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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 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) by ForgottenFlux@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world

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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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[–] dan1101@lemm.ee 2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Yeah for the simple stuff LibreOffice will be just fine but for anything complex like mail merges and such it's probably going to require a lot of work re-doing things.

[–] Harbinger01173430@lemmy.world 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

When someone uses a text editor like LibreOffice, whenever someone mentions complex tasks, I'd imagine writing a thesis, a series of books, a big ass report or the like. Mail merges sound like something another app should do...

[–] dan1101@lemm.ee 1 points 7 months ago

Yeah LibreOffice will do things like mail merges, but I mean it will probably require relearning the process. It will be different than the process they used with MS Office.

If you just porting over simple things like letters and simple documents you should be able to move back and forth between MS Office and LibreOffice with few changes.