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                L i n u x A f r i c a 2 0 0 1
                Johannesburg
                24 26 April, 2001
 
        "Creating an Opensource Software Future for Africa"
 
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Media Release:	trade press, Linux, Opensource software,
		LinuxAfrica conference/exhibition, Africa, business,
		technical, AITEC, Linux Professionals Association

	Date:	25 Feb 2001

		L i n u x A f r i c a 2 0 0 1
		     Johannesburg
		    24 -- 26 April, 2001

	"Creating an Opensource Software Future for Africa"

A new phenomenon is emerging in the international IT industry. A
phenomenon which will radically change the face of the industry,
forcing many players, both big and small, to re-evaluate their
technical and marketing strategies. Indeed, a phenomenon whose
impact could herald a new era of competitiveness for Africa's IT
industry. This phenomenon is collectively, Linux and the Opensource
software movement.

People are realising more and more that the Linux and Opensource
technologies have real value--so much so that in certain areas in
the commercial enterprise they have emerged as the "best of the
breed." Recent initiatives by IBM, Oracle, Netscape and others in
porting their software to Linux bear witness to this.

Linux is stable and reliable, flexible, customisable, cheap and
well-supported. Numerous enterprise applications have already been
ported to Linux at both workstation and the server levels. And
this number is growing daily. Paul Kotschy, Chairman of the Linux
Professionals Association of South Africa, believes that, in fact,
the greatest benefit for a commercial enterprise is "to use Linux
and Opensource technology to reduce its dependency on proprietary
monopolistic software vendors, and in so doing to reduce the
enterprise's risk of failure." Linux is helping to return control
of the enterprise's infrastructure from the vendor back to the
enterprise itself.

At a technical level, Linux (with all its tools and utilities)
appeals to application developers, Web developers, networking
specialists, Internet service providers and IT professionals across
a wide range of industries.

In response to this exciting development, AITEC and the Linux
Professionals Association of South Africa will be hosting LinuxAfrica
2001--the first major conference and exhibition event in South Africa
to promote the use of Linux and Opensource. The event is aimed at
both the business and technical communities. It aims to showcase
the state of the art in Linux and Opensource both in Southern Africa
and in Africa as a whole. There will be workshops, presentations by
the local and international experts, open discussions, and numerous
exhibits.  Kotschy says "The LPA is working very closely with AITEC
to facilitate what will surely be the premier Linux-related event on
the continent. I would encourage IT players at all levels to attend,
and in so doing to become part of this new and exciting phenomenon!"
For further info contact:

AITEC:
+27-11-787-4991 or +44-1480-831300 or 083-354-4911, http://www.aitecafrica.com

or

Linux Professionals Association:
pauljk@sevenc.co.za, craig@obsidian.co.za, +27-11-805-7243 or 082-683-5889,
http://www.lpa.org.za