German city wants freedom of Linux

SCHWAEBISCH HALL, Germany -- At first glance, there's not much cutting-edge about Schwaebisch Hall, a provincial German town of crooked medieval streets whose biggest employer is a savings bank.

But decidedly un-trendy Schwaebisch Hall has jumped to the front of a growing technology movement by replacing Microsoft software on all city computers with open-source applications based on the free, unproprietary Linux operating system.

It's the first city in the world to do that, local officials claim, saying the switch will save money, improve security and break their dependence on just one supplier.

Companies such as Deutsche Telekom and 7-Eleven, along with government agencies in Germany, France, the United States and other countries, are increasingly relying on open-source software for heavy data lifting, mostly on servers that do Internet and database work.

But Schwaebisch Hall's decision to adopt it for everything represents a breakthrough, said SuSE, Germany's leading Linux distributor, which swung the deal to help them switch.

SuSE credits its user-friendly Linux desktop products, which make it finally palatable to the average computer user who wants only to deal with a graphical Windows-like interface.

"This is the first customer that has said, 'This is the platform that our future is going to be taking shape with,' " said Stefan Werden, a senior SuSE sales engineer.

Open-source software is based on the principle that anyone using it should be able to scrutinize the source code, or inner workings, to make changes and improvements -- making it, at least in theory, both more transparent and more secure.

By contrast, say open-source advocates, corporations such as Microsoft keep source codes secret so they can sell software at a profit.

The open-source software can be freely copied by the more than 400 new Linux users employed by Schwaebisch Hall, which is encouraging them to copy the software on their work computers for home use.

The basic version of Linux, the most popular open-source operating system, was written in 1991 by Finnish programmer Linus Torvalds but for years saw only limited use because it was complex and incompatible with most popular consumer-oriented programs and games.

By year's end Schwaebisch Hall, working with Nuremberg-based SuSE and IBM Germany, will have switched all 300 desktop computers and 15 servers recording tax payments, business licenses and library checkout records.

Mayor Hermann-Joseph Pelgrim says the key driver is money: "We expect to save a six-figure sum. . . . Our employees are proud to be helping with the consolidation of the city budget."

City officials say it costs $88 to equip each desktop PC with open- source software, compared to $480 for new editions of the equivalents from Microsoft, by far the dominant producer of proprietary desktop software.

That adds up to a one-time savings of $121,000, they said -- a lot for a town struggling with declining tax revenue.

"There are plenty of signs right now that the open-source idea is very viable, for the pure and simple reasons people are looking for cost savings," said Charles Homs, senior researcher at Forrester analytical firm. "So it's not so much a philosophical question of, 'Do I support open source or don't I?' but 'How can I save money?' "

But for Matthias Setzer, head of the local Volkshochschule, or community college, which is doing much of the retraining, higher principles are in play.

"As a democratic society, we should not support monopolies," he said, adding a gentle dig: "Freedom of choice -- it's the American way, isn't it?"

Schwaebisch Hall, in southern Germany, joins the Estremadura region in Spain, where the local government has put on an effort to convert not only government computers, but also home machines in the region of more than a million people by distributing copies of the Linux system.

Companies such as SuSE and Red Hat, based in Raleigh, N.C., bundle Linux-based programs and charge customers for the packaging and support and consulting services.

The German government made a deal in June with IBM and SuSE to outfit Interior Ministry computers with open-source software.

Microsoft Germany spokesman Thomas Baumgaertner insists open- source can get more expensive in the long run because of training costs and add-on such as administrative software for updates.

"The cost analyses are in Microsoft's favor," he asserted.

SuSE officials wouldn't say how much they charged Schwaebisch Hall for the deal, under which SuSE will provide technical support for five years. "As the first customer, they got a special price," was all SuSE's Werden would say.

One hurdle for Schwaebisch Hall: Linux's reputation as difficult to use on desktops. Pelgrim, a self-described non-techie, led the way by having his computer changed over first.

"From what I can see, Linux is something good and no big change from Windows," said librarian Elisabeth Guechida, who keeps the library's PCs running though not a computer specialist. "There's a mouse, a keyboard and icons. I personally find it interesting to learn new things."

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