More than 5,000 people gathered in Brussels for FOSDEM 2009. Attendees learned to guard their in-demand netbooks, and representatives from major open source projects explained the agendas for upcoming releases.

When he attended a rally in Munich this month, Richard Stallman took time out of his busy schedule to talk with our News Editor, Britta Wülfing. The conversation covered everything from Software as a Service, to patents, protests, international politics, and protecting your freedom.

Chaos Communication Congress visitors were probably more interested in their digital civil rights, as reflected in the congress motto "Nothing to hide," but first they had to cope with closed ticket counters and overflowing rooms.

Free software enjoys an excellent reputation in the field of 3D graphics. In addition to Blender, other projects stand out: MakeHuman creates realistic 3D humans, and Art of Illusion – with its intuitive interface – lets users enter the world of animated movies.

The South by Southwest Interactive conference purports to showcase the best minds and brightest personalities in emerging technology. The Interactive portion of this year's event took place from March 12-16 in Austin, Texas. The entire SXSW festival is composed of Interactive, Film, and Music conferences and turns the city of Austin into one large media fest.

Last week, Google unveiled the 150 mentoring organizations selected for Google Summer of Code (GSoC) 2009, and students can begin submitting applications now.