Back then I read an article about how M$ is crippling the ability of other office packets to read their docx and xslx formats which are supposed to be open formats, but in reality are written in a way never to be fully integrated by competing products. More information about their pseudo open standard: https://fsfe.org/activities/msooxml/msooxml.en.html
Munich in the past have used Linux PCs for quite some time until eventually switching back to windows. Back then they were citing the same incompatibilities to open and read and display M$ office files correctly. So Microsoft is definitely abusing their position as a market leader and trying to cripple competition as much as they can.
So fine them and require all governemtn documents and legal documents of anybkind to be in a true open format. Its only a compatibility problem if people continue to use their format.
Iso allowing itself to be coopted into fast tracking standarizing ooxml in 2008 continues to be horrible. Ms can point and say: see ooxml is a true open format.
That’s unlikely to happen in every country where they’re popular. Microsoft can just be like “oh you’re gonna fine us? We’ll pull out and you guys will be completely fucked. Have fun!”
They got into the enterprise sector so early that most offices wouldn’t function without Microsoft products/support.
There was criticism at the time, but the people who had to work with it every day. welcomed it after a very short time. The end of the Limux project happened all by itself, because Munich’s mayor is an MS fan boy and said so openly at the time. It was not because of technical problems or anything else. It was just a huge kindergarten child.
It didn’t end
They actually flip flop a lot.
2006: Migration to LiMux begins
2008: 1200 out of 14,000 have migrated to the LiMux environment
2013: Over 15,000 LiMux PC-workstations (of about 18,000 workstations)
2016: Microsoft moves german HQ to Münich
2017: Dumping Linux https://www.linuxinsider.com/story/munich-city-government-to-dump-linux-desktop-84307.html
2020: Going back to Linux https://www.zdnet.com/article/linux-not-windows-why-munich-is-shifting-back-from-microsoft-to-open-source-again/
2023: Microsoft opens new Experience Center in Münich https://www.munich-business.eu/meldungen/neues-microsoft-experience-center-emea.html
2023: Analysing what needs to be done to switch to Win10 before new vote https://www.tweaksforgeeks.com/ditching-linux-for-windows-after-wannacry-is-too-risky-for-munich-green-party-warns/
https://lemmy.world/comment/7251741
Notice the “Microsft does X” bits and the reactions.
Totally not quid pro quo.
What I predict will happen is that Microsoft will offer them Windows for free or bribe the relevant decision makers with free Surface Pro laptops (for “evaluation”) or other Microsoft paraphernalia.
That’s not how they do it, of only because it would tank Windows PR image as “free stuff”.
What you do is arrange it with the government to alocate huge budget sums to purchasing Windows and other stuff from Microsoft at normal market value, then return half the money to the government officials under the desk in whatever form you care or can get away with, straight up bribes if you can swing it.
Microsoft gets to remain dominant, Windows appears to have been purchased at normal value and gets to keep its clout as fancy expensive stuff, and the decision makers get mad money out of it. Everybody wins.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_licensing_corruption_scandal
Offices have way more power to convert the world to Linux than even gaming does.
And ofc, Microsoft is well aware and is not interested in letting that happen.
Correct. Bavaria once tried the same thing, but then MS went to the local politicians, sucked their dicks a bit and boom, back to MS products it is! Hopefully the north doesn’t fall for that kind of shit, and they likely won’t because Bavaria is a backwards piece of shit of a Bundesland while Schleswig Holstein is kinda cool.
I believe Lula and his government appreciates anything that reduces the influence of the US.
Since the huge push to SaaS I’ve seen plenty of companies that essentially run thin clients.
The local workstations are just thier access to login to X website that host thier apps and data.
Zero reason for them to switch to win11 or buy new hardware due to “incompatibility”.
These end users can be trained to use mint or Ubuntu and be just as productive at work.
