Puppy on $100 laptops

Under development: PCMCIA, wireless, etc.
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Fox7777
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Puppy on $100 laptops

#1 Post by Fox7777 »

We think that Puppy Linux should be the clear OS of choice to run the $100 laptops for developing countries that are coming out next year, see http://news.zdnet.co.uk/hardware/mobile ... 304,00.htm . Perhaps someone could set up an advocacy web page with capability to E-mail key decision makers for this project?

We have tested Puppy Linux 1.0.6 running off a flash drive on an HP ZE2113US laptop plus various desktop computers and have found that it runs extremely well. The $100 laptops run on flash memory. Also a Puppy Linux 1.0.6 multisession CD or DVD runs very good.
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#2 Post by GuestToo »

i think they have a financial deal with Red Hat
i think Apple also offered to suppy them with OSX for free but they refused the deal
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Just so you know

#3 Post by Lobster »

I did write to them and basically Red Hat is doing the software - it makes sense to do something for free that will get everyone buying your "services" for years to come. RedHat is the MS of Linux. If they were true to open standards they would consider Puppy (as was offered), Apple (yes I believe Steve Jobs offered too), Lindows (free offer) but of course when you set up the infrastructure you decide which is the "best" software . . .

"All Linux are equal but some are more equal than others"

However the $100 PC will not come from the West (which does not have the capability to meet the price) but China, which does. Just so you know. 8)
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Re: Puppy on $100 laptops

#4 Post by Fox7777 »

We tried to sell MIT on using Puppy Linux because Puppy's small size would be perfect for the hundreds of millions of these computers that will be distributed throughout the world & got back the following response. We are concerned about Red Hat becoming the Microsoft of Linux too and still hope that Puppy gets approved for this project, at least as an alternative. Likewise for the Simputer, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simputer .
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Response:
We appreciate your interest in the $100 Laptop initiative. Please know we
receive more than 100 emails per day regarding the project. We are a small
team working on making this project a reality and unfortunately we are
unable to answer each e-mail personally. Following please find informative details on the project.

Inquiries about buying the laptop regretfully cannot be answered. Please
note that the $100 laptops--not yet in production--will not be available
for sale. The laptops will only be distributed to schools directly through
large government initiatives. All public information will be listed on our website.

Thank you.

Executive Summary

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the One Laptop per
Child (OLPC) non-profit association have launched a global program to equip
hundreds of millions of students and their teachers with ultra-low-cost,
individual, connected laptop computers to dramatically enhance the
children’s primary and secondary education. These will be fully powered,
general-purpose laptops, sized for children and adolescents, running Open
Source software, with wireless mesh-network connectivity.

The machines will be built and sold at cost to ministries of education,
with a floating price targeted at $100 and thereafter floating down.
According to the present schedule, integrated prototypes of the Gen-1
laptop will be available Q3, ’06. Manufacturing begins Q4. The first 10 to
15 million Gen-1 pilot-phase machines will ship by or before Q1, ’07, to
five or six large, geographically and culturally diverse countries. Each of
these nations will identify three or more regions within their country
emphasizing, when possible, rural and remote areas where all students in
all primary and secondary grades receive a personal and connected machine: One Laptop per Child.

An essential feature of the pilot program will be training, logistics and
an administrative initiative based in the host country. Here, in
partnership with local educational organizations or other groups to be
determined, MIT will help create the means to implement a carefully
designed, exponential process to impart the necessary technological and
pedagogical skills to classroom teachers over a period of approximately six
months.

OLPC technology incorporates design and engineering advances developed at MIT's Media Lab, plus innovations in manufacturing and distribution to
bring costs in line with the host countries’ budget structures. The
laptops will be made available only to schoolchildren and their teachers,
through government programs and not through retail or commercial channels. In parallel, OLPC is in discussion with a handful of well known large and global companies to release a commercial version circa $200 at the same time.

Hardware
Its hardware specifications, as of October 2005, are:
500
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Microsoft Would Put Poor Online by Cellphone

#5 Post by kethd »

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/30/techn ... ?th&emc=th

Microsoft Would Put Poor Online by Cellphone
By JOHN MARKOFF
Published: January 30, 2006

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 29
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#6 Post by Lobster »

Very interesting kethd, I was unaware of this.

Bill Gates is right.

This is the competing system that will work (and make a profit). It will run Linux (not Windoesn't) and be manufactured in China. It is one of the reasons I am keen to get Puppy on phones - not even sure how to begin that process? Phones these days have 3D java games and video cameras built in. GPS and sound recording, torches, Mp3 music storage and playback. Opera have recently created Opera mini (free) for mobile phones.

This is the Chinese year of the Woof. It is Puppys very own year :)
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#7 Post by mayakovski »

:)
Last edited by mayakovski on Mon 30 Jan 2006, 21:54, edited 3 times in total.
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Year of the Dog

#8 Post by raffy »

Gee, thanks for pointing that out - the Chinese will be especially glad that a Puppy software arises in the year of the dog :D Thanks, Lobster.

"2006 - Puppy's very own year"
"2006 1Q - Puppy PC is shipping for $100 (add $40 for monitor)"

- very good news articles, don't you think?

As to the software for the $100 laptop, perhaps it is better to just assume that Puppy will get into that system, and build all the knowledge and support systems that will make the $100 laptop useful.

When that device finally ships, Puppy kids and teachers will be there to receive them :)

Now, am not saying that launching a prototype is best done by the millions - what am trying to say is that since those millions will be eventually shipped, people might just as well put them to good use :)
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#9 Post by Rhino »

If they are only getting a browser, Word Processor, and e-mail client, they will be keen to download a 60Mb OS that will be fully functional! I suppose we need to work on our webinstall feature ;-) since those laptops won't have cd burners
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#10 Post by kethd »

At the other extreme, you can buy a brand new laptop with no hard drive for only $4,000!

http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/News/De ... wsId=15696
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
New Laptop Without Hard disk by NEC

NEC Japan has developed a laptop computer targeted at corporate users that doesn't include a hard-disk drive; flash ROM stores both OS and application software.

The device has been developed as a replacement for existing thin-client systems and combines both high data-security with the ability to be used anywhere, said Hitoshi Onodera, a spokesman for the Tokyo company.

Conventional laptop computers can work anywhere but represent a potential security threat should they be lost or stolen. Thin-client systems get around this by working off a corporate server, however they require a network connection to work properly and such a connection is not always available, said Onodera.

The NEC laptop attempts to combine the strengths of both systems while avoiding the weaknesses, he said.

The operating system and application software is all stored locally in flash ROM so the machine can function in the absence of a network. Flash ROM is the type of memory typically used to store a PC's BIOS or the firmware in electronics devices and allows limited reprogramming.

Local storage is provided in the computer's RAM, which is cleared when the machine is switched off thus removing any potential security risk from data theft but also requiring a back-up before the computer is switched off. This can be done with a central server or, should a network not be available, to a USB memory device, Onodera said.

From the outside, the PC Parafield looks like a standard B5-size laptop computer and its specifications are fairly standard, except for the absence of a hard-disk drive.

The machine is based on an Intel Pentium M processor running at 1.73GHz and runs on the Windows XP Professional operating system. It has 3GB of ROM space for the operating system and other software and 512M bytes of main memory. The screen is an XGA resolution (1024 pixels by 768 pixels) 12.1-inch TFT (thin film transistor) LCD (liquid crystal display). It also has a PC Card slot, Ethernet socket and USB2.0 port.

The computer is available immediately in Japan for ?448,000 (US$3,742). NEC said this works out to be cheaper on a per-user basis than a thin-client system because the PC Parafield doesn't require a company to deploy a comprehensive network access system or central server.

At present, there are no plans to sell it overseas.
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Puppy is ready

#11 Post by Lobster »

One of our Puppys HueyNym
drew me to this
http://news.com.com/2100-7346_3-6057456.html

I have written again to the project
Other people need to aswell

email them
fax them
snail mail them

That means everyone noob and old hands (paws)
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Writing

#12 Post by raffy »

Good suggestion, Lobster, although with the kind of persuasive voice you have, a call will be more effective :)

On the side, Harrison Ford said once that early in his acting career, he came to the set in carpenter's clothing, impressing on the set executives that he has useful work somewhere else.

To us, this means we will keep persuading them about Puppy, but we keep on with the fun work we have. I have emailed Negroponte's office since last year, but got no reply. I guess that back then as well as now, they can't tell who really is offering genuine help.

The defense industry is one big user of computing, especially computer-mediated learning using a standard such as SCORM (hey, this is Lobster's backyard) :D

I have tried remastering a Puppy Scorm Player (LodPup ???) out of the Reload installer, and it produced an 89-MB ISO. I will be demonstrating it to teachers this Friday, and upload it maybe to Ted's FTP server next week (hey, a dotpup will be more useful here).

Now, if some rangers out there know better about how SCORM material are used in the service, we can make Puppy more useful to the men and women in uniform. (Oh no, just don't put Puppy in unmanned tanks :oops: )
Last edited by raffy on Sat 08 Apr 2006, 00:49, edited 1 time in total.
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#13 Post by wscarl »

kethd wrote:At the other extreme, you can buy a brand new laptop with no hard drive for only $4,000!
Why send $4,000 when you can get a 16 GB Laptop IDE Flash Drive for under $700.00 and turn any laptop into a soild state unit.
http://pcldirect.com/store/index.php?cP ... 3a9af2ca69
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Re: Puppy on $100 laptops

#14 Post by Fox7777 »

It looks like Puppy Linux is still in the running for the $100 laptop because of its many advantages over Red Hat. Hang in there and win that contract! See http://www.desktoplinux.com/news/NS8245709338.html
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Look there

#15 Post by raffy »

Look there for a follow-up discussion of the article.
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Now China has the $150 Municator

#16 Post by Fox7777 »

China has come out with the $150 Municator, see http://www.desktoplinux.com/news/NS2138098114.html
Could they run Puppy on that too?
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MIPS

#17 Post by raffy »

Yes, though a different kernel will have to be used, the one for MIPS.
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Anything is possible . . .

#18 Post by Lobster »

As I have reported elsewhere, the creators of the municator have written to me, saying that they are working on a x86 processor design. Perhaps more suited for export.
Minix (their Linux) may be the default but who knows - no details have been released.
Can you imagine Americans running "Redoffice" - the yellowsheepriver.com version of OpenOffice? :) The company if successful will place most of their motherboard on a single chip. Puppy is very much designed for the x86 - because that is out there now. However this is Linux. Anything is possible . . .
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There is still hope for Puppy on $100 laptops!

#19 Post by Fox7777 »

See http://www.puppyos.com/olpc . Performance from Puppy is much more important than big bucks from Red Hat.
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Re: Just so you know

#20 Post by lch »

Lobster wrote:I did write to them and basically Red Hat is doing the software - it makes sense to do something for free that will get everyone buying your "services" for years to come. RedHat is the MS of Linux. If they were true to open standards they would consider Puppy (as was offered), Apple (yes I believe Steve Jobs offered too), Lindows (free offer) but of course when you set up the infrastructure you decide which is the "best" software . . .

"All Linux are equal but some are more equal than others"
Oh, please, spare me the hogwash. Your blind support for the Linux system of your choice is cute, but all things considered, Puppy Linux would never be any serious candidate for this. If you are incapable to gain this insight by yourself then let me spill it for you concerning why that is - if I may sound too harsh or rude to you then please bear with it, as this isn't meant to be or attract flaming.

First, what these people need is a reliable partner that they can entrust with time-critical tasks regarding the development and deployment of the software part of this project, which can guarantee to give contious support in the future, too. Some hobby project by a few committed developers won't live up to these expectations, no matter how good they or it might be. If the need arises then it must be possible to have lots of manpower to cope with anything that might occur, being able to match rigorous deadlines. Those that are to be considered developers for Puppy Linux are just freelancing persons doing it out of their own free will and at their own pace, too. If you have to educate other laborers to help in this for Puppy Linux then you are already wasting time and money. If somebody leaves the team then there has to be others that can step in, it mustn't rely on one person only. Furthermore, it won't stop with development and deploying these machines, if there is trouble then it has to be assured that there is support for the systems. A company is less likely to vanish and most importantly: They can be made responsible for whatever they do or won't do without pulling the plug.

Second, although Puppy Linux is both: a sleek live cd and a nice platform to hack together your own system, it is just that. It IS a hack: Packages come from ripping Vector Linux, Slackware and Mandrake(?) systems. I know, there is a compile system for it, too. But fitting on an USB stick is not everything. The most important aspect and the one where Puppy Linux is lacking the most is that it has a neglible support for any languages other than english. This topic starts to draw some attention now, but Puppy Linux is still in its infancy here. Remember, you are dealing with possible illiterates here. If they can't use the system then it's worthless to them, if anything, then what the system should do is TEACH them how to read and write. It should read texts out aloud for them. And it should (be able to) do it in their own tongue, which will most probably not be English, but Spanish or French. One might consider Ubuntu Linux, because it is known for concentrate on the aspect of supporting localizations, it has a very active community (like Puppy Linux, only bigger), too. But getting Puppy Linux there would be too much of a task as there will already be enough time critical aspects to meet. And I hardly doubt that a Linux Distributer won't be able to specialize their system to run on a 64 MB Usbstick, they just don't do it and leave this niche market to others because that is not their area of interest/expertize. They want to give customers a full-fledged running system, not a gadget that can impress about running in special circumstances.

I guess I already wrote too much, I think you get the idea. I like Puppy for hacking and playing around with it, too, but it hardly qualifies for OLPC.
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