The new guideline by the French government on the use of free software by the country's public administration, ensures sustainability, security and interoperability of IT systems and data, says Adullact, the platform for French civil servants working on free and open source software.

In a statement published on Wednesday, the organisation behind the eponymous software development platform and repository, welcomes the new policy. Adullact praises "the many civil servants who work tirelessly to convince the government that free software constitutes a common good and not a cost".

The group finds it important that the guideline emphasises that public administrations should not just use free software, "but that they should be active in and contribute to the community on which it relies."

The group is also pleased that it is mentioned as an example of how working together on new free software solutions is to make the best use of public resources.

Ten-year anniversary
"It is our hope that the administration and local authorities converge their efforts to use, develop and share open source software."

The policy was signed by France's Prime Minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault on 19 September. That coincided with the start of Adullact ten-year anniversary conference.

The organisation's software development platform currently hosts 531 software projects and has 7280 users. Adullact's free and open source software projects are federated on the European Commission's Joinup website.

More information:
Adullact press statement (in French)