Au Revoir Microsoft!

The French police are moving to Open Source in a big way. They are converting some 70000 desktops from Windows XP to Ubuntu Linux. This follows a previous effort to transition off Office applications and browsers in 2005 and 2006. –

There are three reasons behind the move, Geraud said at the Solution Linux 2008 conference here. The first is to diversify suppliers and reduce the force’s reliance on one company, the second is to give the gendarmerie mastery of the operating system and the third is cost, he said.

He also added that “the Linux interface is ahead of other operating systems currently on the market for professional use.”

Vista, for example, Microsoft’s latest operating system, is being spurned by consumers who cite “concerns about its cost, resource requirements, and incompatibility with their existing applications,” according to InformationWeek.com.

Geraud explained that the move to an open source operating system was logical after the police switched in 2005 to open sourcing for its office applications and in 2006 for its Internet browsers and its email.

The move away from licenced products is saving the gendarmerie about seven million euros (10.3 million dollars) a year for all its PCs.

The savings in $10m a year has to be a delicious side benefit. The Open Source movement is not even breathing hard yet. Most of the ThirdPipe companies we are aware of are using Open Source as part of their competitive advantage to get into the market. Even established telecom giants are using Linx and embedded Linux in R&D.

Linky.