LINUX PROFESSIONAL INSTITUTE AND SAGE INVESTIGATING MUTUAL MEMBERSHIP AGREEMENT

NEW YORK, January 22, 2003 - The Linux Professional Institute (LPI), (www.lpi.org), the premier professional certification program for the Linux community, and System Administrators Guild (SAGE) (www.sage.org), an organization that advances the status of computer system administration as a profession, are investigating possible partnership opportunities leading to mutual membership agreements between the two organizations.

"We believe a beneficial agreement with SAGE is just another example of how LPI is building a stronger IT community," says LPI's president Evan Leibovitch.  "During the months ahead, we will explore various options to see how we can bring our added value benefits to the SAGE community."

"LPI is performing a great service to the sysadmin community and we look forward to working through the partnership details that will culminate in a special SAGE membership arrangement for those certified by LPI," adds SAGE's executive director Rob Kolstad.  "SAGE is independent of particular vendors, technologies or philosophies so our organizations are compatible and are a good fit."

LPI's mandate is to design and deliver a certification program from within the Linux community, using both volunteer and professional resources. It has been ranked number one on the list of certifications expected to rise the 'fastest in importance' according to the 2002 CRN Certification study.  LPI has also been selected as the winner, for the second consecutive year, of the Linux Journal's annual Editors' Choice Awards in the Training and Certification category. LPI has delivered over 20,000 Level 1 and Level 2 certification exams globally since the program's inception in just two years.

The System Administrators Guild (SAGE), a Special Technical Group of USENIX, the Advanced Computing Systems Association was chartered in 1992 with the goal of advancing the status of computer system administration as a profession. SAGE is achieving its goal by establishing standards of professional excellence, recognizing professional achievements, developing guidelines for improving the technical and managerial capabilities of system administrators, and promoting activities that advance the profession's perception. With a worldwide membership of over 4,000 professionals, SAGE is recognized as the premier organization for system administrators, network administrators and their managers.

About Linux Professional Institute

The Linux Professional Institute (LPI) develops professional certification for the Linux operating system independent of software vendors or training providers. Established as an international non-profit organization in 1999 by the Linux community, LPI develops accessible, internationally-recognized certification programs which have earned the respect of vendors, employers and administrators. LPI's activities involve hundreds of volunteers and professionals throughout the world in many different capacities, and  the group encourages active public involvement through mailing lists and its website at www.lpi.org. LPI's multi-level program of exams is administered globally through Virtual University Enterprises (VUE) and Prometric testing centers. LPI's major financial sponsors are Platinum Sponsors Caldera International (NASDAQ:CALD), IBM (NYSE:IBM), Linuxcare, Maxspeed, SGI (NYSE:SGI), SuSE Linux AG and TurboLinux as well as Gold Sponsors Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HWP) and Wave Technologies.

About SAGE

The System Administrators Guild (SAGE), a Special Technical Group of USENIX, the Advanced Computing Systems Association was chartered in 1992 with the goal of advancing the status of computer system administration as a profession. SAGE is achieving its goal by establishing standards of professional excellence, recognizing professional achievements, developing guidelines for improving the technical and managerial capabilities of system administrators, and promoting activities that advance the profession's perception. With a worldwide membership of over 4,000 professionals, SAGE is recognized as the premier organization for system administrators, network administrators and their managers.

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