At first glance, there's not much of the cutting edge about Schwaebisch Hall, a provincial German town of crooked medieval streets whose biggest employer is a savings bank.
But decidedly un-trendy Schwaebisch Hall has jumped to the front of a growing technology movement by replacing Microsoft software on all city computers with open-source applications based on the free, unproprietary Linux operating system.
It's the first city in the world to do that, local officials claim, saying the switch will save money, improve security and break their dependence on just one supplier.
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