[Solar-general] Fw: OLPC??????????????

[Sebastian Bassi]

On 5/4/07, Felix Zolezzi <felix.zolezzi at gmail.com> wrote:
> 03/05/2007 - ¿Qué cosa eran las OLPC?         	
>            	 ¿Laptops con Windows?
>  		El sinceramiento de Nicholas Negroponte acerca del precio de las OLPC, ahora

Parece que no:

OLPC project clarifies: no plans for Windows support

By Ken Fisher | Published: May 02, 2007 - 11:56PM CT

Late last week the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project had a media
event in Cambridge, and while I couldn't make the event, I did tape a
video interview for the BBC on the project. During my preparation I
kept coming across these claims that Microsoft and OLPC had partnered
to put Windows XP Starter Edition on the OLPC, and according to one
report, this was being done to get the XO laptop into US schools. None
of this jibed with what I had been hearing from sources, so I decided
to look into it further. As it turns out, a number of new outlets,
including the AP, mischaracterized the situation.

According to Walter Bender, president of Software and Content at OLPC,
there is no agreement in place between OLPC and Microsoft to offer XO
laptops with any version of Windows. Bender also indicated that
Microsoft has not contacted OLPC regarding its $3 software bundling
program, nor have any governments requested that the XO be outfitted
with Windows. In short, there is no existing collaboration between
Microsoft and OLPC aimed at outfitting the XO laptop with Windows.

"We are a free and open-source shop. We have no one from OLPC working
with Microsoft on developing a Windows platform for the XO.  MS
doesn't get any special treatment from OLPC," Bender told Ars.

How did the mix-up come about? Perhaps it is because Microsoft is one
of over 1,500 developers accepted to OLPC's developer program, and the
company does have access to XO prototypes. Microsoft has said that the
company will develop for the XO laptop, but when asked if OLPC was
aware of any tests of either XP Starter Edition or Vista Starter
Edition on the XO, Bender said that he was not.

Reaction to the news that Microsoft might hop on board the XO was met
with both cheers and derision. Open-source advocates worried that this
constituted a loss for the project and open-source ideals, but those
fears appear to be unfounded now that the relationship between OLPC
and Microsoft is clearer.

Correction: Reuters was named as a news outlet which reported the
alleged Microsoft-OLPC hookup. Reuters did not in fact do so.




-- 
Sebastián Bassi (セバスティアン)
Diplomado en Ciencia y Tecnología.
GPG Fingerprint: 9470 0980 620D ABFC BE63 A4A4 A3DE C97D 8422 D43D
Club de la razón (www.clubdelarazon.org)