Computer Books for Iraq

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, March 8, 2004

BookCrossing.com, Freedom Technology Center to Host
"Books for Iraq" Event

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA -- BookCrossing.com and the Freedom
Technology Center are teaming up to help jump-start
Iraq's recovery with computer book donations.
Linux and open-source software enthusiasts will meet
at Mountain View's Freedom Technology Center all
day Friday, March 26 to pack and ship badly-needed
computer books to the new Linux Users Group (LUG)
of Iraq. The event is sponsored by BookCrossing.com,
a leading Internet community for book readers and
book releasers.

"We need all kinds of computer books," said Ashraf
T. Hasson, co-founder of the new Linux Users Group
of Iraq.  The group is establishing a Linux Center
in Baghdad to conduct training in all levels of
Linux usage, administration and development. Today
in Baghdad, up-to-date PC hardware and all software
are readily available, but computer books are not.
Iraq's growing population of Linux users need all
kinds of computer books, not just Linux-specific ones.

The Freedom Technology Center and BookCrossing.com
will handle the packing and shipping, and invite
supporters to simply bring a favorite technical
book. Donors can pre-register their book at
BookCrossing.com's website, and track the book's
journey as it travels among the emerging high-tech
circles in Iraq.

Books will be accepted from 9am to midnight. From
7pm to midnight, the Freedom Technology Center will
serve pizza and provide demonstrations of its new
Linux-based information technology training lab.

About the Freedom Technology Center

The Freedom Technology Center is a new non-profit IT
training facility located in downtown Mountain View,
California. Upcoming classes include an enterprise
Samba class to be taught by Samba developer John H.
Terpstra and a series of Linux administration
classes to be taught by noted author and consultant
Jim Dennis.

About BookCrossing.com

BookCrossing is the act of releasing books "into
the wild" and then following their journeys and the
lives they touch. BookCrossing.com is the website
that makes it all possible. The site has more than
200,000 registered users and tracks more than 880,000
books. Join Today!

For updates and directions, please see
http://freedomtechnologycenter.org/events/

For more information: Don Marti, Freedom Technology
Center: dmarti@zgp.org or 510-814-0932.