Why Denmark is dumping Microsoft Office and Windows for LibreOffice and Linux
Why Denmark is dumping Microsoft Office and Windows for LibreOffice and Linux
Before the Danish government announced its move, Denmark's largest cities, Copenhagen and Aarhus, had already announced plans to phase out Microsoft software and cloud services. Here's why.
Written by Steven Vaughan-Nichols June 11, 2025 at 11:31 a.m. PT
"Why? Because they're concerned about who controls European data, who sets the rules, and who can potentially cut off access to essential services in times of geopolitical tension.
For example, after the EU-based International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallan, for war crimes, President Donald Trump issued ICC sanctions. This order allegedly prompted Microsoft to lock the ICC's Chief Prosecutor, Karim Khan, out of his email accounts, according to reports. "
It would be funny if Trump's biggest legacy was the mass adoption of open source.
The EU could get a ridiculous amount done if it decided to seriously invest in it.
Before this year, the thought of an entirely arbitrary block to things like American cloud services by America to its European allies would have seemed extremely unlikely. It would make no sense, the damage to America and it's GDP would far outweigh any any political benefit.
All of those reasons still hold true, but I absolutely assure you, European governments and companies all over have that possibility firmly in their risk portfolio now. America tells microsoft to immediately not only stop selling products in Europe, but disable those already in use? Ditto Google. Ditto Apple. Ditto all the hundreds of IT hardware producers that are American. Want to cripple a foreign government that uses MS Office? Remotely disable it. job done. Sure, it would be illegal, but America's government has no respect for law.
(Even before this, several European governments were using open source (Germany, France, Austria, Portugal - there's a list but this is less about idealism and more about protecting themselves from the unpredictable as well as not trusting America with their data any more. Every thing like this can only be seen as non Americans distancing themselves from America every way they can, and with good reason.)
Damnit why do I have to agree with the Danes...