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France to ditch Windows for Linux to reduce reliance on US tech

https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/10/france-to-ditch-windows-for-linux-to-reduce-reliance-on-us-tech/

France to ditch Windows for Linux to reduce reliance on US tech | TechCrunch

France's move to ditch Windows for Linux is its latest effort to reduce its reliance on American tech giants.

TechCrunch
3:20pmWeb
Show threadBLKNSLVR5h ago
I hope it succeeds and I hope they document the experience and invite interested parties to see how it was setup and how (well) it works in order to encourage as many governments and organisations as possible to do the same.
Show threadyibers4h ago
I am saying this as a very long time Windows user, and it saddens me. Politics aside, from a pure technichal, functional, privacy and UX perspective, the case for changing over from Windows to Linux is getting stronger by the day.
Show threadlithos4h ago
If you picked XFCE as your front end you get WinXP functionality, with the nice things from win10/11 (start menu search that's actually local only, multiple desktop workspaces, and graphical settings/updates I've only needed to go to command line twice in four years).
Show threadyibers4h ago
How does XFCE compare to KDE and GNOME? Also, does it has all the nice window snapping features that I'm used to fron Windows?
Show threadlithos4h ago

My personal PCs have enough screens that I haven't tried. Though I do really like Windows snapping features on my work laptop (can't change OS there).

I haven't played with other windowing systems to judge too much. And just picked right from screen shots/gifs to not need to try.

Show threadcwillu4h ago
I don't think all the same shortcuts exist out of the box, although win-drag/win-right-drag to move and resize windows (might be alt by default) is _so_ much more convenient than the usual border/title dragging that you might find you don't miss them.
Show threadmrj3h ago
As a long time Linux user, this comment makes me sad since many of those features were copied from Linux (many from Unity) :)
Show threadPaulDavisThe1st3h ago
I am saying this as a very long time Linux user, and it saddens me. Politics aside, from a pure technical, functional, privacy and UX perspective, the case for changing over from Windows has been apparent for several decades.
Show threaddleslie4h ago

Canada has been using and developing FOSS for a while now.

0: https://www.canada.ca/en/government/system/digital-governmen...

1: https://events19.linuxfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017...

2: https://github.com/canada-ca/

There's still a great deal of Windows usage, but hopefully that will phase out with the passage of time. Canada's bureaucracy moves slowly, at the pace of generational attrition. It won't be until the last GenX retires that they could even meaningfully begin transitioning the average office worker away from Windows.

Open Source Software - Canada.ca

Show threadrealo4h ago

Apparently not everyone got the memo...

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/federal-phoenix-pay-sy...

Phoenix pay system fiasco: 10 years of mistakes and lessons | CBC News

A decade after the Phoenix pay system fiasco began, a new wave of job cuts in the federal public service might only add to the government’s backlog of problematic pay transactions.

CBC
Show threaddleslie4h ago

The Phoenix contract predates the more recent efforts to switch to FOSS.

But also, Canada loves to burn money on American suppliers. It's probably why the recent interest in _Buy Canadian_ has the American administration annoyed.

Show threadsega_sai4h ago
I think France seem serious in actually switching to open source/EU software. I recently had a telecon on Visio (France's Teams/Zoom substitute) and it worked well in a browser with ~ 10 participants.
Show threadMelatonic3h ago

The age of the Linux desktop might actually finally be coming

Personally I think we are at an interim period for a big player to emerge and take over this space. If enough governments in the EU start switching over to customized linux distros theres a big chance for someone like Nokia to come in and develop their own approved distro with proper MDM and GPO-like management functionality baked in .

On top of that it could be great to see SteamOS continue to gain share and become more than just something people run on gaming purpose hardware.

And thirdly would love to see a more simplistic but super lean and functional OS built on something like the BSD.