France launches DINUM plan to reduce dependence on American software

This is a plan to reduce dependence on American software.

French officials are rolling out what is described as the biggest effort in recent years to cut reliance on United States software. The initiative was reported a few days ago, and further details have now emerged.

DINUM-led move away from Windows, Microsoft, Google and Apple

Under a programme driven by France’s Interministerial Directorate for Digital Affairs (DINUM), public bodies will progressively move off Windows and other Microsoft solutions, as well as services from Google and Apple. In their place, departments are being steered towards European and open alternatives, including Linux.

What the migration covers across France’s digital infrastructure

The plan is not limited to desktop machines. It extends to the whole digital stack: collaboration and security systems, databases, AI tools, virtualisation, and network equipment. Ministries have been instructed to produce transition road maps by autumn, while the first steps for co-operation with the private sector are due to be discussed as early as June.

Priority European replacements: Tchap, Visio and FranceTransfer

Among the headline substitutions are French and European services, including the Tchap messenger, the Visio video solution, and the FranceTransfer platform for exchanging documents.

In parallel, the EU is developing its own equivalents to office suites and cloud tools, reflecting a broader push for digital sovereignty and reduced dependence on large American ecosystems.

France has previously introduced Docs, positioned as an alternative to Google Docs for collaborative work and text processing, usable either offline or in the cloud. The government of Germany’s Schleswig-Holstein state has announced plans to switch from Microsoft Teams to LibreOffice, an open-source alternative to Microsoft Office. In October, the International Criminal Court said it would move to a similar package, OpenDesk. France has also announced a switch to Visio, and last month a European consortium announced a fork of OnlyOffice called Euro-Office.

Scandals involving Microsoft and other US technology companies have also fuelled increased interest in Linux. Popular distributions that are still maintained include:

• Fedora
• ParrotOS
• Tiny Core Linux
• elementary OS
• Kali Linux

Linux gaming support has improved markedly in recent years as well: Bazzite and CachyOS can run most Windows games, often delivering higher performance.