When members of the French parliament and their assistants return from their summer break, they will conduct parliamentary business on PCs running Ubuntu.

Starting in June 2007, 1,154 desks will feature Linux-based PCs. During the latest IT update for parliamentary assistants, the National Assembly decided to switch from Windows to Linux, allowing the 577 parliament members to switch to nonproprietary software for the first time.

The project was won by IT services company Linagora, an open-source specialist, and Unilog. Mandriva was mentioned in several documents under consideration but was eventually dropped.

As well as using the Ubuntu software, the parliament members and their assistants will use Firefox, OpenOffice, Mozilla’s messaging client Thunderbird, and other applications.