14 DAY TRIAL // The One Laptop Per Child charity organization led by Nicholas Negroponte seemed to have terminated its business with Linux in favor of Microsoft's Windows XP operating system. The move raised waves of protests among open source developers, and the very purpose of the organization was questioned.
The large number of protests forced the OLPC executives to issue an official response, aimed to calm down the agitated waters. Prior to the announcement the company's CEO, Nicholas Negroponte urged Open Source developers to port the Sugar interface as a stand-alone application for the Windows environment.
According to Kim Quirk, director of the technical team at OLPC, the organization will not drop the open-source approach. "I'd like to reiterate that we at OLPC are committed to create Sugar as an open-source project, as it provides a great opportunity for both learners and for contributors", Quirk is alleged to have said in a mail message.
Quirk also asked for developers' attention, in order to overcome the communication barriers that occurred after the announcement about the shift from Linux to Windows. "This is difficult but it is not rocket science. I think we can do it. Sometimes when everyone is overworked, it is much easier to focus on the details of the day than to see the bigger problems", Quirk continued.
Wayan Vota of the OLPC News website said that developers saw in the XO notebook a true open-source movement, aimed at helping poor school children in the developing countries. On the other side, the OLPC foundation follows its mercantile interests and would do anything to boost their sales. Quirk's appeals are nothing but attempts at bridging the increasing gap between the community and the organization.
The OLPC needs the community more than ever, now that it has finished restructuring its business, a move that forced key executives to resign. It is alleged that open-source developers ceased to manifest the same concerns towards the organization right after Walter Bender's departure.