The goal of the OLPC project is not "to educate children about how computers work". There seem to be some delusional folks in our community who think that the project is trying to breed the next generation of Linux-hackers and open source developers. It's not about teaching computer science, it's not about developing Open Office plugins and it's not about learning to write bug-free code. It's about providing an educational tool to give children a "window on the world, as well as a highly programmable tool for exploring it" and that's very different from what some people think it is. Perhaps you should read about the project's mission from their site: http://laptop.org/vision/mission/ One of the most important lines they have in there is that the "OLPC is not, at heart, a technology program".
Yeah, Google have the potential to be pretty terrifying - it's not difficult to imagine them having their own platform (via Android and maybe their own linux-based OS), bandwidth (via 700MHz) and complete online experience (search/email/office apps) in 10 years time. And on top of all that, they gather data on just about every action you take within their system. That scares me. I don't want to live in a world where one company controls the entire stack from the applications to the OS to the hardware to the very bandwidth I need.
Doesn't just about every piece of commercial MP3-related software also have the same deal with Fraunhofer? Does this case expose hundreds of companies to similar legal problems? Does not at all seem like a good thing at first reading.
Why is it so very hard to even think about a Windows system being faster than Linux in some area? I mean, really... I love Linux and it's been my main system for over six years now; it's an excellent (best?) desktop and small business UNIX. But there's areas where other systems, possibly including Win2K, are just better. Microsoft don't employ a whole lot of idiots and it's seems perfectly reasonably to me that they're capable of creating an OS that can give these kind of results... It's terribly arrogant and more than a little naive to think that Linux or any other OS will be brilliant at everything. That's just not how the world works.
I'm still sceptical about whether Transmeta can make much of an impact in anything other than boring old notebooks. Compared to something like the ARM architectures, Crusoe uses masses of power, isn't exactly speedy and costs an absolute fortune. I don't see x86 compatibility as being much to shout about, either; these markets are so young that things are still changing very quickly. Nobody is bothered about what's driving their Palm or Psion, as long as it's fast, cheap and easy on the batteries. Transmeta haven't, in my opinion, demonstrated that they can really shine in any of these areas...
Slashdot Mirror
The goal of the OLPC project is not "to educate children about how computers work". There seem to be some delusional folks in our community who think that the project is trying to breed the next generation of Linux-hackers and open source developers. It's not about teaching computer science, it's not about developing Open Office plugins and it's not about learning to write bug-free code. It's about providing an educational tool to give children a "window on the world, as well as a highly programmable tool for exploring it" and that's very different from what some people think it is. Perhaps you should read about the project's mission from their site: http://laptop.org/vision/mission/ One of the most important lines they have in there is that the "OLPC is not, at heart, a technology program".
Yeah, Google have the potential to be pretty terrifying - it's not difficult to imagine them having their own platform (via Android and maybe their own linux-based OS), bandwidth (via 700MHz) and complete online experience (search/email/office apps) in 10 years time. And on top of all that, they gather data on just about every action you take within their system. That scares me. I don't want to live in a world where one company controls the entire stack from the applications to the OS to the hardware to the very bandwidth I need.
Doesn't just about every piece of commercial MP3-related software also have the same deal with Fraunhofer? Does this case expose hundreds of companies to similar legal problems? Does not at all seem like a good thing at first reading.
Why is it so very hard to even think about a Windows system being faster than Linux in some area? I mean, really... I love Linux and it's been my main system for over six years now; it's an excellent (best?) desktop and small business UNIX. But there's areas where other systems, possibly including Win2K, are just better. Microsoft don't employ a whole lot of idiots and it's seems perfectly reasonably to me that they're capable of creating an OS that can give these kind of results... It's terribly arrogant and more than a little naive to think that Linux or any other OS will be brilliant at everything. That's just not how the world works.
I'm still sceptical about whether Transmeta can make much of an impact in anything other than boring old notebooks. Compared to something like the ARM architectures, Crusoe uses masses of power, isn't exactly speedy and costs an absolute fortune. I don't see x86 compatibility as being much to shout about, either; these markets are so young that things are still changing very quickly. Nobody is bothered about what's driving their Palm or Psion, as long as it's fast, cheap and easy on the batteries. Transmeta haven't, in my opinion, demonstrated that they can really shine in any of these areas...