"We've mailed a letter to 499 of the Fortune 500 companies (we didn't think Microsoft would listen), but that's just the start..."

Dear Michael,

I have been a fan of yours for many years - since I was a kid in fact!... I watched you embrace GNU/Linux; I remember thinking: I wonder if people realise what this will actually mean. I am sure he does. So, here I am: I bought an Inspiron Mini 10. I have no choice but return it. And now I can't stop wondering: how could Michael Dell get it just so wrong?

People contribute to free software in many ways. Some write the stuff; some write *about* the stuff, spreading the word; and some actually spread open source directly by giving away systems to those who need them. We hear a lot about the stars of first group, and the second group make a lot of noise on their own. But too often we take the third group for granted.

One of the greatest Linux Advocates alive today, at least in my mind, has nearly worked himself to death. And no, I am not kidding. He came close to dying. this is submitted ONLY to let the community know how he is doing and to show you that his sense of humor is still intact. The community outreach has been tremendous so take this only as a report...nothing more. And Bless The HeliOS Project.

"Hi everyone, This Wednesday, August 26 at 11am, the Free Software Foundation will be launching its Windows7sins.org public awareness campaign, drawing attention to the threats posed by the adoption of Microsoft's proprietary operating system.

"...HAR (Hacking At Random) is an international technology and security conference, with a strong free software, freedom of information political leaning [...] The issues addressed by these talks are not just technical, they have political implications for how we live [...] But HAR2009 was not just about talks. It was also about meeting people, talking, exchanging ideas.

I'm a big advocate of Open Source software. However Open Source has it's flaws. The contribution model may be one of it's greatest strengths, but is also a big weakness.