French Parliament Votes To Give Priority To Free Software

An anonymous reader writes "The French Parliament just wrote into law the first instance of Free Software priority in a public service, by adopting the Bill on Higher Education and Research. [Advocacy association April], after extensively contributing to the debate, especially welcomes this vote and congratulates Deputies and Senators for recognizing the importance of Free Software in the Public Service for Higher Education, since it alone can ensure equal access to the future public service. April hopes that this first step will be followed by other legislation in favor of Free Software. It also thanks all the persons who mobilized and contacted the Parliament Members."

Comments

About time

[GPLHost-Thomas]

Priority is nice, though mandatory would be even better.

Re:About time

[Bert64]

How so? Keeping their IT spending local is likely to improve their economy, at the expense of foreign countries that they would previously have bought software from...

Makes sense

[EzInKy]

Free, open source software is much more educational by its very nature than closed source shit. One can't learn from source that one can't read.

Re:Makes sense

[ozmanjusri]

Who cares?

Even if it's available to the merely curious, at least it helps demystify some of the most ubiquitous tools of our time. Children should be encouraged to know what's happening behind the scenes as well as how to use their apps.

Kids don't magically morph into CS students overnight.

Re:Makes sense

[Bert64]

The root cause of this is that those who learned to program before college did so because they were interested in the subject and usually sought out the information themselves...
Those who first learn in college generally have no personal interest in the subject beyond getting a job, and so they invest the minimum required effort in order to get paid and not fired, same as anyone else who's doing a job they don't enjoy.

Re:What about on its own merits?

[WindBourne]

Good point. BUT, I think that is exactly the case. They are just saying that do not want the MS type ppl running around lobbying and buying their pols. Considering that MS and others have worked closely with NSA, and very likely that are loads more backdoors inside windows, it would make sense.

Re:What changed

[lxs]

Not so long ago corporate shill Sarkozy was voted out and leftist Hollande was voted in.
In some countries a change of government does mean a change of policy.

This reminded me to check on Munich...

[ls671]

Started in 2004, it still seems to be going well at first glance:

http://www.zdnet.com/no-microsoft-open-source-software-really-is-cheaper-insists-munich-7000010918/

Nevertheless, French Army confirmed MS contract

[alci63]

A few weeks before this vote, the French Army confirmed a global contract with Microsoft, despite advise not to do so by a security commission, for technological and strategical independance reasons. Lobbies are still here, be reassured !

Words, but also actions?

[Errol backfiring]

The Dutch government has put all kinds of open-source-friendly laws into place as well, but does not even abide their own laws, especially when it comes to open source software. So I am waiting for the news that the French actually DO switch to open source software instead of just saying they will.

Re:Free or open source?

[Anonymous Coward]

Free software = logiciel libre. Libre => liberté.
In French, there is no ambiguity between libre and gratuit.

Re:Actually, it's the wrong thing.

[JaredOfEuropa]

It also wins on ass-covering, which is a real benefit in business nad government. If there are issues with a well known piece of proprietary software, you can always blame the software vendor or even the implementer. If a FOSS-based project fails, you take the fall for taking a chance on "some free crap developed by a bunch of hippies", even if the project is implemented by a 3rd party. It's the old adage: no-one has ever been fired for choosing IBM. Proprietary software is a safe choice.

Re:Actually, it's the wrong thing.

[Bert64]

No it doesn't, the license agreement on proprietary software provides no warranty whatsoever on the software, you have exactly the same ability to seek redress from the vendor as you do with open source - none.