Wednesday, February 21, 2007

First OLPC Laptops Arrive in Rwanda

The first laptops produced by One Laptop Per Child have arrived in Rwanda.

"Rwanda wants to transform into a knowledge-based economy, hence the need to provide schools throughout the country with computers," Rwandan president Paul Kagame said.

Read More...

Monday, February 19, 2007

FLOSS, FOSS, OSS, Linux, Libre, LUG, Today

I prefer FLOSS over FOSS or OSS. Here is why:

FLOSS, FOSS, or OSS

Also, I recommend Free Software Movement users switch from Linux User Groups to Libre User Groups to encompass the whole FLOSS Pie and here is why:

Libre or Linux

Finally FLOSS Today is one way I contribute to the Free Software Movement by increasing public awareness of FLOSS. Another is by creating a gbz.

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Friday, February 16, 2007

Half a Million PIrates, Well, Maybe

Microsoft's anti-piracy tool has marked more than one in every five copies of Windows as bogus, the Redmond, Wash., developer said Tuesday, while more than half a million users may have been mistakenly pegged as pirates.

As it beats the drum about the danger of pirated software, particularly Windows, prior to the release of Vista, Microsoft released some figures from its Windows Genuine Advantage program. WGA uses software downloaded to the PC to authenticate Windows XP before allowing a user to retrieve automatic security updates and other software.


Read the full article here

Follow Microsoft adventures at BadVista.org

Monday, February 12, 2007

Russian Schools Switching to LInux

Russian Schools to Switch to Linux After Microsoft Piracy Case


Linux is the clear winner out of a dispute between the Russian legal authorities and schools over who should carry the can over the use of pirated Windows software, The Inquirer magazine reports.

Read the complete new report here

The interesting item in the article to me is the fact that teachers are opposed to the change. Change is often good and learning LInux is beneficial. Linux is more a life-enhancing experience that an operating system.

Monday, February 05, 2007

Bill Gates, Mikhail Gorbachev, Pirated Windows

Apparently a Russian school principal purchased (unknowingly) some pirated copies of MS Windows for use in his school. He now faces five years in jail and 266,000 rubles ($10,000) of fines if convicted.

Mikhail Gorbachev has contacted Bill Gates and has asked him to intervene.

Russia, China, and India are considered the leading countries for counterfeited and pirated software and have been asked to crack down on pirated software.

Unfortunately they are cracking down on unsuspecting users and not the pirates.

Too bad this principal did not know about Free/Libre Open Source Software.

Read the full article here