Mandrake wins big French Government Contract

http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2002-06-21- 015-26-NW-MD-PB

'This new contract enables MandrakeSoft to provide Linux software and related services to an increasing number of government agencies. The adoption of Mandrake Linux is expected to have a powerful impact in helping to increase the quality of government while also providing MandrakeSoft an important boost in status.

The UGAP contract is guaranteed for a two-year period. UGAP is the French procurement agency for more than 28,000 public establishments. The agency also provides services to private corporations that have public service missions. UGAP works with public establishments (such as schools, universities, town halls, research groups, etc.) to reduce costs by offering large-volume purchasing and by providing access to special products & services with partners such as

That's exactly what I say Sam.

I use Debian and their irc and usenet support is excellent.

Depends on what the contract covers. I may include porting inhouse applications to Linux.

Matthew Gardiner

It's a FRENCH company ... no surprise there.

Tsu Dho Nimh

Yes, just as the German government went with SuSE. No surprise.

The surprise is that they *ordered* the gov. agencies to go open source and cut the M$ line.

I think the recent experiment with Linux in Mexico failed for doing just as you suggest. It is a world where most people don't use computers at all, and those that do probably use some form of MS. The paradign shift is quiet painful and will be resisted. Deploying several hundred thousand copies of Linux requires a lot of handholding, training, documentation, and leadership. It pays off in the end, but the road has lots of bumps.