Premiere for France’s combined national display – high international attendance at LinuxTag 2009 – Europe’s leading meeting place for open source applications and free software to take place from 24 to 27 June in Berlin
Berlin, 5 March 2009 – France will be flying its colours at LinuxTag 2009 for the first time, by hosting a national display. To date, ten companies have registered to join the combined stand in Hall 7.2, among them Bull, Camptocamp, Isidor, Linagora and Talend. “LinuxTag is Europe’s leading event for open source technology“, said Alexandre Zapolsky, President of the French open source federation FNILL. “This is the right place to do business and establish international contacts, and a unique opportunity for software developers and service providers to tap into new markets.“
Worldwide, France is among the countries which have pioneered use of Linux and free software. State initiatives have resulted in strong growth in the Paris region in particular. Thus, most of the city’s servers operate under Linux. Many of the schools in the French capital have switched over to Linux. Employees have been advised to change over to open source software such as OpenOffice.org. France’s gendarmerie is already using Mozilla Firefox and Mozilla Thunderbird throughout the country. Other open source programmes which run under Windows, Linux and Apple are to be introduced too.
With more and more French companies taking part, the international appeal of LinuxTag continues to grow. In 2009 numerous open source projects from German-speaking countries, Europe and abroad will again be represented in Berlin. Last year nearly one in five of the companies on display came from abroad. Visitors from 31 countries attended LinuxTag 2008.
About LinuxTag
LinuxTag is Europe’s leading event for Linux and free software, and a joint platform for open source projects in German-speaking countries, in Europe and overseas. This four-day event brings together producers, supporters, software products and communities. In addition to a programme of papers comprising well over 200 topics, as well as its own Business & Public Authorities Conference, LinuxTag traditionally also hosts an exhibition, in which open source companies and projects take part. LinuxTag differs from other trade fairs in that it cooperates closely with the community and exhibitors. The association LinuxTag e.V. is the non-commercial sponsor of the event and co-organises it with Messe Berlin GmbH. More information is available at www.linuxtag.org