The comeback of Linux, on-premise and principles
“It starts with one task. Then two. Then it becomes a movement.”
Sometimes you see something popping up that you are not going to do yourself, but that will make you smile. For example, I came across an assignment for a Linux Infra specialist/architect on freelance.nl – and it felt like a tipping point. It's not Azure. No AWS. Not an Oracle. No Google Cloud. It literally says: no public cloud. No big tech. Point. Instead: OpenStack. Ansible. EACH. Linux. And who knows nextcloud? One public organisation They want to control their own digital nervous system. I thought: finally.
Not against cloud – but against dependency
“Cloud should be a tool, not a prison.”
Let me be clear: I'm not against the cloud. On the contrary. The cloud is a wonderful development. But European. Durable. Reliable. And – above all – arranged in such a way that you are not stuck with it. Not vendor lock-in, but open standards. So you can move if you want. From one cloud provider to another. Or back on-premise, if that fits better. That's not nostalgia, that's strategic thinking.
Not for me – but mine
“Sometimes it's not your job, it's your future.”
I'm not an infrastructure specialist. This assignment does not suit me in terms of content. But the underlying trend? It fits me like a glove. I switched from Windows to Linux. From Microsoft Office to OpenOffice. From Gmail to Proton. Not to be difficult, but because I believe that we have to be at the wheel digitally again. And then I see these kinds of assignments and I think: You'll see. I'm not the only one.
Back to the essentials: ownership
“The cloud is not a place. It is someone else’s computer.”
The cloud is fantastic – for who knows what it's giving away. But many organizations are only now discovering what they have handed in: ownership, control, transparency. This government organization consciously opts for a private cloud, for hardening, for infrastructure that real is their own. Not just any IT, but a choice for independence. And that's rarely clear.
Infra is political
“Technology is never neutral. Anyone who opts for open source makes a choice of principle.”
If a government opts for open source, local infrastructure and open standards, that says something. About trust. About Sovereignty. Risks that are no longer accepted. It is a technological decision, but also a political one. And that choice deserves attention – and follow-up.
There is a movement going on
“It starts with a choice. And then another one. And before you know it, it's a trend.”
I see this as a signal. One assignment is not a trend, but it confirms what I hear and feel more and more often: The desire to break away from big tech is growing. To regain ownership of your own stack, your own data, your own choices. That's what people with knowledge of Linux need. From Git. From Ansible. From network management. But above all: People with conviction.
English (UK)