One thing I didnīt address - teaching kids īskillsī they can use in a Windows-dominated society. Itīs a given in most countries, but some like Vietnam are dumping Windows in favor of open source throughout government to start the tide turning. <br>
<br>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 itīs true, in the near term Windows skills may be important to some, just like smoking gets you in with the īcoolī folks in the smoking area I suppose. ;-)<br>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">Dave<br><br>On Sat, Feb 7, 2009 at 8:40 AM, Peter Kuykendall <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:peterkuykendall@hotmail.com">peterkuykendall@hotmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
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<div><a title="http://www.webmonkey.com/blog/Richard_Stallman_Slams_OLPC_for_Switching_to_Windows
CTRL + Click to follow link" href="http://www.webmonkey.com/blog/Richard_Stallman_Slams_OLPC_for_Switching_to_Windows" target="_blank">http://www.webmonkey.com/blog/Richard_Stallman_Slams_OLPC_for_Switching_to_Windows</a></div>
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<div><font size="2" face="Arial">Excerpt:</font></div>
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<div><font size="2" face="Arial">"<font size="3" face="Times New Roman">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. "</font></font></div>
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