More and more Linux Repair Cafés, including France!

Since the Linux Repair Café became available in five languages, the number of Repair Cafés offering Linux installation has grown rapidly. This is also the case in France. Volunteers from two French Repair Cafés share their experiences and offer advice.

This year, Repair Café Albi (in the Tarn department in southern France) is celebrating its tenth anniversary. “We always combine our monthly repair meetings with a potluck dinner where everyone brings something!” says the café’s chairwoman, Laura Mainer Til, enthusiastically. Treasurer Jean-Claude Le Floc’h decided to offer Linux installations as an additional ‘repair’ service at these meetings. “During my career, I worked with Unix, the predecessor of Linux,” he explains.

“I then installed Linux on all my home computers. This open-source software has enabled me to break free from Microsoft’s stranglehold.” Providing Linux installations at the Repair Café was the next logical step. “About five people turned up at the first Linux meet-up, and demand has been growing ever since. It’s very satisfying to be able to install Linux Mint successfully,” Jean-Claude reflects.

Preferably no new computer

The Repair Café de Marly in northern France has also started offering Linux installations. “For me, Linux is the solution to the forced obsolescence of laptops imposed on us by Microsoft and Apple,” says organiser Flavien Collet. “We’ve been carrying out a few Linux installations at our Repair Café since late 2024, mainly on Macs. The response has been overwhelmingly positive. When you give a user the choice of either buying a new computer costing at least €400 or continuing to use their existing one legally and free of charge for another five years, it’s a no-brainer! Following the email from Repair Café International on this subject, I therefore decided to officially bring this ‘repair’ to people’s attention.”

Tip: eliminate anxiety

Finally, he would like to offer two tips for new Linux Repair Cafés:

• “Make sure the user has saved all their important files to an external hard drive or in the cloud before installing Linux. You can, of course, help them create this backup. That will ensure no data is lost.”
• “Installing Linux on a user’s computer is one thing. Teaching someone how to use this new operating system is quite another matter! That’s why I recommend referring visitors to Linux workshops. This will also ease any fears about switching from Apple or Windows to Linux. Most of our visitors are older people who need reassurance. Especially when it comes to accessing their email inbox!” he concludes with a wink.

Tip from Repair Café International: our starter pack offers plenty more guidance on getting started with Linux installations, including a user’s manual to help new Linux users get up to speed.

More information

• Want to start a Linux Repair Café? We have developed a starter pack to help you do just that (available in Dutch, English, French, German and Spanish). Existing Repair Cafés in our network can easily download it via their Repair Café account. You can access it by clicking on the ‘Downloads’ button. Let us know when you’re ready to open, so we can add your café to the world map.
• If you do not yet run a Repair Café within our network, you can register and download the starter pack for a Linux Repair Café.
• All Linux Repair Cafés are marked on the Repair Café International world map. This allows anyone interested to see which Repair Café can help them switch to Linux. You can see which Repair Cafés have gone before you by typing ‘linux’ into the search field.