4 ms·

Austria's armed forces switch to LibreOffice

51 points by amiralul 1y ago

scottmcdot 1y ago
No note [1] of programming a semi-automatic bullet feature. [1] https://www.heise.de/imgs/18/4/9/4/0/6/0/0/Bundesheer_Libreoffice_Features-61011139bf86747d.png https://www.heise.de/imgs/18/4/9/4/0/6/0/0/Bundesheer_Libreo...
- IAmBroom 1y ago
  Isn't that what "Copying bullets in Impress" is?
JdeBP 1y ago
Four other still-open discussions of this: * https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45400422 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45400422 * https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45379840 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45379840 * https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45303437 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45303437 * https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45426221 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45426221
mellosouls 1y ago
Hmm, this sort of thing (switch over from corporate to open source and vice versa) seems to happen on a periodic basis with often the reverse-ferret then happening a few years later. Probably not because one is better than the other, but I wouldn't be surprised if a significant factor is the prevailing sentiment at the time among senior decision-makers - especially those wanting to make their impact seen and felt. A significant platform switch over either way is always going to gain CV kudos. Or am I being too cynical?
- calgoo 1y ago
  Well, as a European i can understand why you dont want your military strike plan excel and powerpoint files in office 365 where microsoft and the US can see it all. Hopefully the EU throws a few of those military millions on some devs to improve it.
  - IAmBroom 1y ago
    100% agreed (and I'm American) - but that doesn't mean that's the reason they shifted.
    - hgomersall 1y ago
      That's the reason they gave.
- bell-cot 1y ago
  If you're both competent, and responsible for critical national security documents - then MS's long-term "push your stuff into our cloud" strategy is a poisoned chalice. Glowing red, and with touch-activated danger music. But I've no familiarity with Austria's armed forces, to guess at the actual priorities of their decision-makers here.
- IAmBroom 1y ago
  I've worked for military contracts that outlived the time that their officer-in-charge (typically a colonel, trying to get his general's star). That is EXACTLY what they do. We had a more-or-less don't-care issue, that was a fundamental design choice, flip-flop every two years. It would require redesign of the whole weapon, but at least the colonel could provide a bullet on his CV stating that he improved the program by choosing XYZ (because arguments could be made either way). Meanwhile, our actual problems with the weapon were weight and cost - the flip-flop choice had no real impact on either.

51 points by amiralul 1y ago

No note [1] of programming a semi-automatic bullet feature. [1] https://www.heise.de/imgs/18/4/9/4/0/6/0/0/Bundesheer_Libreoffice_Features-61011139bf86747d.png https://www.heise.de/imgs/18/4/9/4/0/6/0/0/Bundesheer_Libreo...

IAmBroom 1y ago
Isn't that what "Copying bullets in Impress" is?

JdeBP 1y ago

Four other still-open discussions of this: * https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45400422 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45400422 * https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45379840 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45379840 * https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45303437 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45303437 * https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45426221 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45426221

mellosouls 1y ago

Hmm, this sort of thing (switch over from corporate to open source and vice versa) seems to happen on a periodic basis with often the reverse-ferret then happening a few years later. Probably not because one is better than the other, but I wouldn't be surprised if a significant factor is the prevailing sentiment at the time among senior decision-makers - especially those wanting to make their impact seen and felt. A significant platform switch over either way is always going to gain CV kudos. Or am I being too cynical?

calgoo 1y ago
Well, as a European i can understand why you dont want your military strike plan excel and powerpoint files in office 365 where microsoft and the US can see it all. Hopefully the EU throws a few of those military millions on some devs to improve it.
- IAmBroom 1y ago
  100% agreed (and I'm American) - but that doesn't mean that's the reason they shifted.
  - hgomersall 1y ago
    That's the reason they gave.
bell-cot 1y ago
If you're both competent, and responsible for critical national security documents - then MS's long-term "push your stuff into our cloud" strategy is a poisoned chalice. Glowing red, and with touch-activated danger music. But I've no familiarity with Austria's armed forces, to guess at the actual priorities of their decision-makers here.
IAmBroom 1y ago
I've worked for military contracts that outlived the time that their officer-in-charge (typically a colonel, trying to get his general's star). That is EXACTLY what they do. We had a more-or-less don't-care issue, that was a fundamental design choice, flip-flop every two years. It would require redesign of the whole weapon, but at least the colonel could provide a bullet on his CV stating that he improved the program by choosing XYZ (because arguments could be made either way). Meanwhile, our actual problems with the weapon were weight and cost - the flip-flop choice had no real impact on either.