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German state ditches Microsoft for Linux and LibreOffice

zdnet.com

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Re: German state ditches Microsoft for Linux and LibreOffice

#11

Post by bkor »

HeavyStorm wrote: post #8

While I work for msft, I'm all for open source, even more in this space - consumer and office apps - however, my government has tried this and rolled it back a while later in some branches, while others just suffer with it. Office is much superior to any open source and even paid alternatives, and we must remember that most people using the software don't have a degree in CS. I wouldn't be surprised if we see the rev…

> Office is much superior to any open source and even paid alternatives, and we must remember that most people using the software don't have a degree in CS.

Germany is investing in improving free software, see https://www.sovereigntechfund.de/. Though not sure if this is linked to that state switching.

I think LibreOffice is riddled with loads of small "paper cuts". Basically loads of small issues that make it annoying to use. I hope that they understand it shouldn't be about cost, it should be about being sovereign. So hopefully the investment (ensuring additional developers, UI/UX people, etc) increases as they use more free software,

Re: German state ditches Microsoft for Linux and LibreOffice

#13

Post by breadwinner »

HeavyStorm wrote: post #8

While I work for msft, I'm all for open source, even more in this space - consumer and office apps - however, my government has tried this and rolled it back a while later in some branches, while others just suffer with it. Office is much superior to any open source and even paid alternatives, and we must remember that most people using the software don't have a degree in CS. I wouldn't be surprised if we see the rev…

> Office is much superior to any open source and even paid alternatives

Bullshit. The only reason to use Microsoft Office is compatibility with Microsoft Office files. What improvements have been made in the last 10 years in Outlook and Word? Nothing. There are some new bugs that didn't exist before, but no advancements. That's what lack of competition gives you.

Re: German state ditches Microsoft for Linux and LibreOffice

#14

Post by jll29 »

bkor wrote: post #11
HeavyStorm wrote: post #8

While I work for msft, I'm all for open source, even more in this space - consumer and office apps - however, my government has tried this and rolled it back a while later in some branches, while others just suffer with it. Office is much superior to any open source and even paid alternatives, and we must remember that most people using the software don't have a degree in CS. I wouldn't be surprised if we see the rev…

> Office is much superior to any open source and even paid alternatives, and we must remember that most people using the software don't have a degree in CS. Germany is investing in improving free software, see https://www.sovereigntechfund.de/ . Though not sure if this is linked to that state switching. I think LibreOffice is riddled with loads of small "paper cuts". Basically loads of small issues that make it annoy…

The more people use free software, the more it will become cost effective to improve it using government funding.

There can be enormous net savings (zero license fees), which is fantastic for the taxpayer.

Re: German state ditches Microsoft for Linux and LibreOffice

#15

Post by adhamsalama »

jokab wrote: post #5

> ...cites cost, security, and digital sovereignty... With the recent XZ Utils backdoor fiasco, I would really think twice with this decision. Might be worth sticking to MS for a little bit longer, who knows if the backdoor code has been reused somewhere else? Besides, wasnt it a MS employee who uncovered this backdoor?

As if Microsoft never got hacked before...

Re: German state ditches Microsoft for Linux and LibreOffice

#17

Post by dataflow »

bkor wrote: post #11
HeavyStorm wrote: post #8

While I work for msft, I'm all for open source, even more in this space - consumer and office apps - however, my government has tried this and rolled it back a while later in some branches, while others just suffer with it. Office is much superior to any open source and even paid alternatives, and we must remember that most people using the software don't have a degree in CS. I wouldn't be surprised if we see the rev…

> Office is much superior to any open source and even paid alternatives, and we must remember that most people using the software don't have a degree in CS. Germany is investing in improving free software, see https://www.sovereigntechfund.de/ . Though not sure if this is linked to that state switching. I think LibreOffice is riddled with loads of small "paper cuts". Basically loads of small issues that make it annoy…

> I hope that they understand it shouldn't be about cost, it should be about being sovereign

Makes sense in principle, but practically speaking Germany would seem to have higher priority threats to address than software from the United States?

Re: German state ditches Microsoft for Linux and LibreOffice

#20

Post by geraldwhen »

jll29 wrote: post #14
bkor wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Office is much superior to any open source and even paid alternatives, and we must remember that most people using the software don't have a degree in CS. Germany is investing in improving free software, see https://www.sovereigntechfund.de/ . Though not sure if this is linked to that state switching. I think LibreOffice is riddled with loads of small "paper cuts". Basically loads of small issues that make it annoy…

The more people use free software, the more it will become cost effective to improve it using government funding. There can be enormous net savings (zero license fees), which is fantastic for the taxpayer.

Without an actual design vision, all open source software will flounder and never replace commercial counterparts.
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