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Lyon Drops Microsoft to Boost Digital Sovereignty

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Re: Lyon Drops Microsoft to Boost Digital Sovereignty

#71
post #69
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No there isn't. In fact proprietary projects are very happy to run "npm" or "pip install" or the java/go equivalents and install whatever. I expect most projects don't even check they're not violating licenses or ever audit any dependency… let alone do a security check on who the authors are. Also just FYI, russians are not stupid. If they want to contribute malware they won't do it from their kgb email address. They…

I don't think that's true. Accountability will give proprietary projects an extra edge in terms of security.

Plenty of people think the earth is flat. Unfortunately beliefs' power to shape reality is rather limited.

Re: Lyon Drops Microsoft to Boost Digital Sovereignty

#72
post #38
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, in-house PDF generators should be some sort of good middle ground, but I dunno if this 'weasyprint' is open source, is _lean_ open source? (no c++, java, etc). When dealing with an ultra-complex file format which cannot be dodged, usually a good way to deal with it is to only use a very simple but coherent subset and enforce this usage with validation tools. For instance, the web, noscript/basic (x)html (or you…

You can learn more about weasyprint on their website ( https://weasyprint.org/ ). It's an open source Python package that can be launched using cli or from Python code. It uses pypdf, which is "pydyf is a low-level PDF generator written in Python and based on PDF specification 1.7" (from their README at https://github.com/CourtBouillon/pydyf ).

Compile a minimal python interpreter with tinycc &| cproc &| scc, run this pydyf and you should be good to go :)

Hopefully, its API a C API bridge for interop.

But pydyf pretends to go up to PDF 1.7: this is kind of arrogant due to the file format complexity.

That's why such tools are not enough: what's important is to evaluate and to assess a subset of the PDF format, that to reduce significantly the technical cost of ownership and exit cost, and maybe use such tools to write also validation tools in order to enforce the usage of that subset of PDF.

Very often, complex file formats (open or not) end up being generated and consumed by one program.

A warning: big tech and its minions will fight super hard everything that is simple, stable in table and does a good enough job (like noscript/basic (x)html for nearly all online services as they were working a few years back).

Re: Lyon Drops Microsoft to Boost Digital Sovereignty

#73
post #71
post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think that's true. Accountability will give proprietary projects an extra edge in terms of security.

Plenty of people think the earth is flat. Unfortunately beliefs' power to shape reality is rather limited.

Is this your standard analogy when you disagree with someone?

Re: Lyon Drops Microsoft to Boost Digital Sovereignty

#74
post #61

Article says they are switching to OnlyOffice. It looks and feels very similar to ms office (So easier to adopt than libre) https://www.onlyoffice.com/document-editor.aspx?docs=downloa... https://www.onlyoffice.com/spreadsheet-editor.aspx?docs=down... (Edited to remove statement saying paid product, as it's free with enterprise offerings as below)

I thought at first it was a typo of OpenOffice. Turns out that is not the case.

I think OnlyOffice focusing on web based collaboration only is on point. It is what organizations want today and what users expect.

Re: Lyon Drops Microsoft to Boost Digital Sovereignty

#75
post #26
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We generate pdf files using weasyprint (convert html+css into cool pdf files), I think tools like this are very valuable and practical for building higher-level pdf-generators tools.

Yep, in-house PDF generators should be some sort of good middle ground, but I dunno if this 'weasyprint' is open source, is _lean_ open source? (no c++, java, etc). When dealing with an ultra-complex file format which cannot be dodged, usually a good way to deal with it is to only use a very simple but coherent subset and enforce this usage with validation tools. For instance, the web, noscript/basic (x)html (or you…

Hi, WeasyPrint/pydyf dev here!

> usually a good way to deal with it is to only use a very simple but coherent subset and enforce this usage with validation tools

You’re right, that’s exactly what we do. We support a growing subset of HTML and CSS that’s documented. We also use the W3C testing suite for HTML/CSS, and PDF validators, on top of custom unit tests.

> And big tech is not the only one trying hard to do vendor and developer lock-in.

We "only" follow open specifications and refuse vendor-specific features to avoid lock-ins (equivalent closed-source tools love that). And we even love the other open-source "concurrents": ♥ to Paged.js and Vivliostyle, try them, they’re great too!

Re: Lyon Drops Microsoft to Boost Digital Sovereignty

#76
post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

this scares me. The last thing we need is cheap consulting messing with open source projects. I don't want TCS and Accenture developing libreoffice or stuff like that and turn it into shit

Libreoffice is already shit. It works don't get me wrong but the project is far behind where it should be.

From the guidelines:

> Please don't post shallow dismissals, especially of other people's work. A good critical comment teaches us something.

Re: Lyon Drops Microsoft to Boost Digital Sovereignty

#78
post #15

It would be fair if we'd see an increase in government funding of open source projects. Or at least the government could pay for security audits.

They do. Take a look at things like NLNet, which is largely EU-funded: https://nlnet.nl

NLNet funding has been cut:

https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/17/foss_funding_vanishes...

Re: Lyon Drops Microsoft to Boost Digital Sovereignty

#79
post #26
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We generate pdf files using weasyprint (convert html+css into cool pdf files), I think tools like this are very valuable and practical for building higher-level pdf-generators tools.

Yep, in-house PDF generators should be some sort of good middle ground, but I dunno if this 'weasyprint' is open source, is _lean_ open source? (no c++, java, etc). When dealing with an ultra-complex file format which cannot be dodged, usually a good way to deal with it is to only use a very simple but coherent subset and enforce this usage with validation tools. For instance, the web, noscript/basic (x)html (or you…

What on earth is "lean open source"

Re: Lyon Drops Microsoft to Boost Digital Sovereignty

#80
post #17

Schleswig-Holstein and Thuringia are switching to OpenTalk for teleconference. It's really wild to see things actually happen - not just research grants and talking.

I noticed a similar thing as an European with COVID. Noise from a new disease came from China, so everybody is a bit scared and does nothing. Then Italy got the full blast of it, overloaded hospitals and all. This somehow made it real. People in our ingroup were suffering. At that point, governements got actively involved. The Microsoft vs ICC situation seems similar. IT independence is now taken serious at governeme…

I wonder if it's because of the ICC, or in general because suddenly US cloud providers ended up in the same category of Chinese cloud providers: under the regime of a ruler and subservient "parliament" who can make a new rule as they wish...
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