[MW Forums]

Red Hat is due to publicly confirm that it has become a founding corporate member of the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) non-profit organization Tuesday. more

[Rugby]

interesting project. For those needing a reminder here is a link to the project:
MIT Media Lab

[MCJ]

Bravo! Many of us (including me) have criticised Google for its decision to allow censorship of its search engine in China. But let's give credit where it is due - this is the sort of initiative where it and other corporations can make a positive contribution to developing nations.
I suppose many will say that there are other more pressing priorities in the Third World, like food aid and disease prevention. But in the long term bridging the digital divide is essential to its economic development.

[TxTom]

Of all the Linux distros I've tried, Red Hat CAN be one of the easier ones to use, but Ubuntu beats the standard install hands down for simplicity and ease of use. I was hoping that if (and they did) they refused OS X, then Ubuntu's distro would be used.
Oh well, there shouldn't be a reason that the RH could be replaced with Ubuntu is there?

[kwill]

The "third world" disappeared with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Prior to that time there were two Superpowers (with their supporting nations), and everyone else -- the third world. The politically correct term is now, as you mentioned in your first paragraph, "developing nations."

[AlanCE]

Great project!

In reply to:

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The politically correct term is now, as you mentioned in your first paragraph, "developing nations.

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Oh, i thought the correct term was "poorly managed and overly exploited countries"... but I do appreciate your efforts to make us all better people. /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

[spyinthesky]

How patronising is the term 'developing nations'. At least '3rd world' said it as it was, 'developing nations' is simply an effort to make the developed nations feel better about themselves and con the public into thinking something constructive is actually happening. Fact is that Africa is worse off per capita than it was in the 60s and China (and later india) is a superpower that will soon be the richest country on earth while it keeps the majority of its people in poverty while it uses them to give it an economic advantage while using them to portray itself as an underprivaledged nation. Instead of paying nameless civil servants a fortune to find PC names to describe things as we would like to present them, we should actually start to learn more about what it is we are actually presenting. As it is, it seems that some developing nations are rather more equal than others, but hey as long as they have a zingy marketing title to describe them who cares eh.

[stormovick]

I think this project is such a joke: (1) theres no serious money behind the initiative (2) big computer companies arent designing and building the machines and software (3) that $100 price tag appears to be a target and not the result of some careful design work (4) There is zero demand for this device. Note: need does not constitute free market demand somebody must have the money to pay for this green farce before there is demand.

[HumanJHawkins]

In reply to:

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I think this project is such a joke

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I am glad that what you think is insignificant.
1) 12 million dollars + millions more in volunteered time from professional hardware and software developers most certainly IS serious money. Especially when you realize that we are talking about the design only of one computer. I can guarantee you that Dell spends less than 1/6th this for the design of their individual models.
2) Big computer companies didn't design the original Apple. Nor did a big computer company write Photoshop.
3) The $100 price tag IS a target. Just like $599 was the target for the low end Mac Mini. Do you think that Apple just said, "Let's build a little computer as small and cheap as we can and then set a price for it based on whatever that turns out to be." Almost every product in the world that is developed by experienced professionals has a price target right from the start.
4) Do you really think that China won't want some of these for it's 150 million kids? You don't think India will want some for it's 150 million kids? You don't think there are countries in South and Central America or the former Soviet Union? Eastern Europe? South Africa?

[mark_G4]

Well said!

[Rugby]

In reply to:

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(4) There is zero demand for this device. Note: need does not constitute free market demand somebody must have the money to pay for this green farce before there is demand.

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well according to some stories I have read Brazil and Thailand has said they are willing to buy some for their countries
at least it is an interesting project...
and hey I suppose mobile hackers will pay top dollars for the device... /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

[Peter Cohen]

In reply to:

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Brazil and Thailand has said they are willing to buy some for their countries

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As well as the developing nation I live in -- the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[minderbinder]

Thanks for the definition of third world, I always thought it an odd term and didn't really understand its origin.
"At least '3rd world' said it as it was"
But it's an obsolete term. What's the first world? The second? It's a term that refers to a political situation that no longer exists. If you don't like "developing nations" that's a separate issue, what's the better alternative?

[Rugby]

welcome to the brave new world /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
Regarding using Red Hat
remember that when Apple started to use Unix as base the shareware and freeware software scene virtually exploded on the Mac.