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0 pointsExoticPearTree1mo ago0 comments

> I know, and I'm not saying that EU will do any different, but this is not necessarily an absolute gold-standard benchmark

My point was that even with Google's money, they're still not on par with MS even if the Office files format has been standardized for a number of years. And if you extrapolate that to any other technology, you will find out very fast that it is very expensive to come up with a replacement solution that will actually be embraced by potential customers.

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Epa0951mo ago

On the other hand, there is not much office work which could not have been done almost as effective in office 97.

I don't think the right explanation of MS monopoly is technical superiority, but rather the natural forces of monopoly. They are extremely hard to break with free market competition, but can definitely be broken with legislation.

I am convinced that 99% of office use can be replaced with competitors if needed, and it would work out OK.

skywal_l1mo ago

Yes, we need a posix of productivity tool. You want to work with a EU government, you have to use this and that open standards. This is the way to break that particular monopoly.

lelanthran1mo ago

> My point was that even with Google's money, they're still not on par with MS even if the Office files format has been standardized for a number of years.

The counterpoint is that they don't need to be on par :-/ The problem is that individual procurement decision-makers are incentivised to go with the Microsoft suite, not that the alternatives aren't a good enough replacement.

ExoticPearTreeOP1mo ago

I'd say they are incentivized to go with the suite that offers the most compatibility with their clients and partners.

lelanthran1mo ago

> I'd say they are incentivized to go with the suite that offers the most compatibility with their clients and partners.

If that were true, they'd have ditched Microsoft already. Since they didn't, I'm skeptical that that is their incentive.

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0 pointsExoticPearTree1mo ago0 comments

> I know, and I'm not saying that EU will do any different, but this is not necessarily an absolute gold-standard benchmark

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Epa0951mo ago

On the other hand, there is not much office work which could not have been done almost as effective in office 97.

I am convinced that 99% of office use can be replaced with competitors if needed, and it would work out OK.

skywal_l1mo ago

Yes, we need a posix of productivity tool. You want to work with a EU government, you have to use this and that open standards. This is the way to break that particular monopoly.

lelanthran1mo ago

> My point was that even with Google's money, they're still not on par with MS even if the Office files format has been standardized for a number of years.

ExoticPearTreeOP1mo ago

I'd say they are incentivized to go with the suite that offers the most compatibility with their clients and partners.

lelanthran1mo ago

> I'd say they are incentivized to go with the suite that offers the most compatibility with their clients and partners.

If that were true, they'd have ditched Microsoft already. Since they didn't, I'm skeptical that that is their incentive.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse