on the heels of Uruguay's 100,000 nays as well.
Hello!
Now François Bancilhon decides to utilize a poison pen ‘open letter’ to bash capitalism.
Dude, this is how it works in the real world without Kroes and the EU binding your competition in order to let you breathe.
I have lambasted the OLPC every chance I got for the colonial thought behind it: in developing the system for the impoverished of this world, there seemed to be that creepy line of thought that the targeted audience was somehow dimwitted, and couldn’t use a normal OS.
Dr Watson would have been proud of this line of thinking as it jelled with his stated eugenic beliefs.
The setting for this play: Nigeria.
The players: the OLPC crew, Prof. NN, the government of Nigeria, 17,000 OLPC systems, Mandriva, Mandriva Linux, Microsoft, Windows XP.
The initial screenplay: sell the OLPC to the natives with the ultra-simplistic OS since, you know, the natives can’t talk and chew gum at the same time.
Result: fantasy sale of one million units.
Show me the money!
No, hay-yay, oti, noh, nein, nada.
Revised screenplay: 17K units with second-rate OS.
Result: same as initial scenario.
Final and optimum screenplay: 17K units with Microsoft Windows XP.
Sold!
I would like to thank myself for my vigorous lobbying and vocal opposition to the averted debacle, and would likely end up needing a chiropractor to unwind me from the Gordian knot I will probably get myself into in this totally gleeful moment.
Sadly, this is getting to be very embarrassing for the linux crowd.
How?
Firstly, the billion and a half inhabitants of the People’s Republic of China decided to pay Microsoft for a suite of Windows and Microsoft Office instead of the free Red Flag linux and OpenOffice.
Secondly, the República Oriental del Uruguay decided to purchase the OLPC. However, only with Microsoft Windows XP installed.
Now you have the Federal Republic of Nigeria telling Prof and the OLPC crew that their Linux distros cannot cut it. Even at the low-low price of free!
It is telling when someone would rip out 17,000 free licenses of a product to purchase another product for $3.00 USD each. Isn’t it now?
People, it is a Windows, Office & Microsoft World.
There is enough for everyone, and the Kool-Aid is, well, cool.
Come in out of the idealistic heat of open source, and bask in The Continuum.
It really isn’t the Dark Side.
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No Cheapo OLPC for Nigeria & Africa II
No Cheapo OLPC for Nigeria & Africa, Please!
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Capitalism?
I'm sure I must be mistaken, but I always thought that the idea of Capitalism was to try and sell your products at a profit; not to give them away a cost price (or thereabouts) to keep your market share up.
I think this is great! The news is getting around that you get Windows and Office for $3 and sure, who wouldn't want to take advantage of a deal like that? Trouble is that Microsoft will go bust at these kind of prices, or be forced to start eating up its huge reserves of cash to subsidise them (like it already does with MSN, xBox etc). And when that happens, the company will no longer be Wall Street's golden boy, the share price will fall to nothing and that's the end of Microsoft.
I give Microsoft 5 years, maybe 10 at the outside.
Cheers,
- Mike
17,000 yays for Linux
Ouch, the news that Microsoft lost the deal after all (http://www.computerworlduk.com/management/government-law/public-sector/news/index.cfm?newsid=6124) must be very embarrassing for you personally John after writing this hilarious little screed of desperation. Try not to take the news too hard, though!