French government says it's ditching Windows for Linux - country accelerates plans to ditch US-based software in digital sovereignty push

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Apr 10, 2026,
updated Apr 22, 2026

2026 is set to be l’année de Linux.

Read on

Half a dozen more:

• 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.

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

• Even the French government is switching to Linux now in a bid for 'digital sovereignty' | PC Gamer

  This is an attempt to "reduce the state's extra-European digital dependencies."

• France Dumps Windows for Linux in Push for Tech Independence | The Tech Buzz

• Good News! France Starts Plan to Replace Windows With Linux on Government Desktops

  DINUM is ditching Windows for Linux as France pushes every ministry to draft a migration plan away from non-European software.

• French government abandons Windows: state-owned PCs are switched to Linux • Межа

  The French government has announced that it is ditching Windows for Linux on civil servants' computers, a move that continues its digital sovereignty drive to replace US software with alternative solutions.

XDA:

• France's government is ditching Windows for Linux, calling US tech dependence a strategic risk

  As open-source tools begin to catch up with their proprietary cousins, people are realizing they're handing over far more control to businesses than they probably need to. After all, when two apps essentially do the same thing, but one is open-source, and the other can cut you off from its service on a moment's notice, it's hard to justify using the latter.

  Now, the French government has decided that enough is enough. It has announced that it will shift away from proprietary technologies from outside the European Union and focus more on open-source solutions — and part of that means ditching Windows for Linux.

This topic is now being heavily targeted by chatbots/spam: thenextweb.com (TNW) Appears to Have Become a Slopfarm, Fake Articles About France and GNU/Linux Flood the Web

Probably slopfarms:

• France Will Leave Windows and Switch to Linux Operating System

• France to replace Windows with Linux

• France Ditches Windows for Linux to Break Free from American Tech Dominance

• France to Ditch Microsoft Windows as Europe’s War on American Tech Rages On

• France Government Transitions to Linux and Sovereign Domestic Systems to Ensure Digital Sovereignty

• France to Replace Windows with Linux on Government Desktops

• The French government is migrating workstations to Linux.

• France seeks to switch government computers from Windows to Linux

• France has Formally Launched a Nationwide Transition from Windows to Linux.

• France Just Kicked Microsoft Off 2.5 Million Government Devices – Here’s Why

More legit articles:

• France to replace Windows with Linux across key government systems

  The country now plans to move some of its government systems away from Microsoft Windows and toward Linux, an open-source operating system.

  Officials see the move as part of a larger push to secure national infrastructure and limit exposure to foreign tech providers.

  The change will begin within France’s digital agency, DINUM. Authorities have not shared a full timeline.

• The Growing Push for Digital Sovereignty

  Bednar references “Underground Empire” by Henry Farrell and Abraham Newman, a book about the coercive technical and bureaucratic power of the United States. I read it last year and I, too, recommend it. About a year before, I read “The Brussels Effect” by Anu Bradford, which covers the ripple effect of European Union regulations worldwide. I think reading both books is an interesting study in contrasts.

Lots more and some seem to be LLM slop:

• France Will Leave Windows and Switch to Linux Operating System

  The French government announced that they will abandon Windows, Microsoft's operating system (OS). Instead, they will switch to the Linux system.

• French government says “au revoir” to Windows, will use Linux instead

• France to adopt Linux to reduce reliance on US technology

• France Linux Transition: Government to Replace Windows, Curb US Tech Dependence

• France Orders Full Shift From Microsoft to Linux by 2026 Under Digital Sovereignty Push

• French Government Ditching Windows For Linux To Reduce Digital Dependency On US Tech

• Why one of Europe's biggest governments is abandoning Windows for Linux

• France Announces Government Linux Migration Strategy to Reduce U.S. Tech Dependence [Ed: Seems to be slop]

  France's Interministerial Digital Directorate (DINUM) has announced a transition from Microsoft Windows to Linux across government workstations. Each ministry must submit detailed migration plans by autumn 2026 as part of efforts to enhance digital sovereignty and cut dependence on U.S. technology providers.

More here:

• France starts moving government systems from Windows to Linux

  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.

gHacks:

• France Picks GNU/Linux to Replace backdoored Windows Across Government Ministries

  France's interministerial digital directorate, DINUM, has ordered government ministries to assess their reliance on outside EU technology and create exit strate

ZDNet:

• France is replacing 2.5 million Windows desktops with Linux - and I mapped out its new stack | ZDNET

  Officially, we don't know what France's forthcoming Linux desktop will look like, but this is what my sources and experience tell me to expect.

More Updates:

• France goes FOSS, opts for Linux instead of Windows for government computers - Notebookcheck News

  Au revoir, Microsoft.

  France's government is officially switching from Windows to Linux for its computers in a countrywide shift to exorcise non-EU technology. The direction interministérielle du numérique (DINUM) stated that it will get rid of Windows "in favor of workstations running Linux operating systems" (translated from French).

  The French government is working toward "reducing extra-European digital dependencies," which essentially means it will opt for Euro-centered software, or software that is developed within the Eurozone. DINUM is pushing for government departments to fully transition away from "extra-European digital dependencies" by this fall.

• France’s digital agency dumping Windows desktops for Linux

  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.

• 'Regain control of our digital destiny': France to ditch Windows for Linux to reduce reliance on US tech

  France is set to move all government desktops from Windows to Linux as part of a nationwide strategy to cut costs and reduce reliance on US tech giants.

  The initiative, led by the Interministerial Directorate for Digital Affairs (DINUM), will require all ministries to submit their own migration plans by autumn 2026, with IT bodies like DINUM kickstarting the migration before other bodies.

  "DINUM will coordinate an interdepartmental plan to reduce non-European dependencies," DINUM said in an announcement.

How Microsoft propaganda site reacts:

• Switcher 2026: Some Thoughts About France, Linux, and Digital Sovereignty

More here:

• Risky Bulletin: France takes first steps to ditch Windows for Linux

  The French government is taking its first major steps to ditch Windows for Linux and reduce its dependency on US tech for local European alternatives.

  The first department to bite the bullet will be the French Inter-Ministerial Directorate of Digital Affairs (DINUM). The agency is the unofficial IT department for the French government, and this is very likely a test of how a migration could happen at a larger scale.

  The decision was announced last week at a seminar between several French government ministries, which also pledged to prepare plans for their own migrations and the alternatives they might need.

• France Replaces Windows With Linux In Major Open Source Push

  France has begun replacing Windows with Linux through DINUM, expanding open-source tools across communications, productivity, and cloud systems to cut reliance on US vendors and strengthen digital sovereignty.

  France has formally launched one of Europe’s most significant open-source public-sector migrations, with its Interministerial Directorate for Digital Affairs (DINUM) beginning the transition from Microsoft Windows to Linux across key government systems.

Several more for today:

• Au revoir, Microsoft: French government switches to Linux

  France is officially saying goodbye to Microsoft products. As part of a nationwide strategy to displace technologies originating outside the European Union, the country’s government has initiated a switch from Windows to Linux for its computer systems.

  The French government is embarking on a large-scale migration from Windows to Linux. The move is part of a broader strategy aimed at weaning itself off non-European digital services and reducing its technological dependence on foreign countries, especially the United States.

• BoingBoing ☛ France to replace Windows with Linux as wariness of U.S. grows

  Europe and the U.S. are frequently at odds with the second Trump administration, but governments and companies there are heavily dependent on U.S. technology. France announced plans to switch from Microsoft Windows to Linux as part of a shift toward European digital services. The transition is already underway, the government says.

  [...]

  Of all the things Trump has done since returning to office (threatening Danish sovereignty in Greenland, assassinating and capturing world leaders, threatening to leave NATO) one in particular appears to have gotten Europe moving on digital independence: U.S. tech giants participating in sanctioning judges on the International Criminal Court. The ICC imediately announced it would cease use of Microsoft Office and switch to European open-source alternative, citing the risk of weaponized U.S. tech.

• Why is France moving from Microsoft Windows to Linux

  As part of this shift, the government has set a clear objective: reduce extra European digital dependencies across all state operations. One of the most concrete steps announced is the transition of government workstations away from Windows to Linux-based systems.

  Other measures are already underway. The national health insurance body has begun migrating its 80,000 staff to state-approved digital tools, including secure messaging and file transfer platforms. In parallel, authorities confirmed plans to move the country’s health data platform to a trusted sovereign solution by the end of 2026.

• Abandoning Windows, blocking Teams, 80,000 people urgently migrating. The French government announces "de-Microsoftization" and a full switch to Linux.

  When a country suddenly decides to switch a large number of government computers from Windows to Linux, do you think it's a "technological upgrade" or a "political signal"?

  France's answer is: it's both, and the latter is more important.

  In the past few weeks, a series of seemingly scattered policies are piecing together a clear picture - from abandoning Windows and switching to Linux, to comprehensively replacing collaboration tools and rebuilding data platforms, France is systematically promoting an unprecedented "digital de - dependence campaign".

Very late:

• France to remove Windows from government computers in sovereignty push

  The plan was announced on 8 April by the Interministerial Directorate for Digital Affairs, the body that manages IT systems across ministries and public administrations. It involves changing the core software that runs thousands of state computers.

  Windows, owned by US company Microsoft, is the most widely used computer operating system in the world. Windows 11 alone powers more than 1 billion computers worldwide.

  Linux is a free system developed in Finland in 1991, and is open-source, meaning anyone can use, modify and share it.

Late from Wallen:

• France Says "Au Revoir" to Microsoft

  In a move that should surprise no one, France announced plans to reduce its reliance on US technology, and Abusive Monopolist Microsoft backdoored Windows is the first to get the boot.