Post by @onepict@chaos.social

I have limited sympathy for charities who trusted Microsoft to look after their data. I can only hope the providers that sold in Microsoft to them looked after them.

My sympathy is particularly limited to those who moved from independent email providers and Free software.

But then budget is often more important than long term relationships.

IT providers and hosting have long been under appreciated and in a race to the bottom.

So here we are.

https://slate.com/technology/2026/08/microsoft-software-nonprofit-data-delete.html

Slate Magazine

The Quiet Decision Microsoft Made That Devastated Thousands of Nonprofits

When the tech giant retired a popular software grant, years of nonprofit data vanished with it.

16 Replies

16 Boosts

Paul_IPv6

@paul_ipv6@infosec.exchange 1 hr. ago

@onepict

non-profits have boards and patrons...

i worked at a non-profit that did open source software. unix/linux based. then we got a new president who came from the VC world. he mandated use of commercial software because it was what all the cool kid VCs were using.

microsoft has its tentacles in too many places and too many folks that bring money are used to it. it's really hard to get it out once in and it's hard to keep it out.

Esther Payne :bisexual_flag:

@onepict@chaos.social 1 hr. ago

@paul_ipv6 Yep and this is why I don't do client support and consultancy anymore.

It's tiring and frustrating.

Too many times I've seen that exact thing happen.

Paul_IPv6

@paul_ipv6@infosec.exchange 1 hr. ago

@onepict

me three.

disconnects between the folks doing the work and having the domain expertise vs a board/exec team that won't listen. vast amount of unnecessary pain and drama for me, staff, and customers. i gave up.

MaddieM4

@MaddieM4@raphus.social 15 min. ago

@paul_ipv6 @onepict Yup. I've become fond of saying, "I like companies and I hate CEOs." There's really no problem with groups of workers establishing mutual trust and common infrastructure that allows them to work faster, better, and with a steady customer base. That's all just common sense. What you don't do, if you have any sense, is take this basic concept and then say "instead of worker democracy, let's put a big fat nepo-baby at the top whose reality-detached decisions can ruin all of our lives, and who slurps down most of the income that could have gone to worker pay, rainy day funds, and general reinvestment!" It's such an unnecessary self-own, and yet it's the default way that even *non-profits* are structured, which is insane. It's like if everyone thought you needed tapeworms or you wouldn't be able to digest food. No, you don't need the parasites, just because they insist on existing in your org.

1 more reply

roboticus lastius (not a bot)

@lastrobot@writing.exchange 3 hr. ago

@onepict Here's the issue: charities have boards. These boards are populated by upper management class who bring in their big donor friends. They have incredible sway over charity exec teams. My voice is rarely enough to sway the execs. I've tried.

So I do have sympathy for charities that founder on oligarch tech. Many of these orgs are helping vulnerable people navigate hostile systems. Staff care deeply. And are too often forced to implement big tech solutions against in-org tech advice. 🫤

roboticus lastius (not a bot)

@lastrobot@writing.exchange 3 hr. ago

@onepict And that article is devastating.on so many levels. Thanks for sharing.

Esther Payne :bisexual_flag:

@onepict@chaos.social 2 hr. ago

@lastrobot I've been there myself. So I do commiserate.

Chris M

@littlemouse@mastodon.scot 3 hr. ago

@onepict the level of inconvenience is finally outstripping the convenience. Will we start seeing a transition away? From them?

Esther Payne :bisexual_flag:

@onepict@chaos.social 2 hr. ago

@littlemouse I doubt it.

In my experience only organisations that deliberately chose Free Software from the beginning for ideological reasons will be long term.

Even then, if someone comes into the organisation and doesn't feel comfortable using Free Software you have an opposition that will undermine your position if you don't have a relationship of trust.

Most organisations also quite rightly just want something to work. Even if it works badly. No one gets fired for using Microsoft.

Esther Payne :bisexual_flag:

@onepict@chaos.social 4 hr. ago

I mean we also failed to communicate well just how untrustworthy Microsoft always has been.

As a community we allowed this to happen.

But like it gets tiring keeping clients safe from that.

Especially when every other organisation uses Microsoft. It's professional to use Microsoft.

🤷‍♀️

Roger BW 😷

@RogerBW@discordian.social 4 hr. ago

@onepict I have been communicating this continuously for thirty years. I am tired.
And every few years I am proved right again. And the bosses keep saying "but they're a big company, they wouldn't do that".

Esther Payne :bisexual_flag:

@onepict@chaos.social 4 hr. ago

@RogerBW Same.

Esther Payne :bisexual_flag:

@onepict@chaos.social 4 hr. ago

Remember to raise your rates.

Your time is valuable. Clients who always want the bottom line will burn more of your time.

So ensure they will pay.

Michał "rysiek" Woźniak · 🇺🇦

@rysiek@mstdn.social 2 hr. ago

@onepict the mental gymnastics I have seen done to justify *not* using Nextcloud (for example) is truly something.

Walter van Holst

@whvholst@eupolicy.social 2 hr. ago

@rysiek @onepict It really is simple, once you realise all the things you know that other people don't know. It is a familiar product (so no training costs, no internal resistance). ICT is *not* related to the primary mission, so it has to be the path of least resistance. This includes non-executive boards and large donors who will wonder why are paying X for product A that they have never heard of while you can get a kown factor for free.

2 more replies

Esther Payne :bisexual_flag:

@onepict@chaos.social 2 hr. ago

@rysiek years ago the overall corporate org of the place I interned at wanted to get rid of a bespoke Oracle system for one department to Opentext.

The department kept resisting and persuaded the new leader of the project to switch them back. I'm still amazed that they persuaded him given the fact it pretty much was a mandate from Head Office in the US.

Competence has never entered these discussions, its vibes and a lack of , or aversion to training.

1+ more replies