The German state of Schleswig-Holstein has decided that it’s done with closed, proprietary Windows and is moving to open-source Linux/GNU by the end of the year 2026.
The first step will be in the form of migrating around 25,000 computers to The Document Foundation’s LibreOffice from Microsoft’s Office suite of applications and then eventually moving all these devices over to Linux by dumping Windows entirely. These 25,000 computers are going to be “used by civil servants and employees (including teachers)” essentially implying that a large part of the state-run administration and the education sector will be embracing the open-source way.
In an interview with c’t magazine (Heise) last month, Jan Philipp Albrecht, who is the minister holding the post for digitization of Schleswig-Holstein, shared more details relating to this move. He stated (translation by Google Translate) that one of the main reasons for moving away from proprietary solutions was the cost of licensing itself. Additionally, a move to open-source can also bring in more flexibility.