Something like 2.5 million PCs will abandon Windows in favor of Linux. This is what will happen to desktop devices used by public workers in France. On April 8, 2026, DINUM (Direction Interministérielle du Numérique), or the French body that defines and guides the state’s digital strategy, has officially communicated the abandonment of Windows in public administration workstations, announcing its replacement with Linux. How come? To reduce dependence on non-European suppliers. And this is not an experiment: the decision is already operational. Each ministry was asked to identify its technological dependencies on non-European suppliers and to present, by autumn 2026, a detailed plan for migration to open source tools.
France says goodbye to the Windows operating system for digital sovereignty
The decidedly bold choice undertaken by the Elysée revolves around the concept of digital sovereignty. By this expression we mean the ability of a State to control infrastructure, software and data without having to depend on external suppliers, especially when these belong to foreign jurisdictions. In the French case, the issue has become a priority: the Government has launched a concrete plan, with precise deadlines, to reduce dependence on US companies – such as Microsoft, the software house that develops Windows – and adopt open source solutions developed or managed in the Old Continent. This step will involve approximately 2.5 million public employees and is part of a broader strategy that includes communication, cloud and productivity tools.
And when we talk about “open source,” we are referring to software whose code is publicly accessible and can be studied, modified and redistributed. This approach reduces the so-called vendor lock-inthat is, the dependence on a single supplier that makes it difficult to change technology without incurring high costs. This is precisely one of the problems that France wants to overcome. The official decision, announced by DINUM, requires the replacement of Windows with Linux on all government workstations.
This transition does not start from scratch. Since 2008, the French Gendarmerie has been using a customized Linux distribution called GendBuntu, based on Ubuntu (one of the most popular Linux distributions). Today this system is installed on over 100,000 computers and has proven to be able to support critical operational loads. The experience accumulated over almost twenty years represents the model on which to build national migration. Furthermore, the adoption of GendBuntu has already generated significant economic savings, estimated at millions of euros per year compared to licensing proprietary systems.
The open source tools adopted and the replacement with Linus
France will adopt open source tools already consolidated and known to “free software” enthusiasts: LibreOffice, for productivity (instead of Microsoft Office); Mozilla Firefox, for web browsing (replacing Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, etc.); Mozilla Thunderbird, for email management (instead of Microsoft Outlook and similar); GIMP, for graphics and photo editing (instead of Photoshop); Tchap, for internal public administration messaging and FranceTransfert, for exchanging and sharing files.
A central element in ensuring the transition to open source will concern the adoption of adequate security systems. Technologies such as the Matrix protocol will guarantee end-to-end encrypted communications, i.e. readable only by the recipients. The unified authentication system (Single Sign-On) will allow users to access all services with a single digital identity, improving not only security but also ease of use of the software.
