[myaccountonhn]

I agree, but it also feels like it would be so difficult. It requires a ton of training, the UIs are not flashy so people are going to feel repulsed (I unironically found looks to be a big blocker when adopting open source tech) and finally Microsoft is going to lobby incredibly hard against it. I wouldn't put it past Microsoft to actively sabotage any adoption.

[whstl]

This excuse is as old as the hills and I've been hearing it since the late 90s, but historically there has been exactly zero training between versions of Office or Windows that changed a lot of the interface overnight. Office workers just kept using them like the rest of the planet.

Not to mention companies who moved on to Google Docs or the web version of Office. Or companies who moved to MacOS 15-10 years ago.

In my state back home the entire workforce moved to LibreOffice and, according to my sister (a government worker), everyone is doing fine. Recently I saw a German government worker using Office to produce a document and she mentioned that she "barely knows how to use it" and "just knows how to load templates, fill and print".

This hypothetical problem of "needs training" only seems to exist when you mention the words "open source".

[dietr1ch]

> - It requires a ton of training, the UIs are not flashy so people are going to feel repulsed (I unironically found looks to be a big blocker when adopting open source tech), and finally Microsoft is going to lobby incredibly hard against it.

I think everyone agrees the costs are high, especially beyond monetary ones, but this stance on avoiding these costs is slowly pushing everyone into finding out how expensive is not having sovereignty.

Through its tech industry the US has over time acquired too much power over critical digital infrastructure that has already compromised governments. We know of Presidents/PMs/Legislators spied upon through their phones and computers, and also Microsoft itself involved in revoking email access to the ICC's chief prosecutor as retaliation/defense against investigations.

Sovereignty is too important for government, and since everyone needs to do it and get security right going for open-source with funded development and constant auditing is in my mind the only way.

[GoblinSlayer]

>UIs are not flashy

Where did you see flashy UIs? Modern UIs are boring flat geometric monochrome shit and Microsoft is one of the worst there.

[blibble]

not being able to be coerced by the US regime is a huge strategic requirement that no amout of lobbying by microsoft will be able to overcome

[ThrowawayR2]

The employees don't care about software sovereignty. They just want to do their jobs and get their paychecks. Fail to win them over and the transition will fail as well.

[blibble]

you might be right if it was american employees

germans have been quite riled up by US escapades