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French Police Save Millions Switching To Ubuntu
Posted by
timothy
on Thu Mar 12, 2009 02:04 PM
from the justified-disdain dept.
from the justified-disdain dept.
Ynot_82 writes "The French national police force, the Gendarmerie Nationale, has spoken about their migration away from the Windows platform to Linux. Estimated to have already saved the force 50 Million Euros, the migration is due to be completed on all 90,000 workstations by 2015. Of the move, Lt. Col. Guimard had this comment: '"Moving from Microsoft XP to Vista would not have brought us many advantages and Microsoft said it would require training of users. Moving from XP to Ubuntu, however, proved very easy. The two biggest differences are the icons and the games. Games are not our priority."'"
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Games are not our priority (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Games are not our priority (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:Games are not our priority (Score:5, Informative)
... but solitaire and minesweeper are great training for stakeouts ;-)
Doesn't the default version of Ubuntu have both? Mine does along with Chess, Othello, Tetris, Sudoku, Mahjongg, Blackjack, and a few others.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Yes, by default Ubuntu includes several more games than Windows. I'd consider them better games also.
Re:Games are not our priority (Score:5, Informative)
Come on, how much better can minesweeper or solitaire be?
Well, the minesweeper's basically identical, but Aisleriot solitaire (the default Gnome solitaire game) comes with 80 different solitaire variants, which beats the 3 or so that come with windows by a good ways. I personally like Hopscotch.
Gnome also comes with something like 17 games by default, and you can install hundreds more if you want them without even opening a web browser. I will grant that the networked hearts/spades games in XP are something I would like to see an equivalent to in Ubuntu.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Not to mention the fact that you can install a lot more from the repositories
Re:Games are not our priority (Score:5, Funny)
In fact, solitaire really is great training for using a mouse. Time and again I have seen novice computer users of all ages, who would otherwise struggle with the mouse, become quite proficient after only an hour or so playing solitaire.
Now if they could just be gotten to stop playing solitaire afterwards, they could move on to other lessons.
Parent
Re:Games are not our priority (Score:5, Interesting)
Fortune is good for teaching people how do web programming.
Make it show Fortune.
Make it format pretty.
Keep clicking reload, and keep making it prettier. :)
I actually put it back into my personal site. I got the BOFH excuses fortune file, so whenever someone needs an excuse, they can just click.
"Power Company having EMP problems with their reactor" :)
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Run away or I shall taunt you a second time (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Run away or I shall taunt you a second time (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Fetchez la vache!
*Microsoft* surrenders! (Score:5, Funny)
The IBM PC was a hamster wheel, and MS-DOS smelled of Elderberries...
And what is the air velocity of a chair thrown by a CEO?
Parent
Go France! (Score:5, Insightful)
Now if only state and federal agencies in the US would do some of the same. Sadly, so long as corporations are allowed to lobby, the pork train will probably continue.
Re:Go France! (Score:5, Funny)
Hey, it's not "pork", it's an "economic stimulus".
Parent
Re:Go France! (Score:5, Insightful)
Honestly, not supporting a business that resides in your nation during the current state of the economy is a pretty bad thing for the government to do.
But which companies to support? Red Hat is based in the USA as are many other Linux-based companies. The thing is, when you keep buying things from a certain company just because its made in the USA, you help monopolies and deny justice. Why would the justice department pass a ruling on MS if everything they use is MS based and in the short term it would cost more money to switch?
The point is that the government should be helping to foster the development of it's own economy by investing into it.
But why support a company convicted of running an abusive monopoly? Sure, if it was cheaper to do it the MS way it might make some sense, but compared to Linux, MS is very expensive for little to no quality benefit. By buying MS products governments are helping MS build an even larger monopoly along with effectively tying the hands of judges in monopoly cases.
Parent
Re:Go France! (Score:5, Insightful)
In this case, for instance, the contention is that a government agency can save millions of dollars by using Linux. Millions of dollars saved is millions you don't have to collect in taxes, or millions that you can do other things with(depending on whether you think the organization in question should focus on present level of service, controlling costs, or present level of cost, improving service).
If a government can actually save money by using linux, then their using Windows amounts to overtaxing their citizens for the benefit of a private corporation. That is bad.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Go France! (Score:5, Interesting)
Defense has additional and different concerns than other areas of government. They need to make sure that even if a war broke out with a country that you and I buy components from, the military can still source the components to build what they need. If that means keeping a less efficient industry in business in the States, consider it an expensive insurance policy.
It makes perfect sense, but it's also a bit funny when you consider that DOD itself is just an enormous insurance policy. Or at least, it should be...
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Except they won't be saving the money, it's going to go to some other crazy project.
What, like educating children, feeding the poor, healing the sick and looking after the elderly and infirm?
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
In some cases, I would agree. However this is an issue of a police force saving money, not just spending money differently. They could easily use local support agencies for their Linux and it would still help drive the economy.
I'd rather they save money and redistribute it as needed rather than going for the more expensive option for the sake of it.
The other problem with the car thing, is what cars are actually made in Canada? Each of the big 3 only make about 6 different vehicles in Canada, and none of
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Duh (Score:5, Funny)
Free is cheaper. Who knew?
Re:Duh (Score:5, Interesting)
Except for most of the suits I've dealt with at my last two companies. We keep talking about the need to save money and cut costs, so we lay people off. When I show them articles how IBM saved over 100 million dollars last year migrating more Windows systems to Linux, they balk at the notion. We literally use everything from Office 97 to 2007 here, and we can't share documents internally. We had a big crisis when departments couldn't work together on a budget, because no one could open each other's files.
I suggested OpenOffice to several execs, and not a single one would consider moving away from Office. It is just unthinkable. They keep insisting they want everyone on the same version of Office (and we have Mac users with Mac Office) but they won't buy new Office 2007 licenses for everyone. They want a solution that is free, but they are terrified of free software.
Instead, they'll cave and buy more Office 2007 licenses, and fire more people to make up the difference.
Parent
Re:Duh (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Re:Duh (Score:5, Interesting)
They aren't run by idiots. They're run by selfish bastards. There's a big difference.
An idiot will make you fill out form 22/B in order to get a new stapler because he doesn't know of any other solution. A selfish bastard will make you fill out form 22/B in order to get a new stapler because he wants to save money on staplers and knows that most people won't take the time unless they really really need one.
This may seem like the effects are similar, but they aren't: the idiot, when he hears of a more efficient way, will at least consider changing it or at worst be very confused. The selfish bastard, when he hears of a more efficient way, will fire the guy who made the suggestion for undermining his authority. It's a difference between Dogbert and the PHB.
Parent
Read the original report - you'll feel much better (Score:3, Funny)
According to Guimard the move to open source has also helped to reduce maintenance costs.
Keeping GNU/Linux desktops up to date is much easier, he says.
"Previously, one of us would be travelling all year just to install a new version of some anti virus application on the desktops in the Gendarmerie's outposts on the islands in French Polynesia.
A similar operation now is finished within two weeks and does not require travelling.
Aaah... government work.
Not only do they find an exceptionally complicated way to solve a simple problem - they don't know when to keep their mouth shut when it goes in their favor.
Traveling around French Polynesian islands [wikipedia.org] updating anti-virus software for living?
Why yes. It is MUCH better to sit in some windowless room instead.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
People lack the balls to make such a big change.
Remember 'Noone got fired for choosing Microsoft' is a famous line the higher up IT guys like to wave around. Fact of the matter is that noone ever got fired for choosing open source either. It's poor implementation of any solution that gets people fired.
French Police Save Millions Switching To Ubuntu? (Score:5, Funny)
"French Police Save Millions Switching To Ubuntu."
Jesus Christ! Windows was killing millions of people in France?!?!
Re: French Police Save Millions Switching To Ubunt (Score:5, Funny)
Jesus Christ! Windows was killing millions of people in France?!?!
Why do you think they call it the 'Blue Screen of Death'?
Parent
Re: French Police Save Millions Switching To Ubunt (Score:5, Funny)
And why do you think the French sigh of exasperation is "sacre bleu"?
Parent
Re: French Police Save Millions Switching To Ubunt (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re: French Police Save Millions Switching To Ubunt (Score:5, Funny)
Not just in France, the summary says Euros, so people all over Europe.
Parent
Applications already migrated (Score:4, Insightful)
What the summary doesn't mention, but is worth noting, is that they were already using open source programs where possible---Firefox, Thunderbird, OOo. Now I think their migration is wonderful, but I suspect it might have been somewhat more difficult if users were asked to adjust to new programs, as well.
Re:Applications already migrated (Score:5, Informative)
They migrated their applications first, as part of a phased rollout, aimed at being a first step before the migration to Linux.
So the users did migrate applications, it just wasn't at the same time as changing operating system.
Parent
Re:Applications already migrated (Score:5, Insightful)
What the summary doesn't mention, but is worth noting, is that they were already using open source programs where possible---Firefox, Thunderbird, OOo. Now I think their migration is wonderful, but I suspect it might have been somewhat more difficult if users were asked to adjust to new programs, as well.
Of course it would have been more difficult. That just means they did it right, switching to Free applications first then to the Free OS. They probably saved money in the first step as well as the second, and lowered the burden by doing it phased rather than dumping it all on the users at once.
Parent
For information (Score:3, Informative)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
So now you have a project plan (Score:5, Interesting)
1: Switch your applications to Open Source.
2: Switch your operating systems.
And ironically, the best way to switch people away from Windows is to port free and open source applications to the platform.
Parent
No, that's not what they did (Score:5, Informative)
They saved millions by migrating 90,000 desktops to OpenOffice, they have migrated only 5,000 desktops to Ubuntu, they plan for 15,000 by the end of 2009, and 90,000 by 2015. (IIRC).
The title of the article, and the title of the slashdot posting is inaccurate - the savings are real, but the reason was not Ubuntu - it was OpenOffice.
Re:No, that's not what they did (Score:5, Funny)
The title of the article, and the title of the slashdot posting is inaccurate...
What's your point?
Parent
There are 2 separate national police force (Score:5, Informative)
Actually, there are two separate national police forces in France.
The Gendarmerie Nationale [wikipedia.org] is, (adapted from Wikipedia):
The Police Nationale [wikipedia.org] is, (adapted from Wikipedia):
Mandriva? (Score:4, Interesting)
Minor correction (Score:3, Informative)
Gendarmerie Nationale is a branch of the French army, and are not the police. One major difference is that they are allowed to shoot to kill, while the police is not allowed to shoot even after they get shot at and are injured.
Re:did i read that wrong? (Score:5, Funny)
Yes.
I did have to pause a moment to think millions of what? Initially I thought people.
Parent
Re:Allies? (Score:5, Funny)
So can we now call Linux the Allies coming to save France? I didn't want to 'call' the other side of that.....
No! No, way! You absolutely, positively are NOT going to trick me into saying that Microsoft is the Axis of Evil! Do you have any idea how fast I'd be modded down by the Microsoft fanboys? Forget it! I'm not doing it!
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
I think he was rather referring to Godwin's law. [wikipedia.org]
Re:Mandriva snubbed? (Score:5, Informative)
First, a small precision: The Gendarmerie Nationale is not exactly the French national police (called Police Nationale in French), but an armed force (the fourth french armed force, after infantery Armée de Terre, navy = Marine Nationale, air force = Armée de l'Air). The small difference between Gendarmerie & Police is that Gendarmerie members are exactly soldiers (with strict military discipline).
In practice, Gendarmerie tend to work in rural or semi-rural areas, while Police tend to work in urban zones (actually, there exist some kind of competition between Gendarmerie and Police, which gives interesting french thriller films and books) And they have different legal abilities. For example, in some limited cases, a Gendarme can legally shoot his gun first, while in principle a Policier (policeman) can use his gun (policemen and gendarmes are armed with guns) only for self defense (but IANAL so I may be wrong).
Gendarmerie is centralized and military, so it was easy to order them to switch at once to Linux [no training needed; just an official order from a high-rank official]. And I hear their IT department was strong enough to customize (without subcontractors) some Ubuntu distribution to the exact needs of Gendarmerie (which includes access to some peculiar databases). This could be an explanation of why Gendarmerie did not need any support from Mandriva.
But Mandriva still has several French state contracts, including even research contracts on collaborative projects.
Disclaimer: I do work sometimes with Mandriva on collaborative research projects (such as GGCC [ggcc.info]).
Parent
Re:Sadly, "thanks" is all those programmers will g (Score:5, Informative)
no
they donated their code.
if they wanted to get paid for their code, they should have not donated their time.
Parent
Re:Pretty easy? (Score:5, Interesting)
How much training have you received in using the apps that you use 90% of the time?
Just curious.
I don't know anyone who has received formal training in how to use their email client, web browser, word processor, or presentation software. If they don't
know how to do something, they simply ask peer who does.
Parent