Denmark’s Bold Transition to Open-Source: Embracing Digital Sovereignty with LibreOffice and Linux

Denmark’s decision to shift its Ministry for Digital Affairs from Microsoft’s proprietary stack to LibreOffice and Linux marks a pivotal moment in the European public sector’s approach to digital sovereignty, IT budget management, and the quest for vendor independence. While the battle between open-source and commercial software solutions is decades-old, the Danish government’s calculated migration not only reverberates within its borders but signals broader currents of change rippling through municipalities, neighboring countries, and perhaps the entire EU public IT ecosystem.

The Context: From Proprietary Lock-In to Open-Source Empowerment​

For years, Microsoft Office and Windows have typified digital workspaces in public administration—arguably for good reason. Microsoft’s solutions are deeply integrated, backed by enterprise-scale support, and standardized across countless workflows, making them an easy, low-risk choice for government and enterprise alike. Yet, as the digital environment evolves—driven by geopolitics, budgetary constraints, and shifting views on data privacy—the once-safe bet of software monoculture increasingly appears brittle.
Denmark’s Ministry for Digital Affairs is at the vanguard of this transformation. Beginning next month with half its workforce, and scaling up to all employees by autumn, the ministry will deploy LibreOffice and Linux across its infrastructure. This is more than a cost-cutting exercise: Caroline Stage, Denmark’s Minister for Digital Affairs, has framed the transition as “a cornerstone” of a new four-year digitalization strategy where digital sovereignty takes precedence.

Motivation: Cost, Control, and National Interests​

Three reasons stand out for Denmark’s move:

• Cost Savings: With Windows 10 support winding down and Office 365 licensing climbing year on year, proprietary software costs have become a major line item. Open-source tools like LibreOffice, offered free under the Mozilla Public License, eliminate licensing fees, audits, and associated legal complexities. While initial migration and retraining incur costs, advocates argue these are offset over time by the absence of ongoing subscriptions and the flexibility to tailor software for government needs.
• Digital Sovereignty: Denmark, like much of Europe, has grown wary of over-reliance on US tech giants. “Data residency, access control, and the sanctity of government communications are no longer negotiable,” Stage emphasized in a recent address. LibreOffice’s “local-first” design ensures sensitive files and communications remain under national jurisdiction, complying with GDPR and Denmark’s own strict data protection mandates.
• Reduced Geopolitical Risk: Geopolitics has become an unwelcome, but inescapable, factor in public IT strategy. Danish policymakers cite previous US administration policies—and the specter of transatlantic data requests—as evidence that vendor lock-in can become a national risk overnight. By transitioning to open-source technologies, Denmark’s government seeks to future-proof itself against unpredictable legal shifts abroad.

Denmark’s Migration Plan: Gradual, Measured, and Transparent​

The migration is being pursued in phases. In the opening stage, half of Digital Ministry staff will begin using LibreOffice and Linux, with robust fallback provisions to legacy Microsoft systems for critical scenarios. This hybrid approach acknowledges the inertia of entrenched workflows while allowing IT teams to stress-test open-source deployments at scale.
Major Danish cities, including Copenhagen and Aarhus, are already committed to similar paths, highlighting a national consensus: digital sovereignty and local control outweigh the convenience of an all-in-one Microsoft environment.
This isn’t an isolated move. Denmark’s strategy aligns with growing momentum for open-source adoptions in the EU, as evidenced by the German state of Schleswig-Holstein’s decision to transition 30,000 government computers to Linux and LibreOffice by 2026—a migration cited as inspiration by Danish officials. Italy’s Ministry of Defence previously replaced Microsoft Office with LibreOffice on 150,000 desktops, standardizing on Open Document Format to cut costs and increase interoperability among agencies.

LibreOffice vs. Microsoft Office: A Feature-by-Feature Analysis​

Strengths of LibreOffice​

• Cost Elimination: No license fees, paywalls, or audits, reducing TCO (Total Cost of Ownership).
• Data Sovereignty & Privacy: LibreOffice stores files locally and does not transmit or process user data outside of the user’s (or organization’s) control—a core requirement for compliance with EU data privacy laws and internal government mandates.
• Customization & Flexibility: Supports custom extensions and scripting in Python, JavaScript, and other languages. This flexibility is critical for agencies with bespoke workflows.
• Export & Long-Term Archival: Built-in support for ODF and PDF/A helps ensure government records remain future-proof and accessible, sidestepping the long-term risks of proprietary format lock-in.
• Rapid Community-Driven Development: Being open source, LibreOffice can quickly integrate feature requests or bug fixes, a boon for specialized government needs (if the community or government-funded maintainers step in).
• Accessibility & Platform Parity: Fully available for Windows, macOS, and Linux, with active documentation efforts to ensure onboarding and migration are as smooth as possible.

Weaknesses and Risks​

• Interoperability Woes: Despite years of progress, LibreOffice still struggles with perfect fidelity for complex MS Office documents—especially those with advanced macros, embedded objects, or intricate layouts. For legal, publishing, or engineering workflows, this remains a genuine concern.
• Enterprise Integration: No direct substitutes for Teams, SharePoint, or OneDrive. Organizations heavily invested in Microsoft’s cloud and collaboration infrastructure face friction.
• Support & SLAs: While forums and guides abound, enterprises needing ironclad service level agreements (SLAs) must contract third-party providers, eroding some of the “free” cost advantage.
• Feature Gaps: Accessibility, real-time collaboration, advanced email integration, and comprehensive macro compatibility still lag behind Microsoft’s best-in-class offerings.
• Retraining & Adoption: User resistance to change isn’t trivial. Even with similar interfaces and detailed migration guides, transitions can unearth confusion, productivity dips, and require ongoing support.

Notable Recent Improvements​

With the release of LibreOffice 25.2 and its accompanying manuals, transitional pain has been consciously addressed. The new guides don’t sugarcoat incompatibilities—instead, they assist users in understanding where workflows or features diverge from Microsoft, and provide real-world troubleshooting tips for document conversion, macro rewriting, and advanced formatting. This transparency builds trust and eases migration, especially for mission-critical use cases.
Significant progress has also been made in handling Microsoft’s DOCX formats, with improvements in font fallback, layout rendering, and formula compatibility. The spreadsheet module Calc, for example, now supports advanced functions like TEXTSPLIT and VSTACK, rivaling newer versions of Excel.

What Does This Mean for Denmark—and the EU?​

Broader Public Sector Trends​

Europe has been veering away from proprietary American software for several years. Cited often is the looming expense of renewing Microsoft contracts, compounded by cloud “lock-in” and the need to comply with strict privacy regimes like the GDPR. Public pressure to ensure taxpayer funds circulate locally, rather than funneling recurring revenue to US corporations, also drives change.
The Danish case is notable for its methodical, transparent approach and clear-eyed acknowledgment of the pitfalls alongside the promise. The government is not touting open source as a panacea, but as a strategic reset—one that must be carefully managed, staged, and supported by robust, candid documentation.
How Denmark fares during this transition will inevitably serve as a model for others. Neighboring cities and federal agencies are watching closely. Already, discussions in Brussels and Berlin suggest that successful national migrations can become blueprints for EU-wide digital sovereignty initiatives.

Real Risks and Honest Challenges​

No migration is risk-free. The Danish Digital Ministry anticipates and is preparing for:

• Compatibility Gaps: Not all Office documents and custom workflows will port seamlessly. Critical operations may need to maintain dual environments, at least temporarily.
• User Training: The success of the transition hinges on the effectiveness of training programs and the transparency of communications around the shift.
• Support Channels: Ensuring that users have rapid access to help, whether via in-house IT or contracted open-source support providers, is crucial.
• Integration with Legacy Systems: Many public sector apps are intertwined with Windows or Office APIs—migration can unearth hidden dependencies and require redevelopment or the retention of some proprietary software.
• Change Management: As with any large-scale organizational shift, resistance and workflow disruption are expected. Staged rollouts, feedback loops, and strong leadership will be key.

Strategic Opportunities: Long-Term Payoff​

Despite the hurdles, Denmark’s shift promises significant rewards:

• Reduced Long-Term Costs: Freed from perpetual licensing cycles, the government can redirect funds to innovation, staff development, or security.
• Compliance & Security: Local-first solutions vastly reduce risks of jurisdictional overreach and data exfiltration, centralizing compliance within Danish borders.
• Stimulus for Local IT Sector: Open-source ecosystems empower domestic talent pools, fostering new businesses (support, integration, customization) and keeping expertise onshore.
• Vendor Independence: With open standards central to its infrastructure, Denmark is future-proofing itself against capricious contract negotiations, price hikes, and sudden “end-of-support” deadlines from major vendors.

A Global Movement: Denmark in Context​

Denmark’s move fits a rising tide. Alongside Germany’s Schleswig-Holstein and Italy’s Defence Ministry, city- and country-level open-source migrations crop up from France to Finland. Even in places where Microsoft remains dominant, the growing availability of robust, transparent, no-cost alternatives like LibreOffice strengthens leverage in negotiations—and gives public agencies meaningful choices.
It’s also worth noting that for the longest time, many in IT circles dismissed LibreOffice as a viable enterprise alternative—citing “Linux-only” myths or poor compatibility with Windows and macOS. The most recent platform parity efforts have demolished these misconceptions. LibreOffice is now as much a Windows contender as it is for Linux, opening the door for institutions wary of a full OS migration but eager to escape costly vendor ties.

Critical Outlook: Is This the End of Microsoft in the Public Sector?​

Hardly. Microsoft Office and Windows remain deeply entrenched, particularly in large organizations or those reliant on sophisticated collaboration clouds. The productivity and reliability of Microsoft’s mature workflow ecosystem—Teams, OneDrive, SharePoint, and integrated communications—still outpaces most open-source alternatives. For institutions where “good enough” compatibility is insufficient, or where integration is the difference between efficiency and chaos, Microsoft will continue to have a stronghold.
But Denmark’s gambit represents a reinvigoration of the public sector’s willingness to question the status quo—and to prioritize sovereignty and stewardship of taxpayer funds above convenience and habit.
Public reactions so far have been cautiously optimistic. Many IT workers and digital sovereignty advocates are enthusiastic, though some unions and professional organizations worry about transitional hiccups, temporary productivity dips, or longer-term compatibility headaches. Honest transparency about these risks, plus a willingness to adapt migration plans as needed, may ultimately define Denmark’s success.

Conclusion: A Watershed Decision, But Not a Silver Bullet​

Denmark’s Ministry for Digital Affairs is not simply “ditching Microsoft”—it is staking the future of government IT on values of transparency, independence, and sustainable cost management. The experiment is bold, but it is also measured—backed by thorough planning, clear communication, and open engagement with practitioners and end users alike.
While LibreOffice may not (yet) replicate every advanced feature or emulate every Microsoft workflow, its advance embodies a broad recalibration of what the public sector values in its software—control, clarity, and community over convenience or corporate habit.
As the rollout proceeds through 2025, the world will be watching: can a midsized European government not just survive, but thrive, on open-source? The answer will have implications far beyond Denmark’s digital borders—and may well shape the IT strategies of a new era for public institutions everywhere.

---

Source: Computing UK https://www.computing.co.uk/news/2025/denmark-digital-ministry-drops-microsoft/