While the news that Microsoft is developing a version of Windows for the so-called "$100 laptop" has caused some consternation, the head of the One Laptop per Child project has said the scheme could not promote openness if it blocked Windows.
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Anybody up to writing good directory software?
Tue, 2007-02-20 11:17 — David JonathanSince the very beginning, directories (of any kind) have had a very central role in the internet. (I have recently grown fond of Free Web Directory. Even Slashdot can be considered a directory: a collection of great news and invaluable user-generated comments. As far as software is concerned, doing a quick search on Google about software directories will return the free (as in freedom) software directories like Savannah, SourceForge, Freshmeat and so on, followed by shareware and freeware sites such as FileBuzz, PCWin Download Center and All Freeware (great if you're looking for shareware and freeware, but definitely less comprehensive than their free-as-in-freedom counterparts).
Is better education the key to finding better software?
Sat, 2007-03-03 03:25 — Edward RusselI read David Jonathon's article Anybody Up To Writing Good Directory Software? the other day, which got me thinking about software directories in general. As David mentioned, many of the software directories one finds when doing a quick google search are free as in beer, not as in freedom. But what interests me is the software directories that already exist, providing a combination of both free as in beer software, and open source software. Sites such as Freeware Downloads and Shareware Download don't advertise themselves as providing free as in liberty software, but each of them have a good selection of open source software available... if you know where to look.
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jbkerns
4 years 29 weeks 5 days 10 hours ago
I call BS. Blocking Windows is
I call BS. Blocking Windows is promoting openness. If the new charitable Bill Gates wants to help OLPC, he can sent some developers, engineers, and marketing fund raising folks over from Redmond.
This is anti-charity. If you really want to help any child, let him be Free, not dependent on closed software.
motters
4 years 29 weeks 5 days 2 hours ago
Apparently the OLPC has a feature
Apparently the OLPC has a feature where at any time you can press a button and reveal the source code of the program you're currently running, then make experimental changes. I think this is a really neat idea and would like to see it introduced elsewhere. However, I very much doubt that a company such as Microsoft would ever contemplate such a feature.
mattflaschen
4 years 29 weeks 4 days 13 hours ago
They shouldn't block Windows (there's
They shouldn't block Windows (there's no way to do that while still letting freely modify the pre-installed software), but they shouldn't facilitate it either. Giving a speech about Windows is facilitating it.