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Forums - PC Discussion - 17 companies sue Switzerland over Microsoft contract

http://www.eweekeurope.co.uk/news/red-hat-sues-switzerland-over-microsoft-monopoly-965

"£8 million a year to Microsoft, with no public bidding. And that's just the tip of the iceberg, say open source activists

Linux vendor Red Hat, and 17 other vendors, have protested a Swiss government contract given to Microsoft without any public bidding.

...

The Red Hat group has asked a Swiss federal court to overturn a three-year contract issued to Microsoft by the Swiss Federal Bureau for Building and Logistics, to provide Windows desktops and applications, with support and maintenance, for 14 million Swiss Franc (£8 million) each year. The contract, for "standardised workstations", was issued with no public bidding process, Red Hat's legal team reports in a blog - because the Swiss agency asserted there was no sufficient alternative to Microsoft products.

Red Hat and others have made the obvious response that there are plenty of alternatives to Microsoft, and the current situation makes them more attractive than ever, according to a report issued this week by Freeform Dynamics."

EDIT: Title should say 18 companies.

 

My take:

This is why Microsoft continues to have a monopoly in the home OS market. Unlike any other product or contract, governments and businesses don't even look at alternatives when making software purchases. The report concerns Switzerland, but this sort of favoured contracting goes on in most countries, unopposed. My own country (UK) has an exclusive contract with MS to provide OSs for all government IT. The 'bidding process' for this only consisted of choosing which vendor supplies the computers with it preloaded.

How can alternatives compete if there is no outlet to do so, and even, like Red Hat, giving it away for FREE isn't good enough to be selected?

 

 

 



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I really hope they win.



PC gaming is better than console gaming. Always.     We are Anonymous, We are Legion    Kick-ass interview   Great Flash Series Here    Anime Ratings     Make and Play Please
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Because they will bleed insiginicent amounts of money!



kowenicki said:
Thats pathetic. Why should they have to consider an alternatrive/.

I wonder what operating system Sony, Philips and countless other companies use as a standard for their office and admin staff, do they tender? no, they buy MS and get on with it.

Envy is a terrible thing.

SSJ12... why do you hope that?


Simple, it opens the door for more competition in the OS market. Do you not think that Apple or any of the Linux distros wouldn't enjoy the chance to expand their markets?

PC gaming is better than console gaming. Always.     We are Anonymous, We are Legion    Kick-ass interview   Great Flash Series Here    Anime Ratings     Make and Play Please
Amazing discussion about being wrong
Official VGChartz Folding@Home Team #109453
 
kowenicki said:
Thats pathetic. Why should they have to consider an alternatrive/.

I wonder what operating system Sony, Philips and countless other companies use as a standard for their office and admin staff, do they tender? no, they buy MS and get on with it.

Envy is a terrible thing.

SSJ12... why do you hope that?

Before I spend any amount of time answering this - are you serious?



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What does this mean?

MS are gonna have to pay 8Million a year?

or Switzerland?



                            

Even MS is the best but you gotta give a chance to smaller companies too.Think about yourself ,if you run a small business in Swiss and they choose someone else that 10 times bigger than you without looking at you even a bit.

How should feel?Happy?



Carl2291 said:
What does this mean?

MS are gonna have to pay 8Million a year?

or Switzerland?

Switzerland have given an unconditional £8m ($12.7m) per year contract to Microsoft. That's Switzerland paying MS.



kowenicki said:

@khuutra

yes.

Do I want to introduce new systems that I will have to train all my workforce to use? No.

I want systems that I KNOW will work, have total compatibility with all the apps I may buy and my workforce know and understand from the off.

You don't want MS then, as you can not get XP anymore and Vista is a bigger difference for some things than Linux.



kowenicki said:
@khuutra

yes.

I happen to own and run a company, do I want to be arsed asking for a tender for OP systems on my machines? No.

Do i want to introduce new systems that I will have to train all my workforce to use? No.

I want systmes that I KNOW will work, have total compatibility with all the apps I may buy and my workforce know and understand from the off.

@Khuutra Are you serious or do you live in a fluffy utopia?

Certain Linux distros are more similar to XP than Vista is. So using Linux requires less retraining for the average user (except of the network admins). Certainly OpenOffice is more similar to Office 2003 than Office 2007 is.

Why wouldn't you seek alternatives when you know the alternatives are FREE, and would therefore save thousands of dollars a year or more depending on company size? And that they also come with thousands of other free apps which replace your current expensive ones? The average corporate computer user requires basic office and e-mail. The competition does that equally well, and any specialised apps can be virtualised in a single copy of XP on one computer.

And finally, suppose MS doubles their prices tomorrow (according to Dell Windows 7 will be significantly more expensive than either XP or Vista even after inflation). If you just blindly buy it regardless that gives them license to charge whatever they want. You're happy with that?