I feel like there is momentum in Europe to switch to FOSS. Europe knows that the US cannot be trusted any longer. And this cannot be undone. Europe is striving for independence. Huge amounts of money are being spent on military sovereignty right now. All of us here on Lemmy know digital sovereignty is equally important. Recently an ICC prosecutor was cut off from his MS account because the US doesn’t like the Netanyahu arrest-warrant. These things don’t go unnoticed. It shows that technological dependance is not innocent, it can and will be used against us.
We need to use this momentum. Get involved, mail your representatives (municipal, provincial, national, federal), get petitions running, mail newspapers, go to political party conventions and get this on the agenda. It won’t fix itself. This problem is somewhat abstract and the solution are just slightly to complicated for the general public. If we want this to change. Those who see it, and understand what needs to be done, need to get in to action.
muhyb@programming.dev 3 weeks ago
I wish these decisions would cause a domino effect around the world.
shrugal@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
In theory they could. Every city or state that migrates increases the market for open source solutions, and many also invest in the creation of custom software that others can later use when they migrate. The problem imo is hitting a critical mass, and also overcoming lobbyism at the highest levels.
mat@jlai.lu 2 weeks ago
I don’t think so. Our gendarmerie is running a Linux distro since 10ish years, but the National Police is planning to change all the computers for windows 11. They are doing almost the same thing but there is a painful difference in Microsoft’s ass licking
muhyb@programming.dev 2 weeks ago
Well, it’s just a wish but I hope they understand that especially government departments need to switch from a spy OS. Congrats to gendarmerie.