French Lawmakers Hope to Inspire Linux Revolution

Having recently moved to France, I was surprised by how many people are comfortable with Linux (especially Ubuntu; I've had so many conversations with non-technical people about how they use it instead of Windows) and how common it is to see people using it in public (netbooks and laptops alike). It's not a surprise that the government is becoming more comfortable with the idea of OSS as well.

Why must a push for Linux always be touted as political and/or economical? Why couldn't it just be an openness issue? I see no compelling reason, at all, why government should use proprietary software.<p>...a government of the people, by the people, for the people, run by software of the people, by the people, for the people...

500k/euros over 5 years savings? Sounds like a waste of time just talking about it.<p>Did they actually factor in the actual costs of switching folks over?<p>It's going to take more than a couple 50k/year employees to support a massive upgrade.<p>On the other hand, I think that Linux is close enough to being ready for public consumption.