The whole article is a good read but this is the important bit:

Instead, the northern state will turn to open-source software to "take back control" over data storage and ensure "digital sovereignty", its digitalisation minister, Dirk Schroedter, told AFP.

They also blame Trump which is pretty hilarious but probably not terribly relevant to the community.

That includes Windows, right?

…

Right?

…

Yes, they'll use Linux.

Linux is great for government work.

They dont need compatibility as much. They have their systems only they use, therefore they can easily make them on Linux or emulate.

Otherwise they need a office suite like Libre.

And there's money to save. Benefits the whole country.

This seems to be the same article, but uses a URL that doesn't lead to a page that is essentially blank for me: https://us.afpnews.com/article/?were-done-with-teams-german-state-hits-uninstall-on-microsoft,49PM3G2

I want to say various cities/regions in Germany make statements like this every few years? And they usually end up rolling back when it becomes clear the cost to retrain both existing staff and new staff isn't worth it.

That said: This gets the national security bump so maybe it will stick. Also nobody on the planet likes to use Teams.

They have their systems only they use, therefore they can easily make them on Linux or emulate.

Also, a lot of systems are web-based (and therefore automatically multi-platform) these days.

It was barely tolerable, then they gated proper noise cancellation behind some AI privacy destroying BS. Excellent choice, fu Microsoft

Yes, but: this endeavour comes after/along with the development of a unified "open desk ", a replacement solution for the office and collaboration tools from microsoft etc, backed by the federal government. This ensures a base layer of interoperability between offices and makes training probably easier.

do France next

And if it sticks, good. But it still has the fundamental problem of needing to re-train all your existing employees AND train new staff who haven't been brought up in that system.

Its on a completely different scale, but plenty of tech youtubers have done the "Let's get rid of all the Adobe in my life". Some succeed. Most tend to come down on some variation of "I can do about 99% of what I used to do in these two or three tools. And these ten things are actually genuinely easier and more performant. But we can't take a month off making videos to get all of our editors up to speed. And this also removes our ability to contract out an edit to someone with the industry standard workflow". And from my professional experience in different fields, that is true. Hiring someone and then spending a week or a month so they can use YOUR tools becomes a huge burden in not too long of a time.

I really hope Germany pulls it off this time and more governments follow. But I also remember all the other times I have read this story.

Aren't French authorities quite ahed on FOSS adoption in their platform? I.e. https://lasuite.numerique.gouv.fr/en

even the most sensitive information are collected through Microsoft and government sites use adobe too Windows is the OS in almost all government computers.

not to forget all the WhatsApp use for official communication

facebook and xitter accounts of most government offices are still active

Trump's executive order forced Microsoft to disable access for ICC's Chief Prosecutor. So, in a sense, Trump is indeed a threat to digital sovereignty.

Oh, he is a threat to all types of sovereignty, in every sense.

Es ist wirklich das Jahr des Linux-Desktops

Don't forget, most computers are faster on Linux than on the newest windows version, so you can hold off on upgrades for longer if the hardware is physically fine, which just further decreases costs.

I currently see this URL provided by https://thebrainbin.org/u/@Pro@programming.dev and it is not identical: https://us.afpnews.com/article/?were-done-with-teams-german-state-hits-uninstall-on-microsoft%2C49PM3G2=