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this post was submitted on 23 Aug 2026
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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A good majority of European countries have switched to Linux or FOSS solutions for governments or militaries.
France's federal police have been using Linux for over 15 years now.
Well every single time an article is posted about Germany, it turns out it's a single state and that they reverted a few years later.
And here in Estonia, government departments are actually trying to get their private contractor companies to switch to Teams for "ease of communication". That's how bad it is. Yes, the official stance is "we'll see about using FOSS more", but that's not reality.
I suspect a good majority of European countries still use Microsoft on most of their government computers. France and Denmark are making the move, but not sure if anyone else is unfortunately.
You're thinking of the story about Munich from over a decade ago. And that story is more complicated than the media does it justice for.
But to summarize Munich: they did a pilot switching to Linux. It went very well and started a full rollout. Microsoft jumped in with money under the table and promised to setup a new Microsoft HQ in Munich for switching back to Windows. New government came in and said "uh, no. We're not ditching Linux and our very successful pilot." So now it's mostly a hybrid setup.