It has been quite an experience working w/ you over the last two years.
Sometimes we have had a rocky relationship but it has been great getting
to know you guys. Good luck to you in your future endeavors. I was one
of the original founders of OLPC Nepal. I helped guide it from a group
of friends to a registered NGO and then national force. While I left
OLPC Nepal back in July of 2007 under unhappy circumstances, I am still
proud of what we accomplished together.
OLE Nepal is still very much committed to the goals of OLPC. We see OLPC
as not as a single organization headquartered in Cambridge but an
international movement. Should OLPC incorporated choose a non-open
source path, we will continue working towards the ideals of OLPC.
Anyone interested in working together with us is more than welcome. We
have been unable to host community meetings over the last 2 months
because we have been simply too busy working on the Bashuki and
Bishwamitra pilots. We intend to have community meetings in the coming
weeks at our office near Sanepa Chowk.
If anyone wants to drop by our office and check out our work in content
development, teacher training, networking, etc. pls give me a call at
98511-04733 . I will be very busy over the next several weeks supporting
the pilots but will try to make time.
Good luck in your future endeavors,
Bryan Berry
OLE Nepal
http://www.olenepal.org
> _______________________________________________
> Nepal mailing list
> Ne...@lists.laptop.org
> http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/nepal
What has been going on? What changes in the leadership and
organization or principle have been taking place?
I would be glad if someone gave me a pointer to some information.
While I believe that empowering children and education with modern
technology is the best way to go, I personally choose to disagree with
what Bryan wrote, "Should OLPC incorporated choose a non-open source
path, we will continue working towards the ideals of OLPC." He is
entitled to his opinions, but the sole driving force of the OLPC
project has been the fact that it is a free and open platform, using
free/libre/open softwares and standards.
Cheers !
Bibek
--
Bibek Paudel.
http://blog.bibekpaudel.com.np/
==============================
Should OLPC, Cambridge choose a non-open source path, we (OLE Nepal)
will continue working towards the ideals of OLPC, which means OpenSource
+ Constructionism + Laptops*
I believe that open-source is an essential aspect of the OLPC movement.
If OLPC the organization adopts closed-source software - i.e. Windows
XP, we (OLE Nepal) will continue to work w/ Linux+Sugar
* Durable, inexpensive, kid-friendly laptops. Currently only the XO
satisfies all 3 of these requirements.
Regarding OLPC, OLPC's head of Software and Content, Walter Bender, quit
a couple days ago for undefined reasons. I think one of the primary
reasons is that he is totally burnt out after 3 years of work w/ out a
vacation. He practically lived in the Cambridge office for 3 years.
Nicholas Negroponte wants to expand Sugar to work on other linux distros
and as a GUI on top of XP. I think that porting sugar to other linux
distros is a very important step, however porting Sugar to Windows would
be a waste of resources. I would never load Windows on our XO's because
it is crap.
Here is Negroponte's explanation of OLPC's change in strategy
http://www.olpcnews.com/people/negroponte/nicholas_negroponte_sugar_olpc.html
The sky is not falling. I expect linux+Sugar to continue to develop and
Windows+Sugar will be an annoying distraction that won't go anywhere.
Hope this clarifies some things.
When are you coming back to Kathmandu? Let's meet up when you do. Give
me a call at 98511-04733.
Bryan
OLE Nepal
Dear Shankar and Ankur,
It is good to know that the Govt. has put in OLPC in the yearly plans. Without you guys’ effort, it would not happen and even if it would, think it would have come much much later. Great work.
In the mean time I hope what you have started would grow in to much bigger undertaking so that kids in Nepal will have better opportunities to learn and get educated with as good an environment as rests of the fortunate kids. Synergy, then, as we all know, is crucial: thus, I hope all other players in this sector will join force to take it further.
All the best guys.
Tika.
----- Original Message -----From: Shankar PokharelSent: Wednesday, April 23, 2008 7:03 PM
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