I’m always surprised to see how naive people are when comparing the enterprise/government usage of software vs. Personal usage.<p>Linux and open source software at a good alternative for personal usage, but for government usage, wouldn’t they have to port every custom software they have built over decades to Linux? Not to mention driver support for legacy/custom hardware. Also, from where would they get the support and guarantee that critical bugs and issues are patched and distributed without disruption to every single computer?<p>Replacing MS office would be the easiest
The real risk to MS here is when people take the plunge and see how much nicer a (well supported, well put together) Linux distro is, compared to Windows etc! Will they want to buy their next laptop at home with MSFT installed?<p>Plus, if countries moving off Microsoft put a fraction of the savings into libre office product development, it might get an even more lopsided comparison!
Office is going to be a blocker - not just because of the two XML file formats, but because of the different UI. I personally find the Microsoft version more productive despite a mental list of complaints I have with it.<p>The correct choice, in my opinion, would be to invest in a new EU_Office project that uses the Microsoft XML formats. If you're trying to run your government on a new platform, that would also be a hedge against TDF pulling in a direction you don't want: an "independent self-governing meritocratic entity" has possible failure modes that need to go on the risk register.
Not sure about goverment requirements, but many apps I use nowadays are on the web, Figma, Canva, google docs, outlook and so on. There is not much need for a dedicated OS for most users.
the browser is definitely becoming more OS-like. that’s the Chromebook bet. but for proper office work you need good file management. if they’re not keen on trusting cloudy solutions by the big corps then FOSS on bare metal is the way to go.
SAP, Oracle, weird Office macros from decades ago …
Do migrations like this get easier each time? With prior art being available, and an ecosystem and pipeline starts to form around the new norm.
The biggest challenge with these kind of migrations is training users, especially government employees. Switzerland is relatively highly educated so this might be less of a challenge than in other countries but it won't be easy.<p>The technical part is probably relatively easy in comparison. Especially because the stakes are low (parallel run with the existing system, good will from everyone involved).
Educated or not, people that have been using the same system for many years will have a tough time IMHO. Looking at my mom and dad interactions with any UI, it seems to me they don't really read what that menu is about, they just use "muscle memory" to navigate it. So I expect a drop in efficiency until that memory is rebuilt.
> Switzerland is relatively highly educated so this might be less of a challenge than in other countries but it won't be easy.<p>True, but that's not accounting for a bunch of typically Swiss cultural factors:<p>- Swiss people tend to love to death the "one standard solution for one particular problem" approach<p>- Swiss people tend to be quite change-averse relative to other nearby cultures.<p>Don't get me wrong I love the Swiss to death, and the above cultural biases actually have their advantages, but re-training government employees is not going to be easy, however well educated they may be.<p>Fortunately, there is another cultural Swiss bias that's going to help: most large Swiss organizations have been designed using the army as a model, which mean Swiss employees tend to obey orders quite well.<p>So if the mandate comes from the top, it'll likely succeed. Eventually. Cause in Switzerland, they tend to take their time (yeah, that's another base cultural cliché, but I couldn't resist. And we're already deep into those already, why stop :-) ).
With a couple of exceptions, my guess is that these migrations are part of the commercial negotiation pack of government procurement agencies.<p>At a certain point I’d expect that tech sovereignty concerns will tip while governments out of the US-vendor mindset.
As exemplified by a major project recently started by the French government:<p><a href="https://www.rfi.fr/en/france/20260417-france-to-remove-windows-from-government-computers-in-sovereignty-push" rel="nofollow">https://www.rfi.fr/en/france/20260417-france-to-remove-windo...</a><p><a href="https://www.techradar.com/computing/windows/france-has-ditched-windows-11-for-linux-on-2-5-million-government-pcs-heres-why-microsoft-should-worry-that-millions-more-could-follow-by-the-end-of-2026" rel="nofollow">https://www.techradar.com/computing/windows/france-has-ditch...</a>
I'd guess the hurdles are always more structural and organizational - as even with Microsoft stack itself. See for instance the Limux/Munic story: <a href="https://lwn.net/Articles/737818/" rel="nofollow">https://lwn.net/Articles/737818/</a>