European officials are increasingly looking at the work computer as part of the strategic infrastructure, and the Netherlands decided to collect for civil servants their own alternative to the usual Windows, Microsoft 365 and foreign clouds. The country develops Digitaal Autonome Werkomgeving Overheid, or DAWO, an open state-run working environment based on NixOS.
DAWO is developing the Ministry of the Interior and Relations of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The project is not intended as another separate Linux distribution, but as a set of replaceable components, from which departments will be able to collect jobs for their requirements. This approach fits into the European course on digital independence and should reduce the state's binding to one major supplier.
Workstations are based on DAWO-NixOS. The NixOS declarative model allows you to describe the configuration of the computer in the code, play it the same on different devices and return to the previous state in case of problems. In addition to the main branch on NixOS, the developers retain an experimental direction on Fedora Kinoite. Individual components are responsible for device fleet management, user identification, cloud infrastructure and collaboration.
The working environment has already reached the stage of real tests. Amsterdam, Hertogenbos, Zanstad and Ede are testing Linux laptops along with the MijnBureau system, and the pilot must continue until the end of 2026. A similar approach with reproducible Linux configurations is developed by other countries in Europe. In August, the DAWO team released a stable version of DAWO-NixOS 0.1.2.
The scale of the project is gradually growing. In the summer, the state-owned IT services SSC-ICT, DICTU and DUO-ICT were instructed to jointly develop a more sovereign digital environment for central authorities. The work was based on the existing DAWO and MijnBureau. Among the goals, the authorities call their own alternative to e-mail, working together with files and reducing dependence on a small number of large technological suppliers.
No one has announced a complete rejection of Microsoft. DAWO is developing in stages, and the first implementations remain small pilots. The task of the authorities is primarily to ensure that critical workflows can be transferred to open and state-controlled components if the foreign service becomes unavailable or the conditions for its use change. The risks of such dependence have already forced companies and state structures to revise the cloud strategy.
The Netherlands began to prepare the ground for such a transition in the spring. Four municipalities have launched an open-source experiment where Linux is used together with MijnBureau, built of European and open components.
A similar scheme appears in France, where state developers collect secure workstations through Nix configurations. In parallel, European funds finance Linux projects that can become the basis for independent state platforms.
The Dutch market simultaneously develops alternatives at the level of office services. In the spring, the Hague launched Office.eu, a European platform for documents, mail and collaboration, which is positioned as a replacement for Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace.
DAWO is developing the Ministry of the Interior and Relations of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The project is not intended as another separate Linux distribution, but as a set of replaceable components, from which departments will be able to collect jobs for their requirements. This approach fits into the European course on digital independence and should reduce the state's binding to one major supplier.
Workstations are based on DAWO-NixOS. The NixOS declarative model allows you to describe the configuration of the computer in the code, play it the same on different devices and return to the previous state in case of problems. In addition to the main branch on NixOS, the developers retain an experimental direction on Fedora Kinoite. Individual components are responsible for device fleet management, user identification, cloud infrastructure and collaboration.
The working environment has already reached the stage of real tests. Amsterdam, Hertogenbos, Zanstad and Ede are testing Linux laptops along with the MijnBureau system, and the pilot must continue until the end of 2026. A similar approach with reproducible Linux configurations is developed by other countries in Europe. In August, the DAWO team released a stable version of DAWO-NixOS 0.1.2.
The scale of the project is gradually growing. In the summer, the state-owned IT services SSC-ICT, DICTU and DUO-ICT were instructed to jointly develop a more sovereign digital environment for central authorities. The work was based on the existing DAWO and MijnBureau. Among the goals, the authorities call their own alternative to e-mail, working together with files and reducing dependence on a small number of large technological suppliers.
No one has announced a complete rejection of Microsoft. DAWO is developing in stages, and the first implementations remain small pilots. The task of the authorities is primarily to ensure that critical workflows can be transferred to open and state-controlled components if the foreign service becomes unavailable or the conditions for its use change. The risks of such dependence have already forced companies and state structures to revise the cloud strategy.
The Netherlands began to prepare the ground for such a transition in the spring. Four municipalities have launched an open-source experiment where Linux is used together with MijnBureau, built of European and open components.
A similar scheme appears in France, where state developers collect secure workstations through Nix configurations. In parallel, European funds finance Linux projects that can become the basis for independent state platforms.
The Dutch market simultaneously develops alternatives at the level of office services. In the spring, the Hague launched Office.eu, a European platform for documents, mail and collaboration, which is positioned as a replacement for Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace.
