German city wants to ditch Microsoft for Linux • Hacker News Board

Re: German city wants to ditch Microsoft for Linux

#11

Post by badRNG » Wed, Jun 03, 2020, 5:58 PM UTC

axegon_ wrote: post #3

Iirc, the initiative in Munich was very impressive, with public servants being taught how to file bug reports and whatnot. This is great news imo. Less spending on proprietary software, more accountability, possibly job openings for consultants. Good job Germany! I wish more countries would follow.

Many countries are currently ditching Windows in favor of home grown distros due to distrust of Microsoft. Notable examples:

Currently transitioning:

- Astra Linux (Russia) https://www.zdnet.com/article/russian-military-moves-closer-...

- Kylin Linux? (China) https://www.techradar.com/news/china-to-ditch-all-windows-pc...

- South Korea https://www.zdnet.com/article/south-koreas-government-explor...

Already transitioned:

- Red Star OS (DPRK) https://www.pcworld.com/article/2862737/meet-red-star-os-the...

- Nova (Cuba) https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2017/07/nova-os-new-release-scre...

Re: German city wants to ditch Microsoft for Linux

#12

Post by swypych » Wed, Jun 03, 2020, 6:01 PM UTC

netsharc wrote: post #8

flowerlad wrote: post #4

Meanwhile in Munch... "German city of Munich, famous for rejecting Windows in favour of using Linux on its PCs, will return to Windows after the move won the backing of the full council." Source: https://www.techrepublic.com/article/end-of-an-open-source-e...

According to Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LiMux the politicians decided last month to go back to Linux. Apparently Ballmer visited Munich a lot trying to persuade the politicians to stay/switch back to Windows, even moving Microsoft's German HQ to the city.

This is super telling and Ballmer understands the impact of this relatively small decision and its ripple effect it will have for other municipalities.

From a long term perspective, my bet is on Linux.

Re: German city wants to ditch Microsoft for Linux

#13

Post by shadowtree » Wed, Jun 03, 2020, 6:02 PM UTC

Does Desktop OS matter anymore? So much is running in "browsers" now, even the SpaceX astronaut controls were Electron.

The cloud provider is where it's at. AWS, Azure, GCloud ... and nothing from Europe.

Re: German city wants to ditch Microsoft for Linux

#14

Post by dunefox » Wed, Jun 03, 2020, 6:05 PM UTC

shadowtree wrote: post #13

Does Desktop OS matter anymore? So much is running in "browsers" now, even the SpaceX astronaut controls were Electron. The cloud provider is where it's at. AWS, Azure, GCloud ... and nothing from Europe.

Yes, it does. I don't want to have city documents in some cloud.

Re: German city wants to ditch Microsoft for Linux

#15

Post by heisenbit » Wed, Jun 03, 2020, 6:10 PM UTC

Much more important: Schools are moving to Office 365 in a rush in face of Covid-19. There are data protection concerns but a crisis can shift priorities so it seems.

Re: German city wants to ditch Microsoft for Linux

#16

Post by bostonpete » Wed, Jun 03, 2020, 6:11 PM UTC

dunefox wrote: post #14

shadowtree wrote: post #13

Does Desktop OS matter anymore? So much is running in "browsers" now, even the SpaceX astronaut controls were Electron. The cloud provider is where it's at. AWS, Azure, GCloud ... and nothing from Europe.

Yes, it does. I don't want to have city documents in some cloud.

Why not? Seems unreasonable to expect that every city can manage their own secure data store...

Re: German city wants to ditch Microsoft for Linux

#17

Post by panpanna » Wed, Jun 03, 2020, 6:12 PM UTC

heisenbit wrote: post #15

Much more important: Schools are moving to Office 365 in a rush in face of Covid-19. There are data protection concerns but a crisis can shift priorities so it seems.

Right now we need an opensource teleconferencing system much more than an opensource OS.

Edit: I think people recommending jitsi below misunderstood my comment

Re: German city wants to ditch Microsoft for Linux

#18

Post by sq_ » Wed, Jun 03, 2020, 6:12 PM UTC

badRNG wrote: post #11

axegon_ wrote: post #3

Iirc, the initiative in Munich was very impressive, with public servants being taught how to file bug reports and whatnot. This is great news imo. Less spending on proprietary software, more accountability, possibly job openings for consultants. Good job Germany! I wish more countries would follow.

Many countries are currently ditching Windows in favor of home grown distros due to distrust of Microsoft. Notable examples: Currently transitioning: - Astra Linux (Russia) https://www.zdnet.com/article/russian-military-moves-closer-... - Kylin Linux? (China) https://www.techradar.com/news/china-to-ditch-all-windows-pc... - South Korea https://www.zdnet.com/article/south-koreas-government-explor... Already transition…

Definitely can't blame them for being distrustful. Seems like it would probably be easy enough for Microsoft to hide extra data in the telemetry that Windows 10 already sends home if the NSA or someone were to force them to, and history seems to inform us that US companies have little choice but to comply with such orders.

Re: German city wants to ditch Microsoft for Linux

#19

Post by axegon_ » Wed, Jun 03, 2020, 6:12 PM UTC

badRNG wrote: post #11

axegon_ wrote: post #3

Iirc, the initiative in Munich was very impressive, with public servants being taught how to file bug reports and whatnot. This is great news imo. Less spending on proprietary software, more accountability, possibly job openings for consultants. Good job Germany! I wish more countries would follow.

Many countries are currently ditching Windows in favor of home grown distros due to distrust of Microsoft. Notable examples: Currently transitioning: - Astra Linux (Russia) https://www.zdnet.com/article/russian-military-moves-closer-... - Kylin Linux? (China) https://www.techradar.com/news/china-to-ditch-all-windows-pc... - South Korea https://www.zdnet.com/article/south-koreas-government-explor... Already transition…

Yeah, aware of those... But... I wouldn't really use most of the countries on your list to set an example for the rest of the world, if you know what I mean...

Re: German city wants to ditch Microsoft for Linux

#20

Post by bananamerica » Wed, Jun 03, 2020, 6:13 PM UTC

badRNG wrote: post #11

axegon_ wrote: post #3

Iirc, the initiative in Munich was very impressive, with public servants being taught how to file bug reports and whatnot. This is great news imo. Less spending on proprietary software, more accountability, possibly job openings for consultants. Good job Germany! I wish more countries would follow.

Many countries are currently ditching Windows in favor of home grown distros due to distrust of Microsoft. Notable examples: Currently transitioning: - Astra Linux (Russia) https://www.zdnet.com/article/russian-military-moves-closer-... - Kylin Linux? (China) https://www.techradar.com/news/china-to-ditch-all-windows-pc... - South Korea https://www.zdnet.com/article/south-koreas-government-explor... Already transition…

Is there really a need for them to create their own distributions?