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I modded you up. In my opinion it is good to have an XP in OLPC. Children can learn Windows, which is a de-facto standard in corporate world, so they will be pr

by greyman 18y ago

I modded you up. In my opinion it is good to have an XP in OLPC. Children can learn Windows, which is a de-facto standard in corporate world, so they will be prepared better for their professional future.

xirium 18y ago
I'm not modding you but I strongly disagree. > Children can learn Windows, which is a de-facto standard in corporate world, so they will be prepared better for their professional future. Teaching a seven year child how to use XP is of no benefit because XP will be obsolete before the child leaves school. The de-facto argument is circular and isn't in the best interests of the child.
mattmaroon 18y ago
I think it's good to have the option. I can't really have a problem with kids being able but not forced to use Windows. XP might not still be in action by the time they graduate to a normal PC, but it will probably somewhat resemble whichever one does.
- xirium 18y ago
  There's plenty of open source software that resembles XP. Why not use that? Indeed, the initial version of OLPC was designed specifically to be below the specification to run XP and now Microsoft has a small team hacking up the stock version of XP so that it will run in a smaller space and with less processing power. Even then, as I understand, an XP install requires an additional 1GB memory stick. This increases price, decreases the number of children who benefit, decreases the "de-facto" aspect and allows proprietary interests to jeopardise the initiative. All this is for the benefit of cautious beaucrats who can easily find other reasons against purchase.
  - mattmaroon 18y ago
    Well, there is a near infinite amount of freeware and shareware that only runs on Windows. Why not give people access to that? I can't see any reason not to give people the option. I guess I don't view it the same way because I'm not as anti-proprietary. The goal of the XO seems, to me, not so much to further open source software (it hardly needs the help) but to further the education of the poor. I don't see how giving them more options could not do so.

by greyman 18y ago

xirium 18y ago

I'm not modding you but I strongly disagree. > Children can learn Windows, which is a de-facto standard in corporate world, so they will be prepared better for their professional future. Teaching a seven year child how to use XP is of no benefit because XP will be obsolete before the child leaves school. The de-facto argument is circular and isn't in the best interests of the child.

mattmaroon 18y ago

I think it's good to have the option. I can't really have a problem with kids being able but not forced to use Windows. XP might not still be in action by the time they graduate to a normal PC, but it will probably somewhat resemble whichever one does.

xirium 18y ago
There's plenty of open source software that resembles XP. Why not use that? Indeed, the initial version of OLPC was designed specifically to be below the specification to run XP and now Microsoft has a small team hacking up the stock version of XP so that it will run in a smaller space and with less processing power. Even then, as I understand, an XP install requires an additional 1GB memory stick. This increases price, decreases the number of children who benefit, decreases the "de-facto" aspect and allows proprietary interests to jeopardise the initiative. All this is for the benefit of cautious beaucrats who can easily find other reasons against purchase.
- mattmaroon 18y ago
  Well, there is a near infinite amount of freeware and shareware that only runs on Windows. Why not give people access to that? I can't see any reason not to give people the option. I guess I don't view it the same way because I'm not as anti-proprietary. The goal of the XO seems, to me, not so much to further open source software (it hardly needs the help) but to further the education of the poor. I don't see how giving them more options could not do so.