France’s digital directorate dumping Windows desktops, adopting Linux instead

France’s Interministerial Directorate for Digital Affairs (DINUM) will drop Windows desktops, and adopt Linux instead.

DINUM announced the swap last week during an interministerial seminar that saw several government agencies try to create momentum for development of sovereign technologies that reduce France’s dependence on non-European technology.

A government statement about the seminar included a quote from Minister of Public Action and Accounts David Amiel to the effect that “The State can no longer simply acknowledge its dependence; it must break free. We must become less reliant on American tools and regain control of our digital destiny.”

The statement cited DINUM’s plan to develop avideoconferencing platform called “Visio”, designed to help France’s government break free of American tools like Zoom, Teams, Webex, and Google Meet, as one example of a step towards sovereign tech.

It then revealed another: DINUM binning Windows and adopting Linux.

France’s ...