The Document Foundation is back with a new target: the European Commission. It is calling the body out for using Microsoft Excel while ignoring the OpenDocument Format (ODF).
These kind of things show how detached politicians are from their actual job. Shouldn’t they be the FIRST to change, given that they’re the ones whose direct job is to protect our sovereignty?
There’s a difference between a public communications platform and internal tooling. X-Twitter is a shithole, but still a place many people can be reached, which, in my opinion, is important enough for politicians to justify its continued usage.
But there’s no public communications function to using MS Office over Libre Office. If anything, there’s a should-be-confidential communications function to it. Exposing that to foreign actors seems reckless even under the most amicable of relations, and what we have now is definitely not the most amicable.
So using X is an unfortunate concession to the Network Effect and its bearing on political public work, but using MS Office (whatever name it goes by these days, I lost track) is a liability.
(That said: get the fuck off of X, people, so our politicians can too. I’d prefer Mastodon, but even bsky is relatively more acceptable than X or Threads. Just go anywhere, please.)
I see your point, but still, that’s no excuse for X, it was never the network of the people, it’s used by politicians, reporters and news junkies. Most people never used it. Politicians and reporters are just addicted to it and too lazy to move anywhere else…
I know a bunch of people that did use it and made a point of quitting it. And that’s just my bubble of people willing to quit in the first place, never mind all the people that didn’t. Hell, there were entire meme communities centered on twitter content. One historian whose blog I read frequently referenced twitter, until he announced that he was moving away. He also lamented that the pricks bullshitting “historical facts” to justify whatever dickery had fewer historians to call them out, now that most had left the platform.
Of course, “most people” is a difficult assertion to measure, but I’m certain there were plenty enough readers on the platform, and I suspect way too many are still on there. Your take seems extremely reductive.
Twitter always had a fraction of Facebook or Instagram users. It was/is popular with certain niches, more or less popular in certain countries, but not the network to find your family or friends.
Politicians and reporters using it should be ashamed of sharing a platform with Nazis and pedophiles.
Twitter is a significantly different medium. Instagram is obviously geared towards pictures and reels rather than microblogs, and Facebook… actually, I concede that I don’t know how Facebook works these days.
I do know that I’ve seen way more people advertise their twitter than their Facebook in my age cohort (20-30). So again, I don’t believe that X is quite so devoid of an audience as you suppose. And in that light, I don’t think people whose job depends on reaching as many people and demographics as possible should be indiscriminately expected to leave that platform.
However, I do agree they should (also) use a different platform to break up the network effect and facilitate migration for everyone else. Because the audience are the ones I’d shame for choosing to stay. They have no economic or political pressure to. They absolutely should be ashamed of sharing a platform with Nazis and pedophiles.
I could not disagree more. This kind of thinking is why the world is messed up. No one wants to make changes, the expect others to make the change for them. We as individuals, acting together as a collective, have to make the changes needed. Politicians are just people who can communicate better than you or I, they don’t always know the right path. We have to define that for them.
What you’re describing is absolutely not my thinking, I very much agree and in fact bring up myself often that collective action should be the norm. I just see politicians as part of this collective, and within the context of representative democracy where we currently live in, expected to be more aware of political context and meaningful action, because that’s literally their profession. Collective action should exist regardless and if needed “help” with the shortcomings of incompetent representatives, but in any case it invites to look closely at how well representatives are qualified, and motivated to do their jobs.
These kind of things show how detached politicians are from their actual job. Shouldn’t they be the FIRST to change, given that they’re the ones whose direct job is to protect our sovereignty?
They’re still mostly on X, including left wing ones… so… there’s that.
There’s a difference between a public communications platform and internal tooling. X-Twitter is a shithole, but still a place many people can be reached, which, in my opinion, is important enough for politicians to justify its continued usage.
But there’s no public communications function to using MS Office over Libre Office. If anything, there’s a should-be-confidential communications function to it. Exposing that to foreign actors seems reckless even under the most amicable of relations, and what we have now is definitely not the most amicable.
So using X is an unfortunate concession to the Network Effect and its bearing on political public work, but using MS Office (whatever name it goes by these days, I lost track) is a liability.
(That said: get the fuck off of X, people, so our politicians can too. I’d prefer Mastodon, but even bsky is relatively more acceptable than X or Threads. Just go anywhere, please.)
I see your point, but still, that’s no excuse for X, it was never the network of the people, it’s used by politicians, reporters and news junkies. Most people never used it. Politicians and reporters are just addicted to it and too lazy to move anywhere else…
I doubt that’s accurate.
I know a bunch of people that did use it and made a point of quitting it. And that’s just my bubble of people willing to quit in the first place, never mind all the people that didn’t. Hell, there were entire meme communities centered on twitter content. One historian whose blog I read frequently referenced twitter, until he announced that he was moving away. He also lamented that the pricks bullshitting “historical facts” to justify whatever dickery had fewer historians to call them out, now that most had left the platform.
Of course, “most people” is a difficult assertion to measure, but I’m certain there were plenty enough readers on the platform, and I suspect way too many are still on there. Your take seems extremely reductive.
Twitter always had a fraction of Facebook or Instagram users. It was/is popular with certain niches, more or less popular in certain countries, but not the network to find your family or friends.
Politicians and reporters using it should be ashamed of sharing a platform with Nazis and pedophiles.
Twitter is a significantly different medium. Instagram is obviously geared towards pictures and reels rather than microblogs, and Facebook… actually, I concede that I don’t know how Facebook works these days.
I do know that I’ve seen way more people advertise their twitter than their Facebook in my age cohort (20-30). So again, I don’t believe that X is quite so devoid of an audience as you suppose. And in that light, I don’t think people whose job depends on reaching as many people and demographics as possible should be indiscriminately expected to leave that platform.
However, I do agree they should (also) use a different platform to break up the network effect and facilitate migration for everyone else. Because the audience are the ones I’d shame for choosing to stay. They have no economic or political pressure to. They absolutely should be ashamed of sharing a platform with Nazis and pedophiles.
What you’re not taking into account is that many politicians are either completely inept at technology, profoundly stupid, or both.
It‘s not just politicians but also people working in the administration.
Strange way to spell corrupt.
This fails Hanlon’s.
Or bought by fascists, or maliciously and willingly participate in it.
I could not disagree more. This kind of thinking is why the world is messed up. No one wants to make changes, the expect others to make the change for them. We as individuals, acting together as a collective, have to make the changes needed. Politicians are just people who can communicate better than you or I, they don’t always know the right path. We have to define that for them.
What you’re describing is absolutely not my thinking, I very much agree and in fact bring up myself often that collective action should be the norm. I just see politicians as part of this collective, and within the context of representative democracy where we currently live in, expected to be more aware of political context and meaningful action, because that’s literally their profession. Collective action should exist regardless and if needed “help” with the shortcomings of incompetent representatives, but in any case it invites to look closely at how well representatives are qualified, and motivated to do their jobs.
Ahh, OK. I get you now. Sorry for misreading the intent.
No problem, it was not very clear