Danie van der Merwe

Schleswig-Holstein, Germany's most northern state, is starting its switch from Microsoft Office to LibreOffice, and is planning to move from Windows to Linux on the 30,000 PCs it uses for local government functions.

The announcement (in German) was made yesterday by the state's Minister-President Daniel Gunther, who has served in that position since 2017. According to a translated version of the announcement, independence was a key motivation for switching to open source software.

This is unlike the reasons that were given by Munich and Lower Saxony which were stayed to be cost savings, and then Microsoft discounted their services. Back when LiMux started, it was mostly seen as a way to save money. Now the focus is far more on data protection, privacy and security. Consider that the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) recently found that the European Commission's use of Microsoft 365 breaches data protection law for EU institutions and bodies."

See German state switches to LibreOffice, promises Windows move

'Complete digital sovereignty' ... sounds familiar

#technology #opensource #datasovereignty #Germany

This is certainly a growing trend which was first started amongst end-users themselves, and slowly we've seen a few news media outlets also following suite. So far, only a very few government agencies have actually followed. Coming to mind are also The Netherlands.

What is attractive for many organisations and agencies on Mastodon, is that they can better control their own message, and can be sure that on their sites there won't be something embarrassing to them right next to their posts.

Also, with Mastodon there is the advantage of a feed being able to be available as an RSS feed for those users who do not want to visit different sites individually (or even use a social media network).

I think, too, that with the W3C declaring ActivityPub protocol as a social network standard, this only helps give the Fediverse a better standing.

See „Hier twitterte die Verwaltung des #ltrlp“ Landtag stellt Kommunikation auf „X“ ein

Die Social Media Plattform „X“, vormals Twitter, steht seit der Übernahme durch den Unternehmer Elon Musk unter anhaltender Kritik. Der rheinland-pfälzische Landtag stellt als Konsequenz aus der problematischen Entwicklung des Mikroblogging-Dienst seine dortige Kommunikation bis auf Weiteres ein.

#technology #Germany #Mastodon #opensource

This announcement is noteworthy for a variety of reasons, starting with the obvious: it offers an alternative to Microsoft’s (and to a lesser degree Google’s) near monopoly when it comes to enterprise ready collaboration software. Until now, your choices have basically been Microsoft with SharePoint and MS Office, and Google with Drive and Workspace. Now there’s Nextcloud, with the one-two punch of it’s new SharePoint replacement capabilities and Nextcloud Office.

The fact that Nextcloud Enterprise comes with support (including the migration services for removing the pain of moving your data to its new home) at a fraction of the cost of maintaining Microsoft licensing, makes making the move to Nextcloud something of a no-brainer for some.

It’s also available for free, for individuals, small companies, and even enterprises that want to forego support and use the community help and documentation that’s available on Nextcloud’s website.

“Nextcloud’s initiative to offer a digitally sovereign, open-source alternative to Microsoft SharePoint is to be welcomed,” Ralf Sutorius, the lead IT architect for the City of Cologne’s official website said in a statement.

MagentaCLOUD currently hosts the data of about 2 million active users who are working with over 2 billion files containing more than 6 petabytes of data.

See Nextcloud Taking On Microsoft and Google in Germany and the EU - FOSS Force

#technology #opensource #nextcloud #Germany #MagentaCLOUD

Nextcloud announced it has a SharePoint replacement ready for use, and that Nextcloud Office available on MagentaCLOUD.

The availability of Verified Calls seems to be in the process of rolling out, and currently is only showing up for some users. Those that have access and choose to enable it in Phone settings can start getting notices from participating businesses. When a business calls, they'll see a screen informing them of the reason for the call, even before they pick up.

Android users are lucky enough already to have fully functional, working caller screening apps like Truecaller. On iPhone, I have to suffer through crippled versions of those apps as Apple prohibits any 3rd party from controlling the phone app (my biggest bugbear with iOS).

See Verified Calls on the Google Phone app now available in Germany

#technology #Germany #android #callscreening #robocallers

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In doing so, the state wants to reduce its dependence on proprietary software, and eventually end it altogether. By the end of 2026, Microsoft Office is to be replaced by LibreOffice on all 25,000 computers used by civil servants and employees (including teachers), and the Windows operating system is to be replaced by GNU/Linux.

The necessary steps for this are specified in the planning of the Schleswig-Holstein state parliament (German), as digital minister Jan Philipp Albrecht explains in an interview with c’t.

See German state planning to switch 25,000 PCs to LibreOffice - The Document Foundation Blog

#technology #opensource #germany #LibreOffice #schools

The north-German state of Schleswig-Holstein plans to switch to open source software, including LibreOffice, in its administration and schools. In doing so, the state wants to reduce its dependence on proprietary software, and eventually end it altogether. By the end of 2026, Microsoft Office is to be replaced by LibreOffice on all 25,000 computers used […]

The Prototype Fund supports ideas in civic tech, data literacy, data security and software infrastructure. We want to provide software developers, hackers, and creatives with the opportunity to code and develop innovative public interest technologies. The results must be made publicly available under an open source license.

As individual developers or small interdisciplinary project teams, you will receive up to €47,500 over six months from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. With this funding, you can write code and develop a first prototype of your software. In addition, we will connect you with tech and other relevant communities, support you with coaching, and advise you on project implementation and communication.

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The Prototype Fund supports ideas in civic tech, data literacy, data security, and software infrastructure.