Microsoft wants more influence in yet another Open Source and Free Software conference

The other day we mentioned Microsoft's latest such intrusion in the Philippines. Well, now it's Romania. Yes, only a few days later. What gives?

To put things in perspective, remind yourself of what seemed like ballot-stuffing by Microsoft partners in Romania [1, 2]. The OOXML ballot-stuffing in this nation was also alluded to in [1, 2, 3], so you could follow the links and see the damning evidence that comes from the latest comprehensive report. The affiliations and last-minute arrivals were very telling and similar to what was last observed last week, at an international scale.

This latest discovery about a Microsoft sponsorship comes from Bogdan, who said and also showed it all.

Eliberatica FOSS Conference in Romania, Eastern Europe:

GOLD Sponsors: Microsoft Microsoft Romania

http://www.eliberatica.ro/2008/eliberatica-partners-and-sponsors

For Romanian readers: http://itboard.ro/blogs/zolis_tool/archive/2007/05/18/eliberatica-prima-zi.aspx

There are actually quite a few Romanian GNU/Linux distributions (e.g. Attila Craciun's Bluewhite64, Darkstar Linux) and even companies like AXIGEN. The country considered buying 1.2 million Fedora-powered OLPCs last year. It's a weird relationship and Microsoft complicates it further. ⬆

Also of interest (2007):

Romania: Software piracy made us what we are today

Experts have called for stronger action from Romanian officials on software piracy, with prosecutors encouraged to stop dismissing potential cases. The International Intellectual Property Alliance in 2006 said dismissals are acting as a disincentive on police to clamp down on criminals, who are mostly end-users and distributors.

A Brief Overview -- Open Source Software in Romania

Romania is developing its own Linux distributions. One of the biggest is Darkstar Linux, based on Slackware. Furthermore, the open source community is translating free software projects into Romanian, e.g. KDE or GNOME. The Romanian Linux User Group (RLUG) translates and improves the Debian documentation.

Like many other European countries, Romania has caught a glimpse of what Linux and other open source software can do for business or private use. Romanian user hope the government will realise one day that instead of wasting money on proprietary products, it can not only improve the functionality of institutions but also use open source software as a way to direct those funds to other more important issues.