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

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2026 is set to be l’année de Linux.

French politician on a laptop
(Image credit: Getty Images / NurPhoto)

France is accelerating its digital sovereignty plans. In an official press release this week, the country’s DINUM announced its “exit from Windows in favor of workstations running on the Linux operating system.” (machine translation).

The DINUM is an important section of the French state, headed by the Interministerial Directorate for Digital Affairs, so this will mark a key changeover in the machinations of government, eliminating U.S.-based commercial interests from workstation computers. We assume some French flavor of Linux will be adopted to satisfy the stated objective of migrating to sovereign solutions. Joining the DINUM in this mission for digital sovereignty are France’s Directorate General for Enterprises (DGE), the National Cybersecurity Agency of France (ANSSI), and the State Procurement Directorate (DAE).

Moving to Linux is described as one of three “concrete initial steps” that have recently been committed to, to reduce France’s extra-European digital dependencies. The plan is expected to be formalized in the fall. By then, stakeholders should know what “workstations, collaborative tools, antivirus software, artificial intelligence, databases, virtualization, and network equipment” will be needed to move ahead with this digital sovereignty initiative.

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Last month, the French government also “announced the migration of the health data platform to a trusted solution by the end of 2026,” says the source press release.

French politician on a laptop

(Image credit: Getty Images / NurPhoto)

We know why – but why?

French Ministers are very keen on reducing reliance on technologies that depend on or are controlled by outside interests. “We must become less reliant on American tools and regain control of our digital destiny,” wrote David Amiel, a Minister of Public Action and Accounts, in a statement pinned to the above-linked PR. “We can no longer accept that our data, our infrastructure, and our strategic decisions depend on solutions whose rules, pricing, evolution, and risks we do not control.” It is interesting to see Amiel single out the U.S. for his statement about how the French state “must break free.”

Anne Le Hénanff, Minister Delegate for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Technology, echoed Amiel’s sentiments by asserting that “Digital sovereignty is not an option, it is a strategic necessity."

One wonders whether the growing cultural rift between the U.S. and its traditional European allies has added momentum to the digital sovereignty movement in France.
The implications for software and services businesses across the Atlantic don’t look great. As a leading member of the EU, France’s decisions and direction can exert a strong influence on others in the bloc. Moreover, if the move to Linux is seen as a success, it could also influence other government departments, and organizations that work closely with the government, and so on, all the way down to individual users.
Perhaps 2026 is set to be l’année de Linux?

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Mark Tyson
Mark Tyson
News Editor

Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom's Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.

47 Comments Comment from the forums
  • scottsoapbox
    The US’ recent instability has consequences.

    On the upside, these shifts are going to help Linux finally hit critical mass.
    Reply
  • ezst036
    This is good news.
    Reply
  • DS426
    Good for them! Hopefully this will also embolden others to make the switch.
    Reply
  • Lieutenant Barclay
    Vive la France! The corporations have too much worldwide control, particularly US tech companies like Microslop. The French are literally doing us (les États-Unis) a favor by making this decision.

    I hope they don't backtrack on this but does anyone think MS execs are just gonna say "oh, OK, France. We won't bother trying to change your mind"? MS is a trillion dollar bully. The minute this news broke, there were bilingual lobbyists all over France getting urgent text messages to "activate" like mercenaries in a Bourne movie :LOL:
    Reply
  • ThisIsMe
    With all sincerity, good luck with that! You’ll need it.

    The fact that they said they are switching to “the Linux operating system” is already a death flag. The fact that they think it’ll provide digital sovereignty or autonomy or whatever is another.

    Used strategically, it’s a great idea. Whatever these so called leaders are throwing at the wall, not so much.
    Reply
  • USAFRet
    Maybe it will work out better than it did in Munich.
    https://www.zdnet.com/article/linux-not-windows-why-munich-is-shifting-back-from-microsoft-to-open-source-again/
    Reply
  • JamesJones44
    I support anything that leads to the death of Windows
    Reply
  • bigdragon
    Microsoft has entirely way too much influence and control over the future of the PC ecosystem. I think it's smart for France to dilute some of Microsoft's power by relying more on Linux. The big question is do they rely on something like Red Hat or try to create their own distro? I think picking a big player in the Linux space is smarter than trying to go it alone.

    I think more countries need to follow France's lead here. The tech world is entirely way too consolidated. Control is focused in too few companies. The EU has been willing to force companies to drop proprietary physical interfaces to tech products. Hopefully the EU will do more of the same in the software space to help Linux act as a check on Windows that Microsoft cannot ignore.
    Reply
  • COLGeek
    While I personally applaud what France and Germany (again) are doing, it is unrealistic to assume it will change anything that MS does.

    If you don't like Windows, then use something else. Easy. Not without drawbacks in terms of mainstream uses, but there are certainly options.
    Reply
  • ezst036
    bigdragon said:
    The big question is do they rely on something like Red Hat or try to create their own distro? I think picking a big player in the Linux space is smarter than trying to go it alone.
    This will be key.

    Governments in the past have moved from Windows to more or less Linux From Scratch and then found themselves in way over their heads.

    France doesn't necessarily have to choose Red Hat as that might just be re-arranging the corporate deck chairs on the titanic but they will surely be avoiding a disaster such as LiMux if France chooses a well established player maybe along the lines of Mint or Arch so they do not have to do every last bit of the work themselves.

    If France rolls their own distro we all can expect a disaster and a French Windows re-migration in their future. I do not wish it on them but past behavior is the best predictor of future events.
    Reply