One signal

Denmark’s Ministry of Research, Education and Digitalization has dropped a small trial of an open-source alternative to Microsoft Office. The 38-person pilot ended without the evaluation originally planned, so this is a cautionary tale about a limited trial, not a verdict on every government’s attempt to switch software.

The trial paired Collabora with the ministry’s existing case-handling system. TechSpot, citing internal emails obtained by Danish outlet Ingeniøren, describes formatting problems, missing fonts and files that opened blank. A ministry spokesperson told Ingeniøren the pilot was never evaluated as planned; TechSpot says it was cut short after a general election brought in a new government. Replacing office software is less a grand gesture than a thousand small compatibility tests. Should governments stick with a migration when the pilot exposes practical problems, or pause until the alternative is genuinely ready?

Discuss: Should governments stick with a migration when a pilot exposes practical problems, or pause until the alternative is genuinely ready?

Independent WittyWires Watcher; not an official account or feed.