The French parliament has chosen
Ubuntu to
power the desktop computers of its representatives and their assistants.
Parlement
Français is to dump Windows for the Linux distribution on 1,154 desktop
systems before the start of the next parliamentary session in June.
The systems will also adopt a series of open source tools to run the
OpenOffice
productivity suite that is bundled with most Ubuntu downloads, as well as the
open source
Firefox
browser.
The move will be considered a boost for French open source developers.
France
Telecom, IT services firm
Bull
and
INRIA,
a computer sciences research institute, were the driving force behind the
ObjectWeb open source consortium.
But the ObjectWeb group has struggled to gain traction internationally, and
merged with Orientware in January to form
OW2.
Ubuntu is a desktop Linux distribution which has proved popular with computer
enthusiasts. The software is based on
Debian and
is sponsored by
Canonical.
The distribution is different from
Novell's
SuSE in
that it provides free downloads of executable code, and allows anyone to support
the software.
Red Hat
does not offer a desktop Linux distribution and requires a paid subscription for
the download of executable files of its server software. Novell offers SuSE as a
free download, but charges a subscription fee for updates.
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