Guide to Open Source Software Initiatives and People (GOSSIP)

This resource is a South African "Who's Who in Open Source" registry. It has been developed by the Open Source Centre of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in conjunction with the Go Open Source campaign. The producers believe GOSSIP will play a vital role in convincing potential home and corporate users interested in adopting open source technology of its viability as an alternative because sufficient support, training and general open source resources exist.

"The directory will also give parties an opportunity to make the public aware of what initiatives and projects are under way in SA and how open source is being used in those projects and initiatives."

The publishers believe that currently, open source software (OSS) efforts are disparate and disconnected. They maintain that GOSSIP, serving as a comprehensive, central registry of these initiatives will:

• allow organisations and individuals with similar ideas to collaborate on projects
• enable those seeking corporate OSS services to find them
• increase the profile of companies offering OSS services
• empower the volunteer community to identify projects or initiatives to get involved in
• assist match-making between companies and potential employees
• provide the campaign and the OSS community with a clear picture of the players in the market, allowing gaps to be identified
• enable data mining on the data to identify patterns and tackle questions about OSS activities

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