Mobile units do not need to use exactly the same operating system as the desktops and servers as long as they all talk the same protocols. That said, mobile linux distributioons could benefit from the intertwined base that I mentioned earlier in this thread.
Trivia
The fully multitasking Linux distribution Sailfish OS used in Jolla-compatible phones and tabletss uses zypper for package management.
My phone runs Sailfish OS.
Folks and organisations are already transitioning. The majority will keep from doing so until they have no alternative, thus handling all advantages over to those that have prepared properly.
Our public sector organisations are there to be both efficient and resilient. Adopting corporate thinking doesn’t work in this context. The corporations rely on the stability that the public sector provides.
Happening this year I think…
Not sure which Linux.
https://www.zdnet.com/article/german-state-ditches-microsoft-for-linux-and-libreoffice/
Maybe the cloud paradigm isn’t the best one?
The alternative has always been to set up local servers, taking care of redundancy and backups locally.
But what if those servers could support eachother? As an example a number of public sector hospitals could each set up extra storage for distributed data access and network backup. One way of doing it would be to use something like the Interplanetary Filesystem (IPFS). Distributing content would be taken care of by the protocol. It would be like having a set of nextclouds (both large and small) cooperating to form one big cloud. …with all data stored in at least three diffferent places.
The user interface and the apps on top of it could be made to hide the added complexities, if necessary.
What about the $$$, data centers, hardware, customization, licensing (it’s not all free), support (it’s not free), developers to customize or write new software and ultimately the most important end user training and buy in…
It’s not going to happen overnight, I suspect a lot of $$$ for extended Windows 10 support if they are looking at transitioning and when that ends, then what. How many embedded hospital systems will only talk/work with Windows… the list goes on…
Remember a lot of old hardware won’t run Leap 16…
Makes sense but a small step further is an own cloud. Combine each of these hospitals central IT equipment in 2 or 3 locations and maybe team up with other government organizations.
If you want to help people move from Windows, the first thing is to encourage them to use open source software like Thunderbird, Firefox, LibreOffice, VLC, etc, on Windows. When our local computer club surveyed this in 2014, we found there was hardly anything which people used on Windows which did not have an open source equivalent. Once they have made that transition, changing the operating system becomes far easier.
If you are working in an organisation, assume that the whole process will take five years and just take it step by step moving to one open source application at a time until you finally change the operating system.
Thank you for the advice, but…
This thread isn’t about getting people to move from windows or mac. Most people, companies and other organisations will delay that transition as long as humanly possible. There isn’t much use in trying to convince them, really. Some people won’t change at all.
Instead this thread is about the individuals and groups that intend to transition to an ecosystem based on transparency and collaboration. Personally I even like the idea of public money → public code. Even companies are thriving using open source software.
That is why I asked what a Linux distribution for the Public Sector would be like. It is simply needed. Now.
Public sector adoption would require Enterprise Linux solutions, providing vendor support and SLAs, interoperability and certification - the kinds of things SUSE would offer. Public institutions can’t rely on community-only support; they need accountability, security assurances, and lifecycle guarantees.
…but I still want to know more about the distribution itself too.
…which distribution?
For SUSE solutions…
OpenSUSE is more often mentioned (than SUSE) in articles about Linux in the public sector, and rightly so, imho.
If this was about choosing an existing distribution then I would suggest Slowroll. But in the context of being used in the public sector then maybe an even slower rolling one would be a better fit? A rolling release takes away the perceived incompabilities of different versions of the operating system. Less confusions too. …and less techie-scary. The system would simply have a name and it would be safely up to date for the users.
With windows, choosing a different processor family also means less software. Linux has less difference between the processors which puts ARM and even RISC-V systems in the acceptable category. The Radxa Rock 5B – a tiny single board computer – that I’m typing this post on has enough oomph for office-level work. …and that part of the computing world is growing quickly. Just think about what you can do with a Raspberry Pi 5 nowadays.
The hardware could also suggest the choice and settings of the desktop environment. In some workplaces it is necessary to keep bloat and other distractions down to an absolute minimum. A streamlined version could be achieved by trimming down most of the existing desktop environments offered today. …some are even designed lean from the beginning…
Windows is pretty much a monolithic solution that then is crammed into all situations. Linux on the other hand is more adaptable for diffferent tasks. One example of this is the possibility of removing the graphical user interface on servers.
A distribution for the publlic sector would need to be optimised for a different set of objectives, but how and why?
A lot of what you are writing seems to be very general, so challenging to provide meaningful answers (given the hypotheticals of it). I really don’t think community-supported distros would be adopted in general without the requisite vendor support behind it. System Integrators would be essential to plan, execute, and support the complex migration of public sector environments, including servers, desktops, application software etc
Community-supported distributions like openSUSE Leap (or Slowroll/Tumbleweed) offer great innovation and flexibility, but without the backing of enterprise support and a trusted SI ecosystem, broad public sector deployments are unlikely.
A successful public sector Linux strategy isn’t just about the technology. It’s also about governance, risk management, and ensuring operational continuity across thousands of users and endpoints.
@hukka I have a VisionFive v2 riscv64 
No video yet… 
I’m running Aeon on a Beelink MiniPC as well (and a Dell 3080 Micro) along with flatpaks, it’s FDE with TPM2, but of course the hardware needs to support TPM2.0 1.38+
What @deano_ferrari says, likewise certification requires an isolated build environment (For SUSE that’s IBS) etc.
Plus SUSE is dropping Desktop support with SLES 16 AFAIK.
https://lists.suse.com/pipermail/sle-beta/2025-May/001129.html
I would imagine SUSE would actively collaborate with a large system integrator or public agency to deliver a supported desktop solution if it was approached to do as part of a large-scale government project. This kind of engagement would be BAU for them.
@deano_ferrari SLED 15 SP 7 is available, I have my doubts as this would likely require hardware upgrades for the likes of Wayland etc… Their Product portfolio is huge, but not in the Desktop arena…
Yes, while SLED remains available (even if not actively marketed), it is for sure an option. My point was that an organization like SUSE would likely tailor a solution for a government-sized project if asked.
For large operations like public sector, the question which distro is almost irrelevant. They need someone to support them (configuration, helpdesk etc…). Companies here in Belgium (and you can safely expand that to many European countries) do not have the knowledge on board to provide such services.
And as long as universities remain MS-only (or almost) institutions, very little is going to change rapidly.
The largest organisations in the public sector are like large ships – hard to turn.
The target market is instead the periphery of the public sector. The organisations that are small enough to avoid the blocking bureaucracy of larger ones. The groups of people that are the societal equivalent of duct tape and chewing gum. Those who will see the advantages of Linux and NextCloud and LibreOffice and such.
They are not planning to choose only one distro:
https://www.schleswig-holstein.de/DE/landesregierung/themen/digitalisierung/linux-plus1/Projekt
A lot of topics discussed in this thread are mentioned in this study. A pity it’s German only:
The open source strategy is available in English but it’s older and less detailed: