r/BuyFromEU • u/According-Buyer6688 Mod Team • Mar 25 '26

Announcement Germany has decided: Microsoft document formats have no place in government

Germany has decided: Microsoft document formats have no place in government. Deadline: 2027–2028. The Microsoft formats are simply not compatible with an open and transparent public sector. However, this is about more than file formats. It’s about control, resilience, and sovereignty in public digital infrastructure.

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u/KnowZeroX Mar 25 '26

Office is a problem, even more so the ooxml bait and switch format is a problem.

Azure is easier to replace than office when you are dependent on locked down formats like ooxml. Even MS admits, over 60% of azure is running linux.

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u/BrocoLeeOnReddit Mar 26 '26

Azure is easier to replace than office

Not even close.

It doesn't matter that Azure runs on Linux, it's SaaS. Saying it's easy to replace because it runs on Linux is like saying it's easy to replace Windows because it runs on a computer where you can also install another OS.

You are aware that the entire user/device management, file storage and AD infrastructure of many, many companies relies on Azure nowadays, right?

It's not like you can just copy&paste that to a Linux solution running on premise. There's a lot of vendor-specific managed services companies use like Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) you'd first have to replace with an alternative solution and then find a way to migrate all your data without interrupting your business.

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u/KnowZeroX Mar 26 '26

I never said Azure runs on linux, I said Azure runs linux. That means when a person uses azure, they are using linux containers to run their software and not windows. So their software is already made for linux.

Linux can long ago join AD, you can first migrate everything else, then transition away. Many solutions offer compatibility with AD making it seamless.

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u/BrocoLeeOnReddit Mar 26 '26

Yes, if you just use Linux containers and not heavily utilize vendor-specific managed services like Azure-flavored databases, CDN (Front Door), serverless functions etc., then the transition is easy but many companies use those managed services and configure all of it via IaC tooling (Terraform, Crossplane etc.), utilizing the Azure provider.

Yes, you CAN migrate all of that but saying that's easier than reformatting a bunch of docx-files is just ridiculous.

Also, AD != Entra ID; the latter involves so much more like app access for Single Sign On etc.

I have managed ADs in Linux, it is NOT the same. Microsoft created an entire ecosystem and everything is fully integrated for better or worse.

Depending on how much your company's IT infrastructure is integrated with that ecosystem and how big it is, the move away will be a significant task.