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Re: [LUG] $35 Linux Laptop

 

On Thu, Sep 23, 2010 at 10:15:15AM +0100, Simon Waters wrote:
 
> Whilst I'd be happy to learn that the Indian government is suddenly more
> capable than the evil capitalists in product design, distribution, etc,
> history doesn't bode well for state run design and manufacturing. My
> suspicion is the $35 figure is more to do with keeping tax dollars
> flowing into someone pet project, hoping people naively accept the
> headline number and that they don't stop the think. Seems to be working.
> 
> ... SNIP rant that capitalism is all a huge conspiracy...
> 
The Indian Parliament (Lok Sabha), how shall I phrase it, has been known
for being very commercially astute. Albeit sometimes (the Commonwealth
Games) follow up is sometimes challenging.

http://dailypioneer.com/284195/Crime-and-punishment.html

There is significant democratic pressure to help the poor in India (that is
where the votes are), and certainly the Southern states (Tamil Nadu,
Kerala, and Andra Pradesh, Karnataka) have significant linux developments
in place, particularly in education. (I wish sometimes the UK was as
advanced.)

eg http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_40/b4003069.htm for a
2006 article

For an alternative take on the laptop
http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/jaimonjoseph/326/62006/is-indias--35-laptop--really-indian.html



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