Neil BrownFeb 24

Microsoft is introducing ads into a free version of Office, which seemingly only lets users save to OneDrive.

In other news, LibreOffice is also free, doesn't have ads, and lets you save your documents wherever you want. I use it every day for my work. It is available here:

https://www.libreoffice.org/

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Show threadFancy Pants 🧐🩲Feb 24

@neil Thanks to LibreOffice, and before it OpenOffice, I haven't had to use Microsoft software at all my entire adult life.

(Of course Linux desktops had a large part to play in avoiding MS too.)

Show threadFat_FarangFeb 24

@fancypants @neil I do not understand why people and governments continue to pay for Windows products. Just think of the tech infrastructure poor countries could build with open source software.

China has given 2026 as the date that Windoze is gone from government computers in favor of KylinOS. It will also be made available to other governments and us under their BRI as openKylin. Might be the needed impetuous (and funds) for dumping proprietary software.

Show threadcalsnoboarderFeb 25
@Fat_Farang @fancypants @neil If the FBI is to be believed, China steals at least 80% of their technology from the West. So even if they move away from Microsoft Products in the future, it's still likely that any innovations China develops will be "inspired" by Microsoft.
Show threadFat_FarangFeb 25
@calsnoboarder @fancypants @neil KylinOS is Debian based using the Linux kernel. It ships with a desktop environment which supposedly looks and acts roughly like Windows 7. It is soon to be replaced by UKUI, a homegrown desktop. I imagine replacement also applies to the servers as well; probably using Debian also.
Show threadLaurens 🐐Feb 25

@Fat_Farang @calsnoboarder @fancypants @neil Undoubtedly, China's 'free' OS will be chucked full of spyware and therefore aggressively marketed towards those poor countries you mentioned, in which China has more than a passing interest because of their mineral and fossil fuel wealth.

(Which doesn't mean Western OS marketing is any better, of course, with the practices of Microsoft as a prime example.)

Show threadFat_Farang
@ElBeeToots @calsnoboarder @fancypants @neil Spyware is hard to hide in open source, unlike proprietary garbage. How many backdoors have Windoze and AWS built in for US intelligence use? Apple just ceded to the UK government's (5-Eyes) demands to weaken their encryption.
Feb 25 at 11:45pmMastodon for Android
Show threadcalsnoboarderFeb 26
@Fat_Farang @ElBeeToots @fancypants @neil I am not arguing which platform is safer or more secure...If I were smuggling guns to and from the middle east and keeping records in an Excel spreadsheet on the cloud, I would undoubtedly keep your comment in mind... Until that day, however, I'll stick with what works for me until my clients stop using Office 365 or Google Docs.