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.”

  • Blaster M@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    LibreOffice is perfectly fine for your Dear Princess Celestia letters (which 99 percent of Word users do is write simple letters), but once you start doing more advanced formatting (such as tables and text boxes and other embeddings), LibreO really doesn’t like it. And good luck if you have to convert such a Word document.

    • fine_sandy_bottom@discuss.tchncs.de
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      7 months ago

      This is disingenuous and misleading.

      Yes compatibility with Word with complex formatting is problematic, but is that really libreoffice or is it Ms office?

      For documents drafted in LibreOffice complex formatting is rock solid. It’s patently false to say its just generally inferior to Word in this regard.

      • The Menemen!@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        Yeah it is always funny when people shit on non-MS office suites for not being 100% comaltible with MS Office, when it is Microsoft who doesn’t stick to the international standards.

        • dumpsterlid@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          How can they be international standards if they don’t include Microsoft? Doesn’t Microsoft and all its employees count as part of this global international world? See, Microsoft is the victim here.

          edit /s /s /s /s /s /s

    • Richard@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      That’s a blatant lie. LibreOffice Writer works better than M$ Word for every single purpose and application.