Denmark Wants to Dump Microsoft Software for Linux, LibreOffice

[garyc]

https://www.pcmag.com/news/denmark-wants-to-dump-microsoft-software-for-linux-libreoffice

A government ministry in Denmark is preparing to phase out Microsoft software and switch to the open-source Linux and LibreOffice.

The country’s Ministry for Digital Affairs will kick off the transition next month by dumping Windows and Microsoft 365, starting first with half of its employees. “If everything goes as expected, all employees will be on an open-source solution during the autumn,” Danish news outlet Politiken reports.

The change promises to save on costs and reduce the ministry’s dependency on US software. Denmark’s Minister for Digital Affairs, Caroline Stage, tells Politiken that "digital sovereignty" is now a priority under the ministry’s new four-year digitalization strategy.

 

[Pegging]

Im surprised more countries haven’t done this.

 

[w1z4rd]

What? They dont like an AI recording everything they do?

 

[FiestaST]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1933395692761833684

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

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

news.itsfoss.com

 

[FiestaST]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1933891836319559750

Denmark ministry says goodbye to Windows & Office 365!

The Denmark Ministry of Digital Affairs will cut Windows and Office in favor of Linux and LibreOffice.

www.windowscentral.com

 

[dontcryforme]

Im surprised more countries haven’t done this.

In Africa this is problematic due to the fact you cannot request free handouts if its already free. And you also cannot pirate something which is already free. For a country like South Africa, that would mean we lose the digital content pirating crown of Africa.

You have to think of these things which other countries like from Europe do not have to worry about.

 

[OutlawJoseyWales]

Love LibreOffice and there is so much to choose from in the Linux family of software.

 

[FiestaST]

 

[HAL 9000]

In a world first, SITA announces the imminent rollout of their latest 'high-tech' PC systems for use in ALL State, Governmental & Municipal entities, to circumvent the MASSIVE additional cost of installing Microsoft Windows 11 & Office 365 Enterprise, actually SAVING the embattled tax-payers BILLIONS in 'wasteful & useless' spending...

 

[gotaway]

In a world first, SITA announces the imminent rollout of their latest 'high-tech' PC systems for use in ALL State, Governmental & Municipal entities, to circumvent the MASSIVE additional cost of installing Microsoft Windows 11 & Office 365 Enterprise, actually SAVING the embattled tax-payers BILLIONS in 'wasteful & useless' spending...

View attachment 1827810

Suddenly I miss the romance of learning computers at the end of primary school

 

[Mzezman]

Didn’t a German municipality try this some years back and it backfired ? I’m sure the technology has improved since then - would be keen to see how this progresses

 

[RedViking]

It's government Notepad++ should be fine.

 

[me_]

Didn’t a German municipality try this some years back and it backfired ? I’m sure the technology has improved since then - would be keen to see how this progresses

That was Munich:

Munich council finds €49.3m for Windows 10 embrace

Open source dream officially dies in Bavarian city

www.theregister.com

I see more recently a different state, Schleswig-Holstein, has started the switch:

German state switches to LibreOffice, promises Windows move

'Complete digital sovereignty' ... sounds familiar

www.theregister.com

In that article, they also mention Lower Saxony as also migrating to Linux, but mention that they have not fully transitioned.

 

[yabana]

He should not announce it they must just do it.

 

[FiestaST]

 

[konfab]

The real problem isn't the software or the operating system they are using, it is the format of the data they are working with. Locking up all your data into XML documents is a bad idea, even if it is an "open" format.

The more innovative and clever approach is to use a simpler data format, like markdown. We use Obsidian for everything and it is an absolute game changer.

The French government basically did the same thing, except they developed their own collaborative editor that simply saves markdown.

https://docs.numerique.gouv.fr/home/

The creator of Obsidian has an amazing post on this.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1675626836821409792

 

[SauRoNZA]

I mean the vast majority of government employees only working with single web-based frontends really don’t need anything more than a thin client with a browser.

 

[longboy]

Im surprised more countries haven’t done this.

I ditched MS Server/Windows/Office/Teams this year for all our branches.

 

[AfricanTech]

I’m in full support of this.

For what the vast majority of users do a Linux based OS and Libreoffice is more than sufficient.

 

[garyc]

I ditched MS Server/Windows/Office/Teams this year for all our branches.

Sounds like a good move. What alternative did you use for OneDrive, and which distro instead of Windows Server?