French Government to Switch to Free Software within Four Years

The French government’s audit office, the Cour des comptes, has recommended that central administrations and ministries switch to free software within four years for office and collaboration programs. The audit office’s investigation focused on the state administration and decentralized services. The office software of eleven ministries includes around 861,000 IT workstations.

The corresponding expenses rose from 67 million euros in 2021 to 100 million euros in 2025, representing a 50% increase. Of the 2025 budget, 61 million euros went to licenses, with 80% going to Microsoft and Bleu, 26 million euros to IT services, and 13 million euros to internal personnel costs.