Ongoing rumors say that the French government is soon going to announce the creation of a major actor in the world of software development that will group together the main French Open-Source companies.*

Nicolas Sarkozy will personally announce in a few days the creation of a brand new great public entity that will encapsulates the strength of the French Industry in the field of Open-Source software.

The project - named “Opération Lafayette” - is thought to include Marc Fleury (previously CEO of JBoss) as its brand new CEO. People close to the source believe the initial list of companies will include : XWIKI (collaboration solutions), TALEND (Open Data Solutions), NUXEO (ECM), MANDRIVA (Operating System), EXOPLATFORM (portal & WebOS), EBM WEBSOURCING (enterprise service bus) and BULL (IT services).

Even more ambitious, the new entity is rumored to be preparing an IPO on RED HAT.

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