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I think you are one of these fanbois the other person was talking about

They don't have an Allah-given right to kill any and all competition - especially one helping the Third world - although you obviously think so. PlatformAgnostic my azz, in many discussions you've proven to be a shill through-and-through, you should at least write a disclaimer to state that you're on the MS payroll - then I'd have no problem with you stating your opinion (since their wouldn't be the astroturf facade any more).


Few have a problem that MS made an offer, I certainly don't. The difference is, Apple didn't try and kill the XO when their offer was declined.

Yer, and? Are we supposed to be astonished that they turned down Windows and OS X that shipped with absolutely no software of any educational value whatsoever?

Or something even worse; sell a copy of Windows to their grandmothers.

I love how you throw this in, as if it were an after-thought, a coincidental thing that had nothing to do with XO's failure. But, the fact of the matter is that Negronte and his team were a bunch of academics naively trying to deliver a commercial project without the slightest clue about what makes a project successful. For example, they had NO PLAN and NO MEANS to provide the necessary support infrastructure for a successful deployment of XO. In most cases, there was only a single person assigned to countries that signed-up. Was that Microsoft or Intel's fault? No, of course it wasn't. Negroponte and team failed to develop the relationships that would have been necessary, and it was only after they realized that their project was going down the tubes that they started to partner with organizations that would help them deliver. Quite frankly, blaming Microsoft and Intel for XO's failure is a complete and utter distortion of the events in question.



No one should feel like they need to apologize for Microsoft. It's a for-profit business. It's not a charity. I mean, for Chrissakes, they're selling SOFTWARE. They're not selling drugs or promoting violence. The fact that you're getting so emotional over SOFTWARE only indicates how little perspective you have on life ... and the world. Wanna be pissed over something that MATTERS? Try being pissed at the price of oil, political oppression, drug cartels, overfishing, deforestation, child pornography, prostitution, global warming, etc, etc. Use of software is OPTIONAL, and believing that it is the center of human existence is the ultimate in ego-centrism.



If XO was unable to meet the need for which it was designed, it's due solely to the XO team's failures. Blaming Microsoft and Intel is just wrong and lame. Negroponte's team tried to cut too many corners, and they got slapped HARD in the face by the reality that it simply costs a lot of money to get a product to market. What they should have done -- if they really cared about getting laptops into the hands of poor children -- was partner early on with Microsoft and Intel. But, no, they decided that drawing artificial restrictions around the sole use of FOSS software was more important. There are no shortcuts. It's time that the academics started accepting responsibility for their failures, rather than blaming companies.

Finally someone who gets it. Bravo.

'artificial restrictions around the sole use of FOSS software was more important'

there is nothing artificial about them. They were carefully crafted and then chosen so that software as knowledge and skill does not have to be licensed or bought. FOSS was precisely chosen so that the software could be modified and re-distributed with-out the permissions or restrictions of businesses who do not have their best interests at heart.

Why is it wrong to blame companies who clearly set out to destroy a humanitarian effort? Because you like those companies? That doesn't mitigate their culpability in this.



So it's OLPC's fault for not buying into the system and trying to do things RIGHT instead of taking the easy out. Maybe they should have also hired people to break legs to get orders as well. That seems to be your idea of "successful" business operation. Anything goes as long as you make a profit. Excuse the rest of us for having principles and trying to stick by them.