The Penguin rides again

Microsoft again held its hands up this week and admitted it had not handled the introduction of its controversial Software Assurance licensing changes last summer particularly well.

It has made some concessions on things like licences for businesses with teleworkers but the problem for Microsoft may be that the damage has already been done. The introduction of new volume licensing agreements forced many companies to stand back and take stock not only of their software operating systems and desktop suites but of their exposure to Microsoft.

Companies at the time vowed to look at the feasibility of lower cost open source alternatives. Consequences of that are now starting to filter through. We’ve already had major users such as consumer goods giant Unilever brandishing a Linux strategy and this week we’ve seen some small but nevertheless significant steps towards the commercial acceptance of the Penguin.

Although Microsoft has often ruffled the feathers of its customers, one thing that historically has prevented users moving away from its established and widely used products was the image of Linux as the domain of the techie hobbyist.

But this week the local government in Munich has decided to switch its operating system and 14,000 desktops from Microsoft to Linux in a E30m move, despite Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer interrupting a skiing holiday to make a personal plea to the mayor. And in the UK the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) is using Linux for a bulk email and a web initiative after finding Microsoft Exchange wasn’t up to the task. The RCGP told silicon.com one factor in the decision was concern over last year’s licensing changes.

Ironically it is only since Linux vendors have started to address support issues and actually charge for commercial versions of their products that businesses are starting to take it seriously.

Whether SCO’s best efforts to finish off Linux will have any effect remains to be seen but open source is slowly but surely making it on to the agenda of IT decision-makers in the corporate environment. And that means Microsoft has a real battle on its hands.