Fremont, California - January 14, 2002 - Hurricane Electric, a leading business Technical Service Provider, will host the East Bay Linux User Group's second Installfest, Saturday, February 2, in hopes of recruiting more people into using the advantageous open-source operating system.

EBLUG's first Installfest in July of 2001 allowed more than 25 people to install and configure Linux software distributions on their home computers and solve more complicated technical issues with the help of their peers.

The second Installfest promises the same advantages and more. Several brands of Linux software, including Redhat, Debian, Suse, and Slackware, will be on hand at Hurricane Electric to allow users the option of installing different flavors depending on their preference. Hurricane Electric will also provide switches and hubs, patch cables, and monitors for use at the Installfest.

"By hosting the second Installfest, we are hoping to start a trend in not only promoting the free operating system to the Linux community, but to local students and novices," said Mike Leber, Hurricane Electric president.

The Installfest, scheduled for 1 p.m., is open to every Linux enthusiast on all different technical levels and abilities. Whether a novice working on installing their first Linux distribution or a seasoned veteran, there will be someone at the Installfest to answer questions, troubleshoot problems, or help in updating to the latest version of the software that people are running.

An installfest is where members of the local Linux community come together and offer their time and expertise to help new users install and configure Linux software distributions on their computers. I addition to helping new users install Linux, Installfests are there to help those who have already made the leap to the free operating system but need help configuring networking, dialup internet access, or Linux-to-Windows connectivity.

The EBLUG, www.eblug.org, established in September of 2000, has seen a large increase in web traffic and membership in the last few months. Among regular meetings, held every third Wednesday of each month at the Hurricane Electric facility in Fremont, the LUG is looking to increase their membership through Linux traditions such as Installfests. EBLUG was formed to help spread the word about the latest happenings in Linux as well as what's going on in the open source world. Each month, EBLUG presents speakers from different companies in the Linux community to keep enthusiasts up-to-date on the newest technologies being created.