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Re: [News] Nigeria Orders Linux Laptops for Education

____/ skydweller on Thursday 01 November 2007 02:40 : \____

> [H]omer wrote:
> 
>> Verily I say unto thee, that skydweller spake thusly:
>>> [H]omer wrote:
>>>> Verily I say unto thee, that Roy Schestowitz spake thusly:
>> 
>>>>> Nigerian education selects Intel-powered Classmate PC with
>>>>> Mandriva Linux
>>>> 
>>>> It's great that they're getting Linux, however this should have
>>>> gone to the OLPC project, rather than serving Intel's greedy
>>>> profiteering.
>>> 
>>> It *is* great they're getting linux.  I don't care if Intel makes a
>>> profit;
>> 
>> Do you care that they sabotaged a charity to make that profit?
> 
> Oh my goodness, Intel management are not without sin.  There's a newsflash.
> Neither is AMD.  Nor Sun.  Nor IBM.  Nor Apple. Nor you, nor I, or anyone
> else for that matter.
> 
> This year, I asked Santa for a bunch of components to build a new rig.  I
> guess I'll have to retract my request, since I clearly shouldn't be
> supporting such scumbags.  While I'm at it, I'll stop buying food at the
> grocery store - I only have about 30,000 sq ft. of property, but I guess
> I'll make do with whatever I can grow and shoot; can't be supporting all
> those big bad food conglomerates, you know.  I'll need to stop purchasing
> clothing as well, since almost all that is sold here in the good old US of
> A is produced by cheap, exploited labor in Asia and sold for a huge profit
> here.  The car has to go, Big Oil is making obscene profits.  And I'll quit
> my day job - the large financial institution which currently employs me
> just doesn't pass ethical muster.
> 
> After I've done all this, I'll be poor and starving just like millions
> (billions?) all over the world.  I'll be in no position to do anything
> worthwhile to help those poor starving masses, and I'll not have made a
> dent in the profits of any of these companies but I'll feel *really* good
> about myself and will be able to walk around in tattered rags beating my
> breast and telling the world how wonderful I am.  Fair tradeoff.
> 
> It's sad that your myopia has blinded you to the good news in all of this.
> You have succeeded in showcasing a black cloud while obfuscating the silver
> lining.  Great advocacy.


Fool me once, ...

Be aware that people lose their jobs because of corruption (that could be /you/
who ends up without income one day). Be aware that without any resistance, due
to the nature of economics, everyone becomes a servant to a just a few. 

To me, this is not about Linux. Linux, among other things such as Free
software, are /tools/ which enable people to regain control of their lives
before it's too late. Had Microsoft had no competition (it was merciful
towards Apple in the 90s, but as vicious as a gorilla towards the GPL), where
would we be?

Vista is nothing. You haven't yet seen (popularised) computers that interact
with one's body and control every little aspect of one's life. Had Linux not
existed, Microsoft's greed would be worse and things like Black Screens of
Death (they already exist, but they are disabled, hidden somewhere in the 0s
and 1s of Vista) would hit every person that refuses to pay whatever Microsoft
charges for software.

To make matters worse, look at an internation/global level. Wait until
Microsoft, jointly with their friends in the Cabinet, decides to disable all
PCs in an 'evil' country (READ: a country that doesn't give up it's oil and
therefore is claimed to have WoMD).

>> http://digg.com/linux_unix/OLPC_on_60_Minutes_Intel_is_evil
>> http://olpc.tv/2007/05/21/60-minutes/

-- 
                ~~ Best of wishes

Roy S. Schestowitz      | Switch to GNU/Linux. < http://www.getgnulinux.org/ >
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