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Concerns were raised over the summer when Jens Muehlhaus, a member of Germany's Green Party, called on Munich's mayor to lobby the federal government to analyse the risk of moving to open source software in the light of a controversial new European Directive that would legalise software patents in Europe.

However, Reuters reports that a vote today is expected to go in favour of a switch to

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the Open Source operating system.

That's not to say such a move is without risk. A study by the Open Source Risk Management group found 283 patents that Linux infringed - although not all of these had been validated through a court.

But patent expert Greg Aharonian, believes such fears are unfounded: 'Software patents have had no noticeable affect on open source and SMEs in the United States, and we have ten times as many software patents as Europe, and much more hostile litigation practices.'

While the public nature of Open Source software means it is easy to check for patent infringements, it is that same quality that can also make it more difficult to litigate against. It may be easy enough to stop a proprietary vendor to stop selling patent-infringing software by getting an injunction. But with Open Source software, the software is free for use, modification and distribution, meaning the original creator has little control over where that software ends up.