A free, open-source Windows "clone" - ReactOS - that has been in development for over a decade has caught the eye of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

A student at a Russian high school the president visited recently gave Mr Medvedev a brief overview of the project - and asked him for 1m euros.

The council of the Italian region of Puglia is about to approve the law proposed last December that will make the use of open source and open standards mandatory for the region's public administrations, according to news reports.

EC migrates to windows 7, contracts made without public call for tender. Explanations confirm lock-in as motivation which is in contradiction with European procurement Directive. A black day for Europe.

Members of the European Parliament and their assistants are participating in this year's Document Freedom Day, a 'grassroots effort to educate the public about the importance of Free Document Formats and Open Standards in general', according to an announcement on the organisation's website.

When it comes to Free Software and Open Standards, the UK has long lagged way behind other countries. There were a few policies that sounded good on paper, but that’s exactly where they stayed. This may be finally changing. The UK Cabinet Office has issued a "procurement policy notice" (.pdf) that is, well, surprising. In a good way.

One member of the European Parliament and a handful of their advisors and assistants started a free software group last Saturday, aiming to increase the use of free and open source software in the European Parliament's IT infrastructure. The user group is open to all who works in the European Parliament, including staff and assistants working in political groups.

Former open source evangelist at Sun, reported on his blog, on a presentation he had given at a conference in Latvia concerning the ODF. Speaking before him, a Latvian government official had made the announcement that, from now on, all government departments in Latvia must accept documents in ODF.