
Can we rescue OLPC from Windows? - xirium
http://www.fsf.org/blogs/rms/can-we-rescue-olpc-from-windows
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krschultz
As someone who bought the buy 2 get 1, I feel betrayed by the Windows fiasco.
That is NOT what I was supporting, it is like giving money to a candidate that
said they were pro choice and then they support Roberts nomination. I would
love to know more details about the deal, Microsoft has to be funding them in
some way, even if it was free $ wise, why would they go with Windows over
Linux after investing all that time into Sugar?

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wmf
Maybe you read some of the wrong press coverage. OLPC will be offering a
choice of Linux-only or dual-boot laptops, so every one will still have Linux
(which may or may not be used). Some customers demanded Windows or nothing and
OLPC choose to deliver dual-boot instead of nothing; hopefully those dual-boot
laptops will create volume and help OLPC bring the price down for everyone.

I don't think dual-boot will lead to fewer users of Linux/Sugar; people who
want Linux will still use Linux and people who want Windows will apparently
never use Linux and you can't force them to. It's anti-freedom to ban
customers from running Windows on hardware that they own.

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bdfh42
It is my impression that both Stallman and Negroponte have completely lost the
plot on the OLPC. Surely, the whole point of the project was to deliver an
educational tool to children - in particular the children of the poor who
would otherwise be denied access to good teaching and effective learning
experiences.

It looks to me that Negroponte just wants to ship boxes and somehow "beat"
competitors in the new ultra low cost market that the OLPC has created.
Stallman just wants it to use software that meets his definition of "free".
All focus on education seems to have been lost.

I had strong doubts about the educational value of the project up front but
without that component being the most important then the project has lost it's
purpose. Simply making "third world" children familiar with XP or a Linux
distro does not seem worth the effort - the project needs to re-evaluate
itself and focus again on it's original stated goal.

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mattmaroon
I'm sure I'm in the minority here for thinking this (and by all means, downmod
away) but Stallman is clearly a touch insane. His obsession with free software
is far beyond the bounds of reason. The Windows on XO issue aside, disabling
Wi-Fi just to not run one proprietary piece of code is silly, even if you
wouldn't use Wi-Fi anyway.

Everyone needs a religion I guess, even people who surf the web by sending
mail to demons.

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greyman
I modded you up. In my opinion it is good to have an XP in OLPC. Children can
learn Windows, which is a de-facto standard in corporate world, so they will
be prepared better for their professional future.

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mattmaroon
I think it's good to have the option. I can't really have a problem with kids
being able but not forced to use Windows.

XP might not still be in action by the time they graduate to a normal PC, but
it will probably somewhat resemble whichever one does.

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xirium
There's plenty of open source software that resembles XP. Why not use that?
Indeed, the initial version of OLPC was designed specifically to be below the
specification to run XP and now Microsoft has a small team hacking up the
stock version of XP so that it will run in a smaller space and with less
processing power. Even then, as I understand, an XP install requires an
additional 1GB memory stick. This increases price, decreases the number of
children who benefit, decreases the "de-facto" aspect and allows proprietary
interests to jeopardise the initiative. All this is for the benefit of
cautious beaucrats who can easily find other reasons against purchase.

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mattmaroon
Well, there is a near infinite amount of freeware and shareware that only runs
on Windows. Why not give people access to that? I can't see any reason not to
give people the option.

I guess I don't view it the same way because I'm not as anti-proprietary. The
goal of the XO seems, to me, not so much to further open source software (it
hardly needs the help) but to further the education of the poor. I don't see
how giving them more options could not do so.

