The Shuttleworth Foundation (TSF) is teaming up with the International Computer Driving Licence (ICDL) and the Linux Professional Institute (LPI) to establish an accreditation programme aimed at ensuring the long-term sustainability of Linux.
TSF project manager Tjipo Mothobi told a media briefing this week that the Go Open Source Campaign would promote the ICDL and the LPI accreditations through a series of workshops in March.
"One of the problems with establishing open source as a viable business solution is the lack of backup and skills. What we intend to do is help create a skills standardisation," she said.
Mothobi said this programme will also introduce Linux to the traditional IT channel, and various support and marketing structures will be put in place to promote the technology.
She said the focus would not be on new companies, rather on those that had been in business for about a year and are focused on supporting proprietary software products.
Mothobi said the LPI accreditation is aimed at those who sell and install open source systems and has two levels. Go Open Source will help with the first level and then will add a specific Ubuntu (the TSF version of Linux) module to it.
The ICDL accreditation is aimed at end-users and includes business modules such as word processing, presentation preparation and spreadsheets.
Go Open Source will conduct a series of introductory workshops in March. The first will be in Durban from 2 to 3 March, then Cape Town (8 to 9 March), East London (10 to 11 March) and Johannesburg (14 to 15 March).
Alan McKinnon, an independent Linux training consultant, says the ICDL and the LPI courses are independent of the more than 350 versions of Linux that can be found in the marketplace.
"Ninety percent of all versions are essentially the same," he says.
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