Participation and open access are key themes in Free software. It encourages dynamic community structures that blur the line between technology consumer and creator. This has been so successful that echoes of it can be found throughout the technology world from mobile app user engagement to game community content creation.

It is supported by many that the AGPL license for network services which run in a cloud brings back the fairness provision that the original GPL intended and returns the freedom that FLOSS promises to all users and developers. But does the APGL license really provide all that?

Today, the Software Freedom Conservancy, non-profit organization, which provides Free, Libre, and Open Source Software (FLOSS) projects with fiscal sponsorship, asset stewardship, license enforcement and license compliance services, announced the appointment of Bradley M. Kuhn as its full-time Executive Director.

Recently my blog attracted a lot of attention from readers who are more critical of FLOSS, and Linux in particular, than my regular readership. Naturally a long discussion erupted where critiques and defenses of various positions and opinions and how stuff works where flung to and fro.

Andy Updegrove writes an article providing an overview of the history of FOSS and its champions, the major philosophical differences that divide FOSS from OSS developers, the multiple licenses under which FOSS is made available, and the principle non-profit institutions that support and promote FOSS.

A lot of discussion goes into how to talk about FLOSS - free libre open-source software (for starters how about not using strange acronyms that sound like something you keep with your toothbrush). A recent Earthweb article discusses this topic, pointing out some of the mistakes that are made.

The Brazilian government’s experience with FLOSS was chosen as one of the best real-world cases for the adoption of free software in the public sector. The case was presented by Professor Christiana Freitas, from the University of Brasília (UNB), and Corinto Meffe, coordinator of Brazil’s Portal do Software Público.