Flew up to Johannesburg for the AGM of the Linux Professionals Association in South Africa. I did this as I think LPA is heading the right direction in moving from an association of companies to an association of professionals, so I signed up and joined the committee for the coming year.
Why is the LPA important? South Africa has a relatively wealth of experienced people using Linux and Open Source to achieve business tasks, but this isn't well-known and finding these people is a problem for many businesses.
The LPA comes in here, by having membership requirements that ensure a given level of skill in its members, so that membership of the LPA is something that we could bill to companies and recruitment agents of indicating skills. Ultimately, it could be a tiered rating system, with LPIC1 holders and equivalent skills being the first tier, LPIC2 and equivalent being the second, RHCE and SuSE's certifications in that or another above, and so forth.
While not decided, the LPA might also maintain a roster of those who are interested in hearing about business or employment opportunities, further easing finding of worthy business partners and employees when working in the Linux and Open Source arena.
The LPA has the potential to represent the views of Linux professionals in various fields. The LPA could discuss the implications of news items to the media, for example - initially by approaching the media, but hopefully ultimately by the media approaching the LPA. The LPA has previously also sent a member to the South African parliament, and this could happen again if software patents or other bad ideas are proposed in law. The LPA could also be the contact point for conference organisers who want to hear how Linux and Open Source affects the industry in question.
This is pretty much aligned with what I've found lacking in the Linux and Open Source industry locally, so the transformation of the LPA is important to me.
It was a disappointingly small turnout to the meeting though. Admittedly it was during the day on a Friday, but over 40 people reserved seats for the AGM, and less than half of that ultimately attended.
Anyway, I volunteered to join the committee, figuring that I've been thinking along these lines before, and that this has included various thoughts on how to proceed. I also wanted to make sure that Cape Town exists on the committee - the LPA previously had offered no real benefits to anyone outside of Gauteng. This means I'll be flying up once a month or so from now on, out of my pocket, but it will be worth it if we keep a good pace on improvements. I think I can bring my thoughts on interacting with communities to bear on some major inertia in the community's thoughts with the LPA.
I'll continue mentioning advances as they occur, and I'd love feedback about the developments - either from experiences in achieving similar goals or questions about the merits of the association and its decisions.