France Votes to Expand Open Source Use

Credit-Eric Pouhier\Wikipedia\CC BY-SA 2.5French voters voiced strong support for a proposal that will see the country’s government expand the role of free and open-source software in a national referendum on technology called the Digital Republic bill. More than 147,000 people voted on the Digital Republic bill’s 662 accepted proposals, and two open-source measures were the second- and third-biggest vote getters.

One proposal called for France’s schools and universities to use GNU/Linux software, and end Microsoft’s dominance in the sector, while the other was a more general call for the government to embrace free and open-source software in its operations. (The leading proposal was one urging the government to clear the regulatory field for the eSports industry.)

Other big vote-getters covered some of the Internet’s most contentious issues, as measures to protect personal data, Net neutrality, and the right to encryption all made the top 10. The Digital Republic bill was open to changes for a period of 20 days, and it now goes to a French high court, followed by the Cabinet, for final approval...