GendBuntu: How France’s Military-Police switched 100,000+ PCs to Linux

Submitted ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨Ek-Hou-Van-Braai@piefed.social⁩ to ⁨technology@lemmy.world⁩

Thought I'd share a success story.

France’s National Gendarmerie (military police) rolled out GendBuntu, their own custom Linux OS
* Around 35,000 desktops/laptops deployed by December 2011, and today 97% of 103,000+ PCs run GendBuntu
* They started by replacing Office, IE & Outlook in 2005, then moved to Ubuntu in 2008, achieving a 40% reduction in total cost of ownership
* The switch slashed annual license and maintenance costs by millions of euros (~€2 M per year and ~€50 M total) .

The switch away from big Tech to Open Source alternatives might not be easy, but it's been successfully done before.

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Comments

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Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
I use Arch de Triomphe, BTW.

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- ikidd@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Magnifique.
  
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- pastermil@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Nice.
  
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- Trebuchet@europe.pub ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Magnificent.
  
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masterofn001@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
It could have been gend’ARM64 or gend’Arch,BTW.

But they chose that.

Oh well, it’s the year of the Linux desktop, I’ll forgive them.

For now.

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- lnxtx@feddit.nl ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Gendoo
  
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- cygnus@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  “GendBuntu” is an atrocious name, and it doesn’t sound good in French either (perhaps even worse). I don’t know why they insisted on referencing Ubuntu in the name. GendarmOS would have been fine, or GendarmeSE to be more correct.
  
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  - merde@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    gendarme from “gens d’armes” to “gens d’ubuntu” (people of ubuntu) which, pronounced quickly would become “gendbuntu” is ok for an os name for gendarmerie
    
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FundMECFSResearch@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Me a FOSS advocate who hates the French police and army trying to choose what emotions to feel:

Image

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einlander@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/GendBuntu

www.slideshare.net/slideshow/…/43013966

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- ckmnstr@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  
  This has become one of the major incentives of the scheme for staff; transferring to GendBuntu from a proprietary system means the staff member receives a new computer with a widescreen monitor.
  
  Smart! What I wouldn’t do for me equipment…
  
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anachrohack@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Is anyone else unable to click the link?

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- Ek-Hou-Van-Braai@piefed.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  There aren't really news articles about it that I could find, only info in Wiki.
  
  So I thought I'd share so more people are aware of it
  
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  - anachrohack@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    No it’s fine the post title just sounded like a new article haha
    
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badbytes@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Frabuntu sounds better IMHO.

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