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The Munich decision to move its 14,000 desktops to Free Open Source Software created a big splash back in 2003 as news of the third-largest German city's defection from Microsoft. When it was announced in 2003, the storie garnered coverage even in the US, such as an extensive article in USAtoday on-line. Currently, about 60% of desktops are using OpenOffice, with the remaining 40% to be completed by the end of 2009. Firefox and Thunderbird are being used in all of the city's desktop machines. Ten percent of desktops are running the LiMux Debian-based distro, and 80% will be running LiMux by 2012 at the latest. Autonomy was generally considered more important than costs savings, although the LiMux initiative is increasing competition in the IT industry in Munich already. The program has succeeded because the city administration has been careful to reach out to all stakeholders, from managers down to simple end users. Please click on the words Read More below to read the rest of the story

A study shows that the Free Open Source Software browser called Firefox is now only 10% behind Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser in Germany, and if current trends continue, Firefox could overtake Microsoft's browser this year! This trend is important, because Firefox, along with OpenOffice, the GIMP, and Audacity, are widely viewed as stepping stones for individuals and companies which are considering migrating to the GNU-Linux operating system. Once users adopt those applications, it is much easier for them to move away from Microsoft products completely.