14 DAY TRIAL // When they’re not eating donuts and drinking coffee, French police officers most likely search the web for tutorials on how to turn the volume off on their new Ubuntu computers.
Because starting today, the French Gendarmerie has fully embraced Ubuntu Linux, dumping Windows for the sole reason that it’s too expensive.
37,000 computers are already running Ubuntu, but all 72,000 PCs operated by Le Gendarmerie Nationale are expected to be powered by the same Linux distribution by the summer of 2014, ZDNet reports.
"Using an open-source desktop lowers the total cost of ownership (TCO) by 40 percent in savings on proprietary software licenses and by reducing costs on IT management. Using Ubuntu Linux massively reduces the number of local technical interventions,” Major Stéphane Dumond of the French Home Office was quoted as saying.
While Ubuntu is indeed a much more affordable alternative, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s more user-friendly. So I’m really curious to find out if the costs and time needed to provide assistance for 72,000 new Ubuntu users are really worth the move.