Munich dumps proprietary for open source (again) – but no Linux desktop – ZDNET

ZDNET’s key takeaways

• Munich is not bringing back LiMux, its Linux desktop distro.
• Instead, the city is replacing proprietary infrastructure software with open-source programs.
• Munich is also helping to build software for its own needs and for other cities. 

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PRAGUE — At Open Source Summit Europe, Dr. Laura Dornheim, Munich’s chief digital officer, said in her keynote speech that Munich abandoned its LiMux Linux desktop deployment for Windows over a decade ago because of politics, but now it’s returning to open-source software.

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It’s not returning to the Linux desktop, however — not yet, anyway. Instead, it’s switching its infrastructure programs from proprietary software to open-source software.  For example, it’s replacing VMware with Proxmox, moving from Jira and Confluence to OpenProject and XWiki, and adopting PostgreSQL as an alternative to Oracle databases.

The two infrastructure and collaboration migrations alone are expected to save roughly €1.5 million or more annually.

Taken together, these projects illustrate the difference between Munich’s first Linux campaign and its current approach. Rather than making desktop Linux its center pole, the city is replacing individual layers of proprietary infrastructure where it can make a practical case.

So, this comeback is not a wholesale resurrection of LiMux, the Debian/Kubuntu Linux desktop project that made Munich the Linux desktop standard-bearer between 2003 and 2013. Besides, Dornheim added, dealing with the elephant in the room, “So [if LiMux] was a success, why is it not alive anymore? Not because of technical issues.” So, what changed?  

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Dornheim explained it was all politics. “Open source in the public sector doesn’t fail because of technical issues. It mostly fails because it’s not aligned with the political agenda.” She continued that Munich had switched away from Linux because a new government got Microsoft to agree to make Munich the headquarters for Microsoft Germany. 

From Linux pioneer back to Windows

Munich’s original move began as Windows NT 4.0 neared the end of support. Yes, that was over 20 years ago. In May 2003, its council voted to migrate to a tailor-made Linux distribution, LiMux.

The rollout began in earnest in 2006. By December 2013, Munich had completed the migration with more than 14,800 desktops running LiMux. A European Commission Open Source Observatory case study reported savings of about €11 million because the city dumped Windows. 

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LiMux became the leading example that a large city could operate Linux desktops and open-source office software. It also exposed the difficulty of changing a sprawling government IT environment, particularly when Microsoft Office documents, legacy workflows, PDF use, and user expectations remained tied to proprietary systems.

The political climate changed after Munich’s 2014 municipal election. By November 2017, the council had voted to reverse course and return its computers to Windows, with a target of 2020. The office-suite transition took longer. Indeed, the migration from LibreOffice to Microsoft Office wasn’t completed until 2023.

So, despite what you may have heard, this was not a case of “Linux failed.” It didn’t. It was politics, pure and simple. 

Where Munich goes from here

Today, Germany’s third-largest city is targeting proprietary platforms where open-source alternatives can deliver financial savings, greater control, and software that other municipalities can reuse. Digital sovereignty matters, but that’s not the primary driver in Munich. 

That said, Dornheim noted that a cloud transition to Azure without sufficient assurance from Microsoft of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance would require the city to scrutinize who could use each tool. This management overheard didn’t help make a case for staying with Microsoft. It’s also a clear example of how digital sovereignty has become both an important technical and political issue.

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Dornheim added that her answer to getting politicians to support open-source software in the long run is to connect open source with priorities they understand. These include budgets, public services, and the ability to make software available across the administration.

She added that Munich’s current IT strategy is to ensure open-source software functions well without losing the political support needed to sustain it. It certainly helps that, thanks to the shift to open-source software, “We are saving roughly a million euros a year. So that’s again a great win, not just for us, for our belief in public and public code, but also for the politicians in Munich.

The open-source return started with infrastructure

The new Munich IT plan also embraced the “public money, public code” principle: software developed with public funding should, where appropriate, be available for others to inspect, use, and improve. The commitment applied to newly acquired or developed software even as the earlier Windows migration continued.

Dornheim, who became Munich’s CDO in September 2022, has not treated that policy as a mandate for a third administration-wide operating-system upheaval. Supporting institutions have also changed. Munich established an Open Source Program Office in 2024. This added a dedicated structure for coordinating its open-source work. Its public software portal presents the city’s approach in three categories: Use existing open-source software, improve it, and publish software that the city develops itself.

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That’s a broader commitment than just replacing Windows with a Linux distro. Munich is now an open-source software development participant, not simply a customer choosing between licenses.

Software that other cities can use

There are several examples of Munich sharing its software. One such is DAVe, Munich’s application for documenting and analyzing traffic data. In use since 2021, the software has also been adopted by Wolfsburg, Germany.

Dornheim said such collaboration should become routine rather than depend on another city discovering a suitable project. “I think these matches shouldn’t just happen sort of by accident, but there needs to be a structure across the whole public sector. It’s on my wish list.”

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Munich’s work also includes MUCGPT, a municipal AI application that enables employees to access large language model (LLM) capabilities. This helps with writing and proofreading emails.

The city is also investing in the open-source ecosystem. Its Open Source Sabbatical program supports developers working on open-source projects. The broader purpose is to support improvements and funding components used in open-source municipal services.

Put it all together, and Munich’s open-source approach is no longer simply about the Linux desktop. Instead, it’s all about Munich reducing its dependence on proprietary software, controlling costs, and turning publicly funded software into a reusable public asset. So far, the city’s doing well.