Reliable Open Source Solutions for Organisations

Open Source Software (OSS) is an established alternative to commercial software in many application areas. There are many reasons for applying OSS in public institutions, in particular due to their cost-effective integration into existing IT-systems. The liberty to further develop the software gives public institutions the possibility to remain more independent, as they can adapt the employed OSS either by themselves or commission external developers to do so. In a study by the Fraunhofer Institute for Labour-Economy and Organisation (Fraunhofer Institut für Arbeitswirtschaft und Organisation) published in 2006, both cutting license costs and achieving independence from software producers were listed as main goals for public institutions in Germany. More arguments for employing OSS, in addition to economic aspects, are better access to open standards and requests for higher data protection and IT-security.

During the last years a number of public institutions in European cities and communities have successfully integrated Open Source Software in their IT landscape. Renowned examples are Munich (LiMux with Ubuntu Linux, KDE, OpenOffice, Gimp), Leipzig (OpenOffice), Schwäbisch Hall (SUSE Linux, KDE and OpenOffice) or Treuchtlingen (Linux, KDE, Gimp, Scribus, and Inkscape).