Determined to surpass all the obstacles and embrace new technology, the Iraqi LUG held its first installfest.

The Linux operating system is becoming more and more prevalent nowadays here in Iraq, which is good news. So far, however, most of us who have contact with Linux and/or UNIX are technical employees, system/network administrators and the like, although not that many programmers. Actually, it seems that such technical people are being forced to deal with Linux by their bosses and high-ranking officers. The big and mostly foreign companies working in Iraq are aware of the power open-source software offers in many aspects of computing. Iraqi national companies still seem to lack this awareness, however, and see only a small portion of the big picture that open source has drawn for the worldwide community.

Generally speaking, these Iraqi companies, at least now within the hectic security situation in Iraq, do not emphasize the morals behind the Open Source movement. Instead, they want the work to be done fast--no time or place for social activities, even if such activities might improve their chances of finding a Linux-knowledgeable person for the job. After all, community effort basically has been responsible for building people's interest in learning and using Linux.
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Source : LinuxJournal