The Linux distro to be used may be Ubuntu as the City is already running a pilot project of 1000 Ubuntu-based desktops. The news report also reveals that Outlook mail client and Exchange Server will be replaced with Open-Xchange meanwhile Firefox and LibreOffice will take the place of Internet Explorer and Microsoft Office.
With this move, Barcelona becomes the first municipality to join the European campaign “Public Money, Public Code“.
The idea is that when public money are spent then the code should be public too.
This initiative has been supported by more than 15000 people and 100 organisations,
And yes -money is a factor too:
The move from Windows to Open Source software according to Bria promotes reuse in the sense that the programs that are developed could be deployed to other municipalities in Spain or elsewhere around the world. Obviously, the migration also aims at avoiding large amounts of money to be spent on proprietary software
Code paid by the people should be available to the people!
Bulgaria has made Open Source Compulsory For All Government Software - so it is becoming a trend.
More here
