@chmod755 UK government really needs to follow suit on something similar.
this post was submitted on 10 Apr 2025
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Someone has to start the tine. Good job!!!!
This is the 3rd time, that i remember, that some german state moved to linux. It always ends up with moving back to windows, because:
- Corruption/money
- The users will complain until death about linux, because now the workflow is different, and they don't like it.
The article is a year old, fyi.
Hope more places within EU do this however!
Ah, that's why the penguin island got tariffs, but not Russian. Makes sense.
@barnaclebutt @chmod755 True, cant have us #Europeans grow a spine, become more assertive, become more autonomous, etc. etc.
Personally I'm becoming more proud to be European. All in all I think Europe has woken up and started moving.
I hope the switch sticks as other states in germany already went back and forth (munich i think?). I also hope that more states follow and move to linux.
In Munich "only" the citiy switched to a own Linux distribution named "Limux" with extra software (Wollmux) for Open Office to manage templates for all departments. After a few years and a lot of progress the new mayor spread doubt (e.g. with a study ignoring some costs) about the project and forced to switch back to Microsoft. Coincidental Microsoft Germany moved their Headquarter a few kilometers from outside Munich to the administrative area of the city.
The amount of excuses of things not working/missing functionality under OSS are getting fewer and fewer. For me, the last couple of years have been huge in closing the gap. Switching from Windows to Mac a year and a half ago brought some disappointment towards MacOS - it has more glitches/weirdness than I had thought, coming from the (apparent) Apple UI masters. Installing Debian 12 with GNOME on my old work laptop was a pleasent experience, but still requires some fiddling to get things (mostly apps) the way I want them. I imagine installing a more user friendly distribution would be an even more polished experience.
My point is, that OSS is better than ever and the excuses are starting to become tiresome.
My point is, that OSS is better than ever and the excuses are starting to become tiresome.
Im many cases it can be cut down to different user experience.
I mean thats exactly why i fear that it wont take hold. Microsoft has their goons pushing their expensive garbage through lobbyists. The politicians in turn have zero knowledge about operating systems or IT in general so they are influenced easily.
German government is forth and back with the decision since the early 2000.
I hope they pull through just like France is doing (referring to the video someone posted here)
Yes, I remember reading about these huge migrations to Linux in the early 2000s, only for Microsoft to open up shop in the area and start lobbying for a reversal. It was always disappointing to hear cases of returning to MS. Let’s hope they stay the course this time.
I wonder which distro
Munich (not the same area as mentioned in op but i could be wrong) have ping ponged for over a decade (maybe 2) with LiMux.
Looks like Debian based.
Alt aber gut!
FYI, the Linux trademark, the Linux Foundation and Linus Torvalds are U.S.-based.
And? The licencing is completely open and not chained to a single country nor single corporation.
Still, it's probably off-topic in the "buy from EU" community. No EU products are involved here.
What about OpenSUSE, Ubuntu etc? Both European based firms. Calling the linux kernel and coreutils American is a pretty big stretch considering their licencing and global contributor network.
What about OpenSUSE, Ubuntu etc? Both European based firms.
Canonical (based in London) is not really "from the EU" anymore. ;-) No, I know what you mean...
However: Yes, those are European Linux distributors. They distribute an U.S. operating system kernel together with an U.S. userland (GNU), an U.S. init system (systemd), several U.S. desktops (most commonly, Gnome, although KDE is German, at least)...
If you get your Windows installation from an European distributor, is it a European product?
considering their (...) contributor network.
Microsoft has employees in Europe. Does that count? If it doesn't, why does it count for Linux?
It seems like you're being unnecessarily pedantic.
So, I'll Well, Actually you: They're not 'buying' anything so it doesn't matter what the source is. It isn't the "OnlyGetFreeStuffFromEU" community after all.
You've completely ignored what I said. Comparing linux to Microsofts European operations is bizarre given that Microsoft produce a paid for product which uses telemetry out the wazoo to get even more money from the end user and which is closed source compared to a completely open source peer reviewed kernel development proceedure which is free to be used and tweaked however a entity likes.
Its irrelevant where the not for profit foundation happens to be based, and if they do go off the rails the entire thing could be forked quite easily.
Even the Russians and North Koreans as paranoid as those entities are trust linux running on sensitive machines, and as seen with Slesvig-Holsten so do German provisional governments.
Also the UK is (for now) still broadly included in the buy european campaigns alongside Norway, Switzerland, Ukraine etc. Although if you'd really wanted to target Canonical for not being European you should've pointed to it being based on Debian.
Is there an EU operating system you'd recommend here?
Honestly, the EU seems to be not the best place to write operating systems.
The most actively developed version of Plan 9, 9front, is from Germany, but that's not what most people want to use, I guess. Best I can do is non-American (OpenBSD). I'm open for ideas myself though!