they will save 188,000 € on Microsoft license fees per year

  • Buffalox@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    Fingers crossed that this will be an indisputable success. 🤞
    Allegedly a similar project in Munich went really really well, but was shut down when the right wing came into power.
    For some reason the right wing of Munich doesn’t like freedom. 🙄

    • lowleekun@ani.social
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      1 month ago

      Well there is never enough money for the workers that they need for open source but there is always more than enough money for companies and their consultants ✌️😎

    • Zwuzelmaus@feddit.org
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      1 month ago

      was shut down when the right wing came into power.

      …and when M$ moved their headquarters into the city of Munich, making some nice impact on the city treasury.

      • Buffalox@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        They had already moved it, so Munich didn’t have to switch back for that.
        But yes I bet it was a factor as in corruption.

    • raspberriesareyummy@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      Munich racist shitheads (a.k.a. CSU) absolutely do love that sweet “freedom money” a.k.a. bribes though. Corrupt fuckers…

    • Shayeta@feddit.org
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      1 month ago

      Actually being able to troubleshoot things yourself instead of waiting for a reply from Microsoft support is a godsend.

      • BassTurd@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        Assuming the IT staff isn’t comprised of a bunch of junior techs that only know the Microsoft suite and not the actual inner workings of how email and Linux works.

  • Skvlp@lemm.ee
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    1 month ago

    This is great! I hope it succeeds, and shows others that it is possible.

  • gedaliyah@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    I switched to Thunderbird about a year and a half ago.

    Last week I had to help a coworker with their Outlook and holy shit is it so much worse than when I dropped it. There is so much AI garbage in every little thing and bad design getting in the way of just sending and receiving emails.

    Same thing for the other office products

      • maniclucky@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        Yup. I switched to linux on my home computer and now the more time I spend with it, the more I pity my work computer for the cancer it has to deal with.

  • raspberriesareyummy@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    That sounds like a ridiculously lowballed amount. Also, working with open source tools should increase productivity and decrease brainrot among workers in the public sector. Using Microshit kills brain cells. Not even joking, I actually think it makes users fucking dumb.

    • barsoap@lemm.ee
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      1 month ago

      No idea where that number is from but at the start it’s just going to be getting rid of MS Office and Exchange, switch to FLOSS telephony, not getting rid of Windows. Licensing costs for 30k seats are certainly higher but you have to offset that with not getting any support from MS any more. Dataport will need a couple of in-house developers to resolve issues and work with upstream. Actual development, not tier 1 support and translating administrative instructions into templates.

      Also for the state it’s not really about the money, but sovereignty. 188k are also peanuts in 18bn worth of state budget, that’s yearly maintenance for what 30km of state roads. Given that we currently don’t have any potholes we can afford it.

      As to brainrot: Not really applicable. These are managed workplaces and not much will change on the end-user side.

      • raspberriesareyummy@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        Ah, okay - if Windows remains, they are not nearly exploiting the cost saving potential. That explains the low number.

        I love software development, I hope they have such people as well. In terms of maintenance though, my (reasonably comolex) software is nearly maintenance free and much easier to operate. I believe that can be true for all custom developments, generic solutions are more complex by their nature of having more functions than needed in any specific use case.

        • barsoap@lemm.ee
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          1 month ago

          Dataport is kinda hit and miss when it comes to developing. It was created by taking the small IT departments of different ministries, agencies, etc, of multiple states, and putting them all under a common roof. They did that because they realised that standard state administration structures and IT weren’t really compatible but on the flipside, they also funded a whole new organisation with people accustomed to those very structures, and as dataport is still a public law corporation the internal administration – think payroll and everything – will still be done by career state bureaucrats.

          It’s a different kind of dysfunction than you see in the private sector but dysfunction nonetheless. OTOH working directly with FLOSS upstream will help: It’s not that (sufficiently large) FLOSS projects don’t have their own bureaucracy, and the bureaucrats that be on dataport’s side will respect that.

          Regarding maintenance: Aside from hardware upgrades because they make sense (power consumption) or you want new features (latest addition: Graphics tablets to allow citizens to sign stuff without having to print things), there’s a constant churn in software requirements as new orders come in on what to do and how to do it. Just because you wrote perfect software doesn’t mean that parliament stops passing laws.

          As far as usability is concerned: Dataport will also have to train people, and they actually have the funds to do usability studies and such. Much will also depend on the different agencies they’re working for, can’t fix an agency’s workflows for them, and that goes beyond mere IT. I guess a public-law consultancy does make sense but having a ministry for administrative affairs reeks of Sir Humphrey. I guess you could hide it by making it a subsidiary of the court of auditors.

    • IsThisAnAI@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      Y’all are delusional.

      Office is fantastic and better than goggle as well any foss alternative.

        • IsThisAnAI@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          No. For $16 a month you get Windows + O365 + InTune + EntreID. That includes role based access to admin portals, as well as for SharePoint+ one drive. You get per object audit and logging access to protect IP, you can remotely disable and wipe stolen devices if needed.

          None of that can be replicated in one product, the reality it’s 10 or so subsystems that need to be maintained. It’s labor intensive. Does it make sense for some companies or governments with scale to switch away? ABSOLUTELY!

          Is this thread filled with a bunch of people that vastly underrate capabilities and ease of use because of a hatred of Microsoft and what they represent and an unwillingness to look at how the users and businesses actually feel and make decisions? ABSOLUTELY!

          I think management and MSP experience in this thread is nil and I think probably nobody in here has ever actually worked at a directors level.

          • raspberriesareyummy@lemmy.world
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            1 month ago

            Trust me I have used Windows long enough to know what I am talking about. It has zero features that can’t be replaced with an overall net positive. People who defend modern Microsoft products just suffer from Stockholm or Dunning Kruger syndrome

            • IsThisAnAI@lemmy.world
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              1 month ago

              And I’m sure it’ll work be run 24/7 with no downtime and a support desk along with a fleet of junior devs and admins working for the low low price of 35k s year right?

              I’m sure it’ll support everything we need for CMMC, most, iso, a gdpr right? No need to put key cloak in front of 40 apps to show horn in proper rbac and audit accounts. Again for $16 a month right?

              You’re a windws user, not even administering accounts or hardware. Your lack of experience is showing and your doubling down on “I’ve used Windows so I know” reeks of shit you see of non experts talking out of their ass.

              Unless you’ve been in a leadership role and done a yearly budget, you have no clue. Adults with experience are talking here and you’re just spiteful lolol

      • Fizz@lemmy.nz
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        1 month ago

        I hate microsoft as much as the next guy but their office suite is best in class. Its far better funded which makes it so surprising that the other suites arent to far behind. I think with proper funding other suites can get to a point where it makes sense to switch to them.

        • IsThisAnAI@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          Drives me crazy. Rather than talking about how MS got here and how to fix it you get this screeching.

          Same reason Linux desktop will never be mainstream unless valve keeps pumping billions into the shit regular the users need and want.

          • Fizz@lemmy.nz
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            1 month ago

            Yeah thats what I was trying to add with my reply. Ms is only better because its had 1000x the funding. But even with that funding its not 1000x better its only slightly better. This is a perfect time to fund alternatives and take away Microsofts monopoly.

            • IsThisAnAI@lemmy.world
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              1 month ago

              We’re on the same page. Sorry if I came off aggressive. These threads typically become immediate shit shows the second you bring up non favorable Linux points.

  • Vinstaal0@feddit.nl
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    1 month ago

    LibreOffice is a great alternative for 99% of people, but there is that 1% of people who is gonna be disappointment. This is a great step though.

    • tibi@lemmy.world
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      12 days ago

      I use powerpoint all the time. Impress is very far behind in terms of usability and basic functionality. But I’m hopeful it will get better as adoption increases.

    • msage@programming.dev
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      1 month ago

      Same goes for any software.

      I don’t understand why people act like Windows is the holy grail of computing.

      It sucks, it barely works for 90% of users, and the rest will use anything else.

      Just as Linux will work for 98% of people, and those last ones are due to handful of evil companies.

      • gamer@lemm.ee
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        1 month ago

        The problem is education. People know how to use Windows/Microsoft products, and are too lazy to learn anything else. Saying “that other thing sucks” is easier than admitting “Idk how to use that other thing, and I’m too lazy to learn”, especially in a corporate environment where you can’t climb ladders by acknowledging your own shortcomings.

        Get LibreOffice/Nextcloud/etc into schools, and the problem will be solved in a single generation.

        • hangonasecond@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          People ‘know’ how to use Microsoft products. I’m a data guy and might spend less than a day a week in word, PowerPoint, excel. Most of the time I spend in them is checking other people’s work. I’m still called on to help people with such tasks as switching from footnotes to endnotes, moving files in SharePoint, fixing formatting. My general knowledge of navigating the UI and googling fixes is better than what people ‘know’.

  • driving_crooner@lemmy.eco.br
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    1 month ago

    Microsoft blocking email access to the ICJ director may be the best thing to happen for Linux adoption since the SteamDeck. Now every Microsoft lobbyst can be asked what would happen is the US government order Microsoft to block them out of their infrastructure.

  • tibi@lemmy.world
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    12 days ago

    That’s 188k euro that can be used to improve the quality of open source software.

  • RealM__@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    I admire the plan, but I doubt the public sector is going to completely acclimate to Linux. The average age of an employee in the public sector is something like 40+.

    You might get lucky and get them to use one new program like LibreOffice, but there’s no way you’re going to completely revamp every desktop PC to Linux. I work in this field, and while everyone has been nice and friendly, they (and the entire system around them) are also hugely resistant to digital change. If they ever make the move to a Linux Desktop environment, the IT support will go through hell.

    • doktormerlin@feddit.org
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      1 month ago

      There used to be skins for KDE that made it look and feel 1:1 like Windows XP, I don’t know if these things still exist. If yes, there you have it: Just make the system behave like Windows and they won’t notice a difference. They only have to use Office, Mail and print files anyways. Most other tools they use are browser-based and will feel the same way

      • MangoCats@feddit.it
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        1 month ago

        The names have changed. I literally had that conversation with “an engineer” 20 years ago wherein he concluded “I don’t know, if I have to learn new names for most of the programs I use (Word, Photoshop, maybe two others) I don’t think I want to use that other OS.” I had to support his position, if you can’t retrain to click on “Libre Office Writer” instead of “Office Word”, then a move to Linux isn’t for you.

        • Trainguyrom@reddthat.com
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          1 month ago

          Except most people just click a link on their desktop that goes to a thing they have a completely different name for anyways. If you don’t tell them anything (or just say it’s a new version of Windows) they likely won’t notice the actual differences, just complain about missing a specific icon for something without being able to correctly name what it is

            • doktormerlin@feddit.org
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              1 month ago

              Yet they are fine with using Windows 11, which looks completely different to Windows 7 or XP. They complained in the beginning just as much but then they were fine with it. People get used to change, they just hate it in the beginning.

  • RaptorBenn@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    Holy fuck, that’s the clearest sign for war prepararion ive seen from Europe yet, they don’t want the US in their computers.

    • Blackmist@feddit.uk
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      1 month ago

      Don’t worry. They’ll get a big discount on licenses and swap right back again.

      • RaptorBenn@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        I dunno, free’s still a lot cheaper, once it’s setup, it’ll be so much more flexible, it’ll hardly be worth going back.

            • Blackmist@feddit.uk
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              1 month ago

              When it’s just you, on your own PC, and you don’t value your time, it’s free.

              Just from the license fees here, we’re talking what, roughly 2000 employees?

              At that scale, you’re going to be paying for support. Whether through a third party, or employing enough people to fix all the things that can go wrong. And not everyone in IT knows enough about Linux to fix broken boxes.

              I once recommended Linux for our customer servers, to be installed hundreds of miles away. And what I found was that employees who knew Linux (and specifically how to fix it when it fucks up) were more expensive than the trained monkeys we sent out to fix things, who at least knew how to copy data off it and reinstall Windows/slap a new drive in it, and that issues were my fault for recommending it. It was also easier to talk customers through some settings in Windows if it falls off the network somehow, than it was to deal with getting them to type things into a command line.

              And that’s before you even consider servers and where your stuff all goes. With MS it goes into “the cloud”, and you don’t need to worry too much about anything other than paying for it. With your own hardware, you very much need to worry because if you don’t, then one day it won’t be there any more.