[NetBehaviour] Negroponte vs. the Open-Source Fundamentalists.

[marc garrett]

Negroponte vs. the Open-Source Fundamentalists.

Rumblings of discontent within the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) project 
erupted to the surface last week with the resignation of chief software 
architect, Walter Bender. A split has formed between those, like Bender, 
who see the project as primarily educational, and OLPC leader Nicholas 
Negroponte, who wants to push as many laptops into the hands of as many 
children as possible, even if it means getting into bed with Microsoft. 
Or so it's been characterized.

But having looked at both sides, I think what it essentially boils down 
to is that geeks really, really don't like Microsoft. There would be 
trouble within the organization if Negroponte merely batted his 
eyelashes towards Redmond, never mind actively blessing Microsoft's 
development of a version of XP that will run on the XO. Sure, Microsoft 
is the devil, and of course it doesn't want a generation of kids in the 
developing world exposed to Linux. But when did promoting Linux become 
one of the OLPC's goals?

more...
http://backofthebook.ca/technology/2008/04/negroponte-vs-open-source.html