[sugar] [support-gang] Microsoft

[Bobby Powers]

On Fri, May 16, 2008 at 2:57 AM, Simon Schampijer <simon at schampijer.de>
wrote:

> david at lang.hm wrote:
> > On Thu, 15 May 2008, Steve Holton wrote:
> >
> >> On Thu, May 15, 2008 at 8:03 PM, Seth Woodworth <seth at isforinsects.com>
> >> wrote:
> >>
> >>> Let's look at this with a slightly different lens before we blow up
> >>> on NN
> >>> and Microsoft.
> >>>
> >>> What does this agreement equate to?  And what are the alternatives to
> >>> Microsoft?
> >>>
> >>> If the XO was running a completely closed source stack with no
> >>> documentation on hardware, how would the Linux community feel?  They
> >>> would
> >>> feel that they were being shut out and not allowed to run whatever
> >>> software
> >>> they wanted to or develop.  This is something the linux community has
> >>> speared hardware companies over for years.
> >>
> >>
> >> ...and to which the free software (linux) community would respond with a
> >> reverse engineering effort, at it's own (collective) expense, and rather
> >> quickly have a solution.  If turnabout is fair play, let Microsoft
> >> adopt the
> >> free software community response as well.
> >>
> >> (When Cisco modified their WRT54G hardware so that Linux could no longer
> >> run, the response was to strip-down the gnu/linux stack even more
> >> until it
> >> would run again.)
> >>
> >> It's doubtful the free software community would do what Microsoft is
> >> demanding: asking the manufacturer to add 5-10% to the cost of the
> >> hardware
> >> to facilitate their efforts, nor would the free software community
> >> charge a
> >> $3.00 license fee for the use thereafter.
> >
> > I missed where the hardware was being changed and the cost going up to
> > support this. what I read was that the boot firmware was being modified
> > so that it could dual-boot into windows.
> >
> > please point me at the additional cost involved.
> >
> > David Lang
>
> from:
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/16/technology/16laptop.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
>
> "Windows will add a bit to the price of the machines, about $3, the
> licensing
> fee Microsoft charges to some developing nations under a program called
> Unlimited Potential. For those nations that want dual-boot models, running
> both
> Windows and Linux, the extra hardware required will add another $7 or so to
> the
> cost of the machines, Mr. Negroponte said."
>

I think the extra hardware is the 2gb SD card, as XP + Office won't fit into
the NAND (especially if you're dual booting...)

Correct me if I'm wrong


-Bobby Powers


>
> Simon
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