1. In Germany we still have to pay "Solidaritätszuschlag" (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solidarit%C3%A4tszuschlag [External Link]).
This money could be given to EU Sovereign Tech Fund (EU-STF) instead.

2. Forbid (proprietary) file formats like doc, docx, ppt, pptx, xls, xlsx, rtf, tnef, ... in the EU (public and private sector). We already have ODF.
Force developers/companies of proprietary software to support ODF as first-class citizen.
Every mail server (public and private sector) should be configured to deny mails with these file attachments.

3. Force M$ to release a free converter for all their proprietary file formats into ODF. The results must be 101%😁

4. Forbid proprietary protocols and APIs.

5. Force developers/companies of proprietary software to support free SQL-Backend alternatives like MariaDB and PostgreSQL and treat them as first-class citizen.

This would be a good start... man can dream.

Edit!
Ohhh boy, I forgot the most important...
6. Forbid DirectX and Mantle.

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@Lofty Yes, I already did that with some friends a couple of years ago, but that works only for experienced users. Otherwise you end up installing the client on every friends pc... more hassle than its worth.
Many casual gamers don't even know what an IP address is and they do not care. Such things must be as simple as getting a beer out of your fridge;)

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I agree that this would excellent, but it won't happen, because there's no money in LAN servers

Again, developers have to go back to the roots. Instead of selling nonsense like skins/items nobody needs for 2 bucks they can develop great DLCs which really enhance the gaming experience for say 25 bucks. And guest what? When the hoster (the one who started the server) has the DLC installed, all other friends need that DLC too.
Boom, the dev earns much more money within seconds/minutes.
Quality makes money... selling trash, not.

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Stopping cheaters is very easy... play with your friends.

I'm not talking about MOBA/MMO games here... these kind of games are not my kind.
30 and more years ago I played Diablo 1+2, CS 1.6, Quake or UT with my friends and we simply started a "LAN-Server". We never used BattleNet or Public servers and none of us used cheats or something like that, because that simply ruins the challenge and you don't want to f**k up with your friends.
And why the hell should I want to play multiplayer games with people I don't know... me not.

I think that multiplayer game developers should go back to the roots and release a LAN-Server along with their games. This way they don't need to setup that on themselves in the cloud/onprem for thousands of people, pay al lot of money to keep it running, fight cheaters, monitor the load... and so on. A LAN-Server capable for 8-16 players should be enough! This would also help game preservation.

What Valve (or third-party) would need to do here is simply an easy way to make the LAN-Server reachable for my "Steam-Friends" (a pick list would be great) through the internet, that's all!
If you are experienced enough you can do that on yourself but you NEED the f**king LAN-Server.
It's really sad that game developers do not release a server binary with their games anymore.

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Common NVidia, it's time to let go... otherwise you lose.
Don't be a [].

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Quoting: SamsaiThere seem to be some very strange comments being posted here and in the interest of orderly, on-topic discussion I've cleaned them up. Please keep the conversation adequately civil and on topic and refrain from making outlandish comparisons or dragging completely off-topic talking points into the comments.

I hope you don't mean me.
Since this war I fear for my family and I think I'm not the only one.

Feel free to delete my account.

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Quoting: slapinNobody is actually willing to hear the sad truth, the propaganda sounds more comfortable.

If this is the truth, then any russian is simply dump... and I don't think so.
Honstly I believe they fear to get arrested and vanish... another sign of a dictators power.

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Quoting: NociferPutin hunting down and arresting Russian political dissidents left and right as we speak is e.g. a much more stressful situation for the average Russian IMHO).

Yeah, that is Putins reaktion... calm down (or to poison) everyone against him. This is an ACT of a dictator and not from a democratic leader.

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Quoting: Kristian

Quoting: johndoeNo, I think this is the right thing to do.
Stop everything (beside internet access) with russia as possible. All russian people should start to demonstrate against Putin and force him to resign.

Why besides internet access? So they can get western information? Maybe you are correct, but I think if the cables connecting Russia to other countries were severed that could have a pretty big impact too...

Yes, the internet is the only way for russians the SEE/READ the truth instead of Putins propaganda. They are already censored in many ways since years.
The willing russian will find/knows ways to omit the censorship.

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No, I think this is the right thing to do.
Stop everything (beside internet access) with russia as possible. All russian people should start to demonstrate against Putin and force him to resign.

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