According to Swiss newspaper Neue Zuericher Zeitung, the Swiss government might be reconsidering its no-bid contract deal with Microsoft which has been opposed by a consortium of 18 open source vendors.
Microsoft told me the other day, that the Swiss Federal Bureau for Building and Logistics (BBL) has been a Microsoft customer for many years and that the new contract was a ‘renewal’.
It’s unclear at this point from my point of view how this situation will end. It is clear that the issue of a no-bid contract is an issue, as is the fact that (according to Red Hat at least) the Swiss claimed they went with Microsoft because they saw no alternatives.
What this whole situation does though, is highlight the fact that open source vendors are not going to standby idly, while governments simply renew their proprietary choices without giving open source vendors at least the opportunity to bid on contracts.
