19 May, 2005 – The GNOME Foundation, a leading open source organization and the provider of the GNOME desktop environment and the GNOME development platform, is partnering with the Open Source Consortium (OSC), the independent voice of the Open Source business community in Europe. GNOME will join OSC’s Community Advisory Board, and work with the OSC to promote the Open Source desktop.
The move reflects the GNOME Foundation’s support for the work of the OSC. Examples of such work include the OSC’s involvement with the recent BECTA announcement concerning the future of Open Source solutions for UK schools, and involvement with the Open Source Academy initiative, which promotes adoption of Open Source software amongst the public sector and is funded by the Office Of The Deputy Prime Minister.
Says Owen Taylor, chairman of the board of directors of the GNOME Foundation, “The GNOME Foundation welcomes the opportunity to collaborate with the OSC and increase adoption of Free and Open Source Software in public administrations in Europe. We are excited about the value we can bring to governmental organisations through the OSC”.
OSC members will benefit from the closer working relationship with the GNOME Foundation, including information sharing, GNOME presence at OSC events and the GNOME Foundation’s long experience in Open Source. The GNOME Foundation expects to benefit by working with OSC to promote Open Source desktop software as an alternative to proprietary operating systems in the European public sector.
For his part Mark Taylor, Executive Director of the OSC welcomed Owen’s comments adding, “The GNOME Project are known to the entire Free and Open Source Software community for their usable, high-quality desktop. We look forward to our joint collaboration in advancing the free software desktop in Europe.”
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.