"We also want to highlight the open source software stack. It is not just about Linux. For example, JBoss, MySQL, Progress or Pearl."

McLaren said the symposium will appeal to the converted, as it consists of technical streams, and people at the C-level within an organization that were looking for an open source alternative to existing proprietary systems.

With Windows Vista much talked about now, he said taking an open source alternative message to such people was timely. However, he conceded that much needs to be done to convince many antipodeans to switch their Windows servers to Linux.

"Most organizations in this part of the world are using Linux as a Unix alternative," he said.

Information on the symposium can be found at http://www.opensourcesymposium.org/sy/overview.html