The massive Free Software event covered a great range of topics and served for a point of convergence for other Free Software-related events. The 2nd International Conference on GPLv3, which took place in parallel with the 4-day Forum, and the various lectures informing on the progress made by the Free Software Foundation Latin America (FSFLA) were among the major highlights of the forum. Sponsored by major Brazilian companies and with the support of several governmental agencies, the 7th International Free Software Forum confirmed Brazil`s momentum in the development and support of free software. (Want to learn more about Free Software and its benefits?)
 

During the four days of conferences (April, 19-21), lecturers and members of the international free software community got together to discuss key developments related to programming languages, version control, development tools, free implementation of industry standards, development process, tools, applications, operating systems,  and games, among others themes. Numerous representatives of the free software community of Argentina attended the conferences and participated as lecturers in the event, including members of GrULiC, Lanux, Solar, Ví­a Libre Foundation and educ.ar.

Rayentray Tappa, member of ifPeople's FairSource team (with Except), was among the 445 lecturers that participated in the forum. Along with other female members of the free software community, Tappa explained her views on the place of women in a predominantly male environment. The “Free Software Women” panel featured the problems women face in their workplaces and offered valuable advice based on first-hand experience. Tappa also coordinated a number of panels focusing on the open source technologies ifPeople and its FairSource partners work with: Python, Zope and Plone (PZP). “I also had the chance of meeting the Brazilian PZP community, who are cofounders of the Plone Foundation.” Tapa said in an interview. She explained Except's (one of ifPeople's Fairsource partners) current application of these tools and describe to the public what the FairSource business model consists of: a network of responsible microenterprises in South America producing Fair Trade Software for progressive enterprises.

During the forum a much-expected report on the work the Free Software Foundation of Latin America, FSFLA, has done since its creation in November 2005 was presented. Federico Heinz, from Via Libre Foundation and current President of FSFLA talked about the recent developments carried out by the FSFLA, a sister organization of the US-based Free Software Foundation (FSF) which aims to work, together with affilates -including the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) and India (FSFI)- “to promote and defend the freedoms and rights of software users and developers”. The Forum also hosted the 2nd International Conference on GPL v3, whose many panels and conferences addressing the challenges of updating the GNU General Public License, including Stallman´s presentation, were coordinated by the FSFLA. The new license, which is currently being drafted and commented upon (you can read the draft online http://gplv3.fsf.org/draft), is expected to have a major impact on the future development of free software initiatives. Among one of the most valuable contributions in this respect was the presentation done by Ciaran O'Riordan, member of the FSFE and founder of the Irish Free Software Organization, who talked about the work the FSFE has done in favor of computer users´ rights and the lessons learnt so far in the fight to resist the attempts to implement software patents in the European Union.