您会以为从这些夸张的反应来看，有人正威胁要把欧盟委员会工作人员的狗带到后面枪毙。为什么如此惊慌失措？因为欧盟委员会正在部署一个自托管的微软Teams替代方案，以确保在微软服务不可用时员工仍能保持沟通。说清楚一点，委员会并不是用Element Pro取代Teams；它只是在建立一个备份。仅此而已。但根据Politico的报道，用户们正在发脾气。
You'd swear from the over-the-top reactions that someone is threatening to take European Commission workers' dogs out back and shoot them. Why the freakout? Because the EC is deploying a self-hosted alternative to Microsoft Teams to keep staff communicating if Microsoft's service becomes unavailable. To be clear, the Commission isn't replacing Teams with Element Pro; it's setting up a backup. That's it. That's all. But according to a Politico report, users are having fits.
有人抱怨：“Element就是一堆狗屎。”另有人宣称：“如果美国决定关闭其技术，它将‘瞬间赢得战争’。”喂，伙计，这就是重点。如果美国服务提供商因自愿或政府命令切断对欧洲用户的服务，许多欧盟政府和公司将面临严重中断。这就是欧洲需要一个开源的、主权的备份方案的确切原因。这就是此次行动的全部意义。
Element is "absolute shit," rants one. Another proclaims: "The US would 'instantly win the war' if it ever decided to switch off its technology." Uh, guy, that's exactly the point. If US providers cut off European users, whether by choice or government order, many EU governments and companies would face serious disruption. That's exactly why Europe needs an open source, sovereign backup. That's the entire point of this exercise.
去掉所有的歇斯底里，你就会看到这不过是一个相当平凡的业务连续性倡议。别以为特朗普不会发脾气并命令科技巨头阻止对官员的服务。只需问问金伯利·普罗斯特，这位加拿大国际刑事法院法官——除了失去技术服务外，她还失去了信用卡、亚马逊和谷歌服务的访问权。“Alexa不再和我说话了，”她说——这确实是一种惩罚。
Take away all the hysteria, and you're left with a rather mundane business-continuity initiative. Don't think for a minute that Trump wouldn't have a snit and order tech giants to block services to officials. Just ask Kimberly Prost, a Canadian International Criminal Court judge, who, besides losing tech services, also lost her credit cards, access to Amazon and Google services. "Alexa wouldn't talk to me," she says – punishment indeed.
现在想象俄罗斯及其盟友开始进攻波罗的海国家。哦，等等，普京已经在这样做了。随后局势升温，特朗普决定站在他好朋友普京这边。那么，美国科技公司在爱沙尼亚、拉脱维亚和立陶宛的服务会怎样？我可以用两个词回答：“没有好结果。”话虽如此，欧盟委员会当然不会抛弃微软服务。不，它已经将Element Pro配置为在委员会自身的基础设施上运行。
Now imagine Russia and its allies start attacking the Baltic states. Oh, wait, Putin is already doing that. Then it gets heated, and Trump decides to side with his good friend Putin. What happens to American tech companies' services in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania? I can answer that in two words: "Nothing good." That said, the EC of course is not dumping Microsoft services. No, it has configured Element Pro to run on the Commission's own infrastructure.
一份内部备忘录将该服务描述为一种"内部备份"，为欧盟执行机构提供了内部消息传递、音视频通话、文件传输和项目讨论室的替代渠道。让我给你讲清楚。这是一项委员会倡议。它不是要求全欧盟放弃微软软件的命令。我自己也很希望如此，但事实并非如此。Teams将继续作为主要平台，而Element则提供了一种后备方案，旨在减少对外部运营通信服务的依赖。
An internal memo described the service as an "internal backup" that gives the EU's executive branch an alternative channel for internal messaging, audio and video calls, file transfers, and project discussion rooms. Let me spell it out for you. This is a Commission initiative. It's not an EU-wide order to abandon Microsoft software. I'd love that myself, but that's not what's happening here. Teams will remain the principal platform, while Element provides a fallback intended to reduce dependence on an externally operated communications service.
明白了吗？我希望如此！不过，还有其他充分的理由可以抛弃微软Teams。我不是它的粉丝。由于工作需要，我不得不使用它以及市面上所有其他群件程序。而且，我可能还要补充一下，我自1990年Lotus Notes推出以来一直在使用它们。数字主权不仅是个好主意，而且是必需的。或者说，正如欧委会七月员工备忘录所言："实际上，这意味着对我们的数据和系统拥有更大的控制权，以便尽可能降低风险并减少对工作的干扰。"
Got it? I hope so! Mind you, there are other good reasons to dump Microsoft Teams. I'm not a fan. For my sins I have to use it and every other groupware program out there. And, I might add, I've been using them since Lotus Notes rolled out the door in 1990. Digital sovereignty isn't just a good idea. It's essential. Or, as an EC July staff memo put it: "In practice, this means having greater control over our data and systems so that we can reduce risks and limit disruption to our work, wherever possible."
正是如此。Element的架构非常适合数字主权。该平台基于Matrix——一种用于实时通信的开放标准——支持自托管、去中心化运行以及与其他基于Matrix的系统互操作。Element还支持端到端加密的消息和通话。你看，主权论点不仅仅是关于获得基于欧盟的技术栈。毕竟，Element是一家英国公司。不，真正让Element成为欧委会赢家的原因在于，它是成熟的群件软件，使他们能够在自身基础设施上部署和运行该系统，而不是依赖微软的云。
Exactly so. Element's architecture is well suited to digital sovereignty. Built on Matrix, an open standard for real-time communications, the platform supports self-hosting, decentralized operation, and interoperability with other Matrix-based systems. Element also supports end-to-end encrypted messaging and calls. You see, the sovereignty argument isn't just about getting an EU-based technology stack. After all, Element is a British company. No, what really makes Element a winner for the EC is that it's mature groupware that lets them deploy and run the system on their own infrastructure rather than relying on Microsoft's cloud.
至于那些抱怨的用户，忍一忍吧。没有人喜欢改变。如果欧委会彻底转向Element，我怀疑如今的愤怒情绪将在六个月后被遗忘。我见过太多次这种情况了。
As for the crybaby users, suck it up. No one ever likes change. If the EC switches over to Element lock, stock, and barrel, I suspect much of today's outrage will be forgotten in six months. I've seen this time and time again.
一些短期的不便是为在不确定的世界中获得对基本通信的更大控制而付出的合理代价。目前全面切换并不是计划。我认为应该如此。® Bootnote Element 告诉《The》："政府和国防组织正在迁移到主权替代方案，以确保他们在极端情况下仍能有效运作。随着IT战略和IT职能快速发展，适应性较弱的终端用户可能会感到不适，因为他们习惯使用的美国大型科技解决方案正被主权替代方案取代。
Some short-term inconvenience is a reasonable price for greater control over essential communications in an uncertain world. A complete switch isn't the plan now. I think it should be. ® Bootnote Element told The: "Governments and defense organizations are migrating to sovereign alternatives to ensure they can still operate effectively in extreme circumstances. As IT strategy and IT functions move quickly, less adaptive end-users may well feel discomfort as the US Big Tech solutions they've been used to are replaced by sovereign alternatives.
希望这将是大多数人在未来十年内经历的最大不便。"我们仅从实际客户那里获得了积极和建设性的反馈；这些客户是推动主权的领导者和IT职能。"在大规模部署中，不可避免地会有一些抗拒变化的不满用户，但我们与客户紧密协作，收集反馈并将其纳入改进，尤其是在试用阶段。从我们在实地看到的情况来看，像Element这样的开源替代方案已经准备好迎接首次大规模应用，作为减少对大型科技供应商依赖的急需替代方案。"
Hopefully this is the largest inconvenience most people experience over the coming decade. "We've only had positive and constructive feedback from our actual customers; the leaders and IT functions that are driving sovereignty. "There's inevitably a few unhappy change-resistant users in large deployments, but we work in lockstep with our customers to gather feedback and incorporate it, especially during the trial phase. From what we see in the field, open source alternatives like Element are ready for primetime as a much needed alternative to dependency on the big tech vendors."