I guess everybody has heard that a majority of the key developers in the OpenOffice.org community decided to set up the Document Foundation: an independent foundation to continue and manage work on the Openoffice.org codebase. If you’ve not, then I can recommend Terry Hancock’s piece as a starting point (and a good summary of why forking is vital).

Software is an integral component of a range of devices that perform critical, lifesaving functions and basic daily tasks. As patients grow more reliant on computerized devices, the dependability of software is a life-or-death issue.

Software patent law must be simplified if not completely abolished. The concept that a routine or function is somehow "intellectual property" is ridiculous. How many times have you had an idea and found out someone else had the same idea? Patents were designed to prevent stealing of ideas but two independent people creating the same idea are not stealing from each other.

Joe Brockmeier argues in his article that positive campaigning is much more successful in reaching more people, than negative campaigning. He especially criticise the FSF for its "Defective by Design" and "Windows 7 sins" campaigns. I fully agree with Joe's point that it is important to do positive campaigning. This is especially true in Europe.

The first time that the European Commission's vice president talked about the Digital Agenda which was recently published. Neelie Kroes speech was the first time that she talked about the Digital Agenda in public, and she provided quite a bit of interpretation.

Patent Absurdity explores the case of software patents and the history of judicial activism that led to their rise, and the harm being done to software developers and the wider economy. The film is based on a series of interviews conducted during the Supreme Court's review of in re Bilski — a case that could have profound implications for the patenting of software.

The Free Software philosophy is founded in the ideals of freedom, openness, and sharing. Educational institutions support the same ideals within academic freedom and the open dissemination of knowledge and information common in academia.