In Blow To Novell, Munich Chooses Debian

a Debian-based Linux desktop.

That's got to be a disappointment to Novell/SUSE which lead the year-long pilot with IBM. Microsoft types are probably grinning, although not as much as they would be if they salvaged the business for themselves.

The scope of the project, 14,000 desktops, was big enough to have hit some bumps along the road.

The initial battle was so hotly contested that Microsoft hired the SUSE project manager credited with nudging the Munich powers away from Windows to Linux. That was was then characterized as a SUSE win with IBM and Novell putting big resources behind the migration. Unfortunately, by most accounts, it didn't go all that smoothly.