EU and its contries are pro open source and I fucking love it.
this post was submitted on 19 Apr 2025
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Haven't they also been trying to put back doors into everything for the last decade?
EU is democratic, which also means everyone can propose a law. Never have EU put a backdoor into anything, but its true that there have been law proposals for it.
Never voted through.
😍 they know the good stuff
Nobody should ever use the internet without uBlock Origin.
To be clear. This is a government agency endorsing the software as safe and effective. So bureaucrats and employees can't be reprimanded they use them.
This isn't the French Prime Minister announcing the country will cancel Microsoft Office subscriptions and build a fund to support FOSS projects. Gimp has nowhere near the ressources they actually need.
It's still nice! A bit of recognition, legitimacy, and although it's not funding, it might be a small step towards it. I see many great works, that stand tall on their own. More eyes will only make them shine even brighter.
Thanks, Fr*nce.
The full list: https://code.gouv.fr/sill/list
Hold on. That page does not list VLC or KeePass. Is there more info about this other than the list? Or is the info in the title of this post incorrect?
[edit]
I see now. The page does not list VLC or KeePass, but those two both do come up if you put them into the search box. The software listed on the page is a very long list, but it is apparently on the 'most popular' stuff - not the entire list. (Although it is strange to see a heap of niche stuff, and stuff I've never heard of on the 'most popular' list while VLC doesn't make the cut.)
I'm not sure this list is a very strong endorsement by the French Government. It seems to just be listing free software options, and then asking other people to sign up to say which ones they use.
I approve of all these except GIMP.
GIMP is just terrible.
Do they also fund these projects?
They are not only no funding but largely not using it in practice and letting most public institution spent billions in Microsoft Office 365 contract
The "english" setting does nothing.
just the way the French like it
It changes the UI text of the website, such as filters, titles, and sorting options, but not the descriptions.
I can't decide which is worse, a functioning language switch that never included English for the descriptions (which is the only text I actually need translated) or a broken language switch. The way it switches languages is also quite odd, as if it's asking, 'Are you sure?'"
EU governments are probably the only path to mainstream adoption for desktop Linux. If they all did it and invested in the features they needed, it could provide a valid option for mainstream office use.
Redis is also on the list, but not Valkey. Gitea is on the list, but not Forgejo. Still nice to see governments endorsing the open-source-ish software they know and FOSS principles, though!
To be fair, I know redis and gitea (barely, gitlab is way more popular) and not the other two. Enterprise support and name recognition are quite important for government usage.
Valkey was created recently as Redis changed their license, having clauses which made the user choose between being “discriminatory against users of the software that use proprietary software within their stack, as the license requires the open-sourcing of every part interacting with the service, which under these circumstances might not be possible” or being non-commercial. Forgejo was created when Gitea decided to go the JetBrains route a few years ago. It’s since absorbed Gitea’s clout.
Redis allows a third option, a commercial license.
Yeah, and you have to pay for that. Lots of open source software have enterprise support and usage limit licenses but having to pay for something isn't open source. I am personally ambivalent at non-commercial licenses but I agree that the restriction against using proprietary software with Redis in commercial usage is kinda bad.
Of course you have to pay for a commercial license, it's in the name. Development, tooling, support, etc, all costs money.
I like the distinction. If you want to profit from open source, make your code open source. If not, pay up.
Sorry, I didn't see the notification for some reason. The SSPL would prohibit people from running Redis from Windows, as Windows is proprietary. That forces them to use the source-available RSAL.
I don't think that's correct. It maybe prohibits people from building a service to offer redis to third parties on Windows, but you can run redis in your stack on whatever OS you want, as long as what you are building is not "redis as a service". So any end-user SaaS that just uses redis as a cache is not bound to section 13.
And even if you built a redis as a service, the operating system is not explicitly mentioned in the license, so it would be for a lawyer to say whether that's required...
Well, it's how I would interpret it, especially for Windows being a violation of section 13 (a little less for whether section 13 applies when you just use Redis: one could argue it applies to dynamic sites that really require fast responses as part of its feature set, which has to use something like Redis). It's also an issue that nobody has interpreted the license in court yet.
Agree on the court, but the wording is super specific. Doesn't matter if you couldn't build it without a redis-like component, because of the speed or whatever, it is targeting "offering the program as a service". There's even an FAQ on the mongodb (SSPL authors) site regarding this. Unless your program is just a proxy to access redis, you're fine.
I feel like it qualifies under
offering a service the value of which entirely or primarily derives from the value of the Program or modified version
Doing it fast is essential and a core part of many services' value, I'm sure.
You have a point regarding the FAQ but I do not see that written in the license. This is a problem that would only be granted in case MongoDB/ElasticSearch/Redis sues someone for internal use and I think that's a borderline risk too much to take.
That wording is pointing to reselling the program or the same functionality. Of course if your service is "fast key based data retrieval" it would violate the definition, but something like "low latency gaming notifications" would not, because the value is gaming notifications, something redis doesn't offer. Same as if your service uses encryption in transit, you're not just reselling openssl.
I know prohibiting reselling is what they probably intended. But that doesn't mean they can't push a different and very valid interpretation when they want to.
you're not just reselling openssl.
The wording—"primarily derives from"—is much broader than "just". I believe that Resque's dependence on Redis is enough to satisfy "primarily".
Well, I don't believe so, but as you said it's ultimately for a court to test it.
The SILL About page translated explains the list :
https://code.gouv.fr/sill/readme
Why this catalog?
The socle interministériel de logiciels libres (SILL) is the reference catalog of open-source software recommended by the French government for use throughout the administration.
This catalog helps administrations find their way around the open-source software they are encouraged to use, in line with Article 16 of the French Law for a Digital Republic
The first thing any government should do is move away from ms office.
The 2nd thing they should do is fund and contribute to a distro and begin the transition from windows.
Surprised to see docker there after the rugpull they did some time ago.