In comp.os.linux.advocacy, [H]omer
<spam@xxxxxxx>
wrote
on Mon, 21 May 2007 20:07:21 +0100
<9879i4-35c.ln1@xxxxxxxxxx>:
> Verily I say unto thee, that Roy Schestowitz spake thusly:
>
>> Watch the following video:
>>
>> OLPC on 60 Minutes
>>
>> http://olpc.tv/2007/05/21/60-minutes/
>>
>> Negroponte says Intel should be "ashamed of itself"
>>
>> ,----[ Quote ]
>> | He is furious that Intel's CEO Craig Barrett called the One Laptop
>> | a gadget. The Negroponte initiative is caught in the middle of a
>> | vicious fight between AMD and Intel, he said.
>> `----
>>
>> http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=39733
>
> It is despicable when greedy corporations try to force non-profit
> organisations out of business, and turn what was an altruistic gesture
> into exploitation.
Or perhaps it only *looked* like an altruistic gesture.
IIRC, Microsoft donated some Windows software to India,
for example.
Perhaps Intel (or, for that matter, AMD!) is trying
something vaguely similar, and now we're deep in
political/competitive muck. We didn't get the deal,
so torpedo it....
How much will AMD make on this deal? I doubt it will make
much, though I do wonder.
How much would Intel make?
How much would Microsoft make?
> It is clear that Barrett merely sees the Third
> World as an exploitable market, rather than a society of people who
> need our help. His attitude is repulsive. He should be stopped
> ... with legislation if necessary.
Not sure he's done anything illegal just yet, though I'm
not sure I like his tactics. Then again, it is naive to
think that he'd sit idly by and let AMD grab the entire
market.
One hopes the specs are clear enough so that both AMD and
Intel units can work together.
(Wouldn't *that* be nice.)
>
> This is also the first time I've seen and heard Negroponte himself in
> an interview, and I was struck by his very genuine demeanour. You can
> tell how passionate he is about his dream, to pull the poor children
> of the world out of the poverty trap and into modern society. Like he
> said, other than the satisfaction of having achieved a greater good
> with his benevolence, he will not profit by his actions, so to have a
> greedy corporation hound him and his project like this, is quite
> shocking.
It's sad, but I'm not sure it's all that shocking.
>
>> Nicholas Negroponte shows documents proving that Intel is pressuring
>> certain governments to not sign with OLPC and they also use their
>> money to prevent mass production of OLPC. It's the same tactic they
>> use to hurt AND. They engage in price wars that AMD cannot
>> stand. Watch the references below. They try to get the children
>> 'addicted' to a $3 Windows bundle. Still driven by greed.
>
> It's sickening.
Hmm....that could be worrisome. Of course, perhaps
somebody goofed in the initial bid setup? Ideally,
the governments would have let out competitive bids,
with clear specs.
These would include POSIX compatibility, of course,
plus whatever other standards -- presumably WiFi is one
of them -- are necessary for interoperability. That is,
after all, the objective. Never mind who implements the
actual hardware; the interoperability's the thing.
Perhaps they can even share.
>
>> What If Every Child Had A Laptop?
>
> What if every child in the world used Linux?
>
Then we'd have a Linux monopoly. Is this a good thing?
I'm not entirely certain. Granted, with Linux, at least in
its present form, that child would have a fighting chance
to swap it out for something else more to his liking in
the future, should he find something more to his liking
in the future. (I'd assume the child is a teenager, in
that case. Of course said child might ask Dad, if Dad
can read and has a manual handy. There might be some
issues there.)
After all, Linux hews to standards -- and that allows
interchangeability. But what's to prevent Linux from going
over to The Dark Side?
Us -- more precisely, the Linux community.
That's about it.
--
#191, ewill3@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
"640K ought to be enough for anybody."
- allegedly said by Bill Gates, 1981, but somebody had to make this up!
--
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