SANTA CLARA, USA: Building on its commitment to empower developers and students across the globe, Sun Microsystems, Inc. is sponsoring more than 300 community style events in more than 30 countries for Software Freedom Day (SFD) on September 19, 2009.

With an emphasis on emerging markets such as India, China, Indonesia and Russia, Sun's Software Freedom Day events are designed to help developers on all levels to better understand and generate increased involvement in open source technologies.

Using its extensive Open Source University Meetup (OSUM) network, Sun is bringing together more than 25,000 students for student-run events designed to improve awareness around the importance and benefits of open source technologies.

At each event, students will have the opportunity to hear from open source experts from local universities, participate in installation demonstrations, while networking with students, professors and developers from their region who are passionate about free and open source technology.

"In the OSUM Community, we believe that students can play a leadership role in promoting the adoption of free software and creating more equal access to opportunities through the use of participatory technologies," said Gary Serda, global manager of academic programs and communities, Sun Microsystems.

"Together, through all of our Software Freedom Day events, we are moving the world closer to a new world of opportunity, innovation and freedom for all people," added Serda.

Sun offers several platforms, including MySQL, GlassFish, NetBeans, OpenSolaris, OpenJDK  and OpenOffice.org that are supported by vibrant, growing communities, to help foster freedom, innovation and improve the quality of products for businesses.