[clue-talk] Richard Stallman Slams OLPC for Switching to Windows - Webmonkey

[David Maddox]

One thing I didn´t address - teaching kids ´skills´ they can use in a
Windows-dominated society. It´s a given in most countries, but some like
Vietnam are dumping Windows in favor of open source throughout government to
start the tide turning.

Overseas engineers have growing opportunities to abandon Windows, which
should be interesting. So many companies are including Android in their
smartphone plans, for instance, and some of the biggest HPC machines (which
I have worked on) support Linux even as a secure OS. So no wonder MSFT is
sweating, it is another battle for the hearts and minds! But it´s true, in
the near term Windows skills may be important to some, just like smoking
gets you in with the ´cool´ folks in the smoking area I suppose. ;-)

Dave

On Sat, Feb 7, 2009 at 8:40 AM, Peter Kuykendall <
peterkuykendall at hotmail.com> wrote:

>
> http://www.webmonkey.com/blog/Richard_Stallman_Slams_OLPC_for_Switching_to_Windows
>
> Excerpt:
>
> "Teaching children to use Windows is like teaching them to smoke tobacco
> -— in a world where only one company sells tobacco. Like any addictive drug,
> it inculcates a harmful dependency. (Bill Gates made this comparison in a
> 1998 issue of Fortune Magazine.) No wonder Microsoft offers the first dose
> to children at a low price. Microsoft aims to teach poor children this
> dependency so they can smoke Windows for their whole lives. I don't think
> governments or schools should support that aim. "
>
>
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