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I have worked in (German) Government, and apart from complacency (and maybe corruption, see Limux) there's nothing stopping the German government (at least at federal level) from adopting open source.

If processes depend on some crappy excel table (created by somebody 20 years ago) or even worse, sharepoint app (commissioned by people who shouldn't be deciding things like this), the processes suck and need to be rebuilt anyhow.

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Government is top down. Once the top level people are engaged and accountable, they can do anything.

The people in the middle can ensnare and kill anything that doesn’t have that support and engagement - their incentive is to encourage consistency.

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I agree, apart from legal entities because iirc they use some software that's available on windows only
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The processes might well be in Microsoft Dynamics 365.
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In what way do they need Microsoft Software or Technology except maybe Windows for their Passport Application?

That's special software developed for one customer only anyways. So it's perfectly possible to target another Platform or do this as some kind of WebApp.

And until then run some Windows Desktops for those special applications/services

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"So it's perfectly possible to target another Platform or do this as some kind of WebApp."

Yes, it is possible to rewrite software. But currently most of that software was written and licenced for windows.

Just choosing another plattform might, or might not work. And if it doesn't, many people will be angry for not getting tax refunds back, or getting a new passport, or being able to register a new car etc.

Bugs are real. And there is a saying, never change a running system.

So yes, I do agree that the system is not running so well being dependant on Trump and change is required, but this is not just some webapp for fun that needs replacement. We are talking about critical government services, with lots of custom made software, that was often exclusivly written for windows.

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Yes and you conveniently ignored the part where I said you can operate some Windows Desktops or VMs for those services until a replacement is ready.

Just because you can't replace 100% tomorrow doesn't mean that you shouldn't begin today, or never try at all

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