An agreement has been reached between Mark Shuttleworth, ImpiLinux, and several other investors, to combine their forces in the Linux market for South Africa and the SADC.

This deal will see a new company established to develop the next version of Impi, based on Ubuntu Linux. Shuttleworth says that he is making a R10 million (US$1.5 million) investment in the new company.

?The focus of my global work is on Ubuntu, and the large uptake and interest in Ubuntu worldwide has shown that it is successful. I am very impressed by what the Impi team is doing, and it felt that it was now time to work with a global player, so as to advance. What will happen now is that we will take Ubuntu and conceptualize it for the SA and African markets,? Shuttleworth says.

The name ?ImpiLinux? will remain, and, according to the parties involved, will draw on the underlying technologies prevalent in Ubuntu, combined with the localized features and functionality prevalent in Impi. In short, Impi will be a truly SA variant of the Ubuntu platform.

Shuttleworth says that the next version of Impi will include more commercial functionality and a stronger local flavor than Ubuntu, but notes that Ubuntu will continue to be freely available globally. Impi will initially be available in English, Xhosa and Afrikaans, with the potential for translation into additional SA languages as needed.

?This additional financial backing, development resource and a relationship with the global company, Canonical, puts Impi in a very strong position to offer a world-class product for the SA desktop Linux market? he says.

Shuttleworth adds: ?I will invest R10 m (through HBD Business Holdings) and will hold 65 percent of the combined shareholding. The other shareholder is a trust, which will hold a 20 percent stake (the first step to BEE distribution) and Khuselo Investments will hold the rest of the shares.?

Khuselo Investments is jointly represented by Pumla Radebe, Johannesburg City Parks chairperson, and Eddie Funde, current chairman of the SABC. ImpiLinux shareholder, Gary Fortuin, will be MD of the new company -- ImpiLinux (Pty) Ltd.

Fortuin says one of the biggest differentiators will be the Impi development team?s local perspective and closeness to its customer base.

?Because we are an SA organization, communication between customers and ourselves takes place far faster than with any internationally staffed support offering, and, should a face to face meeting be required, this can be facilitated with far less cost and hassle,? he says.

Fortuin adds that the development team will start by working closely with SA?s major broadband providers, to build native support for their access devices and solutions into the operating system.

The company says that it will also ensure that Impi can support global standard formats, such as Adobe PDF, DVD, and MP3 music files, potentially also running Windows applications.

"We maintain committed to keeping local funds local, channelling all revenue into improving the Impi solution, increasing its sustainability, and driving adoption of Linux and OSS in the local market. While these are bold commitments and aspirations, we believe that they are more than possible,? adds Fortuin.

?This venture adds previously unseen depth to the local ICT market. The new team has the skills and the technology to create a Linux distribution that meets all the critical needs of corporates and government departments,? Shuttleworth concludes.