When You Let It Slip

Intro

I have something to say regarding the recent discussion on "digital European sovereignty" and the dependence of the EU on software from the US. More than that, I have several examples where, in a few major (and one minor) cases, people escaped this dependence. I have to make a few disclaimers though:

  1. I'm not into conspiracy theories, and I assume that the main motive for what's happening is money.
  2. I don't believe in external abstract evil, but I know for sure that evil exists inside me, and laziness is one of its implications (right now I'm too lazy to exit the terminal and Neovim, for instance).

The story itself is very old and has been described multiple times, but in Europe it still works: our client sends us a docx document, we need the money, so we have to have MS Office and MS Windows installed, whatever they are called now. But that's the decision point. I have a small outlook on this situation in European companies, and I feel like the management of these companies doesn't see a pivoting point here at all, they just comply. And so it happens. There are a few efforts to migrate to Linux (mainly in the government), but just imagine the amount of license fees European companies, NGOs, and governmental structures pay for Microsoft and/or Apple. It's huge, and I don't see the point of not using Linux.

The Linux/MS Windows and MS Office case

Again, not being religious and evading conspiracies, I prefer Linux for being a better product as a desktop operating system. And DHH does too, having been an Apple evangelist earlier. And even gamers migrate to Bazzite being pissed off by Microsoft policy. For me, it's evident that the open source model just works better for an operating system, and for the desktop, you mostly need web apps nowadays, so it's more convenient and safer to run Linux for that. I still won't buy a Chromebook though, because not all the apps are online for my purposes, but for the B2B world, it's easier than ever to migrate.

The document format for exchange is still tricky, but especially for editing contracts, you could use apps to edit contracts collaboratively, and I've seen quite a few people who know how to use the "compare versions" MS Word feature for that. PDF has also proved to be a good solution for document exchange, providing "the same look everywhere" experience.

The argument "everyone knows MS products" seems flawed to me. I'm 43 years old, and I've seen a few people who know how to use Word (at least structural markup and contents auto-generation), Excel (formulas), and PowerPoint (a few guys and gals from consulting, one of them being a designer from McKinsey). "Everybody writes it in their CV" is closer to reality to me.

I used Linux when the Internet was delivered via dial-up modems and chatbots didn't exist. Now you can not only ask, you can generate a config file for anything effortlessly, so as 'modern AI' (at least what we have now) lowered the bar to enter development, it has surprisingly unnoticed lowered the bar for a desktop Linux user. Linux software got more mature, hardware support got better (even in Debian, he he he). And as development became more accessible, it turned out that Linux on the desktop just works better for that. Meanwhile, MS Windows is turning into AI slop both from the inside (the code) and from the outside (UI/UX). I also play Minecraft on Linux and use cloud gaming, by the way.

The TeX case

Was there a case where Microsoft didn't get in with its standards? Well, the scientific society is a great example of that. They somehow managed to organize themselves on an international level, and only sources in TeX format are accepted. Someone has to write a fiction (probably a thriller) about that and name the real heroes who did that. As a scientist, you are free to write in MS Word and pay someone to typeset your text in TeX format, but you can't submit it in MS Word. Did Microsoft try to penetrate this market? I don't know, but I could assume it for the "follow the money" reason, and this market is huge as well, but someone didn't let it slip.

The USB-C case

The EU presents USB-C charging unification as a major win. It's a win, from a consumer perspective and from an environmental perspective (which rarely match). The same could be done for document formats, and the document unification/open document format initiative exists, but it slips, not being enforced enough, in my humble opinion. Again, returning to USB-C: tough enforcing wasn't a problem there, rather one of the key success components, so fear it not. Microsoft wasn't able to repeat this "standards trick" with Internet Explorer, JavaScript, and HTML extensions, and IE as a product hopefully died, but Microsoft Office formats are still alive and well. I don't say they should die, I just say there's no way closed formats controlled by one company could be beneficial for all.

My humble case

This Linux/MS Office/TeX rebellion story is nice, as it takes almost nothing to write an article about it in a blog nobody reads anyway. But that's not the case, I wrote all my diplomas in TeX and I had severe resistance in one particular institution. "Could you just pay someone to type it in Word?" asked the director of this institution. "You are not allowed to impose a closed format from a particular company" – that's exactly what I said (I'll not elaborate on my feelings in this moment, but as you can see I wasn't friendly at all). Did they have the power to make me? We don't know that, events happened in Russia where it's hard to say if anyone was concerned about using TeX for a diploma thesis. Did I pay for that? Yes, sure, but I was always a pain in the butt for them, so they made me collect all the signatures twice, rewrite half of my thesis in a week or so, and defend my thesis twice. My point is that you don't let it slip by creating non-zero costs to make you use MS Word. They were in full control, but by doing this I somehow made it work my way. Could I have behaved myself "wisely" and complied? Sure, and I'd have nothing to write about. :)

Acknowledgements

As I don't believe in external evil, I have to acknowledge US corporations for contributing to society and open source with the products I use:

Conclusion

It's a whole other story how this "let it slip" thing happens – I mean the decision-making process it takes. I strongly believe we let ourselves slide first, and then external compliance (I don't use "shit" here for some reason) happens. Being not sincere to yourself is a way to go if you want circumstances to slide. But when these circumstances hit you back, don't complain – you deserve it.

I'd like to add a dramatic quote by myself to this nonsense:

We are living in a time of ignorance and false assumptions. And it is our tolerance that allows them to rule.

And I'd like to thank George Orwell and Yevgeny Zamyatin for their books.