I’ve been using FLOSS on my computers pretty much exclusively for about 5 or 6 years now and I don’t see me going back, but I have started to feel some sort of disconnect to one of the leading institutions of FLOSS lately: The Free Software Foundation (FSF).

Back in 2001 Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer called Linux a “cancer” that threatened the company, but now the Redmond giant claims to “love open source.” Well, actions speak louder than words.

Microsoft is trying to sneak patents-encumbered MPEG formats into the Web using Internet Explorer 9 (IE 9); Microsoft threatens (again) to go after Linux legally

After years of hostility towards Free Software Foundation (FSF) licensing (here and here) Microsoft has announced the first in a series of PHP patches - and it's using an FSF license.

In my last post I mentioned Free Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS). Many people don’t know what FLOSS is, but it’s really quite simple. FLOSS is software that anybody can see and that they are free to change to suit their needs. FLOSS is programs that that don’t cost an arm and a leg and a first born son. Examples are Linux, OpenOffice.org, GIMP, Apache Web Server, MySQL, and many more.

Keith Curtis, author and former Microsoft programmer, makes no bones about his view that open source puts the software giant's wares to shame.

Industry standards may not be open (e.g., Microsoft Word file formats) so there are reverse-engineering risks with any OSS dependent upon those standards. The MoJ preference for open standards (e.g., Open Document Format, which is now supported even by Microsoft) lessens this risk.

Microsoft appears to be serious about making Outlook more accessible to open source developers. On May 24, the Redmond, Wash software giant announced two new open source projects designed to complement its recently released technical documentation for Microsoft Outlook Personal Folders (.pst).

It might be a day too late for Valentine's Day, but it's never too late to show your love for Free Software. The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) asked users to show their love for Free Software on Valentine's Day — but there's no reason why that can't run all year long.