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  1. #1
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    Klondyke's Avatar
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    The Microsoft dilemma

    In Europe, the information technology of every state administration and its institutions – military, police, fiscal authorities etc. – is based on Microsoft programs. This exposes us to a high technical and political security risk. Is our digital sovereignty at stake?

    Microsoft is generally considered the dinosaur of the digital age, lagging behind data giants Google, Facebook and Amazon. However, the US corporation is more powerful today than ever before. The power of its monopoly is nowhere more apparent than in Europe: from Finland to Portugal, from Ireland to Greece, the information technology of every state administration and its institutions – military, police, fiscal authorities etc. – is based on Microsoft programs. But since digital systems are constantly expanding and increasing in importance, countries are becoming more and more dependent on this single company; and increasingly vulnerable to the weak points inherent in Microsoft. The worldwide “WannaCry” cyberattack, for example, occurred as a result of security vulnerability at Microsoft. This dependence causes continually rising costs – around €50 billion in licensing fees every year – and prevents technical progress in state authorities. It systematically undermines European procurement and competition laws, and leads inevitably to the company having an overwhelming political influence. It also exposes state IT systems, along with citizens’ data, to a high technical and political security risk. Is Europe’s digital sovereignty at stake?

    https://www.rt.com/shows/documentary...security-risk/

    (wondering whether it will also be deleted - moved? where to? - as my previous link to RT?)

  2. #2
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    Quote Originally Posted by Klondyke View Post
    as my previous link to RT?)
    maybe you should quit putting up RT links

  3. #3
    fcuked off SKkin's Avatar
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    Looks like a German documentary, no?

    THE MICROSOFT DILEMMA


  4. #4
    . Neverna's Avatar
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    Here's a shorter video (5 minutes) for those with a short attention span.


  5. #5
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    thank god we have Google as an alternative,

    oh wait

  6. #6
    fcuked off SKkin's Avatar
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    From the info/description of the youtube I posted:

    Many state and public administrations from Helsinki to Lisbon operate with the software of the US corporation. It makes them vulnerable for hackers and spies, violates European public procurement law, blocks technical progress and costs Europe dearly.

    Harald Schumann and his Investigate Europe research team have spoken to insiders and managers throughout Europe about this. Martin Schallbruch, the former head of IT at the German Government, reports how the states are becoming increasingly dependent on Microsoft. A top Dutch lawyer describes how the EU Commission and governments are violating European procurement law. In France, the Ministry of Defence has bypassed parliament in concluding secret contracts with Microsoft, so Senator Joelie Garriaud-Maylam now wants to set up a committee of inquiry. The Hamburg data protection officer Johannes Caspar warns that the Microsoft systems could expose private data of citizens to investigation by the US secret services. Internal documents prove that the Federal Office for Information Security shares this mistrust.

    Both the European Parliament and the German Bundestag have therefore repeatedly called for state IT systems to be converted to open source software that can be tested by Europe's own security authorities. Italy's army has also begun this change, tells Italian general Camillo Sileo. The same is true for police authorities in France and Lithuania or the cities of Rome and Barcelona. But why do most governments oppose against the alternatives, or even - as in the case of the city of Munich - return into the arms of the monopolist Microsoft? Andrup Ansip, EU Commissioner for the Digital Single Market and other stakeholders face the questions.

  7. #7
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    Klondyke's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by uncle junior View Post
    maybe you should quit putting up RT links
    especially when the link is produced by Oliver Stone...

  8. #8
    Thailand Expat VocalNeal's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Klondyke View Post
    Microsoft is generally considered the dinosaur of the digital age, lagging behind data giants Google, Facebook and Amazon
    If you have a FarceBook account they already know what your inside leg measurement is!

  9. #9
    Excommunicated baldrick's Avatar
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    a german city trialled linux for about 5+ years and went back to windoze

    https://www.techrepublic.com/article...to-windows-10/

  10. #10
    fcuked off SKkin's Avatar
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    ^Wonder how much the kickbacks cost Microsoft...

  11. #11
    last farang standing
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    What alternatives do the more IT literate posters think are possible. Some form of Linux seems the only available one to me. Why hasnt the EU invested in an alternative?

  12. #12
    or TizYou?
    TizMe's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Klondyke View Post
    In Europe, the information technology of every state administration and its institutions – military, police, fiscal authorities etc. – is based on Microsoft programs.
    I don't even know if that statement is correct.
    There's still a hell of a lot of mission critical processing that runs on mainframes, not only on IBMs z/OS and z/VM, but also on z/Linux.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hugh Cow View Post
    What alternatives do the more IT literate posters think are possible. Some form of Linux seems the only available one to me. Why hasnt the EU invested in an alternative?
    ChromeOS is one,

    Unbuntu is OK,

    of course OS X for the Mac

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by TizMe View Post
    I don't even know if that statement is correct.
    There's still a hell of a lot of mission critical processing that runs on mainframes, not only on IBMs z/OS and z/VM, but also on z/Linux.
    mission critical maybe, but the real trojan is on the everyday computer that secretaries are using to read their personal email and read facebook, and the engineers that use them for their pornhub addiction etc...

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dragonfly View Post
    ChromeOS is one,

    Unbuntu is OK,

    of course OS X for the Mac
    2 out of 3 of those are some form of Linux

  16. #16
    R.I.P. Luigi's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hugh Cow View Post
    What alternatives do the more IT literate posters think are possible.
    Surprised that Musk hasn't come up with one.


    Or perhaps he's just a hologram created by Microsoft.

  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by uncle junior View Post
    2 out of 3 of those are some form of Linux
    OS X is also a variant of Unix, might actually be sourced from Linux, used to be a different kernel, but wouldn't surprise me they switch to full Linux kernel since moving to Intel CPUs

  18. #18
    or TizYou?
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    OSX uses the XNU kernel (XNU stands for Not Unix). I think its evolved from NeXT and includes some BSD components.


    XNU is free and open-source software, so rather than put shit on Apple, you can build yourself a better OSX.

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by TizMe View Post
    OSX uses the XNU kernel (XNU stands for Not Unix). I think its evolved from NeXT and includes some BSD components.


    XNU is free and open-source software, so rather than put shit on Apple, you can build yourself a better OSX.
    it was all based on the MachKernel, a successful micro-kernel from the 90s

    switched to a BSD Kernel I assume,

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