Hi, The following is the text of an open letter published by Schoolforge UK. I felt it might be of interest to you, so have forwarded it to you. It is also available on-line at: http://www.schoolforge.org.uk If you would like to attend or be kept informed please let me know. regards, Richard Rothwell Chair Schoolforge UK ------ Open Letter Schoolforge UK is an organisation that works towards the wide spread adoption of Free, Libre and Open Source solutions for Schools and Colleges (FLOSS) in the UK. Over the past two years we have worked with our partners to support this aim. We are now at the threshold of a much wider use of FLOSS in schools in this country and believe that Schoolforge offers an excellent means to ensure that this opportunity is neither squandered nor mis-directed. Current projects indicate that there is excellent return on investment on the use of FLOSS in schools. In general, tenders using FLOSS technology are around 30% cheaper than proprietary offerings. The time to use this as a method of extracting discounts from these expensive solutions is past. If we bring together the skills and knowledge of those working on these solutions we will be able to present a viable and vibrant set of solutions. With our partners we are proposing to meet to discuss areas of shared belief and common interest. We would like to invite all like minded individuals, organisations and businesses to send representatives to this meeting, which we plan to hold in Coventry on the 24th of February. The key objectives of this meeting will be to: * make a clear and public statement that recognises the practicality of an all Free and Open Source desktop and server solution in schools * identify areas of common benefit where effort should be exerted to support its more wide-spread adoption * decide the direction and structure that Schoolforge should adopt to support these aims We believe that commercial gain and community benefit, through Free and Open Solutions, are not mutually exclusive. The needs of the schools and educational sector will only be well met by a vibrant, diverse and prospering hardware and software market. The best way to open up this market to competition is through co-operation and the sharing of ideas and practice. We hope that you can share our vision by joining Schoolforge and attending or sending a representative to this meeting. Signed: Schoolforge UK * AFFS * CoroNet Information Systems * The Cutter Project * Fervent Software * Hypercube * Ingots * The Learning Machine * Linspire * Linux Consultants * Luminas * Novell * Open-S * OpenAdvantage * OpenOffice.org * Openscape * RedHat * Schoolinux * Sun * UKUUG The meeting will be held at Sun's Headquarters in Coventry, on the 24th February. It will start at 10 am and finish with lunch at 1pm. The agenda will be circulated a week before the meeting. Please register your interest by sending an email to conference@schoolforge.org.uk ___________________________________________________________ ALL-NEW Yahoo! Messenger - all new features - even more fun! http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com