Novell Inc. Tuesday announced an agreement with the government of Switzerland to replace the software in 3,000 of its servers with the company's SUSE Linux operating system. Operational efficiency and cost were key factors driving the Swiss government's decision to move to Linux, according to Novell.

Novell did not disclose the value of the contract but did say it was the first formal procurement of any Linux platform by the Swiss government.

"Linux has been gradually introduced into various government departments in recent years, but this is the first formalized procurement process regarding the introduction of Linux at a federal level," said Jurg Roemer, Delegate for Information Strategy of the Swiss Federal Government.

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