München confronts central government head-on on software patents¶

Software patents are a really, really bad idea. Most European software companies oppose it, most notable proponents are American companies.

The German city of München (English: Munich) decided to use Linux and open source software a few months ago. This is the biggest city to date to make such a decision, so it gets a lot of attention. And the German ministry of the interior recommends it.

But the central government (after saying for a long time that they would oppose it) voted in favour of software patents in a EU session...

Now München says they'll stop their linux project until software patents are abolished (in German). Great move, that'll force the government to be clear about things. They voted in favour of software patents, but say that this will not be a problem. Now they have a very well-defined problem on their hands. Clarity at last (at least, I hope).