Can we just use markdown already?
Danish government agency to ditch Microsoft software (2025)
271–280 of 448 posts
Re: Danish government agency to ditch Microsoft software (2025)
#272That's great, but it's always just one agency, or one very local bit of government. If we (Europeans) really mean it - and we should - the top level of government just needs to make the declaration: as of X, all Microsoft licenses will be terminated. No exceptions. Adapt or die. According to the CLOUD act, the US government can demand access to data from US companies, regardless of where that data is stored. That mus…
> That must be unacceptable to any sovereign government.
Is it OK for a French sovereign government if a German government can demand access to its data?
Re: Danish government agency to ditch Microsoft software (2025)
#273Earlier quoted context omitted.
For many services there are drop-in Replacements available. I don't see what's so special about Mail or Calendar from Microsoft vs other vendors. The Quality is also Shit. I get some stupid Errors when trying to Access OWA every other day. Then I have to reset cookies/cache and can login again
You don't want a drop-in replacement for each service, you want one for the entire system. Microsofts advantage is ActiveDirectory integration. Centrally managed users and machines, every user, every application, every service authentications through the AD. Organizations opt for Teams all the time, because it's part of the package and fully integrated. There's no reason they couldn't pick something else, but why dea…
And OpenDesk has managed to do without, they seem to be using Univention Nubus as an AD Replacement
https://www.univention.de/loesungen/alternative-zu-microsoft...
Re: Danish government agency to ditch Microsoft software (2025)
#274Earlier quoted context omitted.
It isn't usually an American company doing the local operations, but a local subsidiary. Like Walmart Canada telling Walmart corporate to pound sand in the 1990's over Cuban pajamas. It's illegal for Canadian companies to participate in the US embargo of Cuba. This is all well within the realm of what governments can and do regulate. Want to do business in a country with their laws or not is the choice.
Canadian companies can't use Cloud providers at all then? I'm incredulous about that. Google, AWS & Microsoft all nullroute the countries of Cuba, Iran and North Korea. Google also nullroutes Crimea. So by using a cloud provider, you are participating in the embargo of Cuba.
Not sure Canada has the leverage/market to get them to sway here. But a body like the EU has the leverage to force local operation and control.
Re: Danish government agency to ditch Microsoft software (2025)
#275Earlier quoted context omitted.
You’re absolutely right. The benefit of being US independent has no value in the eyes of the large part of European population. The politician fighting for it is fighting uphill battle against mega corporation with endless lobbying budget and simultaneously digging a grave for the political career.
That was true in the time when Munich went Linux yes. It's no longer true. There's a huge public moment to move away from all things American since Trump and his tariff wars and putting NATO at risk. A lot of people I know are now factoring this in to their purchasing choices and there's a lot more empathy for employers changing things.
Well the Bavarian State has just tried to give Microsoft a huge contract without tender.
But the governing party there is known to be quite susceptible to "Lobbying" and enriching themselves
Re: Danish government agency to ditch Microsoft software (2025)
#276That's great, but it's always just one agency, or one very local bit of government. If we (Europeans) really mean it - and we should - the top level of government just needs to make the declaration: as of X, all Microsoft licenses will be terminated. No exceptions. Adapt or die. According to the CLOUD act, the US government can demand access to data from US companies, regardless of where that data is stored. That mus…
Well the State of Schleswig Holstein is ditching Microsoft completely. But it's a difficult political uphill battle, because some Users won't change their habits and cry about it. The Minister shut this up with "Software is a decision by the employer, the employee has to accept it" Which then got blown up by the tabloid media, which ran BS Headlines like "OMG Courts and Police not working (because they're childish an…
> It's a thankless and tough battle for politicians, because they face lobbying and media pressure against them.
Awwww, poor babies.
Re: Danish government agency to ditch Microsoft software (2025)
#277Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am Danish, working with IT in the private sector, but with regular contact to the public sector. I can assure you that there is plenty of other agencies, ministries, municipalities, private companies etc. in both Denmark and other European countries looking into switching to non-American software. "Data sovereignty" is now an important parameter when chosing supplier. Everybody asks about it it. Everybody plans aro…
Second that, even though it seems that there is nothing happening yet, many companies and government agencies in all of Europe are aware of their hard Microsoft dependency and are looking / coordinating to leave. Same with Atlassian Confluence / Jira. (Source: Working in a state owend company in a EU member country)
Everyone in the American IT world has been trying to leave Microsoft and Google for decades. In that case, the problem isn't IT push, it's that users refuse to learn new software. I can guess it's the same in Europe.
It's maybe harder in Europe, because you also have fragmentation. For example, Californians are fine using software from New York. Same, same. But Germany prefers to use German software, so far. This makes it even harder, I would guess, for EU developers to establish a thriving standard.
Re: Danish government agency to ditch Microsoft software (2025)
#278One of the driving themes of "Industry" Season 4 is precisely this: what happens to your data once big players ahold of it.
Re: Danish government agency to ditch Microsoft software (2025)
#279Earlier quoted context omitted.
What counts as data sovereignty in your book? Are the sovereign clouds of AWS, MS, Google acceptable? If not, who are your preferred providers?
> If not, who are your preferred providers? Can we have fully decentralized mesh networking yet? I love how some hyper-sci-fi settings have the concept of a "datasphere" (analogous to atmosphere): an actual physical cloud of ubiquitous nanorobots that provide connectivity, storage and computation. Wouldn't that also be ideal for AI too the way it's shaping up to be? Any device anywhere would just need to connect to a…
First we gotta migrate everybody to IPv6, then we can start talking.
Re: Danish government agency to ditch Microsoft software (2025)
#280I am wondering what EU was doing 20+ years in the digital world? Why doesn't it have own video streaming, cloud, email, social net... pretty much all that we use now Alphabet, Amazon and Microsoft for. It is very difficult for fragmented Europe to have the central service in pretty much any domain. And its citizen and ruling classes were sleeping 20 years living cozy.