Kind of a kick in the teeth to go with Ubuntu instead of Mageia or OpenMandriva, isn’t it?
femboyisbestboy on
Great start and I am sure more EU nations will join the movement against mircoslop.
szansky on
And good news.
Linux is faster and more stability.
dopepilot on
Tech support roles will pay premium in France to support all those government employees that never touched anything but Windows in their life.
timohtea on
Never thought I’d see the day that microslop FINALLY starts falling apart. I guess you can only push so many computer breaking updates and spam and malware and bullshit that hogs up your pc’s res pieces instead of optimizing them.
Bye bye microslop w France
ayanbose036 on
moving towards digital independence important from security aspects, good move
Rich_Artist_8327 on
Way to go France. I hope Finland would have balls also, but no we just move more and more finnish citizens sensitive data for Trump admin to access it and prevent accessing it whenever they want. Thanks Kela, Verohallinto, Sisäministeriö, Finnair etc
sebovzeoueb on
that awkward moment when your OS is too enshittified even for French government IT.
On the initiative of the Prime Minister, the Minister of Action and Public Accounts, and the Minister Delegate for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Affairs, the Interministerial Directorate for Digital Affairs (DINUM) organised an interministerial seminar on Wednesday 8 April 2026 with the Directorate General for Enterprise (DGE), the National Agency for Information Systems Security (ANSSI) and the State Procurement Directorate (DAE) aimed at strengthening the collective dynamics of reduction extra-European digital dependencies. Bringing together ministers, administrations, public operators and private players, this event marks an acceleration of the French and European strategy in favour of digital sovereignty.
# A reinforced commitment from the State
In line with the recent directives communicated by the Prime Minister, in particular the circulars relating to digital public procurement as well as the generalisation of the “Visio” videoconferencing tool, **the seminar made it possible to set a clear objective: to reduce the State’s non-European digital dependencies.**
Several concrete first steps already illustrate this ambition:
* Regarding the evolution of the workstation, the DINUM announces **its exit from Windows in favor of workstations under the Linux operating system.**
* Regarding the migration to sovereign solutions, the National Health Insurance Fund announced a few days ago **the migration of its 80,000 agents** to tools from the interministerial digital platform (Tchap, Visio and FranceTransfert for the transfer of documents).
* Last month, the Government announced the migration of the health data platform to a trusted solution **by the end of 2026**.
# A collective and European dynamic
The seminar made it possible to launch a new method to get out of dependencies by forming new coalitions bringing together ministries, major public operators and private actors. This approach aims to **federate public and private energies** around specific projects, based in particular on digital commons and interoperability standards (Open-Interop, OpenBuro initiatives).
# Prospects and commitments
**The DINUM will coordinate an interministerial plan to reduce extra-European dependencies. Each ministry (including operators) will be required to formalise its own plan**Â by the autumn, covering the following areas: workstations, collaborative tools, anti-virus, artificial intelligence, databases, virtualisation, network equipment. These action plans will make it possible to give visibility to the State’s needs to the digital industrial sector, which has major assets that should be enhanced through public procurement.
The **mapping and diagnosis** of dependencies carried out by the State Procurement Department (DAE), as well as the work on the **definition of a European digital service** led by the Directorate General for Enterprise (DGE), will make it possible to refine **the quantified reduction target** with a clear timetable.
**The first “digital industry meetings”, which will be organised by the DINUM in June 2026**, will be an opportunity to concretise public-private ministerial coalitions, including the formalisation of a “public-private alliance for European sovereignty”.
Rich_Artist_8327 on
I personally changed from Windows to Linux about 6 months ago and will never go back. Linux is just so good.
SchietStorm on
Cautious YAY. We have seen this on numerous occasions already. Let’s hope it works out this time.
Scoth42 on
We’ll see if it actually happens. Usually it’s a years-long process of migration, and several of these have been attempted before and ultimately walked back (either through political machinations or issues with things like document interoperability). I remember Germany (or maybe just Munich?) made a big deal of switching to Linux starting in 2012 and ended up dropping it by 2020 with it never having been fully completed, lots of support issues, and potential shadiness from Microsoft.
Hopefully this one will actually stick.
Trajen_Geta on
I can’t wait to be able to switch also. Once gaming is fully compatible with Linux I’m gone from MS. Get me a distro that works well with my hardware and games and I am in.
uniquelyavailable on
Nature is healing
doubleohsergles on
That’s payback for that whole “Freedom Fries” thing.
AdComplete8564 on
Hell yeah, I should make the move away from microslop as well.
Less-Use6414 on
Good riddance
p4bl0 on
Sadly this article is full of misinformation. The reality is that France is replacing 250, yes two hundreds and fifty, Windows with Linux, not 2.5 millions.
I’m realy curious if this will stay so. Great if it succeeds, but i have heard this before and it didn’t go well. We’ll see
decavolt on
Au revoir, Felicia.
squidgytree on
Finally… 2027 will be the year of Linux in the desktop!
ReallyOrdinaryMan on
Switching to Linux is good but just a bandaid for a bigger problem.
If they didn’t disincentivize tech jobs in the EU, there would be couple European OS companies already. OS is just a part of bigger problem, they are 100% dependent on foreign tech companies for every tech equipment and services, and it can’t be forced by government, it would be ineffective and less secure at the end.
Narvarth on
Millions of computers could be migrated, but an audit must be conducted first. So far, only 250 computers will be been migrated at DINUM, the agency responsible for the French government’s digital transformation.
And it appears that the system is not based on Ubuntu, but on NixOS
tofagerl on
This is potentially so much better news for the Linux on Desktop movement than it is for France… The EU requirements for accessibility etc means that a huge lift will have to be done.
It’s just too bad it’s not Belgium, or we’d be seeing some lifts in i18n as well ;p
Robmarley on
Thoughts and prayers for all them IT-techs in government institutions 🫡
ntropy83 on
Nice, I have replaced windows 15 years ago with Linux.
randomzebrasponge on
Do you think it was OneDrive or Copilot that pushed France over the edge on this?
p5y on
Every ~120 years the French come up with a magnificent idea:
In 1789 they ended aristocracy
In 1905 they expropriated the Catholic church
In 2026 they replace Windows with Linux
SexualMushroom on
Can we get more post about this please?Â
Mackinnon29E on
Everyone in here saying it’s due to how shitty Microsoft is, but you know this is about security as much as anything else. Can’t trust American companies thanks to this administration…
74389654 on
i’m not an expert but so far i’ve been under the impression that it’s not necessary to replace the whole entire computer in order to use linux
xSchizogenie on
Limux is laughing
yosarian_reddit on
But they’ll lose out on AI-copilot! /s
Direct_Witness1248 on
This is great, but didn’t they also chase GOS out of the country? Weird duality.
12358132134 on
Munich did a similar thing about 30 years ago, but is yet to switch.
McChibken on
Good for them, I switched over the weekend as well. Shockingly easy these days, and with proton any game I’ve wanted to play has worked without issue
ugtug on
I have a case of deja vu.
l recall reading stories like this like a decade ago.
Charming-Clue1987 on
Every non us government and business needs to do this. Currently the us could decide to shut off too many critical computer systems.
ApplebeesDinnerMenu on
And so it begins
bacon-squared on
This is the way.
xayzer on
France dusted off the guillotine and took it out of storage for a good cause! Hope the rest of Europe follows the example.
Berlin92 on
We need to distance ourselves from America
Ldarieut on
Based on NixOS, that’s a pretty good choice for a mass deployed hardened desktop. I am pleasantly surprised by this architecture.
Few-Force-729 on
I just love how everyone in the EU doing this is going to put so much effort and energy into open source. Just how much better it’s going to get as things get smoother and there are going to be incentives for companies to put their software on Linux.
Best of all, there are going to be no pushy Windows full-screen dark patterns designed to push you towards a full Microsoft sign-in, and no insidious AI suddenly inserted into your workflow.
ThisOneTimeAtLolCamp on
If somebody told you last year that Apple was coming for the education market with cheap laptops and Linux was coming for the government market, you’d call them crazy and yet here we are.
RebelStrategist on
That’s it, I’m moving to France!
Generic_Commenter-X on
This may finally be enough of an incentive to force hardware and software makers to support linux.
zagblorg on
Good news for Linux development improving with more financial support. Probably not such good news for avoiding OS level age verification, on device scanning and real ID online by using Linux though.
50 Comments
Bye Micro-slop
Nooo poor Microsoft
Kind of a kick in the teeth to go with Ubuntu instead of Mageia or OpenMandriva, isn’t it?
Great start and I am sure more EU nations will join the movement against mircoslop.
And good news.
Linux is faster and more stability.
Tech support roles will pay premium in France to support all those government employees that never touched anything but Windows in their life.
Never thought I’d see the day that microslop FINALLY starts falling apart. I guess you can only push so many computer breaking updates and spam and malware and bullshit that hogs up your pc’s res pieces instead of optimizing them.
Bye bye microslop w France
moving towards digital independence important from security aspects, good move
Way to go France. I hope Finland would have balls also, but no we just move more and more finnish citizens sensitive data for Trump admin to access it and prevent accessing it whenever they want. Thanks Kela, Verohallinto, Sisäministeriö, Finnair etc
that awkward moment when your OS is too enshittified even for French government IT.
[numerique.gouv.fr](https://www.numerique.gouv.fr/sinformer/espace-presse/souverainete-numerique-reduction-dependances-extra-europeennes/)
English translation
On the initiative of the Prime Minister, the Minister of Action and Public Accounts, and the Minister Delegate for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Affairs, the Interministerial Directorate for Digital Affairs (DINUM) organised an interministerial seminar on Wednesday 8 April 2026 with the Directorate General for Enterprise (DGE), the National Agency for Information Systems Security (ANSSI) and the State Procurement Directorate (DAE) aimed at strengthening the collective dynamics of reduction extra-European digital dependencies. Bringing together ministers, administrations, public operators and private players, this event marks an acceleration of the French and European strategy in favour of digital sovereignty.
# A reinforced commitment from the State
In line with the recent directives communicated by the Prime Minister, in particular the circulars relating to digital public procurement as well as the generalisation of the “Visio” videoconferencing tool, **the seminar made it possible to set a clear objective: to reduce the State’s non-European digital dependencies.**
Several concrete first steps already illustrate this ambition:
* Regarding the evolution of the workstation, the DINUM announces **its exit from Windows in favor of workstations under the Linux operating system.**
* Regarding the migration to sovereign solutions, the National Health Insurance Fund announced a few days ago **the migration of its 80,000 agents** to tools from the interministerial digital platform (Tchap, Visio and FranceTransfert for the transfer of documents).
* Last month, the Government announced the migration of the health data platform to a trusted solution **by the end of 2026**.
# A collective and European dynamic
The seminar made it possible to launch a new method to get out of dependencies by forming new coalitions bringing together ministries, major public operators and private actors. This approach aims to **federate public and private energies** around specific projects, based in particular on digital commons and interoperability standards (Open-Interop, OpenBuro initiatives).
# Prospects and commitments
**The DINUM will coordinate an interministerial plan to reduce extra-European dependencies. Each ministry (including operators) will be required to formalise its own plan**Â by the autumn, covering the following areas: workstations, collaborative tools, anti-virus, artificial intelligence, databases, virtualisation, network equipment. These action plans will make it possible to give visibility to the State’s needs to the digital industrial sector, which has major assets that should be enhanced through public procurement.
The **mapping and diagnosis** of dependencies carried out by the State Procurement Department (DAE), as well as the work on the **definition of a European digital service** led by the Directorate General for Enterprise (DGE), will make it possible to refine **the quantified reduction target** with a clear timetable.
**The first “digital industry meetings”, which will be organised by the DINUM in June 2026**, will be an opportunity to concretise public-private ministerial coalitions, including the formalisation of a “public-private alliance for European sovereignty”.
I personally changed from Windows to Linux about 6 months ago and will never go back. Linux is just so good.
Cautious YAY. We have seen this on numerous occasions already. Let’s hope it works out this time.
We’ll see if it actually happens. Usually it’s a years-long process of migration, and several of these have been attempted before and ultimately walked back (either through political machinations or issues with things like document interoperability). I remember Germany (or maybe just Munich?) made a big deal of switching to Linux starting in 2012 and ended up dropping it by 2020 with it never having been fully completed, lots of support issues, and potential shadiness from Microsoft.
Hopefully this one will actually stick.
I can’t wait to be able to switch also. Once gaming is fully compatible with Linux I’m gone from MS. Get me a distro that works well with my hardware and games and I am in.
Nature is healing
That’s payback for that whole “Freedom Fries” thing.
Hell yeah, I should make the move away from microslop as well.
Good riddance
Sadly this article is full of misinformation. The reality is that France is replacing 250, yes two hundreds and fifty, Windows with Linux, not 2.5 millions.
See https://pouet.chapril.org/@lonugem/116398326787235225
I’m realy curious if this will stay so. Great if it succeeds, but i have heard this before and it didn’t go well. We’ll see
Au revoir, Felicia.
Finally… 2027 will be the year of Linux in the desktop!
Switching to Linux is good but just a bandaid for a bigger problem.
If they didn’t disincentivize tech jobs in the EU, there would be couple European OS companies already. OS is just a part of bigger problem, they are 100% dependent on foreign tech companies for every tech equipment and services, and it can’t be forced by government, it would be ineffective and less secure at the end.
Millions of computers could be migrated, but an audit must be conducted first. So far, only 250 computers will be been migrated at DINUM, the agency responsible for the French government’s digital transformation.
And it appears that the system is not based on Ubuntu, but on NixOS
This is potentially so much better news for the Linux on Desktop movement than it is for France… The EU requirements for accessibility etc means that a huge lift will have to be done.
It’s just too bad it’s not Belgium, or we’d be seeing some lifts in i18n as well ;p
Thoughts and prayers for all them IT-techs in government institutions 🫡
Nice, I have replaced windows 15 years ago with Linux.
Do you think it was OneDrive or Copilot that pushed France over the edge on this?
Every ~120 years the French come up with a magnificent idea:
In 1789 they ended aristocracy
In 1905 they expropriated the Catholic church
In 2026 they replace Windows with Linux
Can we get more post about this please?Â
Everyone in here saying it’s due to how shitty Microsoft is, but you know this is about security as much as anything else. Can’t trust American companies thanks to this administration…
i’m not an expert but so far i’ve been under the impression that it’s not necessary to replace the whole entire computer in order to use linux
Limux is laughing
But they’ll lose out on AI-copilot! /s
This is great, but didn’t they also chase GOS out of the country? Weird duality.
Munich did a similar thing about 30 years ago, but is yet to switch.
Good for them, I switched over the weekend as well. Shockingly easy these days, and with proton any game I’ve wanted to play has worked without issue
I have a case of deja vu.
l recall reading stories like this like a decade ago.
Every non us government and business needs to do this. Currently the us could decide to shut off too many critical computer systems.
And so it begins
This is the way.
France dusted off the guillotine and took it out of storage for a good cause! Hope the rest of Europe follows the example.
We need to distance ourselves from America
Based on NixOS, that’s a pretty good choice for a mass deployed hardened desktop. I am pleasantly surprised by this architecture.
I just love how everyone in the EU doing this is going to put so much effort and energy into open source. Just how much better it’s going to get as things get smoother and there are going to be incentives for companies to put their software on Linux.
Best of all, there are going to be no pushy Windows full-screen dark patterns designed to push you towards a full Microsoft sign-in, and no insidious AI suddenly inserted into your workflow.
If somebody told you last year that Apple was coming for the education market with cheap laptops and Linux was coming for the government market, you’d call them crazy and yet here we are.
That’s it, I’m moving to France!
This may finally be enough of an incentive to force hardware and software makers to support linux.
Good news for Linux development improving with more financial support. Probably not such good news for avoiding OS level age verification, on device scanning and real ID online by using Linux though.