The Mambo website open source self-publishing solution has taken two major awards at the LinuxWorld Conference & Expo, in Boston this week. The free point-and-click website solution won the "Best of Show" award and also “Best Open Source Solution” category.

Mambo (which is the system powering Beer Files) had its origins in Australia and won its awards against the likes of Red Hat, Novell, Sun, IBM, HP and Computer Associates.

Mambo project leader Andrew Eddie, who is based in the regional Queensland city of Toowoomba, said, “To win the best of show against commercial behemoths like Red Hat, Novell, Sun, HP, Computer Associates and IBM just
shows what a small, committed team of developers can produce.

“It is acknowledgement the Linux industry as a whole considers Mambo to be a rising star,” he said. “It proves you don’t have to be an industry giant to produce a quality product.”

Late last month Mambo announced the renewal of its ties with Miro International, the Melbourne-based founder and copyright owner of Mambo technology. The joint venture sees alignment of Mambo project creativity with the significant resources of Miro.

Miro CEO Peter Lamont, of Melbourne, Australia, said news of the awards from preeminent industry peers raises the credibility and acceptance of Mambo. He said the award recognises Mambo as a “legitimate and well-respected alternative to massively expensive commercial solutions that offer little in return.”

Miro and Mambo have formed a steering committee, a non-profit association, to ensure the Mambo project remains Open Source but is well supported through
certification, training and marketing.

Mambo Core Team member Brian Teeman, of Manchester, United Kingdom, said he was stunned by the news. “We knew the future of Mambo was bright,” Teeman said. “The support of Miro had already told us that,” he added. “But now the future is shining so brightly, we will have to wear shades,” he quipped.

Both Teeman and Lamont agreed the “Best of Show” award should signal
companies becoming more comfortable with open source software as legitimate technology.

“With global training and support, open source operating systems are becoming less problematic than traditional solutions,” Lamont said. “It is now only a matter of time before that filters down to other open source projects like Mambo.

“This all goes to show that you don’t need to have 10,000 employees and enormous campus style offices to deliver the goods,” Teeman said.