[LINK] Open source USB key to $2bn laptop plan

[Tom Koltai]

I can hear the nashing of teeth in redmond.... 

/Peek /dev/Microsoft_Internals

How can we squeeze Windows CE onto a USB key and make it look like Vista
so we can make sure those little aussies are growed up with the right
edumacation. (Syllabus, the History of the World According to Uncle Bill
(Encarta); Mathematics - to square it or triangulate - Excel) (English -
The Gutenburg Project translated into MS Word Style Sheets) Opsys by the
really nice people who will gouge you for the rest of your lives.

Hey developer guys ... This is Bill. Will Office 97 fit onto a USB key
?.......... And oh yeah, can we put the office 2007 front end on it ? No
? Oh that will take 29 gb. OK, just thought Id ask.
| >/dev/null


> -----Original Message-----
> From: link-bounces at mailman1.anu.edu.au 
> [mailto:link-bounces at mailman1.anu.edu.au] On Behalf Of 
> Bernard Robertson-Dunn
> Sent: Wednesday, 10 December 2008 4:23 PM
> To: link
> Subject: [LINK] Open source USB key to $2bn laptop plan
> 
> 
> <brd>
> the projected costs keep going up. Funny that.
> 
> </brd>
> 
> Open source USB key to $2bn laptop plan
> By Ry Crozier
> iTnews
> 10 December 2008 03:07PM
> 
> http://www.itnews.com.au/News/90863,open-source-usb-key-to-2bn
> -laptop-plan.aspx
> 
> The Rudd Government's promise of a laptop for every child could fail 
> without at least $2 billion in public funding, but an alternative USB 
> 'computer' system pioneered in France may be its saviour.
> 
> Speaking to iTnews, Cybersource CEO Con Zymaris said a $2 billion 
> funding injection - double the original commitment - would be 
> needed to 
> put some four million netbooks on the desks of Australian 
> school students.
> 
> The Federal government estimates the total cost per laptop to 
> be up to 
> $2,500 over four years.
> 
> But that amount could be too high to put one in the hands of every 
> student unless the government doubles its financial commitment or 
> alternate proposals are considered, according to Zymaris.
> 
> "With the costs the states are putting forward, there's no 
> way a billion 
> dollars will buy a laptop for every student," said Zymaris.
> 
> "The current approach will mean one netbook between every 
> five or ten kids."
> 
> Cybersource is proposing a variation of a model adopted by French 
> schools , where students are issued with a 2-4 GB USB key 
> that contains 
> a self-booting Linux operating system 'and all the core applications 
> they need'.
> 
> The USB key can be plugged into any computer - personal or 
> shared - and 
> the student's data can be accessed either directly from the 
> key or the 
> cloud.
> 
> Under the Australian variation, students would receive a USB key and 
> either a personal netbook or a laptop that can be shared between two 
> students, depending on the final amount of government funding 
> to be made 
> available.
> 
> Cybersource has created a free online kit that state education 
> departments and schools can use to assess and implement its proposal.
> 
> "Everyone is proposing a plan with one laptop and one set of 
> systems and 
> data per person," said Zymaris.
> 
> "We're saying you can shift away from that model in schools. You can 
> still give students something that's intrinsically theirs 
> [the USB key] 
> - essentially a 'computer' without a netbook terminal - and 
> then provide 
> terminals that are interchangeable.
> 
> "In the least we'd like to put the idea on the table for 
> consideration," 
> explained Zymaris.
> 
> Comment on the proposal and open source alternatives in 
> general is being 
> sought from both the NSW Department of Education and the 
> Department of 
> Education and Early Childhood Development in Victoria.
> 
> -- 
>  
> Regards
> brd
> 
> Bernard Robertson-Dunn
> Canberra Australia
> brd at iimetro.com.au
> 
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