XPost: alt.politics.international
Another instance of the move away from Microsoft Office and Windows
towards open-source alternatives <
https://www.zdnet.com/article/why-denmark-is-dumping-microsoft-office-and-windows-for-libreoffice-and-linux/>.
This time, the issue of software freedom is becoming more pressing,
not just for commercial reasons, but for political ones, too: the new buzzphrase is “digital sovereignty”.
For example, after the EU-based International Criminal Court (ICC)
issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallan[t], for war
crimes, President Donald Trump issued ICC sanctions. This order
allegedly prompted Microsoft to lock the ICC's Chief Prosecutor,
Karim Khan, out of his email accounts, according to reports.
This came after Microsoft chairman and general counsel, Brad
Smith, had promised that the company would stand behind its EU
customers against political pressure. Recently, however, Smith
stated that Microsoft had not been "in any way [involved in] the
cessation of services to the ICC," according to Politico. When
pressed, Microsoft failed to further explain how the email
disconnection occurred.
Can you trust a US-based company, that values the lucrative business
from its own country’s Government, to defy the policies of that same Government? Of course not.
Will there be money saved?
It's not all about politics, though. Money issues have also played
a decisive role. Copenhagen's Microsoft software bill has soared
from 313 million kroner in 2018 to 538 million kroner -- about $53
million in 2023, a 72% increase in just five years.
All that said, no one expects this to be an easy transition.
Making the jump from Azure, Office, and Windows to a third-party
EU-based cloud system such as NextCloud, LibreOffice, and Linux
will take time and effort.
Remember, they are not the first. Others have done this before. And
succeeded, too.
Nor is everyone a believer in moving to open-source software.
Mette Harbo, IT director in the Capital Region of Denmark, thinks
it's impossible for Denmark to move off Microsoft software or
achieve digital sovereignty.
“Impossible” only to someone who is incapable of envisioning a
universe beyond proprietary Microsoft-based solutions ...
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