Technology Excellent! Denmark Set to Replace Microsoft Software with Open Source Alternatives

[lokamoka820]

Content source

https://news.itsfoss.com/denmark-set-to-replace-microsoft/

Denmark's Digital Ministry is replacing Microsoft services with LibreOffice and Linux.

For years, Big Tech has been tightening its grip on public institutions across the world, quietly slotting themselves into critical infrastructure that powers the daily running of governments.

Their allergy to privacy and bowing to their overlords (read: the country they're based in) has long been a thing of concern. There have been numerous cases where surveillance laws forced these companies to hand over user data without consulting, or even notifying, the governments of those affected.

For governments, this isn't just a privacy issue, but a sovereignty issue. And in Denmark, the Ministry of Digital Affairs has decided it’s time to push back.

Denmark's Open Source Move​

Speaking with Politiken (paywalled), Denmark's Minister for Digital Affairs, Caroline Stage Olsen, revealed that the Ministry is moving away from Microsoft services, replacing Windows with Linux and Office 365 with LibreOffice.

This is set to happen in a staggered manner, where half of the staff will be switched to Linux and LibreOffice by summer (June-August), with full adoption expected by autumn (September-November) this year.

Speaking about the move on LinkedIn, the minister emphasized that:

It is not about isolation or digital nationalism. We should not turn our backs completely on global technology companies; many of them provide solutions that we benefit from. This applies both today and in the future.

But we must never make ourselves so dependent on so few that we can no longer act freely. Too much public digital infrastructure is currently tied up with very few foreign suppliers. This makes us vulnerable. Also, financially.

 

[bazang]

Germany tried. One German state or municipality did the switch to Linux, but then it ended up switching back to Windows.

The Danish effort will not last.

 

[ForgottenSeer 94738]

Germany tried. One German state or municipality did the switch to Linux, but then it ended up switching back to Windows.

The Danish effort will not last.

The Munich city administration had switched to Linux. However, the administration has since returned to Windows. The German state of Schleswig-Holstein is currently beginning the transition of its IT from Windows to open-source software and later to Linux.

 

[nicolaasjan]

Germany tried. One German state or municipality did the switch to Linux, but then it ended up switching back to Windows.

The Danish effort will not last.

Microsoft moving its German headquarters to Munich might have something to do with it ($$$ ).
Wikipedia (read the Timeline).

• 23 November 2012 - Savings from LiMux environment over 10 million euros.
• November 2017 - The city council decided that LiMux will be replaced by a Windows-based infrastructure by the end of 2020. The costs for the migration are estimated to be around 90 million Euros.
• May 2020 - Newly elected politicians in Munich take a U-turn and implement a plan to go back to the original plan of migrating to LiMux.[44]

 

[bazang]

Microsoft moving its German headquarters to Munich might have something to do with it ($$$ ).
Wikipedia (read the Timeline).

No. The decision (now to move back to Linux) is purely a political one (ruling politicians that are left-wing, Furries, anti-Microsoft/pro-FOSS, and full of other leftist ideologies).

 

[Victor M]

I don't follow German politics. But migrating to Linux should save them some money.

 

[brambedkar59]

No. The decision (now to move back to Linux) is purely a political one (ruling politicians that are left-wing, Furries, anti-Microsoft/pro-FOSS, and full of other leftist ideologies).

Ahh yes, the furries, who control the govt from shadows.

 

[badboy]

I think there should be a distinction between public sector enterprises where it makes sense to implement Linux and where it is better to keep Microsoft for better compatibility. Many public sector organisations in other countries have tried to switch to Linux, but it was all about document compatibility. This was especially true for document compatibility between Microsoft Office products and FOSS analogs. Perhaps now the situation has improved.

 

[Trident]

If the software they use for work is mainly cloud-based platforms, then switching to Linux or Chrome OS (even Flex) won’t really be an issue. It depends on what exactly they are working with. I doubt they use anything more than user forms and documents in their day to day operation.

 

[lokamoka820]

There are what called national operating systems now that are based on Linux:

Countries With Linux Based National Operating Systems

Yes, you did read it right. I am talking about ‘national operating system’. Now, you may ask if there is such a thing called “national OS” in this era of globalization. Apparently, there is. Let it be the purpose of providing more support to local language(s), safeguarding against cyber

itsfoss.com

 

[bazang]

Ahh yes, the furries, who control the govt from shadows.

Half of Europe's national IT is run by Indians. However, the group with the loudest mouths and aggressive lobbying of government policies from within IT circles are the Furries. Most of the time they just want to make it a crime if you to mis-gender or deadname them, but many are anti-Big Tech, particularly anti-Microsoft. The numerous European ministry liberals and politicians take what the Furries say seriously. Research it. It is bone-hard fact.

 

[Trident]

I must be a Furry too cuz I am anti-Microsoft as well

 

[Parkinsond]

I must be a Furry too cuz I am anti-Microsoft as well

Until Linux distros become usable, I will keep loving MS and keep my avatar with Bill

 

[simmerskool]

Until Linux distros become usable, I will keep loving MS and keep my avatar with Bill

my linux is as usable as my win10 if not more so, although some learning curve, and finding distro you are comfy with

 

[Parkinsond]

my linux is as usable as my win10 if not more so, although some learning curve, and finding distro you are comfy with

I am a common user; need no fiddling with command line; just UI.

 

[lokamoka820]

I am a common user; need no fiddling with command line; just UI.

Are you sure you know Linux?

 

[Parkinsond]

Are you sure you know Linux?

Never used before; but have read some feedback; some are grumbling about the need to use command line for certain tasks; I use powershell for very limited tasks and I do not like to use it in general.

 

[lokamoka820]

Never used before; but have read some feedback; some are grumbling about the need to use command line for certain tasks; I use powershell for very limited tasks and I do not like to use it in general.

Every thing new will be scary in the beginning, if you have an old or unsupported device try Linux for fun, it changed a lot these days, although there are still some complaints about it, but command-line knowledge is not needed anymore.

 

[Parkinsond]

Every thing new will be scary in the beginning, if you have an old or unsupported device try Linux for fun, it changed a lot these days, although there are still some complaints about it, but command-line knowledge is not needed anymore.

Also, I have read a couple of times complaints about not being able to reinstall Windows after installing Linux distro; I could not get what was done wrong to lock the PC on Linux.

 

[n8chavez]

You could always dual-boot, like I do, until you get the hang of whatever distro you want to use.