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A German state is ditching Windows and Microsoft Office for Linux and LibreOffice on the 30,000 PCs it uses for local government functions (www.theregister.com)

submitted 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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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.

Concerns over data security are also front and center in the Minister-President's statement, especially data that may make its way to other countries. Back in 2021, when the transition plans were first being drawn up, the hardware requirements for Windows 11 were also mentioned as a reason to move away from Microsoft.

Saunders noted that "the reasons for switching to Linux and LibreOffice are different today. 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."

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago (7 children)

Exactly? The interface is god awful, if you're running a dark theme then your icons will be unseeable (black on black) unless you enable experimental features. The interface is straight out of the early 2000s.

If I, a computer person, has so many issues with software normie office workers are going to use then they'll have a hell of a time using it. I'd definitely not wanna be the helpdesk people having to deal with endless calls about why they can't print their tps reports because they can't find the print icon.

Libreoffice had some steam when it first forked from OpenOffice but it ran out pretty quickly. Theres not been any meaningful features added and they can't even keep up with the frontend interface.

Also. It doesn't seem like the German gov announced any kind of large funding contributions to libreoffice so I have no idea how they plan on encouraging anyone to fix the issues they'll no doubt have.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 months ago (1 children)

@krolden @vort3 Libreoffice has like 6 different interfaces that you can pick from at startup, including one that is licmicking Office’s UI.

It also auto detects dark mode and auto sets icons to be the right theme, so, that criticism seems dated to me :)

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

Ironically, I prefer for LibreOffice to not follow my dark mode setting. I always want it to be light mode.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 months ago

Exactly? The interface is god awful, if you’re running a dark theme then your icons will be unseeable (black on black) unless you enable experimental features. The interface is straight out of the early 2000s.

Erm. I don't have any experimental features enabled, and my icons aren't black on black as far as I can see.

I've been using only Libre Office for about the last six years for the daily running of my business and I have no problems. Furthermore, I despise the ribbon interface, give me an interface from the 2000's any day.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago

As a helpdesk guy, this type of issue happens with microsoft office just as often. People tend to memorise where the thing they use everyday is, and any update that changes where it is or how it functions "breaks" their flow of doing their task. We as technical people tend to simply have the skills to use a search engine to find out where it moved/how to solve our problem, but they dont.

While I havent been using libreoffice that long or as intensively as a government enployee would so I cant comment on if its the best OSS office suit for this situation, Im just happy they are starting the switch away from microsoft and CSS and finally waking up.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago (1 children)

The interface is straight out of the early 2000s.

The last good version of MS Office was Office 2000. The ribbon interface and the rest of its spawn are godawful.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

I hate that crap ribbon interface

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Try OnlyOffice

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago

Yeah I'd use only office before libreoffice for an org for sure.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Sad but true.

Libreoffice = has all features, awful design

OnlyOffice = better design, less features

WPS = best design, fucked up features.