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Switzerland's Federal Government Is Replacing Microsoft on 3k Computers

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Re: Switzerland's Federal Government Is Replacing Microsoft on 3k Computers

#21

The real risk to MS here is when people take the plunge and see how much nicer a (well supported, well put together) Linux distro is, compared to Windows etc! Will they want to buy their next laptop at home with MSFT installed? Plus, if countries moving off Microsoft put a fraction of the savings into libre office product development, it might get an even more lopsided comparison!

> how much nicer a (well supported, well put together) Linux distro is, compared to Windows

As someone who regularly uses both, and even in spite of the ad avalanche that (a bog-standard home install of) Windows has become: [X] to doubt. I regularly have issues on my corporate Linux laptop that I suspect wouldn't ever happen on Windows. Fleet management is easiest on Windows, with Active Directory, Group Policy, images, etc. Maybe package managers make software management easier on Linux, but fleet sysadmin is basically built-in on Windows.

Linux is superb for servers—I use Proxmox VE as the hypervisor on my homelab—but it still has a rather long way to go as a sharp-edge-free desktop OS, regardless of whether it is for home or corporate use.

Re: Switzerland's Federal Government Is Replacing Microsoft on 3k Computers

#22

Office is going to be a blocker - not just because of the two XML file formats, but because of the different UI. I personally find the Microsoft version more productive despite a mental list of complaints I have with it. The correct choice, in my opinion, would be to invest in a new EU_Office project that uses the Microsoft XML formats. If you're trying to run your government on a new platform, that would also be a h…

That‘s an interesting thought, because I see openDesk packs Collabora for document-editing, I‘ve never ever tried it. Does anyone know how it fairs with file-formats and MS-formatting in general?

Re: Switzerland's Federal Government Is Replacing Microsoft on 3k Computers

#23

The real risk to MS here is when people take the plunge and see how much nicer a (well supported, well put together) Linux distro is, compared to Windows etc! Will they want to buy their next laptop at home with MSFT installed? Plus, if countries moving off Microsoft put a fraction of the savings into libre office product development, it might get an even more lopsided comparison!

Tbh the only reason I can't put an ubuntu for my parents/grandparents is Microsoft office.

Libre is generally ok, but they deal with lots of documents from different ppl/orgs that just need to have similar rendering. Windows is so bloated it's insane

Re: Switzerland's Federal Government Is Replacing Microsoft on 3k Computers

#24

The real risk to MS here is when people take the plunge and see how much nicer a (well supported, well put together) Linux distro is, compared to Windows etc! Will they want to buy their next laptop at home with MSFT installed? Plus, if countries moving off Microsoft put a fraction of the savings into libre office product development, it might get an even more lopsided comparison!

> how much nicer a (well supported, well put together) Linux distro is, compared to Windows As someone who regularly uses both, and even in spite of the ad avalanche that (a bog-standard home install of) Windows has become: [X] to doubt. I regularly have issues on my corporate Linux laptop that I suspect wouldn't ever happen on Windows. Fleet management is easiest on Windows, with Active Directory, Group Policy, imag…

I think the issues you're having on your "corporate linux laptop" are due to the "corporate" part.

I'm also having a lot of issues on my corporate linux laptop (such as dbus crashing) that just do not happen normally.

They are due to all the proprietary ~~spyware~~ security software they install, that hook pretty deep into the system and isn't as well tested.

Re: Switzerland's Federal Government Is Replacing Microsoft on 3k Computers

#25
post #20

The real risk to MS here is when people take the plunge and see how much nicer a (well supported, well put together) Linux distro is, compared to Windows etc! Will they want to buy their next laptop at home with MSFT installed? Plus, if countries moving off Microsoft put a fraction of the savings into libre office product development, it might get an even more lopsided comparison!

Yes, because when they go to Media Market and FNAC they will only have macOS and Windows laptops to chose from. Having Tuxedo, System76 and co is great, but what most people care about is what there are in regular consumer shops. Linux adoption among consumer hardware has only been a success where it is invisible to the user, like the Linux kernel on Android or WebOS, firmware on DVD/BlueRay players,...

Stores are dead to anyone who is under 35 years of age.

Re: Switzerland's Federal Government Is Replacing Microsoft on 3k Computers

#26

Office is going to be a blocker - not just because of the two XML file formats, but because of the different UI. I personally find the Microsoft version more productive despite a mental list of complaints I have with it. The correct choice, in my opinion, would be to invest in a new EU_Office project that uses the Microsoft XML formats. If you're trying to run your government on a new platform, that would also be a h…

Office is very much not a problem. LibreOffice has UI plugins that arrange everything in a standard Office pre-365 layout. I've been using it for years and I can't recall a single time I've ran into any issues. I think Excel macros are where the start of dealbreakers begin, which is a niche issue. 90+% of Office users won't hit that wall.

Second, the EU has been pouring money into an OpenOffice fork for official use and replacement of Office 365 for a while. https://office.eu/

Re: Switzerland's Federal Government Is Replacing Microsoft on 3k Computers

#27

I’m always surprised to see how naive people are when comparing the enterprise/government usage of software vs. Personal usage. Linux and open source software are a good alternative for personal usage, but for government usage, wouldn’t they have to port every custom software they have built over decades to Linux? Not to mention driver support for legacy/custom hardware. Also, from where would they get the support an…

Their custom software probably runs fine under Wine? Also, if it's actual custom software, they might have the source and could even recompile it. And also, the software of the Swiss government is usually surprisingly good quality, so they probably have competent engineers who they could call upon to help with such porting.

Re: Switzerland's Federal Government Is Replacing Microsoft on 3k Computers

#28

Not sure about goverment requirements, but many apps I use nowadays are on the web, Figma, Canva, google docs, outlook and so on. There is not much need for a dedicated OS for most users.

SAP, Oracle, weird Office macros from decades ago …

They might know their own use case better than you and I?

Re: Switzerland's Federal Government Is Replacing Microsoft on 3k Computers

#29

The real risk to MS here is when people take the plunge and see how much nicer a (well supported, well put together) Linux distro is, compared to Windows etc! Will they want to buy their next laptop at home with MSFT installed? Plus, if countries moving off Microsoft put a fraction of the savings into libre office product development, it might get an even more lopsided comparison!

Tbh the only reason I can't put an ubuntu for my parents/grandparents is Microsoft office. Libre is generally ok, but they deal with lots of documents from different ppl/orgs that just need to have similar rendering. Windows is so bloated it's insane

The rendering won't be 1:1 but installing the most common MS fonts already does a lot

Re: Switzerland's Federal Government Is Replacing Microsoft on 3k Computers

#30

I’m always surprised to see how naive people are when comparing the enterprise/government usage of software vs. Personal usage. Linux and open source software are a good alternative for personal usage, but for government usage, wouldn’t they have to port every custom software they have built over decades to Linux? Not to mention driver support for legacy/custom hardware. Also, from where would they get the support an…

The greater the dependence, the greater the risk.
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