Microsoft has these 235 patents that they say GNU/Linux is infringing on. Patents they never identify. Is it because they plan to dribble them out one by one to patent trolls who will then grind down free software companies in an endless series of lawsuits?

"There are several local organizations that are actively fighting against draconian copyright, patent and trade secret laws to restore some balance to the system..."

Most Linux users out there, think that their whole system is named just “Linux” (or perhaps the distribution name). For a large number of reasons, which I do not intend to analyze in this post, this is not, and should not be the case.

"The University of Pavia, in Italy, recently awarded Richard Stallman with an honorary degree. Stallman gave a short speech, his "lectio doctoralis", on the ethical imperative to use free software, focussing on individuals and schools. The speech has been transcribed by Alessandro Rubini, with checking by Dora Scillipoti and Luca Andreucci.

"In 2004, a student named Zachary McCune Brown co-founded Brown University’s chapter of Students for Free Culture, a national organization across college campuses that “advocates loosening the restrictions of copyright law so that information — from software to music to research to art — can be freely shared.”..."

"Lawrence Lessig is a genious. He decided to dedicate the next 10 years on ending corruption (after spending the past 10 years on reframing copyright issues)..."

The egalitarianism of Richard Stallman, the practicality of Eric Raymond, the engineering values of Linus Torvalds. So, too, the stories of Vint Cerf, of Tim Berners-Lee, and of early peering arrangements, in which moving money became secondary to moving bits.

"To fight the law one must be educated over the law," wrote Brian Rowe, leader of a chapter in Seattle University's Law School, in an e-mail. "We understand the power the law has to oppress and to liberate and want to use it to liberate by creating more access to information and culture."