The big picture: European governments have long sought to reduce their dependency on non-European (i.e., American) software. While individual municipalities and government sectors have recently begun switching to homegrown options, France's latest announcement signals a broader shift away from tools such as Windows, Microsoft Office, Zoom, and Google Docs.
Linuxiac reports that France's Inter-ministerial Digital Directorate (DINUM) has revealed a roadmap for shifting the country's government systems away from non-European software. This includes switching from Windows to Linux and adopting various European-developed apps.
The switch to Linux applies to desktop operating systems, but ministries across France's government have until this fall to formalize plans to reduce their dependence on non-European tools in other areas. These include workstations, collaboration, security, AI, databases, virtualization, and network equipment.
DINUM specifically mentioned homegrown tools such as the Tchap messaging service, Zoom alternative Visio, and FranceTransfer for document transfers. The directorate will hold its first meetings to outline public-private partnerships in service of the initiative in June.
The announcement marks the biggest sign so far that European governments intend to reduce their reliance on American tech companies such as Microsoft, Google, and Apple. The European Union has repeatedly attempted to regulate big tech in recent years.
France accused the US last year of attempting to undermine the enforcement of the Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act, which are aimed at forcing the biggest companies, particularly Apple, to adhere to interoperability and fairness rules. Openness and interoperability have been consistent themes of European digital sovereignty initiatives, as France and other governments have gradually rolled out or switched to open-source tools that US tech giants do not control.
Along with Germany, France unveiled Docs last March, a Google Docs alternative for collaboration and offline or cloud-based word processing. Later that year, the government of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein announced plans to switch from Microsoft Teams to LibreOffice, an open-source alternative to Microsoft Office. In October, the International Criminal Court announced a shift to a similar suite called OpenDesk. France also announced its switch to Visio in January, and a European consortium announced an OnlyOffice fork, called Euro-Office, last month.
Controversies surrounding Microsoft and other US tech companies have led to increased interest in Linux. Popular distros that still receive support include Fedora, ParrotOS, Tiny Core Linux, elementary OS, and Kali Linux. Linux gaming options have also improved dramatically in recent years, with Bazzite and CachyOS able to run most Windows games, often with better performance.