Brussels, 1 April 1999. Following the phenomenal success of the
Linux World Expo and the constant attention lavished on Linux by
the media and industry, EFE, an independent French group
specializing in management training, is organizing the first
business-to-business Congress titled “Linux & Open Source Code
Congress & Trade Fair” on 29 and 30 June in Zaventem.
Over the past few months, there has been much speculation about
the commercial and practical possibilities of the Linux freeware
operating system. But what is it all about? During a two-day
congress, the IT industry of the Benelux countries will take a
neutral approach to analyzing the commercial movements behind Linux
and the technical and strategic implications of it.
Jan Guldentops, General Manager of Better Access who has been
active in the Linux movement for years, says: “The entire industry
is shoving Linux to the forefront as a kind of long-awaited
Microsoft killer. It is time that this whole hype is
matter-of-factly put into perspective. A Linux Congress at which
the key players from the industry are in attendance is an
appropriate opportunity to do this.”
During the presentation and more informally during the trade
fair, participants can get to know the practical applications of
Linux. Particular attention will be given to specialized
applications such as supercomputing (clustering), firewalls,
wireless networking, security, data warehousing and desktop
computing.
The commercial and strategic decisions made by big players such
as IBM, HP, Computer Associates, Oracle, and SCO with regards to
Linux and Open Source will also be addressed. Frederic De Meyer,
ICT Division Director of EFE and the inspiration for the Linux
Congress, says: “These announcements give a clear indication that
Linux is ready for operation within the corporate world. Perhaps
not as a replacement of ‘classic’ operating systems such as Unix
and Windows NT, but rather in very specific critical applications
such as data warehousing, networking or R&D.” These visions of
the future will confront each other in a panel debate in which big
names such as Microsoft, Informix, IBM, HP and SCO hold their own
against each other.
The organizers of the ‘Linux and Open Source Code Congress &
Trade Fair’ are counting on a great deal of interest from suppliers
and users. “Neither IT developers nor corporate users can still
afford to ignore the existence of Linux,” according to Frederic De
Meyer. “The very fact that Linus Thorvalds, the father of Linux,
was recently named one of the 15 most influential IT figures in
history by PC Week, alongside Bill Gates, Jim Clarc and Larry
Elison, is a clear indication of that.”
This Congress will therefore concentrate on the
following:
- IT managers and corporate decision makers who must make
strategic decisions and may find in Linux a factor allowing for
increased efficiency. - System and network managers who want to know precisely which
applications are possible with Linux and open source. - System integrators, producers and IT solution providers.
For further information:
About the Congress: About Linux and other technical issues:
Frederic De Meyer Jan Guldentops
EFE Belgium Better Access
+32 2 533 10 19 +32 16 29 80 45
[email protected] [email protected]
About EFE’s ICT division:
This conference is being organized by the ICT (Information &
Communication Technologies) division of EFE. EFE is an independent
publishing company and training centre.
EFE has successfully earned an excellent reputation on an
international scale in the field of business-to-business
information. They have offices in Paris, Luxembourg, Geneva, Lisbon
and Madrid.
About Linux:
Linux is a freeware operating system which was developed in 1994
by Linus Thorvalds from Finland. With the help of a wealth of users
scattered around the Internet, Linux has since developed into one
of the most complete operating systems on the market. It
nevertheless remains free of charge.