Pro IT Zone

The capital of Austria opted for open source software, but the software incompatibility made them return to Windows.

Vienna migrated from Windows to Linux in 2005. Now, the city must undo this footsteps and acquire licenses for Windows Vista.

“It’s a big step backwards for our bid to Linux,” said Marie Ringler to the state radio ORF.

According to ORF, changing operating system is due to a language program that works exclusively with the Internet Explorer browser from Microsoft.

To solve the problem, the municipal administration has opted to reconfigure 720 PCs that currently run GNULinux, so they can run Windows Vista through a dual boot.

The price of the reconfiguration will be of 105,000 euros.

“For a fraction of that amount could have done that the company that distributes the program languages make an adjustment for Firefox,” said Marie Ringler.

Ringler expressed concern at the fact that Vienna “for its back on the practice of using open source software.” According to the German newspaper Heise, Ringler would have said further that “this is the shot of grace, which follows the decision taken in February, to invest 7.5 million in licensing Microsoft.

Other local politicians, therefore deny that the city is abandoning its plans to use free software on a larger scale.

“Vienna has used free software during the past 20 years, and will continue,” said Siegfried Lindenmayer, representative of the Social Democrat SPO party, to the Austrian news site Future Zone.

Users of public administration in Vienna can use between workstations with GNULinux or Microsoft. Around 1,000 of the 32,000 PCs running municipal distribution GNULinus Wienux, based on Debian.