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OLPC Inspires Open Source Projects

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the hey-somebody-thought-of-the-children dept.

Don Marti writes "A loose network of developers representing many commonly used open source projects are working to develop a new generation of low-memory, efficient code. This targeted code is being designed for a system, of which only 500 prototype boards now exist: the 'Children's Machine 1' from the One Laptop Per Child project." From the article: "Gettys says measuring existing performance has to come before trying those changes. 'We've been pulling in every decent performance tool Linux has so we can optimize when and where it really matters,' he says. A key automated testing tool is Tinderbox, a build and test management tool originally developed for Mozilla, that new OLPC developer Chris Ball has installed, to build and test OLPC software. And, after Red Hat kernel developer Dave Jones gave a standing-room-only talk at the 2006 Linux Symposium titled, Why Userspace Sucks (Or, 101 Really Dumb Things Your App Shouldn't Do), his reports of suckiness, which include kernel-based measurements of wasteful behavior, are helpful, Blizzard says."

2 of 75 comments (clear)

  1. Is this a platform with no apps? by guanxi · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Like OS/2? The first Xbox? BeOS? As I asked once before (so I'm not re-writing the whole post), is this a platform without applications?

    Those platforms were great technology, but users need apps not platforms or great technology. And yes, I know about all the Linux apps, but look at its market share.

    I hope someone will cheer me up and explain why this is not an issue with OLPC.

    1. Re:Is this a platform with no apps? by guanxi · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      It seems to fall nearly into the category of an appliance. It will come with all the software which the thing is intended for, presumably.

      Hmmm ... These guys in Boston have thought of everything kids of all ages, in all these countries and cultures, in all academic subjects, will need, then implemented it effectively and fit it all on the OLPC?

      So far, I'm not yet cheered up.