SAP is German. "Largest non-US software company by revenue", says wikipedia. Doesn't make it suck less, though.
Re: investment, there's long been a solid set of EU open source contributors, from Torvalds himself through SUSE etc. I think if we identified the right 100 people and gave them money and a sense of civic mission, the EU could achieve a lot in this area. However, the EU's own anti-subsidy rules trip it up here.
The inclusion of SAP, as a German company, was intentional. Lock-in is not just American, and these days it is extremely difficult to have independence from large tech companies. It is not impossible, but requires significant government investment, and a desire for businesses to move. I don't see European businesses moving away from Microsoft and Google email services in big enough numbers to create a sustainable market for alternatives.
Re: investment, there's long been a solid set of EU open source contributors, from Torvalds himself through SUSE etc. I think if we identified the right 100 people and gave them money and a sense of civic mission, the EU could achieve a lot in this area. However, the EU's own anti-subsidy rules trip it up here.
The history of Munich is very interesting here: https://www.zdnet.com/article/linux-not-windows-why-munich-i...
Of course it's also political. If you want an alternative to US megacorps you have to put up with reds and greens.