Rhune Lord wrote:
http://www.redherring.com/Home/24265Quick read & a little OT but any thoughts?
I don't see this as OT.Negroponte and OLPC was the first major force to overcome the "chicken and egg" problem with widespread Linux adoption. This problem is that few mainstream manufacturers, software makers, etc. support Linux because there are not enough Linux users. And there aren't enough Linux users because there isn't enough mainstream industry support. OLPC was to be millions of computers all running Linux/FS/OSS, taking a huge step to solve the "enough users" side of the problem.
The OLPC project is now facing the reality of distribution and other issues that, perhaps, they did not plan well to handle. With such problems combined with the clash of the "Microsoft = how a computer works" culture, it's hard to do what they set out to do. The power of the mono-culture/monopoly of ideas in action. It appears that Negroponte and OLPC has taken path of least resistance in the MS dominated marketplace just to stay above the other problems in the project.
The project has done some amazingly positive things for the computer world. They proved that small, inexpensive computers are possible and have a market. They have pushed the big players and others to actually think about new ways to solve the technological divide. They have made innovations in hardware technology. They have raised the awareness of Linux/FS/OSS to the general masses. Overall it has been and probably will still be a positive thing.
But, I am very disappointed at the apparent capitulation to using MS software. It sends the message that Free Software is still not good enough, even though we know it is and can be. It contradicts many of the earlier statements made by the OLPC project about autonomy and local investment for the users of the computers. And so it makes me think that the project really does not believe in what they set out to do as the remove a foundational principle.
And that is sad. Alan
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