I am currently on sabbatical leave, visiting the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Jamaica. As part of the Software Freedom Day 2008 celebrations at UWI Mona, we had a colloquium on "Facilitating a Digital Commons with Free and Open Source Software: Paving the Way for Generations to Come". The colloquium address issues of research, teaching and service and how Free and Open Source Software along with with free and open standards can be used to create a sustainable and thriving digital commons for generations to come.Specific examples presented were with respect to a study of FOSS diffusion and Adoption in the ASEAN group of countries (inspirational for the Carribean), Open Source Maturity Model and its relevance in software selection and use, and the One Laptop per Child project as a community outreach element.

We are hosting yet another Software Freedom Day at SF State. We did this for 2005, 2006, and 2007 with a lot of success and fun. We hope it will be the same, if not better this year. Just like last year, we will have to switch dates and move it to Thursday, September 18, 2008 because SF State does not get any foot traffic on Saturdays.