I find it surprising how much stuff is still made in Germany. When I buy a toothbrush, not the fancy kind, it's somehow made in Germany. When I buy baby food it's also somehow made in Germany. When I buy gardening tools, finally the kind that doesn't break after one year, it's again made in Germany. I never came across the same amount of made in the Netherlands or made in France when I used to live there.
I'm of the opinion that we can do both, counter the threat that this modern breed of fascism poses to freedom and democracy while at the same time building a firm basis of factual information that this threat is indeed real and taking place right now. Both aren't mutually exclusive. While the general population of Russia or the United States is not susceptible to factual information at this point, there are still significant chunks of the European population that are.
Sometimes research and studies lead to completely expected results and seem like someone playing captain obvious. Nonetheless it's important to have a solid basis to support one's own argument, that democracy, freedom and European self determination are being attacked, than to simply assert it.
This clearly illustrates that the economy is not and has never been a zero sum game. If the pie can get bigger, all participants can get a bigger slice.
It's taken only about 35 years for the "free" countries of Europe to adopt the same mindset that the Eastern Bloc used to have. In large parts of Germany, for example, people can still remember how it was when you could expect your government to listen in on any and every private conversation. It wasn't good.
Exactly, a disaster insofar as it went nowhere and tarnished the reputation of open source alternatives through no fault of their own for a wider audience.
I've read about this initiative a few times and only time will tell if it really works or if it will be another Lumix disaster. However, if you don't try you're always going to fail, so I applaud their courage. I hope more administrative functions can make this switch in the upcoming years. It's certainly a better prospect to pay a few more admins and support staff to keep open source software running well than paying Microsoft millions just for a few licenses.
Back when I lived on Bickers Eiland it was really awesome to see all of these boats and ships pass by my back window. I really miss living in my home city every once in a while.
I find it surprising how much stuff is still made in Germany. When I buy a toothbrush, not the fancy kind, it's somehow made in Germany. When I buy baby food it's also somehow made in Germany. When I buy gardening tools, finally the kind that doesn't break after one year, it's again made in Germany. I never came across the same amount of made in the Netherlands or made in France when I used to live there.