Mandrakesoft signs a distribution agreement with the French Ministry of Education and Research

___ For Immediate Release ___

Mandrakesoft signs a distribution agreement with the French Ministry
of Education and Research

Paris, March 2nd 2005 - Mandrakesoft today announced an agreement with
the French Ministry of Education and Research which allows the
distribution of its line of products and services to Higher Education
institutions, including universities and research laboratories,
throughout France. The agreement also makes it easy for students and
workers from these institutions to purchase Mandrakesoft products for
their private use.

>From now on, computing departments of universities and research
institutions will have the ability to tap into Mandrakesoft's
portfolio of products and services for their software
needs. Mandrakelinux products cover needs from the desktop (with the
PowerPack) to critical infrastructure functions (with the Multi
Network Firewall). The Multi Network Firewall operating system is able
to control access to both an organisation's private intranet and the
public internet. Mandrakesoft products are part of the software
library which has been selected to modernize the infrastructure of
France's education system. As well as the applications themselves,
Mandrakesoft will deliver technical support and training to staff.

A spokesman for the Ministry explained: "Aside from the cost savings
allowed by Linux, this agreement aims to encourage the use of software
solutions that are based on open standards and can be easily
integrated into public standards-driven infrastructures. The ability
to modify or customize the applications purchased is important to us."

Students, particularly in computing courses, engineering schools and
research departments, are among the groups the most accustomed to
using open source software. Many researchers already use open source
applications for scientific tasks. Familiarizing students with Linux
during their education will further foster the building of a knowledge
society based on open technologies in a heterogeneous computing
environment.

"We've been working with the Ministry of Education for more than five
years. This agreement is an acknowledgement of the high standard of
our products. What we see is that Linux is increasingly being adopted
as an alternative to the all-proprietary choice of the past,"
commented François Bancilhon, Mandrakesoft CEO. "What better support
could we bring to students and researchers, who are the primary
members of a knowledge economy, than open computing, allowing everyone
to customize tools for their specific needs?"

The catalog of software covered by the agreement includes the newly
released Corporate Server and Corporate Desktop, two applications that
enable universities and research bodies to build a stable yet flexible
infrastructure, immune to viruses.

Full information about Mandrakesoft products and services is available
at:
http://www.mandrakesoft.com

About Mandrakesoft 

Mandrakesoft is the publisher of the popular Mandrakelinux operating
system, one of the most full-featured and easy to use Linux systems
available. The company offers its enterprise, government and
educational customers a complete range of GNU/Linux and Open Source
software and related services. Mandrakesoft products are available in
more than 120 countries through dedicated channels and also from
Mandrakestore.com, the company's online store. Number 1 in several
countries, Mandrakesoft has won many awards for quality and technical
innovation. "Born on the Internet" in late 1998, Mandrakesoft has
offices in the United States and France. Mandrakesoft is traded on
Paris Euronext Marché Libre (ISIN Code: FR0004159382/MLMAN; Reuters
code: MAKE.PA) and the US OTC market (stock symbol MDKFF). 

Http://www.mandrakesoft.com 

Press enquiries:
Gaël Duval
press at mandrakesoft dot com 
+33-1 40 41 00 41