Dutch government launches DAWO, NixOS-based alternative to Microsoft platforms
The Netherlands builds an open-source workplace for public administration with modular components that can be inspected and replaced.
What to know
- The Netherlands launches DAWO, an open-source workplace platform built on NixOS as an alternative to Microsoft, designed with modular, inspectable components rather than monolithic software.
- France and Germany are pursuing parallel initiatives (Securix/Bureautix and openDesk respectively), reflecting a broader European push for digital sovereignty and independence from US technology giants.
- The project emphasizes public-private collaboration and transparency, with code split across multiple repositories and organized across different government and open-source institutions.
- Community discussion identifies fragmentation concerns and terminology confusion, while acknowledging NixOS's advantages for reproducible, maintainable government systems.
The dispute Whether the Dutch government's track record on surveillance and data protection issues (eIDAS, car spyware) undermines trust in this initiative as genuinely privacy-focused. · positions read across 52 posts and comments
This is a welcome move toward digital sovereignty and away from abusive US technology practices.
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“Any move away from the abusive big tech that exists in USA is a good move in my book.”
askonomm · Hacker News ↗
The project is fragmented across repositories and organizations, making it difficult to understand and trust its direction.
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“it all looks quite fragmented still from what I can see, especially now that it's also split across GitHub and CodeBerg”
ritzaco · Hacker News ↗
Dutch government credibility is questionable given past positions on eIDAS and surveillance policies.
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“The same Dutch who voted on the eAIDS... ahem, sorry, eIDAS and ADDW car spyware? I'm not particularly excited about our new benevolent OS.”
Yizahi · Hacker News ↗
Dutch government (Ministry of Interior/DAWO initiative) Project initiatorFrench government (Cloud.gouv) Parallel initiative creatorGerman government Related effort
How it unfolded 4 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articlespostscomments
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France already building NixOS-based government systems
A commenter discloses that the French government has announced NixOS-based systems months earlier, including Securix (a hardened OS) and Bureautix (an office deployment layer), suggesting the Dutch effort follows an established European pattern.
“France government has announced NixOS based systems some months ago…”
— hashar, HN commenter · source -
first by HN Best, 1d ago · also HN Frontpage
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first by Mastodon, 1d ago
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Dutch governments builds alternative tech for Microsoft based on NixOS for its own IT needs. This is a good news and moving away from abusive big tech firms like Microsoft. Tax payers money should go into FLOSS only.
2 more of the top 3 · 43 posts in this stretch
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First off - decoupling from Trump-USA is a must. Canadians noticed this; european countries are still slow. The Netherlands is faster; the biggest slow-ass behemoth is Germany - no clue why. Germany is a big reason why the EU fails, but also the expansionistic agenda and what not (why do only poor countries want to join the EU; UK left…
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I'm having trouble from the article understanding what version of linux they are going to? I looked at the article and can't figure it out. I'm not an expert at all.
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Concerns raised about project fragmentation and terminology
A developer who tested related projects notes confusion over the term 'workplace' and observes that the DAWO ecosystem appears fragmented across GitHub and Codeberg, split across organizations, and difficult to understand layering.
“Workplace is such a confusing overloaded term.”
— ritzaco -
Workplace is such a confusing overloaded term.They also have "Mijn Bureau" which I tried out and wrote about here [0] which is the MS Office alternative.I take it this is the layer below that, an operating system?But it all looks quite fragmented still from what I can see, especially now that it's also split across GitHub and CodeBerg as well as…
2 more of the top 3 · 3 posts in this stretch
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My pet peeve is changes in 'user agreements' for paid services that add increasing amounts of adverts and tracking, but if you decline, you can't use the service, but the service continues to charge you. For the service they're no longer supplying.Just the kind of thing that the EU could regulate if it chose. Decline -> Your subscription will be…
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> It is absolutely wild to me how a corporation can be so toxic and abusive to its users and still be in business.It's easy: The choice was made from someone else, and you just accepted it as normal. Hardware vendors shipping PC's with Windows 11, corporations who went all in to Microsoft's tooling shove Microsoft Teams down your throat because…
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Developers note similar initiatives across Europe
Community members point out parallel projects in Germany (openDesk) and France (La Suite) pursuing digital sovereignty through open platforms, indicating a broader European trend toward reducing dependence on US technology vendors.
“In the same space, also check out openDesk initiated by the German Government and La Suite by the French one.”
— solarkraft -
Awesome! I believe NixOS is perfect for systems you just want to work and track reproducibly, like appliances (which a lot of server software is supposed to be). I’m glad people smarter than me are actually able to realize its advantages =)In the same space, also check out openDesk initiated by the German Government (https://www.opendesk.eu/en)…
2 more of the top 3 · 5 posts in this stretch
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Any move away from the abusive big tech that exists in USA is a good move in my book. Microsoft just recently made a new patent where they will monitor you via camera and microphone to block your program/game to show you ads, and per ads viewed, you then earn credit to be able to use your program/game. It is absolutely wild to me how a corporation…
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A note to the developers in the project, if anyone is reading: your repositories are in violation of the new Codeberg policy that forbids AI-generated code [1].[1]
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Dutch government launches DAWO community for open workplace platform
The Netherlands announces DAWO, an open community in which government, industry, and society jointly build a digitally autonomous workplace. The project emphasizes separate building blocks rather than a single product, with every component inspectable and replaceable.
“Not one single product, but separate building blocks that work together. Every part can be inspected and replaced.”
— DAWO community -
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Holland 🇳🇱 slutter sig til Europas 🇪🇺 gradvise migration fra Windows til # Linux på offentlige pc'er .. til Linux under DAWO (Digital Autonomous Government Work Environment) og tester et NixOS-baseret skrivebord Målet med DAWO er fuldt ud at afskære 🇳🇱 afhængighed af ikke-EU-software, herunder operativ-systemet, arbejds-software, cloud…
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What people are saying 18 voices from 3 sites · best of 52 · verbatim
- What does 'workplace' actually mean in DAWO's context—is it an OS, an office suite layer, or both?
- How is the project coordinating across multiple repositories and organizations to avoid duplication with French and German efforts?
- Today
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The Netherlands Built a Nix-Based Linux Desktop Because Microsoft Cut Off the ICC https:// itsfoss.com/news/netherlands-d awo-initiative/
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This is the only logical response to finding you're dependent on tech companies beholden to a government that doesn't respect international laws. https:// itsfoss.com/news/netherlands-d awo-initiative/
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🇳🇱 The Netherlands Built a Nix-Based Linux Desktop Because Microsoft Cut Off the ICC ｢ All of DAWO's code is hosted on a Forgejo instance, with a separate Codeberg instance acting as the entry point for contributors. And, to answer the question asked earlier, NixOS was chosen because it is a Dutch project, with no company owning or controlling…
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It looks like they are using Claude to develop it, though..> Things that cost somebody hours, written down so they cost the next person minutes. Each one is here because it actually happened, not because it might.> Same commit, different answer, decided by the runner's store rather than by the…
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The Government of Canada needs to get it's ass in gear and be serious about digital sovereignty. The Netherlands is showing the way.
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RE: https:// kolektiva.social/@oatmeal/1173 31226695571377 More on this: […] If U.S. threats to occupy Greenland had European countries thinking about digital sovereignty, the Trump Administration forced the issue itself by imposing sanctions against the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Microsoft reportedly cut off email and other…
- Yesterday
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Based on install vidoes i've seen. And lets face it, after so many years on windows, i dont have a reason to switch.
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One more nail in Windows' coffin. More governments need this. Dutch government to replace Microsoft Windows with NixOS-based operating system https:// boingboing.net/2026/09/25/dutc h-government-to-replace-microsoft-windows-with-nixos-based-operating-system.html
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> Microsoft just recently made a new patent where they will monitor you via camera and microphone to block your program/game to show you ads,You got the important details of the Microsoft parent wrong (the patent doesn’t use camera and microphone monitoring), but more importantly the existence of a patent is not the same as intent to deploy a…
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> alternative for Microsoft based on NixOSThat sentence seems to lack an important word. Microsoft is a company so I don't assume they built an alternative for it. Microsoft 365 is what used to be called Office 365 and governments love their Office suite so that would make sense and I could see the number accidentally getting dropped but NixOS is…
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> It is absolutely wild to me how a corporation can be so toxic and abusive to its users and still be in business.It's a long chain, but ultimately it comes down to incompetence... When I was younger (decades ago), I assumed that the incompetence lies on the side of the executives who were overriding knowledgeable technical folk.I do not believe…
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https://www. xda-developers.com/the-netherl ands-joins-europes-gradual-migration-from-windows-to-linux-on-government-pcs/ and https:// itsfoss.com/news/netherlands-d awo-initiative/ At least in part because US sanctions have cut the ICC off from Microsoft Services, the Netherlands are moving to Linux and other Open Source solutions, pretty much…
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https://www. europesays.com/3271995/ The Netherlands Built a Nix-Basd Linux Desktop Because Microsoft Cut Off the ICC # Nederland # netherlands # Nieuws
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I don't like this idea, but I do like to get my facts right. If it is the patent linked elsewhere on this page, then - I can't find the bit where they monitor you via camera and microphone. (I think the "track your eyes to make sure you don't look away during ads" is already patented for mobile, but has never been deployed as far as I know.) -…
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Eight municipalities are already testing DAWO, the government's NixOS-powered work environment. https:// itsfoss.com/news/netherlands-d awo-initiative/
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https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/microsoft-patents-s...Patent: https://patents.justia.com/patent/20260260258The mic/camera aspect doesn’t appear on that patent, it seems to be from an abandoned Sony patent filing from 2006
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Do we even need to have a suite of tools for users to create spreadsheets, paste images into them, save them as a PDF, download to their local machine, sync to sharepoint, change permissions to include everyone in the entire universe to be able to see the file, email the link to another human in the company who opens it, uses a PDF editor to copy…
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France government has announced NixOS based systems some months ago:- https://github.com/cloud-gouv/securix a hardened/secured os- https://github.com/cloud-gouv/bureautix-example an example to use securix to build an office deployment (with some packages https://github.com/cloud-gouv/bureautix-example/blob/main/co... )