Why Denmark is dumping Microsoft Office and Windows for #LibreOffice and #Linux https://www.zdnet.com/article/why-denmark-is-dumping-microsoft-office-and-windows-for-libreoffice-and-linux/ by @sjvn
Europe doesn't trust the US government or its tech powers, so its countries are looking elsewhere.
@sjvn Regarding Denmark being in the claws of Microsoft ... Close to 20 years ago I worked in a Scandinavian company with the HQ in Copenhagen. When there were plans to do infrastructure investments and upgrades, the branches outside Denmark looked at open source alternatives (which was scarce back then compared to now) while Denmark jumped straight to Microsoft's solutions without blinking.
When the others of us questioned that, it was just shallow answers like "Microsoft is solid and won't go away anytime soon and they have the expertise we need". And when talking to Danish IT consultants, they usually confirmed the trend, even saying "If you want a job in IT in Denmark, start with Microsoft certifications and you'll end up having more than enough to do".
@dazo @sjvn This stuff was really hard 20 years ago (the Munich Linux saga has been going on for longer that that). Back then, Microsoft was at its peak. Windows XP was more stable than previous desktop versions, MS-Office was backward-compatible, they were doing well.
Today, LibreOffice will open legacy MS-Word documents that current MS-Word won't ( https://blog.jgc.org/2024/02/the-original-www-proposal-is-word-for.html ) and in general MSFT software is getting more cluttered with privacy/security risks like upsells to cloud and "AI"
@sjvn I was CIO of a multi-billion $$$ company a decade ago. I tried to help them navigate a shift to Open Office (this was before the Libre Office fork) as every user was barely using the features of the MS Office Suite.
My goodness, the resistance I encountered! The CEO decided to keep burning money on a suite that was only lightly used but everyone insisted they needed.
Google and Facebook are filling Washington with tanks, twitter is kidnapping people off the streets, adobe funded this coup.
Don't use their software.
Will they be the large body we always wanted to drive the Linux desktop cleanup process?
I kinda hope so.
@megatronicthronbanks @sjvn Denmark is getting all the press this week, but Schleswig-Holstien announced the same earlier this year (or late last?).
This is a trend that I hope continues.
Digital Sovereignty, is indeed important, especially the way things are going.
It is why I have been working on a list of digital service providers, outside U.S. Jurisdiction, and that, of course, includes operating systems.
When AI Spyware is being embedded in consumer software, even under vehement opposition from customers, it's time to seek alternatives.
https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/openai-taps-google-unprecedented-cloud-deal-despite-ai-rivalry-sources-say-2025-06-10/
Now build something to replace Google's Spyware.
https://www.techrepublic.com/article/news-database-leak-184-million-credentials/
https://mei.edu/publications/beyond-oil-googles-big-bet-saudi-arabias-ai-future
@sjvn And at the same time the Danish government is signing a 4 year cloud contract with US providers.
We are not moving fast enough in the independence direction, but we are doing things that would have been inconceivable before. Just not fast enough.
Staten har så valgt at tage 4 år mere med de amerikanske tech giganter Microsoft, Google og AWS. Digitaliseringsministerens memo er tilsyneladende ikke blevet læst rundt omkring i staten eller også mener politikerne det ikke alvorligt. 📰 https://www.version2.dk/artikel/mens-minister-vil-udskifte-microsoft-binder-staten-sig-igen-til-amerikansk-cloud
@sjvn Narrator: And yet they aren't...
This is just one small dept.
Something tells me the heads of govts and corps like being able to spy on employees, and Microsoft gives them that ability like no other. Meanwhile, antitrust suits will come raining down on the platforms that are most resistant to becoming spyware.
(There has been very little MS antitrust in the news in recent years.)
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