The collection of “Marianne” by Jean-Louis Debré at the Constitutional Council in 2009. Photo: ShrimpMan / Wikimedia Commons / CC by-sa
The Ministry of Transformation and the Public Service publishes this February 8 an action plan “free and common digital software”, “piloted by a new” center of expertise free software “, formed within the Etalab department of the DINUM “. Its objectives are to “better know and use free software and digital commons in the administration, to develop and support the release and opening of its source codes and to rely on free and open source software to strengthen the attractiveness of the State as employer for digital talents, in particular by promoting public contributions to the projects and communities concerned.
More than ten years after the Ayrault circular “Use of free software in the administration”, and despite the fierce lobbying of the tech giants, are we finally making progress?
“Better know, use and design free software”
In this context, it is a question of better knowing, using and designing free software and digital commons: “(via the LABEL mission of DINUM)
Reference free and open source solutions (in the GouvTech catalogue).
Referencing free software and digital commons significantly used in the administration and developing the exchange of internal expertise there (in the interministerial base of free software – SILL), including these actions:
> Highlight significantly used free and open source libraries;
> Reuse source codes developed by other administrations;
> Promote and support the administration’s contribution to the free software and digital commons it uses;
> Monitor software digital commons to detect opportunities to use them and contribute to them, particularly for sovereignty issues.
To follow the implementation of this action plan, see the site communes.numeriques.gouv.fr/.
Free increases sustainability
One will profit from reading this article from the Public Actors site, “For the State, free software rhymes with digital sobriety”, which indicates a note (PDF](by Pierre-Yves Gibello, CEO of OW2) “produced for the “ Free Software Council” set up by the interministerial digital directorate (Dinum)”, for which “there is no doubt that the use of free software increases the durability of computers, smartphones and other connected objects”.
This Free Software Council, says journalist Emile Marzolf, “is made up of representatives of the various public entities: Information Systems Security Agency (Anssi), Dinum, State Intangible Heritage Agency (Apie), ministerial digital and their data and source code administrators, Cnil, DGFIP, but also the Agency for the mutualization of universities and establishments (Amue) and the Association of developers and users of free software for administrations and local authorities ( Adullact). The various organizations involved in free software are also associated, such as the associations Code for France, Software Heritage, April (Association for the promotion and defense of free software), or even the National Council for Free Software, as well as Mozilla.
In summary, this briefing note states:
“The durability of hardware generally exceeds that of software, whose dynamic renewal quickly makes previous versions obsolete: some hardware can even become unusable, due to a lack of software allowing it to be used. This dynamic is sometimes aggravated by deliberate practices of planned obsolescence, but exists even in their absence.
Free software-enabled hardware fills this gap, with third-party developers providing alternative software to run the hardware to the end of its physical existence.
This free software is generally the subject of professional support or commercial offers packaged with hardware, and therefore constitutes an economic sector, which is reinforced by the social and solidarity economy (ESS), which is very active in the reuse of hardware.
Free software is therefore a factor in increasing the durability of hardware, but also sustainability in the ecological (reduced impact) and economic sense (increasing sectors intensive in local employment, by synergy between companies / SSE / communities).
Read also
Digital Commons and Free Software in the National Education Strategy – January 30, 2023
The GAFAMs in France: lobbying aided by a weak or seduced state – 23 December 2022
The National Digital Council affirms its support for Free Software – October 23, 2022
Digital sovereignty and free software: a Senate report calls on the State to be more proactive – October 14, 2019