South Korea is considering the replacement of the old and dying Windows XP with a free Linux alternative, namely Ubuntu.

The official support for Windows XP ends on April 8, 2014, and many cities relying on the aging operating system are now facing a serious issue. Most of the security is provided through Microsoft products, and now they face a choice of upgrading, spending a lot of money, or switching to a Linux system.

According to businesskorea.co.kr, the South Korean authorities are discussing whether to replace Windows XP with Ubuntu when the time comes.

“According to an industry source on December 15, there is a heated discussion about replacing Windows XP with an alternative OS in IT communities at home and abroad, since the market for PC operating systems (OS) has been divided into largely MS windows and Mac OS, without any other significant operating systems. But the issue of a third option has now become a reality, as Windows XP is going to be retired,” states the publication.

Replacing Windows XP with Ubuntu might be a very difficult task, because the two systems are not at all similar. People would need to readjust to a new way of doing things on their OS and authorities might have to invest in training rather than buying Windows licenses.

Linux is becoming a very popular choice for city administrations, and Munich seems to be the most notable example. The Germans have managed to replace their Microsoft dependency entirely, using their own Linux distribution and LibreOffice, but it took them several years to do it.

It could be a little too late for South Korean authorities to do anything about it, but replacing Windows with a Linux counterpart is beginning to look like the way to go if you want to start saving money.