EU and its contries are pro open source and I fucking love it.
this post was submitted on 19 Apr 2025
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Haven't they also been trying to put back doors into everything for the last decade?
EU is democratic, which also means everyone can propose a law. Never have EU put a backdoor into anything, but its true that there have been law proposals for it.
Never voted through.
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I wonder if we could get EU to take over some states if we got enough votes to secede in some areas.
EU could potentially make a group category like for Norway or Switzerland, and then take in other countries all around the world to cooperate more and stand together with the EU on some issues.
Canada would be a great candidate. Maybe even Australia, but I dont really know anything about their politics.
Just make a cool kids UN and you're all set. With blackjack and hookers.
It does kind of feel like the UN could use a refresh. In particular, the veto powers given to certain countries feels bad. There may be good reasons for that system, but the system is not good - and the details of the reasons have definitely shifted over time such that the choice of countries with veto power is now highly questionable.
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To be clear. This is a government agency endorsing the software as safe and effective. So bureaucrats and employees can't be reprimanded they use them.
This isn't the French Prime Minister announcing the country will cancel Microsoft Office subscriptions and build a fund to support FOSS projects. Gimp has nowhere near the ressources they actually need.
VIM..? Safe..?!
Once you start Vim, you don't even need to activate the lock screen when you leave your desk. Ain't no-one going to be using that machine for anything nefarious any more.
It's still nice! A bit of recognition, legitimacy, and although it's not funding, it might be a small step towards it. I see many great works, that stand tall on their own. More eyes will only make them shine even brighter.
Thanks, Fr*nce.
The full list: https://code.gouv.fr/sill/list
Hold on. That page does not list VLC or KeePass. Is there more info about this other than the list? Or is the info in the title of this post incorrect?
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I see now. The page does not list VLC or KeePass, but those two both do come up if you put them into the search box. The software listed on the page is a very long list, but it is apparently on the 'most popular' stuff - not the entire list. (Although it is strange to see a heap of niche stuff, and stuff I've never heard of on the 'most popular' list while VLC doesn't make the cut.)
I'm not sure this list is a very strong endorsement by the French Government. It seems to just be listing free software options, and then asking other people to sign up to say which ones they use.
Probably due to it being a media player vs a list of productivity apps?
I feel like most would forget about VLC until they notice the traffic cone is missing.
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An open source package that would replace adobe would be a game changer.
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Redis is also on the list, but not Valkey. Gitea is on the list, but not Forgejo. Still nice to see governments endorsing the open-source-ish software they know and FOSS principles, though!
I imagine the list will be dynamic. Those projects might be on a list somewhere, just haven't been vetted yet by their standards. Start with the source projects, then dive through the forks.
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Do they also fund these projects?
They are not only no funding but largely not using it in practice and letting most public institution spent billions in Microsoft Office 365 contract
Probably a lot like the actual users of (F)OSS: Not really :p
That's kind of quote cool for a government to do IMO.
The "english" setting does nothing.
just the way the French like it
If they really want to boil our piss, put "English (American)" as the only option. Or or, a little American flag next to "English". Oo, I'm engaging myself right now.
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The SILL About page translated explains the list :
https://code.gouv.fr/sill/readme
Why this catalog?
The socle interministériel de logiciels libres (SILL) is the reference catalog of open-source software recommended by the French government for use throughout the administration.
This catalog helps administrations find their way around the open-source software they are encouraged to use, in line with Article 16 of the French Law for a Digital Republic
The first thing any government should do is move away from ms office.
The 2nd thing they should do is fund and contribute to a distro and begin the transition from windows.
Hopefully the French will also endorse Fedora, Red Hat, and Valve's SteamOS. Microsoft is a huge security issue, since it isn't clear whether MS would bend to DOGE's whims. The NLRB and other aspects of the US government had DOGE set up accounts, which were accessed within 15 minutes by Russia.
Why RedHat? I thought it's a bad version of Linux and generally disliked (similar to Broadcom and ESXi).
Why not prefer something based on Debian. As it's being regarded as very stable I don't feel like it would interfere with the employees daily job as they don't need a cutting edge distro like arch.
So, I love Debian, and it's an excellent distro.
But personally something like suse makes more sense, it's more user friendly and is so German it's painful.
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on another note.. Microsoft export their software and OS to almost every one of our users' pc while US doesn't buy any of our OS. Using Trump logic of fairness, we need to tariff US, to balance the trade deficit.
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Well, that's just about as good news as can be in the current tech climate, in particular considering programs like VLC and KeePass are getting this visibility.