dept.

The European Union's interoperability page reports [europa.eu]

The council of the Swiss capital of Bern on 12 November ordered the IT department to end its dependence on proprietary software. The council halved the city's request for a six-year [license] contract and insisted on an exit plan. A majority of [councilors] wants the city to replace proprietary software by open source solutions such as Linux and LibreOffice.

The exit plan should be based on pilot projects that consider alternatives, the city council decided. With 53 of the total 67 votes, the council changed the city's desktop software plans. The [councilors] want applications to become independent from PC operating system or office productivity tools. And in late 2018, when desktop operating and office [licenses] expire, Bern has to publish an open call for tender, using vendor-neutral specifications.

"Basically, from now on, the IT department may only procure and implement solutions that are platform-independent", the [councilors] agreed on Thursday.

[...]In a statement on 13 November, the Swiss Parliamentary Group on Digital Sustainability welcomed the change in IT strategy of the capital. The group offered to help the city with its exit plan, pointing to documentation such as a checklist [europa.eu] to help public administrations to procure open source software solutions.

Original Submission