XO Giving

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You can help support OLPC's mission by contributing time and knowledge or donating money, or by participating in our annual giving campaign, below. The 2008 giving campaign begins on November 17.

Give 1, Get 1 2008

The 2008 Give 1, Get 1 campaign will launch on November 17, on Amazon.

• For details, see G1G1 2008.
• For more ways to give, see Give Many.

Frequently Asked Questions

When does the program start? Can I give/get a laptop today?

The program will start on November 17, 2008. You cannot take part before then, but can donate to the OLPC Foundation.

What operating system will the laptops run?

The laptops will run the latest release of Sugar on a Linux-based Fedora Core operating system. (It will not dual-boot Windows and Linux, contrary to some reports.) For answers to this and other frequently asked questions, see the XO Giving FAQ.

How are "get" XOs sold through G1G1 different than those overseas?

The XOs sold in the US and other developed nations will ship with a US/International keyboard, with the default language set to English. They will ship with a slightly different set of activities and collections, something which is customized by each country and deployment.

If I give an XO through the G1G1 program, will I get a certificate in the mail?

No, for reasons of printing and mailing overhead.

Will G1G1 ship XOs to donors in my country?

During the rollout of the campaign, donors must provide a shipping address within the United States to receive an XO. Expanding the shipping options to include other countries is planned for the near future. (See #International questions below).

Will the "get" XO include any solar or human-power system?

No. However you can get your own solar panels separately from one of our suppliers.

Will the "given" XO include a human-power system?

Yes, where it is needed and cost effective, determined by the deployment project team.

Will the "get" Laptops use the anti-theft 'leasing' system?

No.

International questions

Can donors receive XOs in Canada? In Europe?

Not yet. During the rollout of the campaign in 2008, donors must provide a shipping address within the United States to receive an XO. We plan to expand the shipping options to include other countries in the near future. Specific countries being considered include Canada, the UK, Germany and Japan.

see XO Giving/International for further answers to this and other questions.

Other questions

• Why are XOs sold in developed nations (as part of the get one give one program) only being sold for a limited time? Couldn't any child regardless of geography, culture or income bracket benefit from a educational laptop like this? Additionally, wouldn't it help create manufacturing economies of scale if more were sold?

  This year's XO Giving program will start on November 17, and is not scheduled to end. Yes. Yes.

• Can I vote for which country receives the given XO?

  No. OLPC has been using the Give One laptops to start pilot projects in the least developed nations in the world (as defined by the UN) where suitable arrangements can be made with grassroots organizers to manage the deployment. This includes the recent pilots in Mongolia, Haiti, and Rwanda.

User communities

Users of the XO are forming their own user communities, even before the units arrive, see Users.

New Users can post questions and get answers on a separate page.

Give 1, Get 1 2007

The Give 1, Get 1 program (or "G1G1") concluded on 31 December 2007. Please see Give Many for more ways to give.

During the program, participants who donated USD 399 would cover the cost of one laptop to be distributed by OLPC to one of its least-developed partner countries, and would get 1 to keep, for themselves or for a child in their lives. OLPC also has a static Official FAQ on this program.

FAQ from 2007

• How can one get a hand crank or yo yo?

Get it yourself, see XO_Giving/Crank

• Will people in Europe also be able to purchase XOs via the G1G1 program?

Not at the moment, see XO_Giving/Europe.

• Is there any chance that the G1G1 program will happen in Australia? If so, count me in.

Not at the moment, but see recent work by OLPC Australia to set up something similar.

• When will the laptops be delivered?

According to this CNN article, it will depend on the order date, where the first 20,000 ordered are estimated to arrive before Christmas and the others later. However, point 5 of the Give 1, Get 1 Terms and Conditions expressly states that delivery may be subject to delays, so there are no certain delivery dates. —Joe 11:48, 15 November 2007 (EST).

As of 11/19, the donor service line indicated that orders placed on Friday, 11/16, at least, are part of the 'second shipment.' There's no indication of when this second shipment will go out, but it will be later than the first shipment scheduled, as of 11/19, for mid-December.

I received my pre-11/26 ordered laptop on 12/15/07. Amazing little machine. Well done All!! Joe S. Pittsburgh PA

I ordered mine on day 1 of G1G1 at 11am pacific standard time - got it sat. december 16 from a neighbor who was around to receive it friday the 15th (so it wasn't sitting outside)

love it...simple package, beautiful machine - info included is a little thin - "sugar not so sweet" (thats my quote for the interface so far) need more time to investigate sugar but interface is not exactly intuitive. I am excited to start developing activities and Apps. I had to remind myself, it is a tool to be used with real people in mind...its not a toy, nor can it be compared to normal laptops...it is designed to be used by inquisitive minds with instruction from teachers. Hopefully we can all help it get stronger... Alex Maloutas, Los Angeles, CA.

• How many laptops have been donated or received through G1G1, Simply Give, and Give Many donations?

150,000 - 170,000 [1]

• is there official information on how many, and where in the developing world are G1G1 distributed?

• To whom can further questions be addressed?

The bottom of the pages on the OLPC site includes this: "Donor service questions: 1-800-201-7144".

• Will you repeat this initiative in future (for XO-2, XO-3, ... laptops)? (I think it were good to repeat. Extra money for the cause.)

Yes.

• Continuing G1G1: OLPC says it has no intention of continuing Give One Get One past December 31, 2007.

See G1G1 2008 for preliminary news of the next program for winter 2008.

Discussion

Discussion topics have been moved to the discussion page at Talk:XO Giving.