Brendan Halpin
LinuxiacFrance is transitioning government desktops to Linux, with each ministry required to formalize its implementation plan by autumn 2026.
https://linuxiac.com/france-launches-government-linux-desktop-plan-as-windows-exit-begins/
Sir Osis of Liver 🇨🇦 🇲🇽I had heard something about this quite some time ago.
I think at the time the preference was Ubuntu, is that still the case?
Regardless, good policy.
Elon Muksis 🇺🇦 🇵🇸 🇪🇺@Sir_Osis_of_Liver @linuxiac
#OpenSUSE would be more european and open source.
@Sir_Osis_of_Liver @linuxiac Leap 16.0 builds on its hybrid approach of combining source from SUSE Linux Enterprise (SLE) with community developments, delivering a level of stability unmatched by other Linux distributions.
Emvee@Sir_Osis_of_Liver @bhasic @linuxiac I started experimenting with Linux for exactly the same reason – mainly out of frustration at having to throw away a perfectly good laptop. I tried KDE, Zorin and Mint, and ended up sticking with Mint. It works great and is very stable.
It was a real eye-opener to try out other things as well, such as LibreOffice, OnlyOffice, Thunderbird, ProtonMail, Tutamail, Vivaldi, Librewolf, Qwant and LeChat. A fun journey of discovery.
It was a real eye-opener to try out other things as well, such as LibreOffice, OnlyOffice, Thunderbird, ProtonMail, Tutamail, Vivaldi, Librewolf, Qwant and LeChat. A fun journey of discovery.
Martin Owens 
I wish there was a word that meant "European Unionist", Because Ubuntu is European (Isle of Man for tax reasons 😜 ) It's just not Unionist.
This is important to us Brits who are still Europeans, even after Brexit. Our position on the continent of Europe didn't change nor our cultural connection to the mainland.
(Please don't use Ubuntu, Canonical is not a nice company)
marco_m_aus_f@Sir_Osis_of_Liver @linuxiac The french Gendarmerie has been using its own Ubuntu-based distro since ...2009?
"Gendbuntu".
"Gendbuntu".
Thomas Depierre@linuxiac hmm actually, as a french, I am not sure this say that all ministers will move to Linux. It can be interpreted as only saying that the DINUM own workstations will move to Linux. This is a far smaller park, mostly of people already working on the IT stuff itself
El Duvelle
Kevin RussellNo. Its very clear.
"The press release also requires each ministry, including public operators, to develop a plan by autumn 2026 addressing desktop systems, collaboration tools, antivirus software, AI, databases, virtualization, and network equipment."
"Each ministry."👈
Very clear.
"As the announcement comes directly from DINUM, which oversees digital strategy across ministries,👉 it holds greater significance than a local pilot or isolated administrative project."👈
Greg Price@kevinrns @Di4na @linuxiac Unfortunately that's not what the original source says (which they helpfully link to):
https://www.numerique.gouv.fr/sinformer/espace-presse/souverainete-numerique-reduction-dependances-extra-europeennes/
The move off Windows to Linux is specifically for the DINUM itself. The mandate for all ministries is much looser: a plan for "reduction of extra-European dependencies".
That can mean a lot of things. The DINUM Linux migration is one of three examples they give; the other two are about various SaaS services.
derptron@gregprice @kevinrns @Di4na @linuxiac Your explanation makes way more sense. The effort to formulate a government wide implementation plan to replace Windows with Linux on all desktop computers would probably take considerably longer than the time being given. Tossing together some upper level "plan" to reduce cost though...probably achievable.
@crazyeddie @kevinrns @Di4na @linuxiac Yeah. It's not mostly about costs, though: the catchphrase is "digital sovereignty", meaning not being subject to foreign control.
Down at the end, a minister is quoted saying: "We must decouple ourselves from American tools and take back control of our digital destiny. … We can no longer accept that our data, our infrastructure, and our strategic decisions depend on solutions of which we don't control the rules, nor the rates, nor the evolution, nor the risks."
So although it's possible (even likely) that cost savings help the medicine go down, those aren't the main objective.
@crazyeddie @kevinrns @Di4na @linuxiac One of the things I think everyone involved in that policy has in mind is last year when the current US administration ordered Microsoft to cut off the email account of a European official working in Europe for an international institution, because it didn't like that institution doing its job:
https://apnews.com/article/icc-trump-sanctions-karim-khan-court-a4b4c02751ab84c09718b1b95cbd5db3
That was all over French news when it happened, and for good reason. I think it radicalized a lot of Europeans on this subject, showing that the use of perfectly ordinary tools could be turned into a weapon if they're run by a US company.
Trump's sanctions on ICC prosecutor have halted tribunal's work
Nearly three months ago, U.S. President Donald Trump slapped sanctions on the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor, Karim Khan. He has lost access to his email and his bank accounts have been frozen. American staffers at The Hague-based court also have been told that if they travel to the U.S. they risk arrest. In addition, some nongovernmental organizations have stopped working with the ICC. Rights groups say these problems will prevent victims of war crimes from getting justice.
@gregprice @crazyeddie @[email protected] @linuxiac I am in irregular discussions with people working with or around the EUC on their goals of FOSS sustainability. And also around finance from work.
The ICC incident was a paradigm change moment for the civil service and political apparatus of the EU. It will take time, but you will see progressive change. People have realised the problem and decided mitigating it was now strategically mandatory.
@linuxiac As great as this sounds, I think this transition is just for this specific group "direction interministérielle du numérique (DINUM)" and not for the entire government..
Your source says
"la DINUM annonce sa sortie de Windows au profit de postes sous système d'exploitation Linux.".
which means "The DINUM announces its exit from Windows towards workstations using Linux"
It doesn't say that all governmental agencies will do this transition.. (unfortunately, and hopefully this will come later)
No that is wrong. The DINUM oversees the transition. Will monitor and assist ALL MINISTRIES to transition OFF US software.
"As the announcement comes directly from DINUM, 👉 which oversees digital strategy across ministries, 👈 it holds greater significance than a local pilot or isolated administrative project."
"... each ministry required to formalize its implementation plan by autumn 2026"
Each ministry, in 3 to 6 months.
"Its a formal declaration ... explicitly designating Linux as the replacement for Windows workstations as part of a broader interministerial strategy."
Interministerial
@kevinrns
Hmm.. your first quote doesn't explicitly say that there will be a transition.
the second one only mentions an "implementation plan" but it doesn't say what will be implemented.
the last one might be more convincing, unless it's once again just about the DINUM, and that's not clear from the quote.
Where do all these quotes come from? I don't see them in this link https://www.numerique.gouv.fr/sinformer/espace-presse/souverainete-numerique-reduction-dependances-extra-europeennes/
@kevinrns thanks, but this is just linking back to the original article in French as its source (https://www.numerique.gouv.fr/sinformer/espace-presse/souverainete-numerique-reduction-dependances-extra-europeennes) which still doesn't claim that all government computers will move to Linux..
but this is an interesting case study so let's try to figure out where they get their info from. so the link you sent has this subtitle:
France moves 2.5 million government devices to Linux by autumn 2026
now, what is the source for that? None given in the title, but later on the article says:
France just handed Microsoft a termination notice for 2.5 million government devices. The Interministerial Digital Directorate issued an official directive requiring all ministries to develop Linux migration plans by autumn 2026.
The rest of the article is about other stuff irrelevant to our question. So, let's check the sources. There'a two links in the paragraph above, the first one is just a list of the different French government bodies (irrelevant), the 2nd one is another blog article which only has 1 relevant source: the article from the French government that we were already discussing! I have now read this very short article at least 15 times. it makes no mention of 2.5 million devices moving from Windows to Linux!
It just says that this department called DINUM "announced that it is leaving windows for Linux" and, later on, it says that other governmental agencies have been asked to "prepare a plan of action to reduce extra-european dependencies" by autumn 2026.
It does not say that they will all have moved to Linux by autumn 2026! For all we know the plan of some of these agencies might end up concluding that it would be too much effort to ditch Windows and that there's nothing they can do about it.
So, it seems the article you sent it basically inventing some "facts" from thin air..
now, there is one interesting bit left in your article:
AI assists in refining our editorial process, ensuring that every article is engaging, clear and succinct
so... that might explain why some "alternative facts" got in there. We shouldn't trust AI-generated stuff!
@kevinrns
thanks.. this blog post seems even worse than the other one:
- it has no link to any source
- it is basically a translation of the original French government article
- it also seems to invent some facts such as:
"The migration will affect approximately 2.5 million civil servants across France."
this 2.5 million number is coming back but it is unclear where it is coming from.. maybe this article is a spin off of your other, AI-generated article?
DINUM, which employs around 250 personnel, will initiate the transition by migrating its own internal workstations to Linux, serving as a pilot phase before broader deployment across ministries.
yeah.. 250 people is not the same as 2.5 million. Only those 250 people will actually migrate to Linux. The part about "broader deployment" seems unsubstantiated..
individual departments are permitted to select distributions and define migration timelines based on operational requirements, a measure intended to reduce compatibility risks and accommodate legacy systems.
that sounds a bit closer to the truth which seems to be that the migration plans that all other agencies have to prepare may not involve migrating immediately, that they don't know what they're migrating to, and probably that they might not migrate at all.
Anything else?
@kevinrns @elduvelle @linuxiac That seems like a LOT of work to get done in a pretty short time. "Rushed" even. I don't know if that much planning can take place in that amount of time and be sufficiently well done that there's a high chance of success. Are they expecting AI to be some massive speed multiplier here?
These are huge plans with massive amounts of documents and massive amounts of meetings and approvals and ...
Is this one of those "good" uses of AI?
@crazyeddie
definitely not a good use of genAI! So many privacy issues in a high-risk setting, if anything it would be the opposite of a good use of "AI".
Remember, Copilot should only be used for "entertainment" purposes (https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/05/copilot-is-for-entertainment-purposes-only-according-to-microsofts-terms-of-service/)
M. Grégoire@elduvelle
Sure, but if a group with overall responsibility for government computers switches the OS it uses successfully, they may subsequently push the rest of the government in that direction.
@mpjgregoire @linuxiac
they may! but the French admin has a lot of inertia... I'll keep my fingers crossed but I'd wait for a clear and unambiguous statement on that to believe it!
they may! but the French admin has a lot of inertia... I'll keep my fingers crossed but I'd wait for a clear and unambiguous statement on that to believe it!
outst☆r
Michel PatriceDes milliers de linuxiens à travers l'Hexagone sont en proie à une furieuse crise de priapisme.
Dec [{(
)}]Are the americans tired of winning yet?
@MichelPatrice @linuxiac We actually never cared about winning, only appearing to feel great. That can simply be asserted.
And feeling great right now?
ErikBussink 
RaymondPierreL3@linuxiac
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Frutiger
Al & Val's Modern Homesteading@linuxiac How do you say YAAAASSSSSS in Francois? OIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE???
staringatclouds@linuxiac Any word on which distribution they're going for ?
NA
Justin
Guillotine Jones, Flâneur@Guillotine_Jones @linuxiac You should be thanking him.
Nine Stones Close@linuxiac this is a great start but needs to go further. All EU counties should be dining this now as a matter of priority.
Sören
ravioli
Viktoria D. Richards/UddelhexeThis is good for many reasons no matter the distro, because:
1.more Companies will offer Apps/ programs with Linux compatible versions, when a whole countries administration is a potential paying customer, wich will provide more compatible software for all of us
2. People working with Linux because of their job will get to know it, see that is is easy to use and this will propsbly get more private people to switch at home to, which opens new markets
So: 👍 France, go forward!
Moeveninsel@linuxiac
Ellf Aquitanienuns, TOTAL super. Talbot.
Hoffentlich geht das mal gut.
CheDN
Weymouth Expat@linuxiac Hate Microsoft with a passion. However, for a non-savvy, migrating to Linux feels a bit tricky, maybe even risky...also...ancient machine.....
@AaranHouse @linuxiac They're government computers so they don't need to feel all new and fancy even though Linux actually does if set up that way. The only concern is software compatibility with existing systems because there's no way to replace everything at once.
Yeah. It'll be tricky and risky. Guaranteed. Y'all do have qualified people over there that can handle tricky and risky though. Needs doing
And hey, I'd love to find a reason to gtfo here and someplace sane...if you need help.
thepoliticalcat@linuxiac Linux is European, not American, so you don't have to worry about being in the grip of corporate America and forced to abide by its standards, such as they are.
fisherdude@linuxiac Je suis très heureux !