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The Netherlands joins Europe's gradual migration from Windows to Linux on government PCs
Quoting: The Netherlands joins Europe's gradual migration from Windows to Linux on government PCs —
Something very interesting is happening over in Europe in the world of FOSS. Governments are realising that having all of their eggs in a non-EU basket leaves them susceptible to losing accounts and data due to geopolitical tensions. To tackle this, some countries are fighting to claim 'digital sovereignty', a concept where a country has control over its own digital infrastructure.
We saw Denmark's government move from Windows to Linux back in 2025, followed by France and Switzerland earlier this year. Now, it's the Netherlands ' turn to declare that it's beginning to transfer government systems from Windows to Linux.
It's FOSS:
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The Netherlands Built a Nix-Based Linux Desktop Because Microsoft Cut Off the ICC
When the U.S. government imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) in early 2025, the consequences were far-reaching yet quickly enforced.
The restrictions cut off the ICC chief prosecutor's access to Microsoft services, including email, followed by a freezing of his personal and institutional bank accounts in affected jurisdictions.
While this was happening, the Dutch government was watching, coming to the bitter realization that access to essential services depended on decisions made in the U.S.
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BoingBoing ☛ Dutch government to replace Microsoft Windows with NixOS-based operating system
The government of the Netherlands plans to replace Microsoft's Windows and other software with a custom Linux-based operating system and IT suite named DAWO (Digitaal Autonome Werkomgeving Overheid).
One more:
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Netherlands Builds Linux Government Workplace After Cloud Access Fears
Reports that Microsoft access was cut for the ICC chief prosecutor intensified European concerns about dependence on U.S. technology. That widely cited episode gave governments a concrete example of what they had quietly feared: a foreign company, operating under foreign law, holds the keys to infrastructure that public institutions depend on every day.
The Dutch government’s structured response is DAWO, short for Digitaal Autonome Werkomgeving Overheid, or Digital Autonomous Government Work Environment. Eight municipalities are currently participating in a pilot through the Association of Netherlands Municipalities, according to Tweakers’ review of the project. This is not a nationwide Windows replacement; it is a test of whether one could exist.
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Dutch government creates its own Linux-based productivity system
A new digital work environment encompasses sovereign alternatives to the Windows operating system, the Microsoft productivity suite, and cloud services.
Developers gave Tweakers, a Dutch-Belgium technology news website, a behind-the-scenes look at the Digital Autonomous Government Work Environment (DAWO), which is already implemented on a small scale at Dutch government bodies.
The system is based on the Dutch Linux distribution NixOS, which is built around the Nix package manager that runs on Linux, Unix, macOS, and Microsoft’s Windows Subsystem for Linux.
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The Netherlands is starting to ditch Windows in favor of Linux for its government systems
The Netherlands has started testing a new Linux-based environment on government computers as part of a broader effort to reduce its reliance on technology controlled by companies outside the European Union. The project goes beyond simply replacing Windows, as the country also wants alternatives for productivity software, cloud storage, backups, collaboration tools, and IT management.
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Nederland maakt soeverein alternatief voor Windows en Office op basis van Linux
De Nederlandse overheid maakt een eigen digitale werkomgeving op basis van de Nederlandse Linux-distributie NixOS. De blauwdruk voor de Digitaal Autonome Werkomgeving Overheid (DAWO) bestaat niet alleen uit een besturingssysteem, maar ook uit een kantoorpakket, samenwerkingsapps, clouddiensten en beheertools. De ontwikkelaars erachter geven Tweakers een kijkje in de keuken.
De eerste pilots lopen al in besloten kring en op kleine schaal bij Nederlandse overheden. Niet alleen Linux-voorstanders, soevereinesoftwarekenners of beveiligingsexperts zijn bezig met NixOS en de bijbehorende software. Zo is er een gemeente waar ook de gemeenteraad meedoet aan een van deze pilotprojecten. Wie doen er mee?
Via de Vereniging van Nederlandse Gemeenten (VNG) doen nu acht gemeenten mee aan een praktijkverkenning van de Digitaal Autonome Werkomgeving Overheid (DAWO). De IT-tak van de VNG, VNG Realisatie, doet zelf ook mee aan de proef. De namen van deelnemende gemeenten en hun bevindingen komen later naar buiten. In april was al bekend dat de gemeenten 's-Hertogenbosch, Zaanstad, Ede en Amsterdam meedoen aan een praktijkverkenning, waar DAWO ook in praktijk wordt gebracht. Sindsdien kijken meer gemeenten naar Linux, DAWO en open source, zoals Groningen.
Original: (in Dutch)
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Dutch Government Ditches backdoored Windows for NixOS, Following France’s Lead [Ed: This might be slop or partly slop]
The Dutch government has confirmed it is building a full replacement for backdoored Windows and Abusive Monopolist Microsoft Office, from the desktop up.
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Goodbye, Windows: The Netherlands Is Building Its Own Linux for Government
The Netherlands no longer wants Microsoft to be able to pull the plug on it, so it is pulling the plug on Microsoft instead. The Dutch government is developing DAWO, an entirely homegrown digital workplace for its agencies that runs from the operating system through office software to the cloud, with no American tech giants involved. It is built on the open-source operating system NixOS, It’s FOSS reports. Eight municipalities are already testing the system.
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Netherlands Builds Linux Government Workplace After Cloud Access Fears
Reports that Microsoft access was cut for the ICC chief prosecutor intensified European concerns about dependence on U.S. technology. That widely cited episode gave governments a concrete example of what they had quietly feared: a foreign company, operating under foreign law, holds the keys to infrastructure that public institutions depend on every day.
The Dutch government's structured response is DAWO, short for Digitaal Autonome Werkomgeving Overheid, or Digital Autonomous Government Work Environment. Eight municipalities are currently participating in a pilot through the Association of Netherlands Municipalities, according to Tweakers' review of the project. This is not a nationwide Windows replacement; it is a test of whether one could exist.
The Register MS:
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Dutch government turns to NixOS for a sovereign desktop
DAWO combines a Linux-based client with open source tools for cloud, communications, and collaborative work
Another One From (S. Rudra)
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The Netherlands Picked NixOS. France Was Already Using It
When we heard about the Netherlands' DAWO initiative, a formal mandate to replace outside software across Dutch public institutions with a NixOS-powered platform, we asked ourselves: How could France miss out on this?
Turns out, they didn't. DINUM, the country's Interministerial Directorate for Digital Affairs, has been running its own NixOS-based workstation setup on internal machines for months now.
The Hacker News:
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No More Windows For The Dutch Government, Ze Kiezen Nu Linux
The events of the last few years have caused many in Europe to re-evaluate their reliance on large offshore technology companies, with a corresponding move to home-grown EU-based alternatives. It’s one thing when individuals or companies do this, but another entirely when it’s an entire country. So the news that the Netherlands is building their own Linux distribution to replace Microsoft Windows in government installations, is not inconsequential. The Tweakers site linked actively breaks out of Google Translate, so you may have to rely on your browser’s translation tool if you are not a Dutch speaker.
The Digitaal Autonome Werkomgeving Overheid, or Digital Autonomous Work Environment, is a distro based upon NixOS, itself originally a product of a Dutch university. It comes complete with all the office and collaboration applications needed to replace Windows, and is reported to have been tested already by a small group of Dutch government workers.
The influence of this move is likely to be a huge one for Microsoft, given that governments have huge numbers of operating system seats. But perhaps more important than the OS itself are the extras that Microsoft would like to sell to its OS customers, such as AI services. We’d expect that there will be managers in Redmond paying close attention to Europe in the wake of this move.
TNW:
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The Dutch government is building its own Linux desktop on NixOS
The Dutch government is building its own open source workplace for civil servants, with a desktop operating system built on the Linux distribution NixOS. Eight municipalities are now testing the project, called DAWO, Dutch tech site Tweakers reported last week.
DAWO stands for Digitaal Autonome Werkomgeving Overheid, or Digital Autonomous Government Work Environment. Its blueprint covers an operating system, an office suite, collaboration apps, cloud services and management tools. The Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations develops it, according to the project’s website. The code for the NixOS client sits in a public government repository.
TechSpot:
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The Netherlands is building its own Linux OS to break free from Microsoft
European countries are increasing efforts to build sovereign digital infrastructure to replace Microsoft and other US-based solutions. The Dutch government is even working on its own Linux distribution because The Hague is reportedly tired of Washington's threats against EU-based institutions.
The Dutch government is trying to solve its digital sovereignty problem with its own Linux operating system. A local source recently highlighted the development efforts being poured into NixOS, a Linux distro that originated as a package manager created by Dutch developers. The idea is that US-based software solutions, most notably Microsoft's, would eventually be replaced by this new OS and open-source productivity solutions.
Nix is a package manager with a few peculiar features, including cross-platform compatibility and its own functional programming language for configuring Unix and Unix-like systems. The tool was first released in 2003, and NixOS debuted three years later. The Linux distro is built around Nix and is currently supported by the Dutch nonprofit organization NixOS Foundation.
Korben:
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The Netherlands is building its own state Linux to ditch Windows
Since spring, eight Dutch municipalities, Amsterdam among them, have been testing a Linux workstation developed by the government itself, with the openly stated goal of replacing Windows across the country's entire administration.
The project is called DAWO, short for Digitaal Autonome Werkomgeving Overheid, an autonomous digital work environment that covers everything from the operating system to the cloud and email, and which the Ministry of the Interior has officially been running since July.
Pasquale Pillitteri:
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The Netherlands Builds Its Own Linux to Ditch Windows
Eight Dutch municipalities, including Amsterdam, have been piloting DAWO since this spring, a digital workspace built directly by the state to replace Windows across the entire public administration. The Dutch Interior Ministry has led the project since July, with a stated goal of cutting reliance on Microsoft by 2027.
Linux Magazine:
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Dutch Government Turns to Open Source for Digit...
The Dutch government is hoping to solve a serious problem with the help of Linux. The problem in question is data sovereignty, and the solution might be its own Linux distribution. The Hague is building its own Linux distribution that would allow it to finally rid itself of the dependency on US-based software solutions, especially those from Microsoft.
The new distribution, named Digitaal Autonome Werkomgeving Overhaid (Digital Autonomous Work Environment, DAWO), would be based on NixOS, as (according to TechSpot) development efforts are being poured into it. The main appeal of NixOS is the Nix package manager, thanks to its cross-platform compatibility and unique programming language. Both Nix and NixOS are at the foundation of the DAWO project because they include all of the necessary tools required to build sovereign IT infrastructure.
DAWO's efforts began when Dutch authorities chose to standardize its creation of a nationwide IT ecosystem, focused on accessibility. The first of DAWO's pilot programs have already been deployed to smaller environments, but the goal is for widespread adoption that will encompass the entirety of Netherland's institutions.