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France to ditch Windows for Linux to reduce reliance on US tech

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Re: France to ditch Windows for Linux to reduce reliance on US tech

#41

Post by teekert »

sgt wrote: post #2

That might work for government employees using webapps all day. But for power users it is unlikely to be friction free.

I consider myself a Power User, use of Windows is not friction free :)

Over the years I've come to believe that there is only one thing important: What you are used to. The friction is in the change process. Not in the destination.

As an independent, I have several customers on MS365, you know what my super power is? FireFox cookie containers. One for each org, and I switch with 0 effort between the orgs. No need for Windows in that workflow at all. In fact, using Windows and the native apps would probably give me a lot more friction.

Yes, sometimes I have issues. I.e. yesterday Word kept deleting my last 1-2 sentences for some reason, even though hitting ctrl-s tells everytime: "I should not worry". but in general it's fine.

My business is on Proton, and I love that MS365 AND Google workspace calender invites go right into my agenda with no effort. There is nice stuff out there. Especially now we have Proton Meet, I can take some ownership over videocalls in Teams and Google Meet finally.

Re: France to ditch Windows for Linux to reduce reliance on US tech

#42

Post by Topfi »

raverbashing wrote: post #18
deaux wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unlike modern Windows, known for its lack of friction.

"We have two versions of Outlook and none of them are working"

There are four ̶s̶i̶x̶ ̶(s̶e̶v̶e̶n̶ five counting the web version) maintained Outlook variants on Windows 11, last I checked and I have issues with each one. Search especially, but then that has remained an unsolved problem for 30 years. I am sure "AI" will finally solve this.

Edit: Have checked and found that two I thought were still maintained (16 and 19) were EOLd in October.

Re: France to ditch Windows for Linux to reduce reliance on US tech

#43

Post by edg5000 »

carlosjobim wrote: post #26
spiderfarmer wrote: post #17

Being dependent on US tech feels the same as when we were dependent on Russian energy: strategically unwise and avoidable. We have alternatives, they just need work.

Like last time, I ask again: Which are the European made computers?

Interestingly, there are zero non-US powerful laptops. The closest option is the Moore Threads MTT AI Book (12-core 2.65Ghz, 32GB DDR5, 1TB SSD, 14 inch). It cannot reach a modern Ryzen in performance though. It's fascinating that only the US can make good computers. I'm not from/in the US so I'm not saying that from a patriotic point of view. How hard can it be to pop a good ARM chip in a laptop and compete with HP, Apple and the likes?

Re: France to ditch Windows for Linux to reduce reliance on US tech

#44

Post by embedding-shape »

carlosjobim wrote: post #26
spiderfarmer wrote: post #17

Being dependent on US tech feels the same as when we were dependent on Russian energy: strategically unwise and avoidable. We have alternatives, they just need work.

Like last time, I ask again: Which are the European made computers?

> Which are the European made computers?

Recently, not so many I suppose. But many of the earliest computers were European, so surely we could get there again at one point, hardly impossible.

Re: France to ditch Windows for Linux to reduce reliance on US tech

#45

Post by Vespasian »

AussieWog93 wrote: post #10
sgt wrote: post #2

That might work for government employees using webapps all day. But for power users it is unlikely to be friction free.

I feel like this is perfect being the enemy of good. So lets say only 80% of their staff can get off Windows and the remaining 20% need to remain on it. That's a great start!

And you can require new custom software to be compatible and guarantee an initial market.

It's a strategic decision and of course it's not financially optimal.

And if in 20 years thered still a few windows computers around in their org that doesn't matter

Re: France to ditch Windows for Linux to reduce reliance on US tech

#46

Post by stratts »

Jyaif wrote: post #19

Unless you need some windows-only software, using windows at this point is masochism. I was never a fan of Linux, but the Microsoft driven enshitification is so strong that Linux is now a better option. To win, all Linux had to do is stand still, and that's exactly what it did! Ubuntu in 2026 is pretty much the same as Ubuntu from 2006.

> Ubuntu in 2026 is pretty much the same as Ubuntu from 2006.

Well, Ubuntu MATE perhaps :)

Windows LTSC I find comes pretty close to the less intrusive Windows I remember from the XP/7 era.

Re: France to ditch Windows for Linux to reduce reliance on US tech

#47

Post by palata »

Latitude7973 wrote: post #3

France has been making good moves to achieve software independence from the US. It would be an even better move to allow those in Europe or indeed the rest of the world to also benefit.

> It would be an even better move to allow those in Europe or indeed the rest of the world to also benefit.

Those initiatives are usually open source. It's just that many times, each country wants to make their own. But it's still better than staying with the TooBigTech monopolies.

Re: France to ditch Windows for Linux to reduce reliance on US tech

#48

Post by croes »

carlosjobim wrote: post #26
spiderfarmer wrote: post #17

Being dependent on US tech feels the same as when we were dependent on Russian energy: strategically unwise and avoidable. We have alternatives, they just need work.

Like last time, I ask again: Which are the European made computers?

Given that most chips use photolithography machines by ASML: nearly all of them

Re: France to ditch Windows for Linux to reduce reliance on US tech

#49

Post by Snafuh »

carlosjobim wrote: post #26
spiderfarmer wrote: post #17

Being dependent on US tech feels the same as when we were dependent on Russian energy: strategically unwise and avoidable. We have alternatives, they just need work.

Like last time, I ask again: Which are the European made computers?

I use an European made computer from Schenker (their XMG subbrand actually).

Of course the components are not European made. But Dell's components are not US made either.

I can also buy a Japanese or Korean (or Chinese) computer. There is no dependency on a single country.

Re: France to ditch Windows for Linux to reduce reliance on US tech

#50

Post by samus »

edg5000 wrote: post #43
carlosjobim wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like last time, I ask again: Which are the European made computers?

Interestingly, there are zero non-US powerful laptops. The closest option is the Moore Threads MTT AI Book (12-core 2.65Ghz, 32GB DDR5, 1TB SSD, 14 inch). It cannot reach a modern Ryzen in performance though. It's fascinating that only the US can make good computers. I'm not from/in the US so I'm not saying that from a patriotic point of view. How hard can it be to pop a good ARM chip in a laptop and compete with HP,…

Which powerful computers are made in the USA? Design and assembly don't count, as these are the least robust to replication attempts. Apart from that, the manufacturing is all in East Asia; Intel is the exception, not the normal!
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