French National Assembly Embraces Open Source

eldavojohn writes "The French National Assembly is in the news as they have recently switched to Linux, OpenOffice.org & open source software at the request of several deputy members. Bernard Carayon wrote it it into the proposal entitled 'On Equal Terms' [French PDF]. From the article, 'IT staff at the National Assembly have almost six months to prepare the switch to open source.' The same document urged France to adopt ODF as a standard. Hopefully things go more smoothly for them than the Birmingham library effort."

Comments

a good but somewhat strange move....

[bedonnant]

...considering that the assembly recently voted the infamous DADVSI law on copyrights etc. remember when there were talks here on slashdot about a global licence for music and everything? well, everything got thrown out, and the so-called "Universal" amendments were brought in. Universal referring to the music magnate of the same name. Essentially, it is illegal in France to distribute or even promote software that "obviously" aim at sharing copyrighted material. Downloading and sharing mp3s is still assimilated to counterfeiting and thus theoritically punishable by up to 300 000 fines and some years in jail. Other amendments are so clearly incompatible with OpenSource practices that many companies, associations, and experts have repeatedly sent petitions and warnings. To no avail. And today the assembly annouces it will run Linux. Maybe they will realize that in order to view DVDs legally bought, one has to circomvent protections (which is illegal according to the DADVSI law). As a Frenchman though, I welcom this annoucment even though it is a small joy after the DADVSI fiasco. At least the inner workings of our democracy will not depend on a foreign company's goodwill.

Re:a good but somewhat strange move....

[Conti]

What you probably don't know is the fact that even if sharing copyrighted material is forbidden in France (as in the US), there's one big difference... The justice is asked not to deal with that issue. I mean, you almost have to do a living out of copying copyrighted material to risk being sued. There're several reasons for that: - the department of justice has already enough *real* issues to deal with (real criminal activities), - suing individuals would reduce internet expansion in the country, which is a priority of the government. In France, one can often see large ads in the streets made by ISP. Those ads often explain how much *MOVIES* or *HOURS OF MUSIC* one can download with the available bandwidth. ;)

Re:Well...

[Anonymous Coward]

I guess now we'll have to stop making fun of the French... ~:->

Cradle-to-grave healthcare for all citizens, regardless of their income or employment status.
Trains that go 200 MPH.
76% percent of the country's electricity generated from safe, clean, and abundant nuclear power.
Free online services -- years before the Internet.

Tell me -- why were you making fun of the French in the first place?

Mod parent down

[alexhs]

Mandriva is as close to a French national distro as Red Hat is an american national distro or SuSe a german national distro.
Red Flag is state-founded, others aren't.

Please inform yourself before commenting or moderating inappropriately.