TIRUPUR, INDIA: Tirupur IT Association (TITA) recently conducted a two-day training programming on Linux desktop and server administration for dealers in Tirupur.

This was the first time training of such a kind was conducted for the benefit of members and their service team by Tirupur association.

"The association conducted this event with technical expertise of Chennai-based Lynus Academy (a training academy). The two-day training program, held on June 8 and 9 saw enthusiastic participation from partners. The session was conducted from 10am to 6pm on both the days," informed K Ravichandran, president, TITA.

The participants were introduced to Linux, with hands-on experience in installation, configuration and troubleshooting. Ubuntu 8.04 was used for desktop and CentOS 5 and Fedora 7 were used for server installation

"For most of our members this kind of training was a new experience. It may be a humble start for the association and the members, but they will benefit a lot if they use the knowledge acquired in these two days session," Ravichandran said.

TITA is also planning for advance level trainings in future, so that their members will be fully equipped with open source technologies. "We are also planning to have a one-day follow up session within 30 to 45 days from now, for the participants of this session," he said. 

With Microsoft resuming its anti-piracy drive across the state, Tirupur IT association's training on the open source front seems to be a counter act to that.

However, Ravichandran rejected the observation.

"The primary objective of this training was to obtain knowledge in open source components and not for countering any activity of Microsoft. We have certain customers, who don't pay for using the operating system as it is expensive, and prefer to go for open source. This training would be useful for our dealers to cater to those customers," he said.

He also said that Tirupur association was not against Microsoft's anti-piracy drive. On the contrary, members of the association have been supporting Microsoft by recommending and selling only Microsoft's OS to customers.

Reflecting his thoughts, K Babu, general secretary, TITA, said, "The primary objective of the seminar was to create awareness of open source components among dealers. As more and more people are moving towards open source components, it is the right time for our dealers to gain expertise in this segment."