Open source specialists go for bricks and mortar.

Open Source and web development consultancy Babel Com Australia has announced plans to open online retailer Everything Linux Store (ELS) as a bricks and mortar shopfront in Crows Nest, Sydney  on October 23.

Babel Com purchased the online store from its previous owner Anthony Rumble earlier this year.

At the time the Babel's managing director David Elson told CRN he had been in negotiations to buy ELS with Rumble for the past 12 months.

Rumble was no longer in a position to continue running the store and was winding down the business, before passing away in May.

Elson said the open source market needed a "shopfront" because it was "continually growing".

He told CRN the store would be staffed by six or eight casual employees. Two of those employees will be open source administrators.

"We've also hired Melissa Draper as the stores business manager," he said. "She's part of the Australian Ubuntu team."

Elson said the store will stock everything from netbooks to open source books.

It won't, however, be stocking Windows 7, which launches the day prior.  

"Not now or in the future," Elson said.