Comments on: Linux wins Nigerian school desktops back from Microsoft

By: Richard Parker

Richard Parker — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 06:34:39 +0000

I had a certain amount of ‘commercial experience’ in Nigeria during the 80s, so, I’m sorry, I just don’t believe your report of Nigerian computer rationality has any basis at all.I experienced:- The Minister of Health, himself, across his own huge mahogany desk, flinging back my stealthily-advanced ‘gift for signing the contract’ ($20,000) because the notes were Naira and not Pounds Sterling.- the immigration officers at Lagos airport arresting me for not having the full ‘resting period’ on my Yellow Fever vaccination. 7 days detention in a ‘quarantine centre’ or something in cash – $100 in pound sterling notes.- persuading (ie bribing) the inspection officer for SGS that a leather-upholstered Chesterfield sofa, destined for the ‘Lagos Hilton’ was really ‘a package of books for schoolchildren’.Enough – Nigeria is one of the most corrupt nations on earth.I cannot, cannot, cannot believe that Linux won over Microsoft on any rational decision.Microsoft is simply getting over-soft with its 3rd world employees.My best Nigerian agent, for a time, had an official Government post (and security pass) with the title: ‘Son-In-Law-President’.Sadly, he was hanged, alongside a few colleagues, on Bar Beach, a bit east of Lagos, in February, 1984, and somebody left a boom-box playing ‘Those Were the Days, My Friend’I’ve hardened up a bit now, but I cannot stop the tears welling whenever I hear that tune.regardsRichard

By: david1947

david1947 — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 22:10:03 +0000

M$ created the Classmate PC with Intel specifically to destroy the OLPC effort. Although the OLPC costs (>$200) have unfortunately exceeded initial hopeful goals ($100), they still have to actually sell the units. M$ are GIVING the >$400 Classmate away so that Nigeria etc will not buy the OLPC instead.I have seen these units side-by-side. Even with a Linux distribution on board, the Classmate will be a disaster.It is bigger, heavier, nowhere near as robust (OLPC keyboard is water-proof), shorter battery life, screen does not work in sunlight, no crank power, no mesh networking, closed-source OS and applications, etc etc. All of which are critical factors to a workable solution for far-flung villages well off the grid and the Internet backbones.I cannot even begin to weigh which is the worst offense. The computers, both of them, are too small to be stand-alone solutions. The ad-hoc mesh networking the OLPC folks implemented allows the population of school-kids on their OLPC’s to share the nearest Internet backbone connection, possibly several villages away, through which they will be getting most of their coursework and conducting most of their social interactions etc.

By: Joseph j7uy5

Joseph j7uy5 — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 19:16:42 +0000

Regarding those “marketing activities”…How much marketing does it take to get a schoolkid to take what the teacher hands out?