From: Peter Sawatzki 

Also recently our Minister of Interior Schily just praised the one year
relationship with Linux/IBM:

(german text, translation below)
http://www.heise.de/newsticker/result.xhtml?url=/newsticker/data/jk-
23.06.03-003/default.shtml&words=Schily

One year after the conclusion of the co-operation agreement with IBM for
the promotion of open SOURCE often commodity in the administration pulled
Ministers of the Interior Otto Schily today a positive balance. Schily and
IBM supervisory board chairmen Erwin Staudt appreciated together the
agreement of the last yearly as "milestone" and "large
success" on the way to a various and open software landscape in the
public administration. Since that time the number and quality of the
software migrations would have increased the monopoly commission, the
Federal Commissioners for the data security and the institute for bioassay,
which its IT infrastructures changed over totally or partly to Linux and
other open SOURCE products to open SOURCE in the federal administration
strongly, avowed Schily and called as examples the Federal Cartel Office.
Altogether over 500 authorities from federation, to countries and
municipalities would have already placed a request to step the basic
agreement. This offers special conditions to them for the purchase of PCS
and servers with sourceopen operating system the Linux as well as for the
project support and training courses by IBM. On the basis of the
co-operation agreement had itself Swabian resound as the first city in
Europe decided to set with the IT infrastructure completely on Linux. And
to reequip 14,000 jobs on Linux "the success of this agreement"
Erwin Staudt will continue to accelerate, were pleased the vote residents
of Munich of the town councillor. "we are drauf and to to make Germany
world-wide the prominent Linux nation", meant he. "no government
in Europe went as far as the German Federal Minister of the Interior",
praised the IBM manager his contracting party. That does not want to know
co-operation with IBM as affront against Microsoft understood. With the
software softwareschmiede it had only agreed upon new license basic
agreements two months ago ago. "we have a very good co-operation with
Microsoft", stressed Schily and got straight that it does not concern
to displace Microsoft completely out of offices and authorities. But
"we want to break monopoly structures open -- whereupon also Microsoft
will have itself to adjust". Schily of the extensive migration manual,
which the Federal Ministry of the Interior at the beginning of of July on
the LinuxTag in Karlsruhe will present, promises itself a further strong
thrust toward open SOURCE often commodity. It is to give the IT responsible
persons to criteria and assistance for the strategic decisions in the
advancement of their systems. (Richard Sietmann)/(jk/c't)

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