The fifth annual GNOME User and Developer European Conference (GUADEC) will draw businesses, government, education and end users to Kristiansand

BOSTON, Mass. – 3 November, 2003 – The fifth annual GNOME User and Developer European Conference (GUADEC), will bring developers, GNOME Foundation leaders and individual, business and government GNOME and open source software users to Kristiansand, Norway June 28-30, 2004. The conference is a unique forum for highlighting the capabilities and direction of GNOME, the user environment for desktops, networked servers and portable Internet devices. GUADEC will also feature meaningful discussions of the future direction of open source development.

“GUADEC has enjoyed an exponential growth over the past four years, and has had a real impact on open source development and deployment in the countries we’ve held the conference,” said Timothy Ney, GNOME Foundation executive director. “GUADEC is a unique event that brings the people who are creating GNOME together to discuss and demonstrate their work and to build roadmaps for future development. Pair these developers with IT leaders and government officials and you see some real electricity.”

GUADEC is being held June 28-30, 2004 at Agder University College in Kristiansand, Norway in co-operation with the Grimstad Campus Linux User Group (GLUG), Agder LUG and Norwegian Unix User Group (NUUG). The program will boast a stellar lineup of speakers, from GNOME leaders to IT industry movers and shakers. Additional information on GUADEC can be found at www.guadec.org.

“We’re excited to host GUADEC in Kristiansand”, Ernst Håkon Jahr, rector of Agder University College says. “GUADEC will sharpen our focus and enhance our efforts working with Open Source in education, business and in eGovernment projects. We expect the GUADEC conference in Kristiansand to have a decisive impact on the understanding and use of Open Standards and Open Source in Europe in general and in Scandinavia in particular.”

About GNOME

GNOME is a free software project that is developing a complete, easy to use desktop for GNU/Linux (more commonly known as Linux), BSD, Solaris, HP-UX and a variety of other Unix and Unix-like operating systems. The GNOME desktop is used by millions of people around the world. More than 700 computer developers, including over 100 full-time, paid developers, contribute their time and effort to the project.

About GUADEC

The GNOME User and Developer Europe Conference (GUADEC) is an annual gathering of GNOME developers, enthusiasts and individual, business, education and government users worldwide. It provides a forum for members of the GNOME project to showcase their work and to discuss the future of GNOME development. Housed in a different European country each year, GUADEC is a catalyst for the future development and direction of GNOME.

About the GNOME Foundation

Comprised of hundreds of volunteer developers and industry-leading companies, the GNOME Foundation is an organization committed to supporting the advancement of GNOME. The Foundation provides organizational, financial and legal support to the GNOME project and helps determine its vision and roadmap. GNOME is an entirely free user environment for desktops, networked servers and portable Internet devices. The modern architecture and design of GNOME includes a technically advanced application development platform and a powerful end-user desktop environment. Major leading software industry and computer manufacturers support the GNOME development effort, which is led by a worldwide community of volunteers. More information on GNOME is available at www.gnome.org.

About Agder University College

Agder University College (http://www.hia.no) is a three campus University College. GUADEC will be held at the brand new Kristiansand campus. The University College offers a wide range of programmes including development aid, Business, Fine arts, Humanities and Natural Sciences, and Information technology from Bachelor to PhD level.