“We migrated key functions from Windows to Linux because we needed an operating system that was stable and reliable -- one that would give us in-house control. So if we needed to patch, adjust, or adapt, we could.”
The use offree software instead ofproprietary software can give institutions better control over information technology. A growing number of public institutions have started a transition to free-software solutions.[citation needed] This grants independence and can also address the often-argued[by whom?] need for public access to publicly funded developments. This is the only way[citation needed] that public services can ensure that citizen data is handled in a trustworthy manner since non-free software doesn't allow total control (or even knowledge) over the employed functions of the needed programs.[citation needed]
See also :List of Linux adopters andList of BSD adopters
In 2009, theGovernment of Assam state made open source a part of its State IT Policy of 2009. While not mandated, its usee is encouraged, and emphasis are given to companies who use FOSS during partnership.[3][4][5]
TheGovernment of Kerala, India, announced its official support for Free/Open-Source software in its State IT Policy of 2001.[6] This was formulated after the first-ever free-software conference in India, "Freedom First!", held in July 2001 in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala, where Richard Stallman inaugurated the Free Software Foundation of India.[7] Kerala's Government's support for Free Software in 2001 is perhaps the earliest instance of a Government supporting the use of Free Software.
Under the IT@School project the government ofKerala has adopted free and open sourced software for the schools.[8]
In January 2010, theGovernment of Jordan announced that it has formed a partnership withIngres Corporation, a leading open-source database-management company based in the United States that is now known as Actian Corporation,[9] to promote the use of open-source software starting with university systems in Jordan.[10][11]
Malaysia launched the "Malaysian Public Sector Open Source Software Program", saving millions on proprietary-software licences till 2008.[12][13]
In 2005,Vienna migrated fromMicrosoft Office 2000 toOpenOffice.org and fromMicrosoft Windows 2000 toLinux.[14][15]
In 2025, in an effort to increase digital sovereignty, Denmark'sMinister for Digital Government announced that the Danish government would move away from Microsoft Office to LibreOffice.[16]
In March 2009, TheNational Gendarmerie announced that it will totally switch toUbuntu by 2015.[17][needs update] The Gendarmerie has adopted OpenOffice.org,[18] Firefox and Thunderbird. In 2018, a state-operated Matrix network has been deployed.[19]
As of June 2007[update], theNational Assembly of France has had plans to migrate to Linux, OpenOffice.org and Firefox.[20][21]
In 2020, Germany's armed forces commenced using Matrix for internal communications, creating their own application based upon Element.[22]
In 2018,Germany's police replacedWhatsApp byMoka, a fork ofConversations made by Daniel Gultsch.[23]
In 2003, The GermanCity of Munich announced its intention to switch fromMicrosoft Windows NT-based operating systems to an open-source implementation ofSuSE Linux,[24][25][26] In June 2004, after a pilot project run by SuSE Linux and IBM there was a final approval for the migration.[27] On 14 April 2005, the city decided to migrate to Debian from a commercial Linux distribution.[28] An adoption rate of 20% was achieved by 2010.[29]
In late 2002,Schwäbisch Hall migrated its 400 workstations to Linux.[30] The factors leading to migration were cost, better security, escape from the treadmill of vendor-driven upgrades.
After a successful pilot project, the state of Schleswig-Holstein announced on April 2024 that the public administration is migrating the PCs of 30,000 employees to free, open-source systems.[31] The migration consists of switching to Linux operating systems, the open document file format ODF, Libre Office, Thunderbird and Nextcloud, among other software.[32] The state government published in November 2024 its "Open Innovation and Open Source Strategy" and gave the order to begin the migration in the Spring of 2025. The objective of this decision is to have "digital sovereignty with open source", "trust and transparency" on their IT resources and promote its "regional digital economy".[33] At the end of 2024 the first requests from the government to the migration providers are already finished for some departments, like: macro migrations, PDF export and accessibility fixes, and trainings. Some of these improvements have already been merged upstream and released on Libre Office latest versions.[34]
In 2000, the PortugueseVieira do Minho Municipality began switching to free and open-source software.[35]
IOSSPL is a free and open source software used for public libraries in Romania.[36]
In 2017, The City ofBarcelona started to migrate its computer systems away from the Windows platform . The City's strategy was first to replace all user applications with open-source alternatives, until the underlying Windows operating system is the only proprietary software remaining. In a final step, the operating system replaced with Linux.[37]
In 2017, the city ofSault Ste. Marie, Ontario, opened up most of its new internal software development efforts to reduce its own software costs, and increase collaboration with other municipalities looking to solve similar problems.[38]
In September 2006, theCommonwealth of Massachusetts announced its formal adoption of the OpenDocument standard for all Commonwealth entities.[25]
In February 2009, theUnited StatesWhite House moved its website to Linux servers usingDrupal for content management.[39]
In August 2016, theUnited States government announced a new federalsource-code policy. This policy mandates that at least 20% of custom source code developed by or for any agency of the federal government must be released asopen-source software (OSS).[40] In addition, the policy requires that all source code be shared between agencies. The public release is under a three-year pilot program and agencies are obliged to collect data on this pilot to gauge its performance. The overall policy aims to reduce duplication, avoid vendor 'lock-in', and stimulate collaborative development. A new websitecode
The government ofArgentina launched the programConectar Igualdad (Connect Equality), throughANSES and theMinistry of Education (Argentina) launched during the presidency ofCristina Fernández de Kirchner, that gave kids on public schools free laptops to use for educative purposes. By default, it came withHuayra GNU/Linux, a free and open-source Linux operating system developed by the Argentinian technology ministry, based on Debian, using theMATE Desktop.
The government ofBrazil migrated from Microsoft Windows to Linux.[43][44] In 2006, theBrazilian government also encouraged the distribution of cheap computers running Linux throughout its poorer communities by subsidizing their purchase with tax breaks.[25]
In April 2008,Ecuador passed a similar law, Decree 1014, designed to migrate the public sector to Libre Software.[45]
In 2005, theGovernment of Peru voted to adopt open source across all its bodies.[46] The 2002 response to Microsoft's critique is available online. In the preamble to the bill, the Peruvian government stressed that the choice was made to ensure that key pillars ofdemocracy were safeguarded: "The basic principles which inspire the Bill are linked to the basic guarantees of a state of law."[47]
In 2004, a law inVenezuela (Decree 3390) went into effect, mandating a two-year transition to open source in all public agencies. As of June 2009 this ambitious transition is still under way.[48][49]
