The Linux Extremist

For those who truly want to get away from it all, there are few cities in Western Europe more tenuously linked to the rest of the world than Kassel, Germany. It’s so remote and obscure that it never would have occurred to me go there had it not been for the fact that’s where my girlfriend presently lives. What she told me about it didn’t precisely recommend it, however. She told me it has a reputation as being the “most East German city in Western Germany”. I visited East Berlin just after the Wall fell; it was obvious as soon as I crossed the border that public works people were trying to repair a problem with the city sewer. Perhaps it was a statement on Communism: a country that was short on food was full of excrement.

Kassel’s resemblance to East Germany, fortunately, comes from its proliferation of large avenues, squares and “shoebox” buildings. It also has a distinctly “red” feel, with large streets named after Friedrich Ebert (one of the founding fathers of the Social Democrat Party), Willy Brandt (a Social Democrat Prime Minister, who left office under a cloud as his administration was infiltrated by East German spies) and Dag Hammerskold (one of the first Secretary Generals of the United Nations). That said, it has the benefit of fresh air, a couple of good local beers, some spectacular hills surrounding the town, and the wonderful Orchid Garden restaurant, which serves excellent Thai food. My one regret is not having had the opportunity to go to Kassel’s famous Museum of Death, which sounded like a lot of fun. Still, it was a good holiday with the woman I love, and indeed, a huge break from the norm.

Waiting in Frankfurt Airport to go back was an extremely boring business: the plane was delayed. Rather than waste the time, I decided to get on the internet at the airport, peruse the newspapers and magazines, and see if I could get a quick idea on the state of Linux in Germany.

Germany and Linux are definitely intertwined. After all, one of the most popular distributions, SUSE, has its origins in Germany. Anecdotal evidence suggests that Linux use in Germany may be a bit more prevalent than in other countries; certainly their Linux community is lively. For example, one of the most clever wallpapers I’ve ever seen was a “Linux für Deutschland” image of the Brandenberg Gate: instead of a figure of a chariot drawn by four horses, some clever artist had substituted Tux for the animals.

While an airport survey was unlikely to yield much in the way of solid data, one can get an impression. I thought, “if I walk into the newsagent, how many Linux magazines will I see? What kind of content will those magazines have?” Fortunately, I do read and speak German (which my German work colleagues find odd; English speakers are notoriously non-multilingual in their eyes) so I could get a good idea as to the what the press was saying.

There were two Linux magazines in the airport newsagent. This is actually good, because the newsagent at Frankfurt airport did not have a huge selection for those interested in technology. I chose the PC Welt Linux magazine, which is apparently published 4 times a year.

The magazine is pure Linux evangelism: it came with a DVD that had 9 different distributions of Linux, ranging from Ubuntu to Damn Small Linux. It also came with reviews and guides for Ubuntu and Suse. It also provided a good list of graphics software, and a list of helpful websites. Admittedly, while I’m not a regular reader of techology magazines, I do not believe I’ve seen a more effective presentation of Linux and its benefits in any language.

After perusing the magazine, I wandered down to the internet kiosk to get a further idea of how deeply Linux had penetrated the German market. Some quick research brought up some notable finds. An article written in 2004 stated that German life insurance company LVM was running a pilot programme with Red Hat Linux on the desktop; the city government of Munich opted for 14,000 Linux desktop computers. That said, there is no evidence at first glance to indicate that there is greater uptake of Linux on the desktop in Germany than elsewhere, but at the same time there is no reason to believe that Germany is lagging behind. Rather, Germany appears to be one of the leading Linux nations.

This makes sense; Germany’s biggest virtue has always been precision engineering. Other countries go for having good wine or good living, but to each their own. The German emphasis on reliability and quality makes their country a very poor fit for Windows. Additionally, the Germans have a disdain for paying too much for anything; the profilieration of bargain stores like Lidl is indicative of this trend. Furthermore, their obvious preference for home-grown solutions suggests to me that with a bit more advocacy and marketing, SUSE could be in a position for significant liftoff in the German market. “Erfolg durch Stoltz” (Achievement through Pride) could mean Germany gives us a clue to how a post-Windows future could develop and what it will look like. Or not, they could remain in the Windows ghetto with the rest of us; however, for now, it continues to bear watching.

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