Impi, Arivia.kom promote open source in South Africa

06.03.2006
Impi Linux and Arivia.kom have announced a joint initiative aimed at solving the technical skills shortage currently experienced in the Linux and open source space in this country.

The companies launched an Isett Seta registered internship program to train and mentor thirty candidates in all aspects of maintaining Linux and other open source tools. To the knowledge of Impi Linux MD, Gary Fortuin, this is the first internship in the local market aimed specifically at the Linux and open source markets.

"Linux and open source have only recently started being used heavily in the enterprise. Previously it filled certain technological niches with the enterprise, and a large amount of skills were not needed to maintain the system," says Fortuin. He further says that the perceived impact of a desktop roll-out is far greater than that of a server back-end deployment.

Although many thousands of people run open source applications in some form every day, a 'soft' impact that has stayed under the radar, is in the education sector, says Fortuin. "Thousands of children around the country are having their first computing experiences on a Linux system, thanks to organizations such as TuxLabs and Netday. These learners would not have access to technology, such as PC and the Internet, if it was not for Linux and OSS. That is a pretty huge impact in bridging the digital divide."

Says Ian Madonsela, Arivia.kom's business solution manager: "We obtain learners and enable them to understand, and be involved in, the open source arena. The big thing is that jobs are created and we are able to give diverse skills and benefits to the country."

According to Fortuin, the benefits of OSS are evident to local business minds, but what is impeding their adoption is the lack of high-end, affordable skills in the market. "The status has always been a supply and demand issue, however, no organization will buy into an open source solution if the skills are not already present. This partnership addresses this head-on," Fortuin says.