Walter leaving and shift to XP.

[Edward Cherlin]

On Wed, Apr 23, 2008 at 1:27 AM, Torello Querci <torello at torosoft.com> wrote:
>
>  With a lot of friends we are create a legal association called "OLPC Italia"
>  to allow the Italian citizens to buy OLPC using G1G1.

There currently is no G1G1. Do you mean GiveMany? My organization
tried to buy from them, but concluded that we cannot work with the
program. The terms quoted change without notice. Brightstar, the
program manager, was shown to be incompetent at order entry and
customer service in the G1G1 program. The latest terms, for what they
are worth, were

* Cash in advance
* Delivery date to be decided after 60 days
* Delivery within the next nine months

This is due to Nicholas Negroponte's policy of making the price of the
laptop as low as possible, regardless of demand or any other
consideration. So parts orders and manufacturing runs have to be
fitted into the suppliers' schedules.

>  For us the most important thing is the "Educational Project" but sell the XO
>  with XP is not an educational project.

Just so. Students would miss out on being able to study the OS code,
the no-cost applications, and the freedom to modify anything to suit
their needs, notably including language support.

>  We accept Sugar as core of the user interface but which are the real benefits
>  to have Sugar on Windows instead to have Sugar on Linux?

Supposedly this would bring in Microsoft's mighty-muscled marketing
machine on our side. In reality, it would mean going over to their
side.

>  If is possible to use normal windows application on top Sugar+Windows the
>  educational project is broken because the developers what need to write a
>  program (program not activity) write it on windows because in this manner one
>  PC with windows can run it, and XO "XPzed" too .... so why write code for
>  sugar? In this scenario Sugar is dead and OLPC became a Laptop organization

Sugar would not die, and will not die. If necessary, the community
will walk away from OLPC to start a new organization, and fork all of
the software. We would replicate git, Trac, lists, and Pootle, all of
which are under Free licenses. This has happened many times in the
FOSS development world. People at OLPC have been there and done that,
and in several cases gotten the t-shirt.

>  (for me of sure....). If, otherwise, Sugar XPzed is not able to run normal
>  windows application I not understand why abandoned Linux to Windows .... but
>  is the only choice to maintaining the original aim .... ("Not a Laptop but an
>  Educational Project").
>
>  Regard the problem about flash, we need to thing that XO is not thing to be
>  use as normal PC for normal user .... so we simply need to promote the
>  creation of education website that can be viewed from the XO.

We will have quite remarkable market power within a few years, if
laptop deployment growth continues at its current rate. Our students
will not have access to everything, but then nobody else has it
either. What we and they can access will keep us all plenty busy for
quite a while.

>  Last point is the need of clarity. If OLPC turn to this direction we are not
>  interested to sell a PC and prefer to spend our time in other manner. If OLPC
>  not thing to became a Laptop company we ask to understand how OLPC wants to
>  do this.

You will be welcome to join the fork, if it comes to that.

>  P.S. Sorry for my awful english

Mi scuzi, canto in Italiano, ma non parlo.

>  Regards,
>  Torello Querci

-- 
Edward Cherlin
End Poverty at a Profit by teaching children business
http://www.EarthTreasury.org/
"The best way to predict the future is to invent it."--Alan Kay