A discussion broke out in a Canadian Lemmy community after an article argued that Canada could free itself from dependence on Microsoft Windows—and save millions of dollars—by developing its own operating system. Many agreed with the premise, but the sticking point became whether a brand-new OS really needs to be built from scratch. Commenters noted that open-source alternatives like OpenBSD and NixOS already exist, and that the Netherlands is pursuing a similar effort, leading to a mix of “switching is faster than building new” opinions and a more playful back-and-forth brainstorming names for a new Canadian OS.
Canada could save millions of dollars by ditching its reliance on Microsoft Windows and developing its own operating system
If you crowdsourced this with like-minded partners around the world, you could save even more. The beginning of the end was the moment Microsoft basically said, 'We'll do business in your country, but we won't follow your country's laws.'
7Anonymous2026-10-15 05:10
Re: #4 Exactly, and yet nobody treats it as a real issue. Everyone thinks protecting data sovereignty alone is enough. But Microsoft has openly said it'll ultimately answer to the US no matter what other countries' laws say. I expected a lot more countries to be furious about that, but it hasn't really happened.
5Anonymous2026-10-15 11:24
Wait, hold on—why not just use an OS that already exists?!
31Anonymous2026-10-15 14:20
Re: #5 That's exactly what EU countries are doing, one after another.
6Anonymous2026-10-15 01:05
There's OpenBSD, there are open-source alternatives already out there—I don't get why Canada would need to build a brand-new Windows replacement. Pair NextCloud-AIO with EuroOffice and you've already got something working. The only things missing are AI and surveillance features, and there are already open-source agent tools that can run open models for the AI side. Not that anyone actually wants the surveillance features anyway.
38Anonymous2026-10-15 02:43
Re: #6 Probably because you'd need to rewrite a bunch of proprietary tools to varying degrees, and that takes design work, money, and time. It's harder than regular software because if you mess it up, you could end up wrecking someone's life.
8Anonymous2026-10-15 05:54
I made this exact same argument to several Australian universities and senior government officials. It wouldn't just cut costs—it would grow domestic industry and technical skills too. Of course, I never got a reply. Nobody cares about anything that doesn't line their own pockets.
9Anonymous2026-10-15 03:58
Re: #2 Basically, 'get out already,' right?
12Anonymous2026-10-15 04:01
Re: #3 Wasn't Arch Linux made by a Canadian?
21Anonymous2026-10-15 12:37
Re: #12 Yeah, that's right—Judd Vinet. But he's not involved with the project anymore.
22Anonymous2026-10-15 11:28
Re: #12 Right. I'm not dismissing other projects, but my point was that another country (the Netherlands) is already trying to do the same thing with NixOS for the same reasons, and an even older project (OpenBSD) already satisfies the kind of goal Canada would be aiming for.
13Anonymous2026-10-15 09:18
While we're at it, let's build our own pickup trucks and SUVs too
30Anonymous2026-10-15 14:21
Re: #13 Even better would be fuel-efficient compact cars. Most people don't actually need some gas-guzzling monster of a vehicle.
14Anonymous2026-10-15 00:24
I'd actually use something called CANos
20Anonymous2026-10-15 02:48
Re: #14 Shame they didn't go with CanaDOS
26Anonymous2026-10-15 01:06
Re: #14 What about MaplOS?
32Anonymous2026-10-15 01:01
Re: #14 CanoOS—haven't decided what the second O stands for yet, but it's gotta be in there somehow.
16Anonymous2026-10-15 00:44
It's about time someone picked up the torch for TempleOS, or maybe Plan 9.
19Anonymous2026-10-15 01:40
Re: #16 TempleOS doesn't support printers, USB, or networking. It's completely self-contained, so it's not practical as an everyday OS. Even Terry, the guy who made it, used Ubuntu as his daily driver.
24Anonymous2026-10-15 02:29
Re: #19 It was a joke to begin with. I'd bet most people have never even heard of either one.
37Anonymous2026-10-15 02:59
Re: #19 Is it open-source? Can't be bothered to Google whether anyone's kept maintaining it.
18Anonymous2026-10-15 12:52
BeaverOS
23Anonymous2026-10-15 06:11
Re: #34 Why do you hate Nix so much? Calling it almost as bad as Microsoft is a pretty big claim.
34Anonymous2026-10-15 05:11
Re: #3 The Netherlands is switching to NixOS? I hate Nix, but I guess it's at least a little better than Microsoft.
36Anonymous2026-10-15 11:38
Re: #34 Right. I found out about the Netherlands' DAWO initiative on Lemmy. It only just made the news, and it should be a much lower bar to clear than Canada joining GCAP (the next-gen fighter jet program) as an observer. In case you hadn't seen it, this is still an ongoing story.
25Anonymous2026-10-15 03:00
If you feel stuck with Windows because of some proprietary app, clones of those apps are already in development too. You're free to switch right now. They're only at about 60% feature parity at the moment, but the devs say they can get to 99% within a few months.
33Anonymous2026-10-15 02:58
Re: #20 That would mean going back to optical discs, but hey, I'm fine with that too
35Anonymous2026-10-15 12:11
Re: #22 Oops, sorry if that came off as accusatory. I just meant it as a genuine question about some fuzzy old info I half-remembered.
40Anonymous2026-10-15 14:45
Re: #30 Then why does everyone keep buying them? Ads brainwash people into thinking they 'need' it
41Anonymous2026-10-15 14:29
Re: #31 All hail our savior, Linux 😌🙂↕️☺️
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
The backdrop here is the US CLOUD Act, which requires American companies like Microsoft to comply with US government requests even when the data is stored overseas. The remarks in replies 4 and 7 about Microsoft “ultimately answering to the US regardless of other countries’ laws” are referring to this. The thread split over whether Canada should build a new OS entirely from scratch or switch to an existing open-source OS like OpenBSD or NixOS, with more commenters favoring the latter. Some pointed to the Netherlands’ efforts around NixOS, which is a real, reported initiative—though it’s worth noting that the Canadian government hasn’t officially announced any comparable plan of its own. The back half of the thread drifts into lighthearted brainstorming of names like “CanaDOS” and “BeaverOS,” so it’s worth reading with that in mind rather than as a rigorous debate over technical feasibility.
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