OLPC R.I.P.? [Intel R.I.P. ?!]

News, happenings
Message
Author
mcewanw
Posts: 3169
Joined: Thu 16 Aug 2007, 10:48
Contact:

#31 Post by mcewanw »

Sage wrote:BK might sling his Classmates in the nearest rubbish dump and ensure that his own masterpiece works on OLPC/XO and Ms Jepson's putative creation?
Notwithstanding the less than altruistic intentions of Microsoft, I am personally delighted that Negroponte has apparently signed such an agreement with the deil. Intel needs what is coming to them. Anyway, the technological "emancipation" of the world's poor will not suffer in a dual-boot system; once they have tired of the temporary attraction of the XP side of things they can always reboot into the open source world for a true educational experience. They will also have the added advantage of now being able to create some commercial software for running in the XP world too; its good to provide them with the testing ground for that money-bringing marketplace rather than hold them to the restrictions imposed by the Stallman gods of GPL heaven.

One thing we can all thank the OLPC project, including Ms. Jepsen of course, for is the obvious technological innovation that has came from it (and, of course, that other devil Intel would never be selling any low priced subnotebooks at the current prices were it not for their greedy desire to squash the altruistic OLPC opposition.
Last edited by mcewanw on Fri 11 Jan 2008, 10:50, edited 1 time in total.

mcewanw
Posts: 3169
Joined: Thu 16 Aug 2007, 10:48
Contact:

if you are still not convinced

#32 Post by mcewanw »

No doubt much still needs to be done software-wise on the XO, but if you are still not convinced that the OLPC/XO is the greatest thing to happen in the world of computing (and more than that) for decades, read the following:

http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?stor ... 7182525297

Oh, and really I should maybe say that Mary Lou Jepsen will be remembered as one of the greatest ever innovators in the field. Yes, a woman, no less... and we can look forward to the low-cost, high-efficiency $50 - $75 Jepsen lappie (or, for those living in Europe, the 50 Euro laptop). A rugged environmentally friendly laptop that will last for a long long time. Don't complain about the XO's temporary shortcomings, promote it and improve it.

It is also misplaced arrogance to imagine that RedHat's engineers are less than capable of greatly improving the XO's operating system. These guys will know Linux inside-out. I'm quite sure there are very many talented people working on Puppy Linux, including BarryK himself of course, but this is a small ship. Some of the best Linux gurus in the world work for Redhat (and why not... Redhat pays their wages).

I feel sorry for Nigeria (and others like them); they have been conned by Intel into adopting a machine they can't even read outside in the sun like alone afford to power. They are needing to use diesel backup generators to compensate for their country's unreliable national grid suppy. And then they will (if they can find the resources) have to build large, expensive and extensive wireless infrastructures to compensate for the very limited range and capability of the Classmate's wireless connection provision. Intel are indeed criminals and conmen. Nigeria's remote and widely-spaced rural villages would have benefited greatly from the XO's far superior wireless signal strength and its mesh capabilities.

Don't be greedy and whinge about the XO not yet matching up to your rich consumer expectations. Think of the planet as a whole for once. These are exciting times... Viva the XO!

Sage
Posts: 5536
Joined: Tue 04 Oct 2005, 08:34
Location: GB

#33 Post by Sage »

Yes, a woman
Perhaps the world will benefit from a female President?! Sharing, caring, multi-taking and all that jazz................

mcewanw
Posts: 3169
Joined: Thu 16 Aug 2007, 10:48
Contact:

#34 Post by mcewanw »

Somebody (I think it may have been Dougal) mentioned earlier the probable reason why the XO is sluggish: Sugar is written in Python. Of course, Python is a good language choice for producing a sophisticated new interface in a short time, but yes, that comes with a speed penalty. But at least the strategy gets the machine out on the road quickly, and cheaply (part of the mission afterall). Python is a nice clean language; easy to re-engineer; don't be surprised when Sugar is later ported to something much faster (Python will remain a great choice for development purposes though).

It is Intel who will have to change. The Classmate will be dead and forgotten about in a few years. Intel will be paying to use Jepsen's designs.

User avatar
Aitch
Posts: 6518
Joined: Wed 04 Apr 2007, 15:57
Location: Chatham, Kent, UK

#35 Post by Aitch »

Sage said
US capitalism can't even attend to its own 50m destitute citizens. Way to go.
Seems like Negroponte's even trying to tackle that one!

http://www.computerworld.com/action/art ... Id=9056398

I just wish that somehow all the goodwill referred to could realise a genuine shift in global rebalancing of the economy

I don't feel as though the things I enjoy cheaply need to be provided at the expense of another nations unfortunates,
& would happily give something back, even if the governments & capitalists won't

Mary Lou Jepson is quite an amazing woman, who is lucky to even be alive

http://spectrum.ieee.org/feb07/4900

Her own response to the story, from The Inquirer :-

"Not really flying the coop...
This change has been long standing and well planned.

Also please note: I am continuing with OLPC and contracting
with them to develop next-generation hardware.
I am using OLPC's IP to start a company by mutual agreement."

- Mary Lou Jepsen
posted by : Mary Lou Jepsen, 03 January 2008

Aitch

Sage
Posts: 5536
Joined: Tue 04 Oct 2005, 08:34
Location: GB

#36 Post by Sage »

Seems like Negroponte's even trying to tackle that one!
Probably they'd settle for food, water, shelter and health care first?

User avatar
Dougal
Posts: 2502
Joined: Wed 19 Oct 2005, 13:06
Location: Hell more grotesque than any medieval woodcut

#37 Post by Dougal »

MU wrote:Now it becomes clear, why the OLPC project wanted to stop Intel selling concurrent products.
The OLPC now is sold in US-schools running Windows XP using dual-boot.
that is all just nonsense.
The school in Alabama is something that was offered to them a while ago and they weren't talking about XP.

It is quite obvious that MS will never support a product that offers a dual-boot: it'll show how crap Windows is!

Also what Bruce Perence wrote is completely nonsensical (and I prefer Debian to Red Hat).

I've started a thread about the progress of MS getting XP to run on the XO:
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 814#166814
What's the ugliest part of your body?
Some say your nose
Some say your toes
But I think it's your mind

User avatar
BlackAdder
Posts: 385
Joined: Sun 22 May 2005, 23:29

Installing Ubuntu on OLPC XO-1

#38 Post by BlackAdder »

This is one of two posts on the OLPC News Forum explaining how to install Ubuntu on an XO-1. http://olpcnews.com/forum/index.php?topic=1435.0
Looks as though it should be perfectly possible to get Puppy to run without needing as much resource as required for Ubuntu. :wink: But neither Puppy nor Ubuntu would be able to exploit the full capabilities of the machine without extra effort.

raffy
Posts: 4798
Joined: Wed 25 May 2005, 12:20
Location: Manila

bios and screen

#39 Post by raffy »

The BIOS and screen+controller are the ones unique for the XO, the rest should be the familiar Geode processor (LX700) and accompanying chips.
Puppy user since Oct 2004. Want FreeOffice? [url=http://puppylinux.info/topic/freeoffice-2012-sfs]Get the sfs (English only)[/url].

User avatar
Dougal
Posts: 2502
Joined: Wed 19 Oct 2005, 13:06
Location: Hell more grotesque than any medieval woodcut

Re: Installing Ubuntu on OLPC XO-1

#40 Post by Dougal »

BlackAdder wrote:This is one of two posts on the OLPC News Forum explaining how to install Ubuntu on an XO-1. http://olpcnews.com/forum/index.php?topic=1435.0
Looks as though it should be perfectly possible to get Puppy to run without needing as much resource as required for Ubuntu. :wink: But neither Puppy nor Ubuntu would be able to exploit the full capabilities of the machine without extra effort.
People have also been able to just install Debian and Slackware on it, no customization required.
What's the ugliest part of your body?
Some say your nose
Some say your toes
But I think it's your mind

bear
Posts: 14
Joined: Tue 25 Dec 2007, 18:57

#41 Post by bear »

So, what could it be?

retry3
Posts: 131
Joined: Tue 15 Aug 2006, 23:48
Location: Ohio

#42 Post by retry3 »

Please note my humble objection to the inclusion and content of the political propaganda that is polluting this thread.

retry3

Sage
Posts: 5536
Joined: Tue 04 Oct 2005, 08:34
Location: GB

#43 Post by Sage »

r3 : you are entitled to your opinion. Indeed, I will fight for your right to express it. But John has already made his decision. Unlike almost all other fascist websites originating in N America, he has decided that this one will espouse free speech. That includes political and religious comment. Just make sure you don't denigrate a fellow contributor. Please use Search for previous discussions. Apart from which, I am the originator of this thread. As long as it meets with John's acquiescence, interject anything you wish, but something vaguely appropriate would obviously be in line with John's general guidelines.

Afterthought: If you'd been following the plot, you'd've realised that OLPC is a very political issue.
Last edited by Sage on Sat 19 Jan 2008, 07:23, edited 1 time in total.

mcewanw
Posts: 3169
Joined: Thu 16 Aug 2007, 10:48
Contact:

#44 Post by mcewanw »

Can't say I've noticed much political propaganda on the thread anyway, but I do have a rather thick skin.

Post Reply