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New President for OLPC Organization
Posted by
ScuttleMonkey
on Fri May 02, 2008 02:11 PM
from the roll-the-dice dept.
from the roll-the-dice dept.
haroldag writes "After Walter Bender's resignation as president of OLPC, Charles Kane enters to take his place as the new boss. Kane says 'The OLPC mission is a great endeavor, but the mission is to get the technology in the hands of as many children as possible. Whether that technology is from one operating system or another, one piece of hardware or another, or supplied or supported by one consulting company or another doesn't matter. It's about getting it into kids' hands. Anything that is contrary to that objective, and limits that objective, is against what the program stands for.'"
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[+]
Mobile: Walter Bender Resigns From OLPC 126 comments
westlake writes "Walter Bender, the former executive director of MIT's Media Lab, and, in many ways, the tireless workhorse and public face of OLPC, has resigned from OLPC after being reorganized and sidetracked into insignificance. The rumor mill would have it that 'constructionism as children [learn] learning' is being replaced by a much less romantic view of the XO's place in the classroom and XO's tech in the marketplace."
[+]
Technology: Negroponte vs. Open-Source Fundamentalists 414 comments
fyoder writes "Within the world of One Laptop per Child, both the Negropontistas and the Benderites envision a future for Sugar where it runs on multiple platforms, but the latter don't want Windows (or closed source anything) as part of that future. OLPC's emphasis has always seemed to me to be on Sugar, with Linux simply being a smart technical choice for the underlying OS. Yet what is becoming more explicit with the resignation of Walter Bender is that for many involved in the project there was a strong element of Linux advocacy, such that Negroponte's flirtation with Microsoft is felt to be pure sacrilege."
[+]
Microsoft and OLPC Agree To Put XP On the XO Laptop 530 comments
Apro+im points out a NYTimes report which states that Microsoft and the OLPC project have officially agreed to put Windows XP on the XO laptop. While Microsoft has been working toward this for some time, analysts began to think a deal was more likely after Walter Bender resigned from the project and was replaced by Charles Kane. Former OLPC security developer Ivan Krstic had a lot to say about Windows on the XO as well. From the Times:
"Windows will add a bit to the price of the machines, about $3, the licensing fee Microsoft charges to some developing nations under a program called Unlimited Potential. For those nations that want dual-boot models, running both Windows and Linux, the extra hardware required will add another $7 or so to the cost of the machines, Mr. Negroponte said. The project's agreement with Microsoft involves no payment by the software giant, and Microsoft will not join One Laptop Per Child's board. 'We've stayed very pure,' Mr. Negroponte said.
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Obligatory? (Score:2, Funny)
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Also Obligatory? (Score:2)
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I thought it was about education. (Score:2)
Turns out it's just about getting toys to kids.
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"Charles['Big Daddy'] Kane enters to take his place as the new boss. Kane says 'The...mission is...to
get...in the hands of as many children as possible. Whether that...is from one...or another, one
piece...or another, or supplied or supported by one...or another doesn't matter. It's about gett...in... it
into kids' hands. Anything that is contrary to that...is against what the program stands for.'"
Jesus, what kind of 'kane is being peddled to those impoverished youngsters?
this will end well (Score:2)
That sound you hear is a million One Linuxlaptop Per Child zealots so besides themselves they can barely type.
Bender Resigned? (Score:5, Funny)
Fry: Wait, hold on. I don't like the sound of that. Let's just go alphabetically.
Leela: OK. First Bender, then Flexo, then Fry.
Fry: Wait, let's go by rank.
Leela: OK. First Bender, then Flexo, then Fry.
Fry: Flexo outranks me?
Flexo: That's "Flexo outranks me, sir"!
When we lack principals we lose the objective (Score:5, Interesting)
It was a mission to improve these nations and communities by making them competitive and independent.
I guess Microsoft's billions can corrupt anything they want. It's now just about building markets for Windows.
FUCK YOU OLPC!
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Slightly different, IMO. (Score:5, Insightful)
It's the "barrier to entry" that concerns Microsoft. If the kids are given a laptop, then it is just up to them to learn to program with the FOSS tools for the FOSS environment that they've been given. The "barrier to entry" has been, effectively, removed. And NOT in Microsoft's favour.
Microsoft wants to keep the "barrier to entry" just high enough so that Microsoft platforms look most appealing to anyone who manages to cross that barrier.
Parent
The Price Is Right (Score:4, Insightful)
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OLPC was about empowering children. Now it seems poised to be about giving flashy black-boxes to kids.
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Re:The Price Is Right (Score:5, Informative)
That it is - or very soon will be - possible for the OEM to build a fully competitive educational laptop, pre-load Microsoft's Student Innovation Suite and sell it for less than the XO.
Then why haven't they? The other laptops are still more expensive and have the wrong feature set. Why on earth would for-profit companies target the lucrative people with not enough money market? Remember, the OLPC effort is not a for-profit company.
You want Squeak? You can have Squeak.
What has that got to do with anything?
The Windows platform demands no ideological or religious commitment whatever.
Yes it does. It demands a commitment to NEVER be able to see the source code and find out how it works. It demands you agree to a commitment to never copy it and give it away. Perhaps it's a commitment you don't care about?
You can load and run software under any license you chose. Without ever once being drawn into a theological argument over how many angels can dance on the head of a GPL pin.
Ah, so you're Trolling! I should have guessed. Unless you're really so stupid that you believe that this is somehow not the case with Linux.
Parent
Technology is the least of it (Score:2)
Anyone can give a kid a laptop. In 5 years will the child be using that laptop to enrich her life, or will it be a nice heavy doorstop? Software and teaching will make the difference. OLPC used to be about that, but apparently it's just going to be a numbers game now.
If it doesn't matter what OS they use... (Score:3, Insightful)
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That would be much better. You can't have kids running around with ball and chains that aren't trendy, or all the people in the chat rooms will tease them. What kind of an iLife is that for a child?
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It may not stack up to your ideals, but it's a damn sight better than anything Microsoft has to offer, even ignoring that OS X apparently scales down very well.
It's an education project, not a technology projec (Score:5, Insightful)
Throwing out the baby (Score:5, Insightful)
Open source was not only a way to get cheap software for the laptop, it was also a means to enable constructionism. A key idea of OLPC, from the very beginning, was that children would have complete visibility into the software. At higher levels, Sugar and all of the OLPC applications are interpreted, so the "View Source" key on the keyboard allows for dynamic modification. At lower levels, of course, you need compiled code for performance (especially on the OLPC's low-power CPU), but with Linux kids who were interested in digging down to that level could.
Abandoning open source means abandoning constructionism to some extent as well, since whatever closed-source binaries you use are opaque and unavailable for exploration. If industry buy-in is necessary to get the machines deployed, and if using Windows is the way to achieve that, then fine, but it should be done with a clear understanding of what educational goals are being damaged by the decision.
I had to laugh a little bit at that part. I mean, there's no way the OLPC is going to be able to run the common Windows software packages that I'm sure the leaders think are desirable. It just doesn't have the storage, RAM and cycles required by those heavyweights. But if you run Sugar and the OLPC apps on top of a Windows kernel you've gained nothing at all, functionally or educationally, and you've lost some educational value.
Honestly, if Egypt is worried about teaching its kids to use Windows, then the OLPC is the wrong choice for them, regardless of what kernel it's running. They should focus on the Intel ClassMate. It's not as flexible or as cheap as the OLPC, but it is more powerful, powerful enough to run modern Windows applications, albeit slowly.
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Seriously, what is it with geeks and power? XP is 7 years old. It ran quite correctly on P3 with 256MB RAM, why would it NOT run on the OLPC? Turn down the effects and tune down the services that wont be used on this computer and you mat have a solid basis.
I agree with the rest of the comment, by selecting XP over Linux, they are giving up some of the transparency and
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I think I speak for everyone (Score:3, Funny)
Tomorrow's announcement (Score:2)
But what IS "the technology"? (Score:4, Insightful)
I was under the impression that "the technology" included the source code. And "in the hand" included the ability to make improvements to it and build new things based on it (thus including an appropriate build, execution, and interpretation environment).
If this is not included, it is not "the technology" that has gotten into the children's hands. Instead they hold a product of the technology, while the technology itself remains in the hands of a rich foreign elite.
Software is not a commodity (Score:3, Interesting)
For one, with each software platform comes a culture. Switching to Windows robs the OLPC of the much-needed innovation and freely-available talent attached to OSS. Most OSS developers just won't want to touch this thing, and with that dies much of the unrealized potential behind the OLPC -- without this, the OLPC is just another cheap, underpowered sub-notebook. It will almost certainly never move past its basic function, and as such can never become the disruptive technology it could have been.
Think of where this could have gone... software designed to take advantage of the OLPC's mesh networking could have formed the basis for a new communication network in developing countries. Can you imagine the potential in terms of free speech, and free-market growth this alone could have had? (Free-market, in the sense that for example it could have allowed new ways to communicate about pricing and availability of local goods between villages and settlements)....
Hey (Score:4, Interesting)
I have ported Ubuntu Hardy on it. It easily runs Firefox and OpenOffice.org. [livejournal.com]
I am working on an easy to install version, and missing controls for screen/power/...
I went as far as making a Ubuntu-ish green gtk and icons theme [denver.co.us] to match UI colors with laptop controls.
I am going to add a way to easily switch between screens running Sugar and "mainstream" window manager.
This is pretty much the most "mainstream" laptop configuration imaginable. For any practical use on this laptop, educational or otherwise, it is already superior to anything that would involve Windows. Heck, I am POSTING FROM IT!
If the goal is anything other than spreading the disease that is Windows, they can just take this configuration -- and I am willing to help in improving it.
Re:I agree with half of his reasoning. (Score:5, Insightful)
--
Note: I am not a sock puppet, comments to that effect are not needed.
Parent
Non free considered harmful to OLPC mission. (Score:5, Insightful)
RMS has blogged about the harm non free software will do to OLPC (summarized and linked to here [slashdot.org]). He's urging developers to come to Sugar's rescue and for OLPC to keep acting as an advocate of freedom. I'm afraid that OLPC will be soundly thrashed in the market if they fall for the obvious trap that a Windows port is.
The last time Slashdot talked about this, Bruce Perens presented an excellent technical explanation of how non free software would harm the core mission of the OLPC project [slashdot.org].
Given all of these good reasons for avoiding non free software, how can anyone take Microsoft seriously?
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Non free considered harmful to OLPC mission. (Score:5, Insightful)
By picking open-source software, then even made sure you didn't need a corporation to fix or improve your software. If they shipped with Windows XP, without it being open-sourced, then they are failing in their objective, because the operation system of the computer could not be maintained by the owner/operator of the computer, but only by Microsoft.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
That's all nice in the theoretical and spoken by someone who doesn't actually own an XO laptop.
A big reason for getting a flavor of XP on the XO is due to the fact that Sugar is broken and incomplete. Progress on implementing missing features is moving extremely slowly. There's still no viable power management for the XO, the ebook mode is incomplete, the stylus areas are still non-functional, and the "view source code" button is missing.
I don't care what OS is running on it. I just want one that fu
snatching defeat from the jaws of victory (Score:3, Interesting)
Economies of
Re:Non free considered harmful to OLPC mission. (Score:4, Insightful)
Parent
OLPC should not waste time with M$ "Cooperation" (Score:2)
What Windows will add to OLPC:
The OLPC project needs to keep telling foreign governments that the XO is cheaper and better than other laptops because it has avoided Windows. When confronted with the question of, "Does it run Windows" the answer should be a firm, "No and neither should you." This i
Re:Non free considered harmful to OLPC mission. (Score:5, Insightful)
You're saying when running a charity, Microsoft should be "allowed to compete"?!? This is the same Microsoft that has been repeatedly convicted of undermining fair competition through criminal antitrust abuses? This is the same Microsoft that is still in the process of being prosecuted for ongoing antitrust abuses? This is the same Microsoft that is being investigated for bribing government officials and standards bodies?
Great, then the OLPC brand is poisoned and there is confusion about what the capabilities of the different versions are. Then MS can undercut others on price in order to lock in a new market early and then bleed them for the next twenty years like they have been other markets. I'm less than impressed with this idea.
You're assuming people will try both and objectively compare them on a level playing field, then choose what is best for the kids. Given MS's history, their piles of cash, and their incentive here, why do you think that?
Parent
Is Sugar even the problem? (Score:2)
The main complaint I heard Negroponte voice was that certain Flash apps didn't work. And that was because they were using an incomplete clone of Flash. If they're talking about putting Windows on the OLPC, why on earth are they getting hard-line about using an open source Flash plugin? Why not put the latest cl
Re:Non free considered harmful to OLPC mission. (Score:5, Insightful)
a) Increased the cost of the hardware because Windows XP just doesn't run with the same resources as a lighter OS like Linux...especially since Windows XP already has it's own GUI that needs exist under Sugar.
b) Limited their ability to pick hardware, such as non-Intel chips, which Windows XP doesn't support.
c) Tied themselves to security updates and the release cycle of a third party of a foreign country.
d) Limited the ability of children to tinker.
e) Limited their ability to to provide an integrated environment that will actually help children...Sugar on another OS would inevitably have an impedience mismatch.
f) Alienated the community that was helping to build the OLPC project, thus reducing credibility and further contributions.
g) Lost any differentiation between the OLPC and the competing Classmates project, since Sugar should be able to run on Classmates.
Points (a) to (e) go directly against the OLPC mission. Point (f) reduces that chance of OLPC's success. Point (g) splits funds from other projects. Since each project has a fixed administrative cost, and the design split delays deployment decisions (like the HDDVD vs Blueray war hurt DVD adoption), this reduces the funds that are actually used to help educate children.
I can think of no reason to change the OLPC's original constitution. If proprietary stuff like "Flash" is required and Gnash isn't up to snuff (yet), doesn't it make more sense to as Adobe for a Flash port rather than throw the education deprived baby out with the bath water? At least with this solution, there's some hope that Gnash will eventually be fully Flash compatible or Flash will be superseded.
Parent
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Remember that when you are in a bar that catches fire and everyone tramples on you to make sure they aren't the ones burned alive.
Remember that when a colleague pushes the blame on you to keep from getting themselves fired.
It is every man for themselves. Life isn't fair, so why should you be? Right?
This is about bettering mankind as a whole. Not "What the hell do I get out of it?"
The Socialist Freeways (Score:3, Insightful)
Not many Capitalists would want to drive around a country where the means of transportation were maintained and tolled by private enterprise at market costs rather than shared as a socialized national expense.
Now if only California's High Speed Rail could figure out how to link itself up with war hysteria or terrorism ("trains ar
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I don't know whether that's true or not.
What I do know is that if OLPC starts making hardware and software decisions based on what education ministry bureaucrats ask for, instead of what provides the best benefit to the students, they have already lost sight of their mission.
Honestly, I suspect that Windows XP/XO will never see a release. I think it's all jus
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Well, apparently you thought wrong. By "learn technology" they didn't really mean to give the kids the understanding to develop their own computer industry. The technology that the kids are supposed to learn is using Microsoft software, so that their present and future masters wi
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OLPC was about that.
OLPC is about something else now.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
The OLPC project may now have a long life ahead in its new rule, supported "charitable" corporate donations, operating basically as a notionally charitable marketing firm for certain large commercial software firms.
So the change may help, just not help the people the OLPC project was started to help.
Offtopic, but... (Score:3, Interesting)