:: Deepquest ::

An agency of the French Ministry of Defence is planning to install a high-performance Linux cluster for technical and scientific work.
The Technical Establishment of Bourges (ETBS), which tests and manufactures armaments, has issued a tender for the supply of a 64-bit Linux cluster, according to a document on an EU website. The deadline of the tender was reached on Thursday but it was unclear from the tender document when the ETBS plans to start implementing the cluster.

This is not the first open source project that the French Ministry of Defence has embarked on. Last year, a consortium of companies won a three year contract from the French Ministry of Defence to improve Linux security.
A number of other ministries have already implemented open source, including the Ministry of Equipment, which is replacing 1,500 Windows servers with Mandriva Linux and the French Agriculture and Fishing Ministry, which is migrating Windows servers to Mandriva Linux on 200 sites.