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There is a new system on the Ask OLPC a Question page, which encourages users to categorize their new questions, instead of asking them all here. We need help recategorizing these old questions too. If you are able, please help by moving these questions to the appropriate categories. Procedure: Open two browser windows or browser tabs. In one of them ("here"), edit this page; in the other ("there"), open the main Ask OLPC a Question page. Choose a question here and find the correct category there. Click on the "whole list of questions" link there. Cut and paste the question from here to there, making sure to put it before the line which says *********Please cut and paste answered questions to above this line********. (If you think the question is especially important or typical, you can paste it near the top, after the line with the "Overview" heading.) Hit "save page" on both tabs/windows. Repeat as often as desired.

Also, if you have this page on your watchlist, you should consider putting one or more of the other question category pages on your watchlist, as (hopefully) most new questions will not be arriving here anymore.

Thank you.

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This section is for asking OLPC new questions. Before adding a question here, please take the time to skim the page to see if your question has already been answered. There is also an archive of older questions, at Ask OLPC A Question Archive. An older archive, in the process of being consolidated, is here.

Misc. questions

Computers to children in Igbo speaking area of Nigeria

We come from an Igbo speaking area of Nigeria (Delta State). We noticed that parts of your page have been translated to Igbo, so are hopeful that you are also planning on distibuting computers to areas there. How can we find out where? Since we also know a school principal there, can we help get something implemented in a particular school?

Need any help in promoting OLPC

I run several tech information websites. Can we help promote the concept and success by adding agratis banner with links to OLPC?

B2 images

Hello there I am preparing kind of user manual for B2 Write Activity and would like to get some screen shots. But all I could find in the pre-converted images are those of B4. How shall I proceed?

Thank you

I don't recall there being a screencapture facility in 406 Builds, so you'll either have to:

1. run the earlier version of Write on a rcent build on a B4 and do screencaptures by using the Alt-1 command (this assumes the old version will run properly on the newer builds);
2. run in an emulator on a machine that has screencapture; or
3. use a camera

Thanks I have done it with a camera

Language Changes for foreign country!

Dear sirs, Can this computer be programed for Traditional Chinese by your technicians, before shipment? And If not is it possible for me to do that here, upon its arrival before I send it to China?

Please Advise, Carmelo M. Terrasi

Hindi?

How does the hindi script work?

Can I type Japanese on the keyboard?

Can I type Japanese on the keyboard?

According to this page and this page, yes, you can — although setting it up takes a little work. —Joe 00:04, 14 December 2007 (EST)

Where can I get that OLPC 3D model?

I noticed some of your marketing graphics have a 3D animation of the laptop. If that model is available somewhere, I'd love to play with it in Blender 3D perhaps.

I don't believe that the animations on laptopgiving.org were generated from a 3D model. But there are some 3D models kicking around. Perhaps ask Todd Kelsey--he had generated some animations that he has posted on Youtube and in Myspace.

How can a kid possibly learn anything from these laptops without trained teachers?

Great question! Why not let Rufus provide the answer for you.

While on the Internet

I have been giving a go at Linux just to get the feel. It's OK. When the OLPC is on it's Internet connection and no one ever asked you this before and not a word in HTTP land. How is the cookie , registry system with in the the laptop going to be processed?

You now have different users which is great who will not be as you have only given the laptops to those who are in a type of learning developer group who have a lot better then average knowledge of how computers work.

As most seemed to be going to school for this. Over 50,000 laptops (OLPC) will be going in to first world worlds and homes ..

With out each unit having a cookie register and the refusal by the OLPC Wiki Community to accept that the resume bug is like a crank that relieves this short coming because you keep talking about it. You said your self the WiFi LAN (its not LAN either but... OK) picks up things Some of the same information you got last year that this was a fact to watch out for.

• Quote

SEE: Suspend/resume and power management on this... page[1]

Could the first world homes destroy the laptops or blow them out on a mass sacle by accident or on purpose? This would be based on connectivity that you said make this happen *SEE Quote and your refusal to leave the resume power issue alone: As the OLPC laptops own fact that it lives just like all other computer. Answer about cookies and connectivity over load based on poor homes with not as much electric stuff and first world homes and communities with a lot of stuff

( Folks don't worry either because out side people who work on things like that We just seeing what they think) Like a test!

Could you please rephrase your question? It was very hard to follow. Please also create an account on the Wiki and sign your contribution ... this would make it easier for others to answer, and would let you enjoy an ongoing discussion ... as it is we have no idea if you have already written about these things elsewhere in the Wiki. Also, when you refer to someone's specific refusal, please quote the words and who wrote them. Cookies are handled by the Browse activity. Suspend, resume, and power management, are ongoing development activities, and ship.2-650 is what should be received, so your reference to the ship.1 release notes may be obsolete. --Quozl 19:41, 8 December

Uncategorized questions about OLPC

RSS / OLPC News Feed?

Would it be possible to give LAPTOP NEWS RSS feed capability? I use a NewsGator RSS reader, and I like it very much. It saves me a lot of time, and the releases in each feed are always the most current when I log on. I try to check my feeds at least every 2 or 3 days. Thanks! Is there now or are there any plans to make OLPC news available as an RSS feed? I would very much like to provide my site's readers with up-to-date news on OLPC's progress. Best regards! MT

PenguinTV is one of the activities already running on the laptop; you can run an emulator and download the latest image of the OLPC environment to try it out for yourself. Sj talk

Check out Olpcnews.com, an unaffiliated site with frequently updated OLPC news and opinion. You could search in Google News for OLPC and capture and copy the resulting RSS feed to your aggregator of choice. Finally, you can also read planet OLPC, an aggregator of selected developer-oriented OPLC blogs.

Will Limited Storage Impact Feeling Of Ownership?

I have been impressed by Seymor Papert's idea that the relationship that users have with their personal computers makes them more powerful. I also note that the storage limitations of the OLPC mean that some portion of the materials of an individual student are likely to be stored on the server. What I am curious about is how this will impact the student's sense of ownership and whether the software will be designed to mitigate this limitation by blurring the distinction of local/remote storage. I imagine that this might be done by something simple like establishing a virtual volume that contains the local and remote materials. Of course it may well be that this isn't an issue at all.

The objective is to have the 'server' space transparently integrated into the 'user' space, so that accessing a resource (ie: a file) stored in the server will be transparent. For more info, you can read OLPC Human Interface Guidelines#Automatic Backup and Restore or OLPC Human Interface Guidelines#The Laptop Experience for a broader view. --Xavi 22:46, 31 May 2007 (EDT)

My first 386 had an 80 MB HD. That was plenty for me to write Basic programs, draw scribbles in Kid Pix, and feel like I owned the machine. I wouldn't worry about space vs. ownership. Ben 01:36, 31 October 2007 (EDT)

I haven't read Papert, but as a Mac user, I can tell you that I'm well aware how much I have fetishized and bonded with my machine. =) Anyway, there are two modalities to this: hardware and software. If allowed, a kid might "customize" her or his laptop case with decorations of some sort. If allowed, they might also upgrade or customize the hardware, if they were so inclined. Obviously this could lead to problems, but what is allowable will probably be determined at the local level. In terms of software, it is much the same, but much more fluid. Kids will want to control the decoration and functionality of their computers, but these settings can be easily stored on the server if more than one child is using a laptop. It's not just the access to files that is important, but the ability to create and save personal configurations. --216.175.82.30 13:27, 12 November 2007 (EST)

Game Jam

Can Game Jam games be accessed through FireFox in a format that people can can try it or see an in action demo of the games themes? If not as many programs can be presented for view in different system formats do you think because of the Google link that the program is not being relistic in the real world of internet? In some ways the clanist social pratices of many people and nations is a mid level part of their problem. By following this type of only if you.... belong to the group ,have this kind of system, have a laptop ect... may not be progressive. WHAT DO YOU THINK? jULY 7,2007

SD card size?

How large an sd card can the xo use?

Any size SD or SDHC card you can buy should work, and we've tested up to 8GB which was the largest we could get at the time. --gnu 29 Nov 2007

Why is this information not listed in the user guide?

ayudenos a ayudar

Distinguidos Señores de wiki.laptop.org

Mi nombre es Patricio Sharup, vivo en el canton taisha, provincia de morona santiago, amazonia, pais-ecuador. Mi pregunta es, como dar inicio a una apertura de dialogo con esta empresa para ver las posibilidades de cooperacion por parte de wiki.laptop.org.

Saludos cordiales... PATRICIO SHARUP

Posiblemente quieres ir a OLPC_Spanish_America, o a #olpc-es por IRC en freenode.net Ben 01:12, 31 October 2007 (EDT)

Boot Time

As of this date, October 12, 2007, as OLPC prepares to undergo full production, what is the boot time of the XO?

What a good idea, each build boot time could be graphed. Feel free to contribute such testing. Boot time should not be that important though, now that we have reliable suspend and resume. --Quozl 06:40, 27 November 2007 (EST)

Donating the income of free ad space

I would like to use some free space on my site to place ads. I want to let the income of these ads be donated to the OLPC project. Is there a possibility for me to ensure that the advertisers paid for their ads by donating to your project, without transferring the money to my account first?

Thank you for your interest in donating to OLPC. We recommend that you transfer the money through your account. First, it will allow you to ensure proper credit for a possible charitable donation (please make any donations payable to the OLPC Foundation). Second, tracking and confirm third party payments would introduce an overhead that our small, already multi-tasking team can not take on.

One Laptop in America

It would be nice if we could concern ourselves with providing children in America before we worry about everyone else. My wife is a teacher and cannot even get a single computer in her classroom much less a laptop for every child. Why can't we fix this problem first. I saw the report on Dateline (I think that was the show), and the question was asked if we can purchase them for Americans, and the response was we have to buy two. One for us, and one for someone in another country. Are you kidding me?

OLPC is an international project, not an American project. It so happens that many of the developers are US citizens, but many are not. In all cases, OLPC's philosophy is to deal with Departments of Education. If you would like to see OLPC deployed in your state, you must lobby your Department of Education. If your state wishes to order enough laptops for all entering school children, OLPC will almost certainly be happy to help. Ben 01:08, 31 October 2007 (EDT)

Library content: is there a way filter information by age or grade?

I am a parent of 7-yr old and a teacher/educator. I was going through the library grid. The info there is quite useful for children (and educators). I am wondering whether it would be possible to make it in to auto-capsules that are age-appropriate and adequate? For example, I was going through module on animals, the info is vast and a child of say age 7-8 may not require all that is there, may be he/she would be quite thrilled to get some exciting bits of it to begin with. How we can filter? of course one way is through teacher intervention, but typical parental tendency would be to make available all that is out there on the wiki. I would be keen to know any such efforts are made in this direction to sort the info grade wise/age wise? thanks

There are efforts being made in this area by the "OLPC Content" group. You may want to visit Curators and coordinators or visit the #olpc-content IRC channel. Ben 00:55, 31 October 2007 (EDT)

Alex - russian (e-mail removed)

’§¥’§à’§Ò’§â’§í’§Û ’§Õ’§Ö’§ß’§î. ’§¬’§Ñ’§Ü ’§Þ’§à’§Ø’§ß’§à ’§á’§â’§Ú’§à’§Ò’§â’§Ö’§ã’§ä’§Ú ’§Ó’§Ñ’§ê ’§Ü’§à’§Þ’§á’§î’§ð’§ä’§Ö’§â ’§Ó’§ß’§Ö ’§á’§â’§Ñ’§Ó’§Ú’§ä’§Ö’§Ý’§î’§ã’§ä’§Ó’§ß’§Ö’§ß’§ß’§à’§Û ’§á’§â’§à’§Ô’§â’§Ñ’§Þ’§Þ’§í? ’§°’§é’§Ö’§ß’§î ’§ß’§å’§Ø’§ß’§à. salt2002@ukr.net

’§¥’§à ’§ã’§Ú’§ç ’§á’§à’§â ’§Ö’§ã’§ä’§î ’§à’§Õ’§ß’§Ñ ’§Ó’§à’§Ù’§Þ’§à’§Ø’§ß’§à’§ã’§ä’§î ’§á’§à’§Ý’§å’§é’§Ú’§ä’§î ’§ï’§ä’§à’§ä ’§Ü’§à’§Þ’§á’§å’§ä’§Ö’§â ’§Ó’§ß’§Ö ’§á’§â’§Ñ’§Ó’§Ú’§ä’§Ö’§Ý’§î’§ã’§ä’§Ó’§Ö’§ß’§à’§Û ’§á’§â’§à’§Ô’§â’§Ñ’§Þ’§Þ’§í, ’§á’§à’§Ü’§å’§á’§Ú’§ä’§î ’§Ó ’§³’§º’§¡. [2] ’§¬’§à’§ß’§Ö’§é’§ß’§à, ’§Ó’§Ñ’§Þ ’§ß’§å’§Ø’§Ö’§ß ’§á’§à’§Þ’§à’§ê’§ß’§Ú’§Ü ’§Ó ’§³’§º’§¡ ’§Ú ’§Õ’§Ö’§ß’§î’§Ô’§Ú ’§é’§ä’§à’§Ò’§í ’§ä’§Ñ’§Ü ’§Õ’§Ö’§Ý’§Ñ’§ä’§î.

Up to now there is only one way to get this computer outside of government programs, buy it in the USA. Of course, you need a helper in the USA and money in order to do this.

Note: this query seems to come from Ukraine, not Russia, judging by the email address.

Will the OLPC be able to boot something like PUPPYOS via a USB stick?

Before I consider the purchase of two OLPC laptops, I would like to verify that the hardware will support booting Linux via USB flash devices. I know PuppyLinux was unfortunately quickly dismissed as a possible candidate to run on the OLPC hardware; however, since the AMD Geode is a x86 processor, I am in hopes I can boot PuppyLinux from USB attached devices, IE... USB Flash, Compact flash using USB adapter, hard drive/cdrom/dvdrom using sata/ide-to-USB adapter, etc.. Has anyone on the development team tried to boot any of the later PuppyOS releases on the current OLPC hardware? If so, how did it work?

Thanks Very Much In Advance Regards Ron

It can definitely boot from USB sticks; we do it all the time. It doesn't use a standard BIOS, so see the documentation for Open Firmware (Forth) about what files to put on the stick. Or download and poke at the Autoreinstallation image, which is booted from a USB stick.

The laptop has run Debian by using the OLPC kernel and kernel modules, and everything else from a standard Debian system. As far as I know, nobody has done the similar exercise with PuppyLinux. Most of the changes required for the hardware have been pushed upstream into the original packages. You may need to upgrade the X server in PuppyLinux as well as the kernel. It will definitely NOT work "out of the box". It will definitely work if you do some integration work. Go for it! -- gnu 19 Nov 2007

JVM in XO

Is there any way to install JVM (Java Virtual Machine) or similar tool in XO o run java software?

The Java page implies that there is. —Joe 14:00, 23 October 2007 (EDT)

If a developer wants to use a JVM, one way to do it is by leveraging the technology from dotFX, Inc. dotFX enables developers to deliver live applications packaged as a link or direct to the desktop. An XO user can obtain an always updated JVM for example, managed by our technology, if a developer wants to package his/her software as secure, live software on our technology. Since the technology is not pre-loaded with XO, the first time a user comes to a website for example with your application packaged as link, he/she will get an initial download we call ClientFX which has the parts of the JVM dynamically loaded to use your app. After that, the user can click on any live application link and access software as easily as he/she access content today. See www.dotFX.com to download the ServerFX product for free. Or, email me with any questions. In addition, I check this site frequently, because I think what OLPC's mission is awesome. Thanks. -Pete President/co-founder dotFX, Inc pete@dotFX.com

WHY?

WHY don't you just buy pens, paper and textbooks? In Calgary kids get along really well without laptops!

First of all, it is not clear that the economics of printing and distributing textbooks is favorable relative to distributing laptops. Second, there are many more things you can do with a laptop than you can with just pen and paper: explore, express, compute, communicate etc. Third, I would guess that most children in Calgary have some access to libraries, computers, cell phones, newspaper, television, radio, etc. and teachers! This is not the case for most children in the developing world, for whom we have designed the laptop.

Porting exiting Java-based learning software to the XO

Dear Sirs,

I sent the following email to technology@laptop.org as directed by your web site. I received in return an autoresponder email that offers the ability to give laptops away. As you can see by the email I sent, this was not my purpose in contact. Aprend would be happy to contribute whatever it can in the future, but realistically, without software and a purpose, the XO will make a good boat anchor (for a very small boat at 3lbs.) How do we get in touch with a human (not autoresponder) to investigate at which level we may be of assistance? Sincerly, Rod Gilchrist Email originally sent:

My name is Rod Gilchrist. I have a small company in Austin, Texas named Aprend. We have developed a learning management system with integrated authorware. Our software is written totally in JAVA. Due to the features of JAVA, the translation of the GUI is a snap. Localization of language of the GUI, regardless of the language or dialect is very easy. The ability to create content is also very easy with the integrated authorware, localization of the GUI for the content creation software is also very easy. in addition, due to JAVA, our software runs under virtually any OS on any hardware.

It appears to me that the OLPC XO project could possibly use our software to deliver education to children using your laptops all over the world, in their localized language. I would like to investigate an alliance between Aprend and your project to possibly provide our software with the XO laptop to enable educators at the user end of your project. Please contact me if you are interested. I have attached a trifold brochure word file in hopes of explaining the features to you.

Sincerely, Roderick E. Gilchrist, CEO

Aprend Software / (512) 328-5119 / rod@/email/aprendsoft.com

Java is not supported.

Rod - I am the President of dotFX, Inc (www.dotFX.com). We innovated a technology which can take existing Java applications and make them live - accessible as a clickable link or direct from the desktop. If the Aprend Software solution is placed on the dotFX framework it becomes "live" software. We manage the delivery of the application and underlying JVM/JRE dynamically. Currently OLPC does not support Java; however, I am a believer in their mission and think that access to free software for kids around the world, securely, is very important. If your software is packaged as a live application, then OLPC kids can access a JVM to their machine organically. The policy decision for OLPC for Java one way or another can be made over time; however, in the interim, there is a path. Let me know if you have any questions. -Pete / President, co-founder, dotFX, Inc / www.dotFX.com / pete@/email/dotFX.com

Rod, Pete - It may help both of you to know that the stated requirement for software included on the XO laptops will all be open-source. That said, there are developers who are working to make their proprietary software able to run on the XO, with the understanding that for the foreseeable future those programs will not be bundled. In other words, the XO is not a platform for profit-seeking companies or individuals to capitalize upon at this time. Best regards, RKV

RKV - Thanks. I had a dialog with Joe on that too. Our ServerFX is for free. We have no API/IDE needed, so unlike any other IDE vendor I know of, there is no future risk of developers / users being forced into payment, since the developer can at any time choose to stop using our technology and it does not set back his/her code base, since we did not cause change in the first place. In fact, developers can use us speculatively at any point in the lifecycle of software - design, build, or service post launch. The 30k existing Java applications in open source for example can be packaged as a live clickable link (eg OLPC icon on the desktop) where OLPC and 3rd party open source developers could publish live apps as links into for free for OLPC users around the world, eg games, productivity software, etc -- all types at sourceforge.com for example. As I mentioned to Joe, we are not allergic to making ServerFX open source; however, we want to make that decision if there is enough demand with OLPC and other channels we are discussing. We manage the update issue with the framework, any JRE version running, and the applications. I have not yet Rod from Aprend yet, so I am not sure what he is thinking. In my case however, also because of my non profit work in global education (eg board member of the Golden Key International Honor Society, etc), the OLPC mission is consistent with my personal interests in access and success for all kids, especially via technology as one tool. I love your guys mission - whether dotFX can help or not. - Pete, dotFX

Usability testing

Can anyone tell me if, how, and when usability tests will be (have been, are bring) conducted for the OLPC project? Keith Karn

I'm not sure if this is what you are looking for, but there have been a number of field trials of the XOs, the feedback from which are used to improve the hardware and software. And feedback is solicited at various showings of the device, such as at the Boston Game Jam. I'm not sure if there is any formal usability testing in place, though. —Joe 00:27, 26 October 2007 (EDT)

Digital Radio Mondiale

I am interested in making a cheap DRM using avalable AM/FM radio and use it with line in of PC. Can anyone help me regarding the Hardware and Software of the DRM.

If your device only uses the line-in, there will be a standard activity that can record from that port and play it back, like the Record activity. If the device needs an additional communication route (for example to specify tuning or encode/decode radio signals on the CPU), the best route may be through one of the laptop's standard USB connections. There may be more information available via the Peripherals page; the Hardware and Software pages may also have the basic information that you're looking for. —Joe 00:53, 26 October 2007 (EDT)

MP3 files

I noticed that one cannot download speech podcasts in mp3 format to the xo. Is there any way to download these mp3 files, or download software that will allow it?

There is MP3 software that can run on the laptops, but it's not clear whether it will ship with the laptops or, if not, how easy it will be for a user to install. See the RestrictedFormats page. —Joe 12:55, 26 October 2007 (EDT)

Microsoft Windows XP on XOs

Microsoft has been talking about getting the XP to work on the XO systems. I personally would consider Microsoft having anything to do with this project as a mistake. One of the core principals is free and open source software and any moves to work with Microsoft on this project would run contrary to this. Will the OLPC initiative be staying open source and sticking with Linux? -- Thomas (New Zealand)

According to the list of OLPC myths, the officially distributed OS is still Linux. However, an open system means that anyone (including Microsoft) can develop for it. —Joe 17:25, 26 October 2007 (EDT)

I ordered my laptop approximately 6:00 am EST on 11/12/2007. When I saw that people who ordered long after me were starting to get theirs, I called to be sure my order hadn't gotten lost. I was told last Friday and yesterday that my order had been sent to shipping. Your message when we call the customer service donor line says you are shipping them first come first serve. If that is the case, your greeting is misleading. One of the customer service operators I talked to last week said her supervisor would call me back. She never did. You need to treat your customers better than this or else you are going to lose a lot of potential donors! If people are getting their laptops and they ordered after me, someone needs to get on the horn to Brightstar about this. I know several other people are in a similar predicament to myself. My confirmation number starts with a 9 and I know at least one other person in the same situation as me starts with a 9 as well. This organization does not need any more bad press if it wishes to accomplish its goal.

dotFX Java Framework

dotFX, Inc. (www.dotFX.com) has a free framework product called ServerFX which allows the 6 million java developers to take existing java applications and make them "live" software, i.e. desktop distributed through the Internet securely. For example, there are 30,000 existing Java applications (desktop apps / "dead" apps) which can be packaged as a clickable link / icon on the desktop or within a browser. This provides extreme ease of use and ease of access for OLPC users to many free software applications, not previously accessible. Please let me know if you would like to learn more. I am interested in leveraging the dotFX innovative technology for the OLPC mission.

Very truly yours -- Pete Hartigan, President, co-founder, www.dotFX.com, pete@/email/dotFX.com

I can't say whether or not the OLPC people are interested in your product, but note that the XO laptop is being distributed only with open source software and it is not currently shipping with Java. —Joe 12:31, 27 October 2007 (EDT)

If there are java developers interested in distributing their software, we can package their software as a "link" in a browser, or as a desktop icon. We manage the JVM for the developer and OLPC. It does not need to be distributed upfront. That is a decision OLPC can make either way, since our free installer and live update features can handle all of this pain for developers. As far as open source, we are not allergic to that consideration if there is proper demand. The key however is the value for the end user --- there are 30,000 existing java applications in open source for example which no one really uses -- we can package these as "links" and make them accessible to the common user -- ie they get free software, live from the network, in an easily accessible manner & updated for them with only deltas each time each user clicks on an application. Our framework provides mechanism for developers to run the apps offline or online, and provision in other ways if they want - yet at a high level the value for OLPC users around the world is straight forward. Get access to free software easily and none of them need to learn how to manage the software. For OLPC project - it is more value for basically no cost. For OLPC and developers, since we can publish services inline at runtime - if people want to monetize their work, we can package an ad object, license object (for premium services), and other revenue generating mechanisms on demand. - Pete

Few highlights for OLPC kids and developers:

1. Environment is secure - so kids around the world can click on apps and have a true security model (vs abdication of security with a trust/no trust decision being forced upfront)

2. Online / Offline

3. Low network footprint - eg if a child is in Africa, India or China for example with low bandwidth - this technique gets full functionality to them in low network availability areas of the world.

4. Infinite number of applications possible on a small hard drive - dynamic applications / servcies - taken on and off as required

5. Applications are monitorable if desired - In the context of social networking applications with kids involved, the browser is generally not good enough to ward off the risk of preditors for example. A developer may choose to want a more monitorable environment for safety purposes. We provide the mechanism if developers want it.

Why pay $150 for what is a 10-year-old machine?

I actually picked this question up from a blog comment that I saw, because I think it nicely sums up a widespread view which is also an ill-informed view that undervalues the leading edge technology in this laptop.

There's no need to spend time considering the pro's and con's of selling this computer to the general public. It won't be offered up for sale. Why? For EXACTLY the same reasons they are not being peddled to developed nations: buyers will ask legtimate questions BEFORE buying and then the truth about these computers and their great limitations will be exposed. Why would anyone pay $150 for what is essentially a re-packaged 10-year old machine? (in terms of computer power/storage/software).

If you only restrict your analysis to computer power, storage capacity and bundled software, then you might be right although I do think that you undervalue the bundled mesh networking software. But the real point is that the OLPC has conciously accepted constraints in computer power, storage capacity and bundled software in order to be innovative in other areas. The XO laptop leverages current interface technology far more than any other PC. Nowadays it is common for WiFi interfaces to be built around their own CPU but only the OLPC leverages this so that the main computer can be powered down while the satellite CPU continues to transmit/recieve data. Only the OLPC has the innovative dual-mode LCD technology that allows normal use, as well as a special low-power black and white mode for ebook reading. This is one of very few modern laptops that have no moving parts and therefore are likely to last a long time which means they provide better green value for money.

Please consider adding "childsplay" to software packages...

The "childsplay" package is a wonderful Python based package that has kept my 3.5 year old productively engaged for the last couple of months and it seems that it would be ideally suited for inclusion in the OLPC software suite. More info on it can be found at:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/childsplay/

http://koji.fedoraproject.org/koji/packageinfo?packageID=1463

Thanks for considering this suggestion.

Sincerely,

Dominic Caffey, dcaffey_fl@yahoo.com

The author of childsplay, Stas Zytkiewicz, has expressed interest in porting it to the XO and apparently has had a preliminary version of it running, so I think there's a good chance it will eventually be available. —Joe 16:28, 28 October 2007 (EDT)

Update: Schoolsplay. —Joe 08:33, 27 November 2007 (EST)

Can the technology be adapted so students with language-based learning disabilities can use this?

My niece attends a private school for children with a wide range of learning differences. I would like to purchase one for her but am not sure how adaptable it will be. Can additional software be installed? The application for this population of student in that school setting would be wonderful. Not only could we provide the assisted technology to help LD students learn, but as well help all children around the world! I am most interested in pursuing this!

Yes, support for children with disabilities, both learning and physical, is a priority, and something that is being worked on. Yes, other software can be installed, it just wont necessarily fit the Sugar theme. is for Insects 17:01, 14 November 2007 (EST)

Protecting children from bad content on the internet

Does the sugar XO system effectively protect children from pornographic or other adult material on the internet and how is it done? Is it possible to circumvent these filters by adding new browser software or in other ways? With geek and source code buttons these children are being encouraged to look under the hood, I feel it of utmost importance to protect vulnerable children from pornography.

Information on the Internet and Peru trial pages suggests that the countries themselves will be responsible for providing an Internet connection that is appropriately filtered. —Joe 18:17, 28 October 2007 (EDT)

Follow-Up Question

Can a filter that works with the XO browser be added manually? Is there an open source version? Was this decision to not offer a filter a First Amendment issue or something else? To rely on countries/schools to do this, I think, is misguided. My son spells by sound and he is bound to make a URL error at some point that leads to a site that is inappropriate for him to see. Thank you, SB

For innocent mistakes there already is a filter. The browser normally opens things via Google search. Google tends to fix misspellings, and will not return porn sites when queried as the laptop does.

Unfortunately the search that I tried was, "Sex" and the first websites were not informational but porn sites and cam sites and not educational sites about the subject. It is this that I would prefer to filter.

There are lots of reasons why a heavy-handed filter is not supplied. Filters tend to block "legitimate" topics, like breast cancer. Filters make computers slower. We can't agree on what "inappropriate" means; some people feel that Christian sites are inappropriate. (no kidding -- for example many people are non-Christian) Kids are very good at bypassing filters anyway, and will simply visit a friend's house if they need to use an unfiltered computer to escape mom. Kids aren't so fragile that an inappropriate web page will ruin them. You probably saw a few inappropriate things when you were a kid. (maybe photos on paper, or some kind of live performance) It's part of learning and growing up.

Thank you for your answer and I think we can agree to disagree. More to the point, can software be added to work in conjunction with the Browser Activity or any other activity? Can software be loaded on an SDCard or USB key for extra storage?

Battery

What type of battery will the Give 1 Get 1 laptop come with? Will it have the LiFeP battery or the NiMH battery?

I guess quite some people would like to know (me included), so is there any answer?

No answer yet. Good question though; but it may have to wait for production availability and component costing. The price of the raw materials can change a bit. Given the average temperature of the target country, NiMH will charge properly. The answer will be one of either (a) mixed, (b) LiFePO₄, or (c) NiMH. --Quozl 05:18, 13 November 2007 (EST)

ASUS Eee similarity

I saw a small laptop called the ASUS Eee PC. What is the difference between that and the $100 laptop?

You may want to look at the XO's hardware specs and the ASUS Eee's specs. As I see it, the main difference is that the XO is designed to be deployed as part of an educational program, especially in areas without a lot of technological infrastructure, while the Eee is designed to be used as a conventional ultra-portable laptop. So the XO has a spill- and dust-proof rugged case, a long battery life, mesh networking, a sunlight-readable display, and a tablet mode, while the Eee has a faster processor, more storage, a VGA port, an expansion slot, a more versatile card reader, maybe more memory, and a keyboard that may be more comfortable for an adult to type on. The Eee appears to be more expensive, but much of that may be overhead related to sales, advertising, and support; it's not clear how much it actually costs to make. They both ship with a Linux variant and other open-source software, although the Eee apparently includes other software, like Skype and Windows Media codecs. As the Wikipedia article says, the two laptops aren't really intended to compete with each other. —Joe 13:44, 3 November 2007 (EDT)

Age range

What is the age range you are targeting ?

According to the Our Market page, it is ages 6 to 16 years. —Joe 15:53, 4 November 2007 (EST)

German localization

Exist a german software version of the OLPC? I like to get some for our clas here helping at same time with OLPSŽs for Peru. Norbert

In Which Stores?

Where or in which stores will the XO be sold?

See the Ask OLPC a Question about Distribution page. —Joe 15:47, 4 November 2007 (EST)

I've heard of no firm plans by any stores to sell the XO laptops. It would be neat though. Interested stores could contact OLPC ... but be serious with quantities, and don't expect OLPC to cover risk like other manufacturers do. --Quozl 06:53, 27 November 2007 (EST)

Computer Usage

Do you have concrete stats on the level of computer access/usage around the globe? By country?

Drinking Water and Healthcare?

Why is giving a laptop to a child so important when issues such as safe drinking water and healthcare remain problems in so much of the world?

This is answered on the OLPC Myths page. —Joe 09:37, 6 November 2007 (EST)

May I (being simply a person at home on the computer and just learning about the project) point out that though it's beautiful to notice water and health problems, the fact is, we know about them, and you and I aren't doing anything about them, either. So ... at least OLPC is trying. I quote an old friend, "Well, you don't like how I'm doing it. Then, how are YOU doing it?" The assumed response is, "In all honesty, I'm not." to which the old friend replies, "Well I like the way I'm doing it a lot better than the way you're not doing it." -- Anonymous

Augmentative communication for special needs children

Please address how these laptop computers might help special needs children with their communication. Our daughter has had various augmentative communication devices but enjoys and seems to prefer using the computer. Her communication devices have voice output; are accessed using a dynamic touch screen and have word prediction capabilities. Her new device called the Chat PC is housed in a hand held Dell computer. The touch screen keyboard is so tiny that she has to use a stylus to type in the letters. It can be frustrating to use because of its size. Wouldn't your lap top computer be easier to use because the keyboard and screen are seperate? How much does it weigh? If it is easier to use it might be an even more powerful tool for communication than a hand held device. We would like to purchase one if possible but we need more information.

If possible I hope that your company will address the very important issues that these children face as they struggle to be understood. Molly Dobrowski

Judging from the Accessibility page, the OLPC plans to address a number of possible impairments, but, judging from activity on the mailing lists, some necessary details are still being decided. At the least, it sounds like some form of speech synthesis will be available on the production machines. It's not clear whether a trackpad would be easier to use than a touch-sensitive screen; one disabled user on the Talk:Accessibility page found the XO's trackpad difficult to use. (However, according to this page, a future version of the laptop may have a touch-sensitive screen.) The size and weight of the laptop is given on the Hardware page. —Joe 16:42, 7 November 2007 (EST)

About Jobs in OLPC

Hello.

I am interested in localization career. The career page says that I need to send my cover letter and CV. But I want further job description and have some questions. Can you please give me the HR department E-mail address. Thanks.

Muhammad

Impact on school culture

Hello, What's been the impact on school culture or environment: have teachers' perceptions changed concerning their environment since using OLPC; how are principals measuring the level of learning; do you have designated individuals contacting you regularly with progress data?

While perhaps someone else knows more about impact and ongoing feedback, there are a number of initial reports from pilot sites available in the Pilot Site section. —Joe 22:05, 7 November 2007 (EST)

What age group in the United States is this XO laptop appriate for? Can an adult keep a journal"

How much memory do these computers have? Can you create files to email and to access on this computer? Can you access the internet like any other lap top?

What age group in the United States, is this appropriate for?

Can a child in USA interact and communicate to a group of kids in a different country?

Can you download different software packages.

Basically haw is this similar to a regular lap top, because the demo makes it look completely different, unless the demo was just illustrating the educational teaching feature.

I definitly support these lap top for the kids in other countries, but I am trying to figure out how I can ustilize the Get One Give One program, and if this laptop would be something I could use, as a writer, and my 12 year old would benefit from.

Thank you

According to the Our market page the laptop is being designed for ages 6-16. Others can of course use it, but note that the keyboard is designed for small hands, so it may be uncomfortable for an adult to use for long periods. According to the Hardware page, the laptop has 256Mb of RAM and 1Gb of flash storage. There is currently no built-in e-mail client (although there may be in the future), but webmail (like Google mail) can be used. The laptop can use standard 802.11b wireless networking and it comes with a web browser based on Firefox, so it can access the internet in a manner similar to other laptops. To my knowledge, there is no system expressly set up to allow XO owners in different countries to communicate with each other, but there are existing pen pal services on the internet that could be used. There is additional software that can be downloaded and installed on the laptops—and in fact the laptops are designed to allow the children themselves to write software if they want—but note that most existing software (e.g. Windows programs) will not run on the laptops. The user interface to the laptops is quite different from traditional laptops in the hope that it will be easier for children to use.—Joe 14:30, 8 November 2007 (EST)

Update: EPals—an established online pen-pal service—is now apparently working on a pen-pal activity for the XO. —Joe 14:05, 19 November 2007 (EST)

Battery life?

When I unplug my MacBook from the wall, it tells me how much battery time I have left. Usually this is around 3 hours. Does the XO do this and if so, on a full charge, how much time does it take during heavy use for the battery to discharge fully? In other words, how long does the battery last, worst case scenario? Thanks!

It does not tell you remaining time in minutes, but in percentage of charge; currently, if you do not use any power saving modes, it would last roughly as long as your macbook. Sj talk

Computer Friendly?

How user friendly are these computers? If I purchase one and donate one, do I have to add programs and download software? Do I have to add this computer to my current wireless program?What if you know nothing about computers, is this a good computer to learn on?

For the provided school-age kid activities, they are extremely user friendly. This includes web browsing. For other stuff, such as business use, they are more complicated and will likely require use of the command prompt. This is a good computer for learning if you really wish to understand how computers work.

what can I do with it?

Will it do secure online shopping? Will it work with YouTube?

Yes. No, unless you add extra software.

What extra software do you need to add in order to get you tube to work on the XO? I would really like for my daughter to be able to create videos and then share them with our family via youtube.

Is there a way to get wiki to email me an answer to this question has been submitted? I am putting questions on lots of different pages as we just got our XO and we are actively trying to figure out everything it has to offer. Thank You Let Love Flow Listen

possible to download a mapping program?

Can tne DeLorean mapping software be loaded into your computer?

You would have to ask the software manufacturer that question, sorry. --Quozl 18:29, 18 November 2007 (EST)

Microsoft compatibility

Would it be possible to load a Microsoft Windows OS on these?

While Microsoft is reportedly working on a version of Windows XP for the XO laptops, it is not known how successful they have been or if they plan to make the result available to the public. So for now the answer is no. —Joe 14:25, 9 November 2007 (EST)

disk space?

how much disk space is on the OLPC?

According to the Hardware page, the XO has 256Mb of RAM and 1Gb of flash disk space. —Joe 15:27, 12 November 2007 (EST)

In addition, one can add external or portable storage via the three USB sockets or the wireless network. We frequently use this feature during development and testing, so we know it works, but the software we supply is intended for simple use by children, not complex use by adults. The software can be changed. 1Gb of flash disk space may not be sufficient for your application, but we believe it is a reasonable tradeoff between cost and utility for our deployment. --Quozl 04:36, 13 November 2007 (EST)

Too many computers? (An idealistic, down the road question)

I am very interested in seeing 4 billion or some other large number of these laptops making it out in the developing countries. I see each child that has one of these machines as being a tiny piece of proof that this world is really one world. With a potential huge number of these out there, all connected to flickr, sharing their pictures, and blogging about their education, their region, how they care for their goat . . . I see it being almost impossible to conceive of this world in the singular country view.

So, in the event that this happens, I can easily see there being too many people to have flickr still allowing free accounts, or allowing as many free photos to be shared and things of the like. I know this is in the realm of fantasy at this point, but I'm wondering if we will end up with countries and regions being blocked from service and being relegated to a lower/lesser internet.

If a school is delivered too many crayons, they would send some back, or find new ways to use them. If a society is given too many telephones, they begin to find new ways to use them too ... for even more trivial calls, or telesales. So yes, expect an increase in photo sharing. As for what flickr and others will do, it is best to ask them. I'm sure they can think up regional focus services. --Quozl 19:10, 18 November 2007 (EST)

How to keep the laptops in the hands of the children?

How will OLPC ensure that children, and especially little girls, are not pressured to give away their laptops to fathers, uncles, and others who might sell them or use them for business or other purposes besides educating children?

I'm not sure if there is a plan to specifically address this situation, but some countries have requested a general anti-theft system where the laptop stops working if it goes for a length of time without receiving a signal from the local school. You can read more about it in the Bitfrost specification. —Joe 19:22, 12 November 2007 (EST)

Battery Life

What is the battery life on the OLPC (how long will it last per charge)

Per SJ's answer to a similar battery question above: about three hours of use on a full change. Note that the battery is supposed to last longer in the various power-saving modes, and battery use may improve as the system software gets better. A note on the Arahuay trial page implies that the battery may last quite a bit longer (5-12 hours) in recent models for certain usage patterns. —Joe 19:37, 12 November 2007 (EST)

What can be done to keep the laptops with the children?

In the third world, donations can become the local currency. Theft is more common. No one even has a car radio. In the third world, a laptop computer has a high value. What can be done to prevent the laptops from being stolen from the children and being used as black market currency or business computers?

See the grey market section of the Our market page as well as the Bitfrost page. —Joe 19:44, 12 November 2007 (EST)

Personal Uses

would the XO laptop be a good note taking device for let's say, college courses?

Maybe, maybe not. One advantage is that it is silent; it has no fan, and the keyboard may be quieter than a traditional laptop keyboard. One disadvantage is that the keyboard is built for small hands; it may be difficult for an adult to use, let alone touch-type. Keyboard size aside, if you just need to enter text, you should be fine with the software with which the laptop ships, but if you are expecting to be able to take handwritten notes, formulas, and diagrams, you may be better off with a more traditional tablet PC; the XO does have a stylus-capable surface, but I'm not sure there are activities that use it yet. The XO can record audio, although the amount it is limited by storage capacity (and that goes double for video). —Joe 21:23, 12 November 2007 (EST)

BATTERY

I'm new to Laptops, so: what's involved in 'recharging' the battery? what's needed? (I'm also new to this system so i hope I can find the answer(s) to this question.)

• the laptops include an AC adaptor to charge the battery, and charging will happen if the AC adaptor is connected, regardless of whether the laptop is on or not. There is a battery indicator on the front and back that shows this. For more detail, or alternate ways to charge, search for battery or charging in this Wiki. --Quozl 04:18, 13 November 2007 (EST)

Module PIL and search beta-tester

Hello,

I am in the process of developing a didactic program for recognition of images for olpc . this is my diploma work. This activity's name is Ghost because an image is hidden by a ghost.

1)In my code i'm using the PIL module to resize and save images and I would like to know if this module is already default installed with python 2.5

2) I would like to find a beta-tester to test my application on a real machine to see what I need to change so that it runs on OLPC.

Thank you for your responses.

Email: cihan.akkurt@gmail.com

I don't think PIL is installed by default, but you can include it with your activity, although this will increase the file size a bit. Alternatively, you could do your image manipulations with the built-in gtk/cairo Python libraries. An easy way to test your application without having a real machine is to run your application in an emulated XO image; see the Emulating the XO page. Emulation would also show you exactly what Python libraries are available. If your application already runs in an emulator and you want to see if it runs in a real machine, you can ask on the Sugar mailing list or on IRC, where I'm sure someone would be willing to try it out. Note that the Sugar interface is quite a bit different from traditional windowed interfaces, so your application may require some changes; see the activity tutorial for one example, and see the source repository for others. —Joe 09:46, 14 November 2007 (EST)

Power

How is the laptop powered and are any of the alternative power sources available as part of the give one get one program?

The laptop can be powered by a range of voltages, and the Give One Get One laptops come with AC adapters. See Quozl's answer to a similar question above. —Joe 12:20, 14 November 2007 (EST)

speech therapy through your webcam progrm,and other internet services

We provide speech therapy to many non-speaking or emerging english. The children are very low on the economic scale and do not have access to the same computer resources that other children maydo have.

I would like to know how I could offer this to our therapists to use with the children in need and then to enable us to somehow give them to the children who are in desperate need right in this country.

My Company is called InSpeech, Inc.

There are parents who would like to volunteer in some way. I know that you have opportunities to do so and could you provide an opportunity that could be geared to the children at hand. We work in Arizona. The demographics make many parts of it like a third world company. These children need help and resources like what you have corrected.

The webcam would make it possible to help children throughout the world who need to speak english. Our therapists could work with them.

Leslie Londer MS-CCC-SLP CEO/Founder InSpeech, Inc. 1520-885-9567 or cell 520-603-1050 lesliel@inspeech.net

Available to travel to project target countries

Please contact me if you are looking for a talented Instructor Volunteer willing to travel to remote communities where OLPC is targeting insertion.

glennrobins@optonline.com

Power source in other countries

So great we get an AC Adapter but what does the kid in Kenya get? How will they power their laptop?

See the Battery and power page for a discussion of alternate power sources for the laptops. —Joe 12:15, 14 November 2007 (EST)

The kids in Kenya will get a power source that works for them. This is figured out during deployment planning. We have far more choices in this than with previous laptop designs. --Quozl 22:29, 15 November 2007 (EST)

Windows on the XO?

I just saw an interview on 11/14/2007 of Mr. Nicholas Negroponte on CNN just before noon EST. While the information I've found here says Windows will not be available on the XO, it was clearly stated in the interview that the XO DOES run Windows? Which information is true? Will it run MS Windows, or will it run Windows apps like Word and Excel? My mom is severely computer challenged and I had hopes that getting one for her through the Get 1 GIve 1 program would enable her to do email and the internet.

Technically both are true. Microsoft is reportedly working on a version of Windows XP for the XO, so "the XO runs Windows". But the XO is not shipping with Windows and Microsoft is not yet distributing their version of Windows for the XO, so "Windows is not available". Because of this, we have no idea whether it is capable of running Word or Excel or any other Windows software in particular. The XOs ship with a web browsing activity based on FireFox, so they can e-mail (via webmail like Google) and browse the internet. —Joe 13:43, 14 November 2007 (EST)

Will it Work in Morocco?

Have a educationally challenged grandson in Casablanca Morocco. Will this laptop work in Morocco, Northwest Africa?

As a Canadian,Will i get canadian tax deduction and is the one year internet acces is offer in canada as well as in the u.s.?

I 'd be happy to contribute as my Americain friends may do but i would like to meke sure that as a canadian i will get the same "threatment.Alain ,surrey,Brtithish Columbia,Canada.November 14 2007

Answer A Canadian donor may claim charitable tax credits for a gift to a recognized US charity, provided that the charity would have qualified in Canada if it had been a Canadian charitable organization. The charitable credit is limited to the donor's US-source income, and subject to the normal donation ceiling. Any excess credits can be carried forward and used in subsequent taxation years. (Article XXI(6) Canada-US Income Tax Convention). If the Canadian government has made a gift to a US charity, a Canadian donor may, in the same year or the following year, make a contribution to the same charity. The donor is eligible to claim charitable tax credits based on the full amount of the gift. The claim is not limited to US-source income. Since 1991, however, the Government of Canada has not published the names of any foreign charities to which a gift has been made, so while obtaining charitable credits for donations to US charities based on this criteria is still possible, it is likely remote.

Source: http://www.charityvillage.com/cv/research/rleg8.html

NetJet and other USB add ons

I ordered one of these computers throught the G1/G1 deal (which is awesome btw) for my son... for Christmas I bought him a Internet Game Controller (NetJet) which uses a USB connection to connect to their secure website in order to play online games, there is no software to download. MY question is, will it work on the XO? The NetJet packaging specifically says its will not work on a MAC, and its preference is Windows... but would it still work through Linux?

thanks much, keep up the great work :)

gina.

Sorry, from what I see online, it looks like the NetJet system is a Windows-only affair. (And even if Windows were available for the XO, it's unlikely that the XO would satisfy the other product requirements, like processor speed or 3D-accelerated graphics.) —Joe 18:17, 14 November 2007 (EST)

camera

does it have a camara

Yes. Hardware specification has more details. The included software can take pictures, record video for a short time, and play both back. The results can be shared. Other activities have been tried, such as time lapse photography. I've done motion detection photography on a birds nest using additional software that isn't in the current build. See MotionDetection --Quozl 22:37, 15 November 2007 (EST)

more clarification for question 11.71 Kabul, Afghanistan

You say that a server comes with bulk orders of computers. I doubt the four computers that I have ordered and will be sendng to a tent school in Kabul qualify as a bulk order. Is it true there will be no server supplied with my order?

Correct. School servers are supplied with the mass deployments only. They are not available separately. It is possible to convert 1 laptop into a low-powered school server for a small school; there is a page somewhere on the wiki which explains how. (currently a rather technical procedure)

The school does not have internet access. Do the laptops have a component that would give them access to wireless internet if it is available somewhere in Kabul? 24.110.145.202 23:17, 15 November 2007 (EST)

The laptops can be used with a wireless internet service apart from that provided by the school server. --Quozl 22:45, 15 November 2007 (EST)

Someone who answers questions on your phone lines thought that if wireless access were availabe within ten miles of the computer perhaps it could be accessed. Any truth to that or should I assume that there will be no internet access for these computers in this location?

Ten miles does not sound impossible, though it would be unusual without some form of antenna system. Half a mile would be safer. --Quozl 22:45, 15 November 2007 (EST)

It depends on the amount of obstructions and radio noise. Forests and cities are bad. Going over an unpopulated valley is good. Level farmland falls somewhere in between. 24.110.145.202 23:17, 15 November 2007 (EST)

My teacher friends in Kabul have said there are many other lessons to be taught with the computer and internet is not necessarily important for them. Would you say that is a true assumption?

Yes. I've placed kids in front of these units without internet, and there is a lot to keep them entertained and learning, even without a teacher present. Add a teacher, and even more learning can happen. --Quozl 22:45, 15 November 2007 (EST)

You mentioned Pashtun and Farsi as languages these students may speak, can they get those on the laptop?

It is intended that students and teachers can help translate. Thus, if it doesn't immediately work, it can be fixed. 24.110.145.202 23:17, 15 November 2007 (EST)

warranty, virus, downloads, support

I have a few questions about the XO that were either not clearly answered or addressed on the site.

I noticed that the warranty is only for 30 days.

1)Is there an extended warranty plan available for purchase on these units?

No. See paragraphs below. --Quozl 21:48, 17 November 2007 (EST)

2)In the event that the computer malfunctions after the 30 days, where can the computer be repaired?

Nowhere at this time. See paragraphs below. --Quozl 21:48, 17 November 2007 (EST)

2)What type of virus, spyware, or other computer protection software is available?

None at this time, since the operating system has been designed to be resistant to such attacks, but third party or open source software may become available later. --Quozl 21:48, 17 November 2007 (EST)

3)Can you download software such as MS Suite, or Norton Anti Virus, or games.

MS Suite, no, but check with the software manufacturer. Norton Anti Virus, no, but check with the software manufacturer. Games, yes, there are games being written and released regularly. The architecture is open, and new game developers are welcomed. --Quozl 21:48, 17 November 2007 (EST)

4)What type of customer support is available?

Fee based service. See paragraph below. --Quozl 21:48, 17 November 2007 (EST)

Thank you

Your questions are quite important, but they show a misunderstanding of what we are trying to achieve. Please read the following paragraph from our terms and conditions. If what we are offering is not for you, don't buy a laptop from us. --Quozl 21:48, 17 November 2007 (EST)

Neither OLPC Foundation nor One Laptop per Child, Inc. has service facilities, a help desk or maintenance personnel in the United States or Canada. Although we believe you will love your XO laptop, you should understand that it is not a commercially available product and, if you want help using it, you will have to seek it from friends, family, and bloggers. One goal of the G1G1 initiative is to create an informal network of XO laptop users in the developed world, who will provide feedback about the utility of the XO laptop as an educational tool for children, participate in the worldwide effort to create open-source educational applications for the XO laptop, and serve as a resource for those in the developing world who seek to optimize the value of the XO laptop as an educational tool. A fee based tech support service will be available to all who desire it. We urge participants in the G1G1 initiative to think of themselves as members of an international educational movement rather than as ’¡Ècustomers.’¡É

Availability of Spare Batteries and Other Accessories

Will G1G1 Participants be able to buy spare batteries? Will we be able to buy any other accessories? How soon? How much will batteries cost?

T-Mobile

If we've ordered more than one XO through G1G1, will we be able to use one of the free T-Mobile hotspot credits for a year, then use the other one the year after that? Or does T-Mobile's gift have a cut-off date? (They're welcome to structure it any way they want; I appreciate their support. I'm just curious.)

Some additional info on the T-Mobile offer is available on the T-Mobile website. Note that this link uses a specific promotion code that may not be the one we'll need when really activating the thing. ~ Hexagonal 09:33, 29 November 2007 (EST)

Child security

Is my child secure with the XO? I am concerned about the connectivity or community feature and the ability to somehow use the XO and its features to target children nearby since the community feature provides the ability to see who is nearby, and these computers are targeted for children specifically.

You are right to be concerned, and we take this issue very seriously. Anything that increases the reach of a child also increases the reach of attackers ... a laptop, the internet, a cell phone, a walkie-talkie, an ordinary house telephone and the front door. There has to be a balance though, protecting a child from all these would not prepare them for adulthood. The following paragraph from our terms and conditions is our answer. Does it help you? --Quozl 22:15, 17 November 2007 (EST)

10. The XO laptop is designed for easy-to-use wireless connection by children to the Internet and other networks. Internet access must be purchased separately through an independent Internet Service Provider (ISP). In selecting an ISP, you should remember that, in addition to the many wonderful sites and educational resources on the Internet and World Wide Web, there are places where you wouldn’¡Çt want your child to go and people you wouldn’¡Çt want your child to meet. That’¡Çs why many ISPs offer ’¡Èfilters’¡É that assist you in monitoring and/or controlling your child’¡Çs Internet access. So your child can have a safe and healthful experience, OLPC FOUNDATION RECOMMENDS THAT YOU USE AN APPROPRIATE INTERNET FILTER, REMAIN INVOLVED IN YOUR CHILD’¡ÇS USE OF THE INTERNET AND, OF COURSE, STAY ACTIVELY ENGAGED IN YOUR CHILD’¡ÇS EDUCATION.

What % of donations go to cover administrative cost?

When I donate $200 what portion gets to the child and what portion goes to cover administrative cost.

The Give One Get One FAQ says "Currently, One Laptop Per Child is able to allocate 95 cents of each dollar raised to acquire and distribute laptop computers for children in need." Presumably the other 5% goes to cover administrative costs. —Joe 11:18, 20 November 2007 (EST)

Distribution

When countries request computers, what insures that these countries will actually distribute these to their needy children (as opposed to say "special interest groups")?

The majority of the laptops are purchased by the countries themselves with their own money, so it is in their interest to ensure that their investment is not wasted. The impression I get from the Give-One-Get-One FAQ is that any donations will be used to reduce the cost of starting up laptop programs in other countries ("expand the programs, reach, and overall mission of One Laptop Per Child"), not to entirely pay for the cost of laptops in any one country. Another factor that helps the laptops reach children is that they are built for children; they have small keyboards, they have bright toy-like colors, and they don't do many of the things adults expect laptops to do, like play DVDs or run Microsoft Office. —Joe 14:28, 19 November 2007 (EST)

User Friendly software - boot process

I would like to re-install the software (from scratch) but I have been bouncing allover...

It is hard to make a valid point when we, the enthusiastic about it have serious limitations to learn about the device itself...

Any ideas or help how to re-install the OS?

Developers should be referring to the Autoreinstallation page in the wiki. The production laptop will have an auto-installer.

Class project

im doing a class project and what are some of the feachers on the computer???

The Hardware and Software pages have information on the laptop's features. —Joe 14:58, 17 November 2007 (EST)

Is there an adequate criterion for deciding whether Sugar is "user friendly"?

Dear OLPC,

Like everybody else, I am really thrilled to see how far OLPC has come toward having an impact on real children's lives.

Let me pose a question, however. In past generations, "development" was flawed in delivering more technology transfer than it did transparency or usability. My perception is that OLPC needs to dedicate more resources to bringing laptop users an experience that will aid them in making sense of how a laptop actually works, and how one might make use of the device's extensibility.

I am to understand that there are, in essence, the usual "help" scripts built into Sugar -- some that describe the applications, and others that show one how the laptop does what it does. Nevertheless, it has taken me 20 minutes with this Wiki site just to decide that there is little additional information about the help functionality in Sugar, and then to find a place to ask the question, "Where do I find out more about these features?" Right here we have the first and most formidable barrier to any child's quest to learn about computing and electronic devices -- our cypher-like info glut, with no key to unlock its secrets.

It would make a tremendous amount of sense to put as much effort as you have into this Wiki into a parallel effort to design an online "learning community" for the kids who are going to be the device's wireless users. Without it, kids will be confined to thinking about the inner workings of computing technology as though it were just another "magic" technology delivered from afar, that is totally out of reach of their communities.

There are a few counterarguments to this line of questioning that need to be rebutted.

One is that most of the users won't be in range of WiFi anyway, so any proposed online hub for XO / Sugar users would be moot, and wouldn't be worth the investment. The answer is right here, underneath the hood: The XO has wireless. Anyone who is at all curious about XO will look for the opportunity to get on the web and find out more about the device.

The second counterargument is that a curious child has plenty of opportunities to find answers online to her questions. Oh yes? Where, in fact, shall they turn? To THIS Wiki? To the "activities download" page? To magazine articles about Fedora Core 7? None of those materials is likely to be at all informative to the child whose curiosity is piqued by the XO in her hands. In fact, these materials are likely to turn her off to investigating the very questions she's burning to ask -- in the very same way that functional adults in the West have been turned off by the Linux developer scene because of its cryptic terminology (grub grep gimp gnu....) This has become such a familiar litany that most folks in the open source community just tune such criticism out. But give it some thought again, in light of the very different social and technological goals that OLPC has: This entire endeavor is geared not toward bringing a useful "tool" to the "user" in a generic sense, but toward educating kids of all ages, all around the world, who all share the same burden of dealing with poverty and scarcity in their communities.

In rolling out a new generation of their OSes, both Apple and MS take enormous pains -- far more than the open source community does -- to actually informing the public about how they can get the most out of their OS. PR of this sort boosts profits in unacceptable ways, but along the way will also generate an intuitive understanding of an OS's functionality -- that a black box alone will not.

In the case of the XO, what is needed above all is an equivalent commitment to "open source for kids." If this simple point makes sense, then the investment MIT and OLPC need to make should be instantly clear: We need a global, multilingual homepage for Sugar, geared to teaching kids at various stages of their education exactly how their OS and their laptop work, under the hood, and what other kids using Sugar are discovering through it. This is a big ticket item, if one considers the amount of person-hours and server bandwidth that are required to make it pedagogically sound. Nevertheless, I think groups like MIT & Fedora should be ready to pony up for this project. Heaven knows, even adults would want to know how this or that technology actually functions. I imagine a whole world of questions a hub for Sugar should address, from the mundane to the profound.

How would I get started ... in Python?

... In building a Linux system?

... In assembling a motherboard?

... In bringing wireless into my own community?

... In building a webpage for my community?

... In getting a computer built that could ship to hundreds of thousands of people exactly like me around the world?

... In bringing other solar or human-powered innovations to my community?

... In getting people organized to find solutions to these kinds of problems?

... And is anyone else out there around my age also trying to figure these things out?

This is a discussion that could unfold over time, but I urge you to take it up as soon as possible. We are handing people a powerful tool. But accessibility -- and open source -- are about much more important questions. How do we make sure these kids know all that they can do with this tool?

Kindest regards and best wishes to the whole OLPC community.

M.E.S.

P.S.: A minor asisde. I also hope that there is something like an automatic OS update process established for Sugar users. Families and educators should not have to go hunting far and wide for updates to Sugar or for fixes to problems.

Hi -- it's clear that you've put a lot of thought into this post. Even after several re-readings, however, I think it's hard for me to find chunks of this post that are questions that you'd like answered. You make several good suggestions for OLPC program deployment here as well, intermingled with questions. You might consider placing some of these suggestions in the OLPC_Idea_Pool. As a fellow-poster of questions to OLPC, might I also suggest that you consider re-working this post in a way more likely to elicit a response? For example, you could ask something like "what level help and support will kids in LDC recipient countries be getting?" Hexagonal

Volunteer developers

Is there a process where firms with appropriately skilled staff (related to the needs of the project) could help by providing volunteer resources (possibly on a global scale) to OLPC?

Yes, contact us. For skills relating to teaching content, see Educators. For skills relating to software or hardware development, see Developers program. --Quozl 22:32, 17 November 2007 (EST)

Sell 3 Give 1 to OLPC

I read that Quanta may start selling $200 laptops in 2008. Mr. Michael Wang - Quanta's President - said the low-cost machines would not remain limited to developing markets. ’¡ÈThere are a lot of poor people in developed countries, too.’¡É he said. Will Quanta help OLPC with an initiative like G1 G1? For example Sell 3 Give 1 to OLPC? Why not? I'm sure they will sell a lot of these laptops at that price in developed countries. M.Mancuso/Italy

Maintenance and Training

No matter how robust and stable the XO laptop is, it is a computer, it is software that crashes and hardware that breaks. A computer is a tool and you often compare it to a pencil that every student should have... meanwhile it is a complex device that not everyone is able to maintain and fix.

What happens when the laptop crashes ? What happens when a part breaks ?

What is the plan in terms of maintaining and fixing all these laptops ? What is the plan to support the countries where IT is new, hence where qualified human resources is very rare or inexistent ?

This planning is unique to each deployment, but from the perspective of the XO hardware design, it is simpler and more straightforward than many potential designs, it has been tested for disassembly and reassembly using an ordinary screwdriver and a pair of kids under the age of ten, and cheap enough that replacement of a whole unit is practical. IT is not new to every country, there is always a core capability, which can be used if it has to be. Training can be delivered to in-country people that are critical to the long-term success of the deployment. Software and hardware maintenance is usually multi-tiered these days, so a continuous triage process is involved. In the meanwhile, the kids can revert to pencil, if they can find paper. --Quozl 06:10, 19 November 2007 (EST)

It is often said that "this is not a latop project, it is an education project". I totally agree with you when you say that training is critical to the long term success of the project.

No, I said the people that were critical would have training delivered to them. But I do think that without training a deployment might fail in some way. On the other hand, the laptops are discoverable, and documentation is public, so even without training a deployment might succeed in some ways. --Quozl 19:27, 20 November 2007 (EST)

Could you tell us about the resources (i.e. money, manpower, activities...) that are planned/allocated to that ?

Myself, no, I couldn't tell you. My view of the project has been confined to hardware and software testing, because these are my skills. I've done a few interviews because I'm comfortable talking. But I have not been involved in a trial deployment. Others have, perhaps they can answer. Perhaps though there is little to share ... perhaps the training is so well understood that nobody has bothered to describe it in detail ... or the plans are not in my language ... or the plans do not need much distance collaboration ... this may make them not as obvious as our hardware and software plans. What an odd effect. Anyway, your question is one of policy, and so I can't really answer it. --Quozl 19:27, 20 November 2007 (EST)

Differences between G1G1 XO's and the XO's that will be sent to Least Developed Countries (split)

Terminology

What's the best shorthand way to refer to XO's being sent to least developed countries as distinguished from XO's being sent to North American G1G1 participants? "G1G1 XO's" and "In-Country XO's"? "Donor XO's" and "LDC XO's"? (I don't really care what the terms are, but if there's a convention already established I'll be happy to use it.)

There really is no difference. The G1G1 laptops have all been pre-activated, but otherwise, they are identical to the laptops going to children. However, there is a difference between laptops with and without developer keys (Please refer to the Activation and Developer Keys page in the wiki). Anyone can apply for a developer key. --Walter 11:50, 1 January 2008 (EST)

Developer Keys

Will we in fact need developer keys for our G1G1's if we really want to tweak them? Is it expected that the ordinary G1G1 participant will be needing that level of control? If not, are developer keys trackable and discoverable for the subset of G1G1 participants who might really want to go to the extra effort?

G1G1 laptop developer keys might be made available on a web server. 24.110.145.202 12:51, 19 November 2007 (EST)

Please refer to the Activation and Developer Keys page in the wiki. --Walter 11:47, 1 January 2008 (EST)

G1G1 User Manual

Will the XO's shipped to North American Give One, Get One participants include a user manual? If not, how about posting a pdf manual at a dedicated web page?

Hey there's an idea -- the fractured, open nature of this wiki is too loose for G1G1 folks to be able to find the info they need. Can OLPC establish a new website specifically for those of us who are getting a G1G1 laptop sometime in the next few weeks? It could house the downloadable manual, firmware updates, and a set of downloadable activities that are known to work well (with off-site links to more buggy activities for those of us who like to test and tinker).

[ Hexagonal here, on 11/19/07, answering my own question]: I see the "Simplified User Guide" at User_Guide, and I imagine that that wiki page will come in handy when our G1G1 XO's arrive. I would still suggest that a printed or printable .pdf with this User Guide information will be very helpful to G1G1 participants. Especially if it can be updated to correspond completely with the actual versions of the operating system and the activities that ship.

From these unboxing photos, it looks like an extemely minimal "getting started" pamphlet is all that is included. ~ Hexagonal 11:38, 5 December 2007 (EST)

I completely agree! There is a huge need for a website or web pages devoted to explaining to new users in the US, just how this machine works. I especially would like some help with Turtle Art and Etoys, they are the main things I have not been able to figure out on my own. Let Love Flow Listen

There is a PDF version of the Getting Started pages availble for download here. There are also pages in the wiki describing the individual activities. These pages are linked from [3]. Please use the discussion pages for the activities for any questions you may have. --Walter 18:06, 27 December 2007 (EST)

No invoice or order number?

I ordered a laptop from OLPC and received confirmation from Paypal about the transfer of funds, but I never received any indication of an order number or invoice number from OLPC or Paypal. It would seem like a lack of order number could lead to a lot of logistical problems as far as shipping, organization, etc. Is this normal?

I ordered through G1G1 on the 16th on the internet and received a confirmation on the 20th which had a confirmation number included. It seems they are running a bit behind on sending out order confirmations. I would say that it was unusual if this was an order from Dell or something but with this being a NPO figuring out their first distributions and all the logistics that go with it, I would expect some stuff like this. I am not particularly worried about it at the moment. HTH~Lylah

MSN Use

Do users have the ability to go on the MSN chat line?

Not currently. There is a Chat activity for the XO that allows the user to chat with other users in the local mesh, and there is an XoIRC activity that allows the user to chat on IRC, but these activities do not let the user chat on MSN. It might be possible for the user to use MSN over the web using Microsoft's Web Messenger web site in the Browse activity, but I do not know of anyone who has tried this. But while the XO cannot currently chat on MSN, this capability may be available in the future: There is existing open-source software (like Pidgin) that can chat on MSN, but no one has yet modified it so that it runs on the XO. —Joe 14:51, 19 November 2007 (EST)

Local XO user groups wiki?

• See XO_Giving/Users

Would it be possible to set up a wiki page to help North American users (or all users for that matter) locate others in their area who had bought XO computers during the G1G1 program who are interested in local user groups for their children? It seems to me that many children here in the US will find the mesh capabilities to be unusable(due to sheer distance between the computers, most of us do not live in small villages) BUT there is always the internet. I was thinking that to get the most out of some of the educational features and also as a PTP support group, local users could possible create user groups for the XO and perhaps utilize yahoo groups or something to coordinate this. How to get this together is the question, however, so I was thinking that there might be some way to utilize a wiki page for this in some way, just to help local interested parties to get in touch with each other. This could be a jumping off point for this worldwide network of users that has been mentioned as part of the reason for the G1G1 program maybe... It is just an idea.

Good idea, go ahead. Register yourself with this Wiki, choose a good page name, like XO_Giving/Users, create it, outline what you've said above in point form, link to it from here, link to it from XO Giving and beg for a main page link once you have things rolling. Since it is a Wiki, it will encourage others to join in, and if a better structure presents itself later the pages can be renamed. You can ask the OLPC team also for mailing lists, source code repositories, and IRC channels. --Quozl 03:12, 20 November 2007 (EST)

Great idea. Robert Nagel in Houston blogged about this idea the day the G1G1 program started. To keep the momentum going, I've gone ahead and set up XO_Giving/Users as a page that people can post information about their local user groups. So far Houston and Austin Texas and Alaska are some locations although there's interest expressed in St. Louis as well. --: annegentle 10:03, 21 November 2007 (EST)

iTunes

Is or will iTunes be supported on the XO Laptop?

No, not in the initial release. We have no plans to support it, or the commercial library service it provides. As with any third-party licensed software, you should contact the license issuer. Please direct your question to the owner of iTunes, Apple Inc. The XO can certainly play music in certain formats, and format conversion is trivial. See also Sonata music player, Music, and Manage a community around free music upload for OLPC --Quozl 21:17, 19 November 2007 (EST)

USB Port as Charger

Some things, such as iPods utilize USB ports as a power source for recharging. Will the USB Ports in the XO laptop still charge things like iPods?

Yes, it will charge those sort of things, but I've not personally tested an iPod. I've used an XO to run an LED desk lamp. The USB ports comply with the USB 2.0 specification, and therefore provide 5V for charging any devices that draw current within the specifications. See the "definitive laptop specification" link on the Hardware specification page. On page 16 it says Unlike a regular laptop, which provides up to 2.5W per USB port, the XO provides a total power consumption of 5W for all three USB ports. This may be shared equally among all the ports or drawn through a single one, but cannot be exceeded. --Quozl 03:00, 20 November 2007 (EST)

Does that mean you can go the other direction, and charge the XO from a USB port?

Developing Countries?

What countries are on the list of recipients of the XOs?

If you mean recipients of the "give 1" half of the "give 1 get 1" program, the terms and conditions page says in a footnote OLPC Foundation follows the United Nations definition of ’¡Èleast developed countries.’¡É A complete LDC list is available on the UN Website. If you mean countries that are currently involved in OLPC in some way, see Map and Ask OLPC a Question about Countries. --Quozl 03:34, 20 November 2007 (EST)

Can there be a collaboration between OLPC and non-profits in a developing country?

Certainly, why ever not? --Quozl 03:34, 20 November 2007 (EST)

Ensuring delivery

What steps are we taking to ensure that children and teachers will actually get the laptops? When I tell my friends about this program, it's the first question they ask me - "..how do we know the kids will actually get them?" Are we working with specific organizations - if so which ones? Are these secular or religious? My friends and I have a problem if missionary organizations are handing these out based on whom in the village is going to convert to the mission's faith. The importance of this program is too great to allow it exploit people - even in the area of religious beliefs.

Currently, OLPC sells the laptops directly to the ministry of education in the target country; according to the Distribution page, other organizations cannot yet order laptops (aside from the Give One Get One and Give Many programs). Per an earlier question: The majority of the laptops are purchased by the countries themselves with their own money, so it is in their interest to ensure that their investment is not wasted. The impression I get from the Give-One-Get-One FAQ is that any donations will be used to reduce the cost of starting up laptop programs in other countries ("expand the programs, reach, and overall mission of One Laptop Per Child"), not to entirely pay for the cost of laptops in any one country. —Joe 11:14, 20 November 2007 (EST)

You can find more on our treatment of "how do we know the kids will actually get them" in our initial discussions, theBitfrost anti-theft protection design and the review of the design in relation to the threats. --Quozl 17:59, 20 November 2007 (EST)

CD Rom

Can you put a CD into this computer?

No.

• there is no CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive, (because they are not needed, are quite costly per unit, contain moving parts, and would break too easily),
• you can add an external CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive, (if the drive is inside a case that has a USB socket, with a USB cable to the computer, this has been tested),
• the provided software may not be intended to work with a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive, and you may have to obtain additional software to do so,
• you can place a CD in another computer and access it through the wireless internet, if you have the right software,
• if you are asking about a particular CD you already have, such as a game, then it is very very unlikely to work, because it was not made for this computer,
• the computer does not have a floppy disc drive either.

--Quozl 17:08, 20 November 2007 (EST)

Will we learn anything (in general) about the child that gets the laptop?

This has been a family project to raise money for charities and we let my nieces decide which charity gets the money. This year my youngest niece choose the "One Laptop per Child" program.

Will she learn anything about the child who gets the laptop? For example, what country she/he lives in and what age the child is?

I think that would help make the "giving" experience more rewarding. She is a little more focused on the laptop she is getting than the one that is going to the other child (my niece still is a little girl, after all).

Also, I would love it if when the program is out of its infancy and has more time, to try and connect some of the children that gave with the children that received. Since the laptops have cameras and drawing programs, all they need to do is email photos and drawings to each other, no one needs to know how to write. For those who can write, and have someone who can translate, maybe some kind of electronic PenPal program can be offered.

Peace!

Jenifer

No, OLPC doesn't have any published plan to establish such links as part of the "give 1 get 1" program, but I agree it is a good idea. I was just talking by e-mail to a school that has ordered 40 "give 1 get 1" units, and they had the same idea ... that it would benefit their kids to have links with kids that receive the other laptops. In our news update of 2007-09-15, Walter wrote that ePals is working to provide access to their PenPal services. You could check with them. See also the Penpal and EPals pages on this Wiki. --Quozl 18:46, 20 November 2007 (EST)

Support of America Online Messenger (AIM)

Hello,

Will I be able to use AIM on the XO?

Thank you

AIM-compatible software is available, but not included. The XO includes chat software that is easier to use. Note that the XO does not run most Windows and MacOS software, but it does include many easy-to-use programs. 24.110.145.202 14:29, 21 November 2007 (EST)

Is the included XO Chat software compatible with AOL Instant Message or Yahoo Messenger?

No. It lets any XO user chat with any other XO user. If you have a regular computer that is fast, you can run the XO software in an emulator to chat with XO users.

Peripherals

Where can I find information on which peripherals will work with the laptop, such as mouse, optical drive, printer.

Any normal mouse should work just fine. 24.110.145.202 14:25, 21 November 2007 (EST)

Optical drives and printers which are supported by Fedora Core 7 will work, but currently this is likely to require some technical expertise involving a text-mode command prompt. This situation is likely to improve. You may prefer to copy files to a regular computer for printing. 24.110.145.202 14:25, 21 November 2007 (EST)

Well, lots of info is in this wiki, but it can be hard to find. The search function to the left is primitive; I used these two search terms on Google:

site:wiki.laptop.org

Peripherals

to find this wiki page Peripherals. That page seems to list a lot of maybes, and it looks like you're looking for is'es. USB_peripherals seems to have more of this info. ~ Hexagonal 17:16, 21 November 2007 (EST)

WikiGnomes Wanted, Page Too Big

This page has grown too big. It needs reorganisation. It is taking too long to review and contribute to. Some suggestions:

• split by time period, as has already been done,
• merge the common questions,
• move the questions into the other pages (e.g. ask a question about hardware).

I just went over the questions on this page that I originally posted. Since many of them had sub-questions that I consider to have been answered, I've taken the liberty of splitting the questions, and moving the answered parts to the archive. Hexagonal 13:19, 22 November 2007 (EST)

Many of the new questions are about (a) G1G1 delivery details; (b) what will come with the North American XO's; (c) what G1G1 participants might be able to do with their new XO's once they get them. Note that similar questions, many of which have been answered, are posted at Official_OLPC_FAQ, Our_technology, Our_software, Give1Get1, Talk:Give1Get1, XO_Giving, and Talk:XO_Giving. Before posting a new question on this page, please look over this page and those ~ Hexagonal

Good idea, but that's too many pages to look over for people who just have a simple question. What we need is either a master list cross referenced by subject, or a process or contact point for merging new questions into the official FAQ. --Quozl 17:35, 22 November 2007 (EST)

• There have existed "orphan archives" of general questions -- well, if they aren't truly orphaned pages, they sure are obscure. I knew about the Ask a Question Archive, which is linked to below, but about a quarter of the way down this page, at Ask_OLPC_a_Question#New_questions, there have been links to Ask_OLPC_a_Question/archive/Q1_2006 and to Ask_OLPC_a_Question/Archive_2. I have begun to merge all three archive questions pages onto the main archive page. That will leave the archive page way too big, but it seems to me to be a necessary step towards consolidation.
• Note that there is a lot of discussion of this ungainly page on its associated talk page, which properly ought to be reserved for meta-conversations, but which some folks have used to post questions and to state opinions. Like a wiki archeologist, one can use the info on that talk page to reconstruct the various attempts to clean up this page that have gone before -- in particular Xavi's work about a year ago. ~ Hexagonal 14:25, 11 December 2007 (EST)

What is included with the laptop?

If you participate in the g1g1 program, what will we recieve other that just a laptop? i.e.- the yoyo charger? And how will we purchase replacements for the battery?Ie- Open an online store for those who will have the xo-1 in the near future?

Per an above answer, you will receive a laptop, an AC adapter, and a battery. The yo-yo is not yet available for purchase. It's not clear at this point what technical support or repair will be available, but point 9 of the Give-One-Get-One terms and conditions states that there will be a fee-based support service, and perhaps this service will also handle repair and replacement. —Joe 13:16, 25 November 2007 (EST)

Well, Morgan Collett's unboxing photos confirm this. ~ Hexagonal 11:42, 5 December 2007 (EST)

OLPC no es tan buena idea.

Hay que tener en cuenta los siguientes puntos:

-El laptop es el computador con menos esperanza de vida del mercado. -Los laptops se estropean como cualquier otra máquina. (y en manos de un niño más aún) -Los pueblos del tercer mundo tienen acceso a un servio técnico? -Cualquier niño puede estudiar, adquirir cultura y conocimientos sin la ayuda de un laptop. -Resulta más barato y útil los libros de texto. Además no se estropean, no requieren energía y tampoco necesitan servicio técnico. -Una vez concluida la formación del niño, los libros pueden pasar a otro niño para que éste puede comenzar su educación. -La distribución de libros, cuadernos y lapiceros es más asequible y fácil de distribuir para las empresas y gobiernos de todo el mundo. -Cualquier persona puede aprender a utilizar un computador en pocos días, a cualquier edad y sin necesidad de haber estudiado con laptops. -El laptop, aunque tenga partes reciclables, siempre tendrá componentes altamente contaminantes. -Fabricar un laptop requiere de mucha energía y multitud de componentes. -Un libro es barato y fácil de fabricar. -Un libro de papel reciclado no contamina. -En los paises desarrollados o en vías de desarrollo, todos hemos estudiado con libros, papel y bolígrafo y creo que ninguno somos tontos. (es una prueba de cientos de años de experiencia).

Ninguna de tus críticas es nueva. Se supone que el OLPC es el laptop menos "estropeable" que existe fuera de usos militares, comparable con un libro de texto. Habra que ver. Tambien, si cuentas todos los libros de texto y cuadernos y boligrafos y reglas, de buena calidad, para una educacion, no resulta tan obvio que sean más baratos. Aquí en Guatemala un buen libro de texto de pasta suave cuesta un minimo de 70 quetzales, como $10. Multiplica por 6 materias, por 8 años de escuela, y divide por 3 años de uso (cifras optimistas), y ya son $160, sin contar papel y cuadernos. Y hay muchas cosas que hacen un laptop que no lo hace el papel.

Translation : OLPC is not such a good idea

by Google

We must bear in mind the following points:

The laptop computer is the less life expectancy of the market. The laptops break down like any other machine. (And in the hands of an older child yet) - The peoples of the third world have access to a technical served? Any child can explore, acquire knowledge and culture without the help of a laptop. - It is cheaper and useful textbooks. Besides not break down, do not require energy and do not need a service company. - Once the training of children, books can happen to another child so that he can start their education. - The distribution of books, notebooks and pens is more affordable and easier to distribute to businesses and governments around the world. - Anyone can learn to use a computer in a few days, at any age and without having studied with laptops. The laptop, even if you recyclable parts, components will always have highly polluting. - Make a laptop requires a lot of energy and a multitude of components. - A book is cheap and easy to manufacture. - A book of recycled paper does not pollute. In developed countries or developing, we have all studied with books, paper and pen and I think that we are neither stupid. (This is a test of hundreds of years of experience).

How I can buy it from Italy?

A mode to buy it from Europe exist (now)? how many time we have to wait for? will the price be in Us Dollars for us too? Are you ready to answer for a very large ask of this laptops? In Europe there is a very big curiosity about your work. Very good!

which search engine can be used with the G1G1?

Educationally searching for information is important. What search engine can be used? Also, for children in developed countries, A I M is a highly valued computer activity. (We parents might disagree!) Can A I M be loaded onto a G1G1 model? Is there some open source word processing function? Can files be transferred to other computers and then get printed?

Thank you Louisa--71.242.6.140 08:35, 23 November 2007 (EST)

Google is the norm, but any search engine should work fine. There is a chat activity, but it doesn't work with A I M. (you might be able to add one that works with A I M though) There is a word processor. Files can be transferred by a USB storage device; network transfer might be possible. 24.110.145.202 15:04, 23 November 2007 (EST)

Warranty, too short

I have been thinking about the give one get one program. Kind of scared off by the 30 days warranty. Will I be able to buy another unit if the one I got failed after one month and the give one buy one program has ended? --Anonymous.

There are no public plans to provide replacement units after the 30 days, see the terms and conditions for why. OLPC must offer a minimum warranty to comply with regulations. Paid support may be available, and that service may provide replacement units, not sure. --Quozl 20:00, 22 November 2007 (EST).

Range of the Mesh Network

What is the range between 2 laptops using just the mesh network?

In excellent conditions, over 1.3 km. (along a rural road, held up high)

Computer in Iraq

I know the computer is for children, but my husband is in Iraq would like a way to stay in contact. Therefore, I thought the computer was perfect even if made for small hand he could at least e-mail he was OK when he is out of camp. My question is I thought the computer was made for place out back that has no power or Internet, but reading your information it said the computer would automatically hook up to the internet were Wi-Fi is available, would it work in Iraq when not at camp.

Sincerely, Evelyn Baum

If a tough and portable computer would be useful, then this is a good one. The alterative is a Panasonic Toughbook, which is really heavy and really expensive. (you have to consider loss -- it is better to lose something cheap) That said, he might not want to carry anything extra at all. Iraq is not without wireless, but getting a connection many miles from anywhere is just not going to happen. The XO does have unusually good range though, going over 1.3 km under good conditions. The special ability to do mesh networking in the absence of a regular internet connection is only useful if there are other XO computers in the area. The Give 1 Get 1 laptop program does not include the crank, but an XO accepts about 5 to 25 volts and can be run from pretty much any hand-power device. A regular power supply is included, accepting wall power up to 250 volts. Watch out for "24 volt" truck power though; often this goes way higher. 24.110.145.202 22:22, 23 November 2007 (EST)

Accessibility for children with disabilities

Will screen reader software for children who are blind or visually impaired be available? Also, will there be a way to use alternate input methods (touch screen, voice control, etc.) for children who have physical disabilities that limit use of their upper extremities?

My gratitude to all of you for what you are doing is beyond my ability to express. Your mission, and I'm sure it will be successful, has given me some hope during a time when I pretty much despair over our world.

Peace and all good things, SAS

It looks like there will be some sort of speech synthesis available on the XO, although I'm not sure the details have been worked out yet to the point where it can read the screen, but that's certainly a goal. The XO does not currently have a touchscreen, but a future generation of XOs may have one. However, alternate keyboards and mice can be plugged in via the USB ports. Speech recognition is challenging on limited hardware; it's not clear that the XO will be able to do it yet. You can read about other disabilities that may be addressed on the Accessibility page. —Joe 11:29, 25 November 2007 (EST)

Connecting children in US with children in other countries

I plan to buy two laptops: one for a child in another country and one for my sister's children. 1) Will her children be able to talk via laptop to other children/users in other countries - or is the networking only available on a local level? 2) Will the laptop user need to have an ISP to access the Internet?

If the laptop has a connection to the internet, the user can communicate with others on the internet. In particular, EPals—an established online pen-pal service—is creating an activity so that XO users can communicate with other students all over the world. To connect to the internet, the user will need some way to access internet service—either through an ISP at home or through a connection at another location; many libraries, coffee shops, and internet cafes provide a wireless connection for free or for a fee. Note that the Get One laptops come with a free year of Hotspot service from T-Mobile, which provides wireless internet connections in many coffee shops, stores, and hotels. —Joe 11:42, 25 November 2007 (EST)

I'm in the USA. On the prototype hardware, I used the Chat program to communicate with somebody in Thailand. I must say that it was a bit weird, because we really didn't have much in common as far as I could tell. I think the person was a teacher. Things are likely to be made a bit more local in the future, though still allowing world-wide connections to people you know. I do not think that relatively poor people would enjoy hearing well-off children brag about their latest toys, as kids are apt to do. That could cause some stress. Trouble coming the other way might involve fraud, scams, etc. 24.110.145.202 15:44, 25 November 2007 (EST)

buy1get1

If I participate in the promotion Buy1Get1 how can I donate the one I get? I am sponsering a 3-year-old child this X-mas, but I not sure she will benefit from it! How can I contact some who would be able to send the one I get to a needy child? I'm originally from Brazil but don't have anyone there to contact in order to donate the one I get to a school participating in your program. Any ideas?????

Licia Siever Lexington, KY

If all you want to do is donate two laptops, don't get one yourself, just donate. --Quozl 02:18, 27 November 2007 (EST)

OLPC alternative power sources

I read in the forums that the US shipped versions will not come with any alternative power sources, just the AC adapter. I would suggest that you remove the following statement from your site to avoid confusion, as it confused me, as I was looking forward to having 2 of the 3 listed alternative power sources, since I live in an area that is without reliable power.

http://www.laptop.org/en/laptop/hardware/features.shtml "In addition, for use at home and where power is not available, the XO can be solar or foot powered. It will come with at least two of three options: a crank, a pedal, or a pull-cord."

The "two of three options" applies to the donated overseas machines, not the U.S. machines, which will be delivered with an AC supply only.

Thermo-electric Generator

Have you considered Thermo-electric Generator technology ? I've added some more thoughts to Battery_and_power#Solar_or_Fire_heated_Thermo-electric_Generator. Numbers look about right.

XO as sunlight-readable SSH terminal

Does the XO come with an SSH client? I'm considering buying one through G1G1, to use it as a sunlight-readable SSH terminal in monochrome mode (using 802.11b/g wireless). X-forwarding would be nice, too, but it isn't crucial. If an SSH client isn't already installed, how could I install one?

It does have ssh. If it didn't, "yum install ssh" would fix the problem. X forwarding works, but sometimes things need bigger fonts for the XO screen.

It would be fantastic as an SSH terminal. Current builds certainly have ssh and sshd. I'm looking at build 625. You can change default runlevel in /etc/inittab to 4, then log in as root and startx ... you get twm, xclock and xterm, and ssh -X works fine, I used it just now to run konqueror remote, with no font problems. A B4 is quite snappy in this mode. You could also use olpc-update to convert to build-debian and run the X server with a window manager like fluxbox. --Quozl 19:21, 29 November 2007 (EST)

Generating electricity from cooking fires

The thermo-electric devices look very interesting, I'll need to look more into these. However, given that most if not all of these families receiving the free OLPC will be cooking, how about harnessing some of that cooking heat/energy to power a small bicycle generator to power directly or store electricity in a motorcycle type battery.

Using one or both of these generating systems:

"One way a self-powered stove fan can work is by way of a Stirling engine. Some of the heat from the stove is used to boil water. The steam from the boiling water drives a piston, which turns the blades of the fan[insert bicycle generator]

Another type of self-powered stove fan relies on the so-called Peltier-Seebeck effect. The fan acts like a big heat sink, drawing heat from the stove up through an aluminum base. Partway up the base is a "peltier cooler." The difference in temperature between the bottom and top of the base causes the peltier cooler to generate low-voltage electricity, which powers the fan's motor[insert bicycle generator].

yahoo chat?

Would you be able to download yahoo chat and use the yahoo email programs on the laptop?

You probably won't be able to download and install Yahoo Messenger, at least not easily; there is a UNIX version, but Yahoo would have to create a special version for the XO for it to be easy to use. The Browse activity should be able to access Yahoo's web mail client. —Joe 22:55, 25 November 2007 (EST)

You can use Meebo with it, however. ffm 17:16, 9 December 2007 (EST)

Donating through humanitarian organizations

Organizations such as Rotary International and Engineers Without Borders have close contact with communities and opportunities to donate educational materials/computers to developing communities in connection with their projects. The route would be through the humanitarian organization rather than the host government. Is it possible to request laptops on this scale, even in the red countries?

See the question "Can NGOs and charities get them?" on the Ask OLPC a Question about Distribution page (especially the link to the Give Many page). —Joe 23:00, 25 November 2007 (EST)

Dear System administrator

I'm a Korean who want to contribute some content into this wiki. I used my initial ID but after a few months after my last log in, I can't log in anymore...please let me know how to log in.

Just make a new account. ffm 16:30, 9 December 2007 (EST)

How about a version of the software for "obsolete" laptops?

There are vast numbers of obsolete x86 based laptops floating around schools and businesses in the United States. It sounds like they would be more than sufficient as a platform for this software.

Do not disadvantage the poor children of rich countries by requiring them to buy new hardware!

Is there a group of developers working to retrofit this software to old / junked laptops for use in American schools and homes? I'd like to help develop/test this software on the old laptops I have piling up in my closet!

There are a number of reasons that the OLPC is using XOs instead of other machines, one of which is that the XO is much more rugged than other machines and thus it can go anywhere with the child, enduring rough treatment and harsh environments. In the U.S., though, the environments may not be as harsh and the machines may not need to be as mobile, so you are correct that older laptops or even desktops may suffice, especially if the child is only using XO software in one location. Of course, the obsolete machines will probably not have all the features of the XO, like the camera, sunlight-readable display, game controls, tablet mode, pseudo-graphics tablet, or mesh networking, but these features aren't crucial for many activities.

The XO software is free/open source and can of course be ported to other hardware. In fact, up to several months ago, there was a LiveCd image of the XO software that could be run on conventional machines, but it was abandoned by its maintainers; a good first step may be to get this working again for more recent builds (a recent blog post by Greg DeKoenigsberg may be relevant?). Alternatively, the XO software can be run on more powerful machines via emulation; you might consider ways of streamlining this process. —Joe 14:45, 29 November 2007 (EST)

Forming a developer group to re-use old laptops sounds great. Go ahead and do it. OLPC will help where the goals of your plan and ours are in common. One aim of OLPC is to do things as cheaply as possible, to cover the most children ... and re-use of obsolete laptops or desktop computers is not as cheap as making a new one for the purpose. OLPC couldn't honestly implement your idea without failing on a per-child cost basis. --Quozl 18:44, 29 November 2007 (EST)

Sending to Philippines

If I wanna buy a computer could I send it to my niece in the Philippines? Would it be possible to send the free computer to my other nieces in the Philippines? They are in different provinces and could really benefit from that computer ... I know this is a great help for them because they're poor and can't afford to buy a computer. Are all your computers adaptable to the Philippines? Sincerely, Beth Belmont

Once you buy one of the laptops as part of the "give 1 get 1" program, you can do with it what you like, it will be yours. But the "give 1" laptop is a donation and OLPC gets to choose where to send that laptop. I've seen a Thai keyboard layout on a laptop in person, but I haven't seen a Philippines keyboard layout. There may be one. The laptop that OLPC will send to you will have an American keyboard layout. But really, these laptops are better suited as part of a holistic deployment by Philippines government education or schools. You should try to help that sort of thing instead. --Quozl 01:05, 28 November 2007 (EST)

Does XO have charitable status in Canada?

Does XO have charitable status in Canada?

The OLPC Foundation is not a registered charity in Canada. Canadian residents may be able to take a tax deduction for their donation against their US-based income. Donors should consult with a tax specialist to determine the extent of any deduction.

What's the Rationale for Distributing Laptops in Developing Countries?

I have been aware of Negroponte's One Laptop Per Child project for quite sometime. I understand that he has pilot projects planned in several developing countries and being raised in such environments I am struggling to understand how this project can succeed when the basic needs and education of a child in most of these countries are often not met. Can you please lead to some information of Negroponte's rationale? I have seeing couple interviews and read, but I still can not get it. Please respond, I have great interest in understand his position. Best Regards, Val

Not that I could speak for Nicholas, but I really don't think OLPC intends to deliver this education project in areas that don't have water and food, and shelter. It would be wasteful. Kids cannot eat the laptop. But once those basic needs are met, and education can be delivered, this project comes alive. Therefore I don't really understand your question, sorry. --Quozl 06:09, 30 November 2007 (EST)

Laptops for elementary school in Cambodia

I have started and am supporting a school for the poorest children in Mongkol Borei, Cambodia. We currently have 250 students in four grades, and will eventually have about 500 students in 6 grades. I would like to somehow arrange for about 100 of the oldest students to have laptops initially, with the rest to follow. Would appreciate your getting back to me with suggestions as to how this can be accomplished.

New OLPC XO-1 Live CD release

Do you know when a new OLPC XO-1 Live CD release candidate will be out and will it allow an install from a USB drive or USB connected optical drive? I am awaiting my OLPC, and want to work on the OS, with ideas that I have, but do it on a separate computer and not my OLPC.

The maintainers of the LiveCD seem to have abandoned it. Greg DeKoenigsberg took a look at another way to automatically generate LiveCDs in a recent blog post, but this is apparently still a work-in-progress. Until someone starts maintaining the LiveCD again, it looks like the best way to work with the XO software is via emulation. —Joe 14:47, 2 December 2007 (EST)

A full working Live-CD with a recent build is available. See: "[sugar] sugar xubuntu livecd": [[4]].

The iso image may be downloaded at http://startx.ro/sugar/

Another OLPC XO-LiveCD: [5]

Source: ftp://rohrmoser-engineering.de/pub/XO-LiveCD/

Mirror: http://skolelinux.de/XO-LiveCD/

Power?

I've read that the laptop "may have" this source or that for power. What how does it currently get power? I've heard mention of solar power, a crank, a foot pedal, etc, but what does it use in reality? Is it just rechargable battery right now?

All the laptops use rechargeable batteries; the various power sources are used to charge these batteries and/or power the laptop. The G1G1 units are all shipping with just an AC adapter. The units sold to countries will have power sources appropriate to the local infrastructure; this may be an AC adapter or another device, like the pull-cord generator. From the accounts on the pilot sites page, they appear to be using AC adapters at the moment. See the Battery and power page for further power generation ideas. —Joe 14:34, 2 December 2007 (EST)

Java & Flash... Limited Support

Does anyone know exactly what Limited Support for Flash and Java means? What functionality will the students have? Thanks in Advance, Lee

The laptop is not shipping with Java or the official Flash plugin, but the users may be able to install it themselves; see RestrictedFormats. The laptop is apparently shipping with the Gnash Flash plugin installed, which is able to play a limited subset of Flash content. —Joe 14:18, 2 December 2007 (EST)

Does this laptop work only in English?

Does this laptop work only in English? I live in USA, my Russian parents are retired. I would like to buy one for them and donate the other one, but they don't know any English. Thanks, Tatyana. -- 72.78.242.191 21:59, 2 December 2007 (EST)

It works in any language, but the printing on your keyboard will not include Cyrillic characters. 24.110.145.202 21:46, 3 December 2007 (EST)

You could attach a USB Cyrillic keyboard and reconfigure the system for it ... but that would take a bit of work and be brave. Your best option might be to speak with Russian Linux user groups for advice. Tell them that it is a customised Fedora system, they ought to know how to handle it. --Quozl 06:41, 4 December 2007 (EST)

Financial Statement?

As a donor or potential donor, how do I obtain a financial statement for the OLPC foundation?

Contact them, or rely on past submitted statements. According to the FAQ, the OLPC EIN, US tax-exempt ID number is 20-5471780. I don't know if that is relevant. I am not an agent of OLPC. --Quozl 06:51, 4 December 2007 (EST)

Most tax-exempt non-profit organizations incorporated in the United States (other than churches) are required to file annual tax returns called IRS Form 990's with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. In most cases the Form 990's are the only publicly available financial statements a tax-exempt entity is required to generate. Guidestar, an independent non-profit organization, makes these Form 990's available for free at their website. As of December 2007, no Form 990 is available for OLPC, but this isn't unusual, OLPC had until Oct. 07 to file their first return (for tax year 2006), and it can take six months for Guidestar to get the document from the IRS and to scan it in. Guidestar does have the following info available:

OLPC Foundation

PO Box 425087, Cambridge, MA 02142

Contact: Mr Robert Fadel, Treasurer

Web Site: laptopfoundation.org

Year Founded: 2006

Mission: The mission of the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) movement is to ensure that all school-aged children in the developing world are able to engage effectively with their own personal laptop, networked to the world, so that they, their families and their communities can openly learn and learn about learning.

Programs: Supporting and subsidizing the purchase of XO laptop computers. Building local and grassroots movements devoted to improving learning and the effectiveness of laptops as a learning tool.

The OLPC Foundation is a successor entity to the "2B1 Foundation" or the "2B1 Corporation." See Walter Bender's 2006-08-05 Community News. See Guidestar's information on "2B1 CORPORATION" here, including past Form 990's. With regard to the legal entity as it exists now, the OLPC Foundation, my suggestion is that you write the Treasurer directly, by U.S. Mail, and ask him to provide you with what information is available. Note also that OLPC is a registered charity in several states. Washington state registration for the "2B1 Worldwide Charitable Fund" is available here. OLPC's registration in Michigan provides the following information, which I believe must be made publicly available as a pre-condition of their being allowed to operate in that state:

MICS 36674, Expiration Date: 07/31/2008

O L P C Foundation

One Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142

Phone: (617) 452-5660

~ Hexagonal 11:39, 12 December 2007 (EST)

How make a contribution?

I hope your project is better organized than this site.

It is. This page is maintained by the interested community members. The critical project members don't generally get time to respond to these questions. --Quozl 06:53, 4 December 2007 (EST)

I wish to make a contribution but can't find out how. Can it be done via credit card?

Yes. Please see the official donation site: http://www.laptopgiving.org . —Joe 10:45, 3 December 2007 (EST)

The G1G1 program - how does the laptop work in the US

If I got one laptop from the G1G1 program. Does it have to stay in the US, or can it be gifted to a child in any other country. What infrastructure does it need to work? what if there are no other OLPC in the neighborhood. Is there anything specific that is required for the child to use this laptop (other than electricity and wireless access).

if he has wireless access - how much connectivity does he have (is it limited or just like any other laptop).

what configurationi is required on the OLPC to get connectivity to the outside world, does it automatically see the wireless router?

I am really interested in this program and want to send the one laptop.

Thank you.

The XO-1 will work anywhere there is power, 802.11a/g/s networking, and internet. It will detect wifi auto-magicaly. ffm 15:58, 9 December 2007 (EST)

How OLPC promotes literacy in very young preliterate children

How does OLPC promote literacy in very young children (ages 6-9) who are not yet literate in their own language? Does their access to the Internet presume they are literate in their native language? Is there software or instruction for teachers in related to effective early reading instruction in their native language?

I don't know the full range of reading software being made available on the XO, but GCompris is an open-source collection of educational activities, some of which are relevant to reading, and many of which are now available on the XO. These activities are available in many different languages and seem appropriate for users without a high degree of literacy. —Joe 16:37, 5 December 2007 (EST)

computers on the Navajo Nation in New Mexico

I am a teacher in the heart of the Navajo Nation in New Mexico. We have a campus that is comprised of three single wide trailers, four buildings that are slightly larger than the trailers, four buildings that are about the size of doublewide trailers, and old stone building that serves as our lunch room and multi-purpose room when necessary, a computer lab where our children are introduced to the wonder of the technical age, and finally a very small business office.

Our campus is 70 years old and was once a small boarding school serving this little community of Native Americans.

Is there a possiblity that the Navajo Nation as a soverign nation could be included in your endeavor? Many of our families do not have the convenience of electricity or water although gains toward these goals have certainly been made. See what you can do about considering our children in your program to reach all children.

Thank you,

Patricia Quink Second Grade Instructor Tse'ii'ahi' Community School PO Box 828 Crownpoint, NM 87313 505-786-5389

See give many. ffm 15:54, 9 December 2007 (EST)

Maintenance and Replacement

My reference point is the TI 99/4 experience for which I was intimately involved on the TI staff.

With this large number of computers out in the field, how will failure returns be handled? is there an infinite warranty period? How much of this is covered in the purchase price? How can the donor cover costs for specific projects to enable a low cost return policy? Warranty and returns are easy in the advanced economies, how do they work in the developing countries?

What is the MTBF for these devices, and if they are comparable to the US then a large number will have failed within 2 years, this is my personal experience. Were high quality components used in the motherboard and other components?

A 30 day warranty is provided. They are durable and resistant to damage, and should go for 5+ years w/o replacement. The motherboard is not user-servicable. It is infinitely more powerful than the TI99/4. See Hardware specification. ffm 15:50, 9 December 2007 (EST)

For deployments, failures and returns will be handled by in-country teams with support from OLPC and the manufacturer, Quanta. It is expected that this will cover the period of the deployment, and be part of the deployment costing, therefore failure percentages in earlier deployments will be valuable historical measurements. For "give 1 get 1", the failure returns process is defined, and does not involve any infinite warranty ... just the 30 days. Components used have to meet specification, so in that sense they are "high quality". --Quozl 05:08, 10 December 2007 (EST)

Schools

Why not build schools in developing nations?

Good question. Already intended. Schools and teachers must exist before an OLPC deployment. Other groups are working to build schools in areas that lack them. This question is the same as "Why not food?" --Quozl 04:44, 10 December 2007 (EST)

Donating Laptops to specific school in Zambia

Could you help - we are an English Primary school that has very strong links with a school in Zambia. We currently donate equipment etc via funds raised by our PSA. If we wanted to purchase laptops could we specify the school we wanted them to be donated to?

Rotary International Grants

The Rotary club of Brixham (U.K.) District 1170 are interested in funding (together with other clubs and our District) and the Rotary Foundation in Evanston (U.S.) in promoting a project in the mountains of North West Romania which would bring your product to the deprived school children in that remote area. We have to operate within bureaucratic timescales and it seems that at least some of your plans have deadlines of the end of this month.

Could we please open a direct dialogue so that we can fill in all the forms correctly and move this project forward. I am suprised that there is no reference to Rotary activities in your FAQ's and hopefully this will open a further worldwide outlet for your excellent product. /s/ Alan Colley, Hon. Secretary, The Rotary Club of Brixham

See the question "Can NGOs and charities get them?" on the Ask OLPC a Question about Distribution page — especially the link to the Give Many page, which has a contact e-mail address. Note that while the Give-One-Get-One program has a deadline at the end of the month, the Give Many program has no such deadline. —Joe 17:34, 12 December 2007 (EST)

Donors for a cuban program

Greetings,

Six years ago we went to Cuba as part of a People to People delegation with a medical orientation. We, like many other visitors, were overwhelmed by how the Cuban people do so much with so little. Their medical care system, at the time of our visit, had less than 1000 computers for 12 million people. The people of Cuba have already made a significant contribution to the health, education and welfare in many of the less developed nations of the world.

I would ask the OLPC to help connect donors who have an interest in sponsoring a program targeting Cubans in rural areas of the island. Not unlike rural Americans, Cubans living in the more remote areas need computers. The next generation of Cubans will provide the technological leadership necessary to stabilize the volatile Caribbean region. To prepare for the future, computer literacy will be obligatory. Cuba has an opportunity pioneer new applications in telemedicine that can be implemented around the globe at minimal cost. Cuba has one of the best health care systems. One could cite the many positive health indicators that far exceed US standards. Yet they spend less per capita on their citizens than the Chinese do.

This is my first question to OLPC so my familiarity with the process is lacking. However, if I could get a little direction on the next step(s) to take I am more than willing to work with any interested party.

Thank you. ctruscon

Dear C. Truscon, Can you contact me so we can assist you? My email is: felice@laptop.org.

T Mobile access

I recycled my shipping box before discovering that the pin number for Tmobile was on the shipping label. What should I do in this case to activate the "hotspot" access?

Thank you,

Patric Fitzpatrick

Java plugin not working

I installed Sun Java according to the instructions on the Restricted Formats page.

When I type in about:plugins to see if the plugin worked, I do not see it among the list of installed plugins. In the log viewer activity there is an error message under org.laptop.WebActivity-1.log that says

LoadPlugin: failed to initialize shared library /usr/java/jre1.5.0_11/plugin/i386/ns7/libjavaplugin_oji.so [/usr/java/jre1.5.0_11/plugin/i386/ns7/libjavaplugin_oji.so: undefined symbol: _ZTVN10__cxxabiv121__vmi_class_type_infoE]

I've tried Sun JRE 1.5 update 11, 1.5 update 13, and 6 update 3 with similar results. Is the Browser application compatible with the Java plugin? I am using build 650 on a G1G1 OLPC. Java appears to be installed correctly otherwise. Is there something wrong with the xulrunner build that prevents the plugin from working? eeTommyJ 03:28, 29 December 2007 (EST)

my xo will not connect to the internet

got mine today.....upgraded software from 623 to 653, still will not log on...the circle around the user flashes white but it will not browse the internet...or log on

Please see http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Support_FAQ#What_information_is_needed_to_help_diagnose_wireless_problems.3F

Confusion about the "frame"

When using the browser for example, I may want to click on something near the edge of the screen - oftentimes the frame will pop up and get in the way. How do I avoid this? 151.197.116.92 13:30, 30 December 2007 (EST)

Recorder error "Your Disk is Full."

I have encountered this disk full error within the Reocrder shortly after receiving my XO. I have tried erasing every entry within the Journal and it didn't work. I found suggestions on OLPC wiki to remove orphaned files in the datastore, but the listed path did not exist on my version of the XO OS. Does anyone have any other suggested resolution to this problem?

We are working on a long-term remedy to this problem. In the short-term, your safest course is upgrading the activated laptop to re-flash its entire "disk image" including its operating system and Activities. --Walter 12:05, 31 December 2007 (EST)

Can't install man pages

When I install man pages via yum:

yum install man.i386

yum install man-pages.noarch

Man works, but there aren't any man pages. When I do a "find" to see what was created, I see a bunch of new directories, but no actual man pages. What's up? Anyone able to get man pages working?

Thanks,

M

This is my own question, and now I have an answer for it! The man-pages package appears to be broken in the OLPC repository. As an alternative, I browsed to the Fedora 7 repository ([6]) and downloaded the RPM file that is the same version as in the OLPC G1G1 repository ([7]). Since I was using a Ubuntu system to do this, the file archiver automatically opened up the rpm package for me, and I extracted the actual man-pages my home directory (you can tell which file is the right one because it is the largest), preserving their directory structure. You could also in theory do this from the linux command prompt using the rpm2cpio program (e.g., "rpm2cpio < man-pages-2.44-1.fc7.noarch.rpm | cpio -i -d --verbose"). Then, to save space, I copied the man page files (again preserving their directory structure) to an SD card. I inserted the SD card in my XO and added the path to it as a MANPATH variable by editing the config file (/etc/man.config) as root to point to the new location (e.g., /media/XXX/usr/share/man where "XXX" is the name of your SD card). Ater this was done, all the basic man pages were available. Of course you could also copy them to the proper location on the internal XO flash as well -- this would cost you about 4.2 Megs. What remains to be seen is whether additional man pages will automatically be added as I install new software via yum. --Madwin 15:40, 31 December 2007 (EST)

Pictures from my xo

I have pictures in my xo. I saved them in a USB. I can open & see the pictures(from the USB)in my xo. But when I tried to do the same in my laptop(ubuntu os)but failed. Please advise me on how to proceed. Thanx

Hmm. I just tried it on a laptop running Ubuntu and it seemed to work fine. The photo should have shown up in the top-level directory of the USB filesystem as a .jpg file. Are you sure you actually dragged it successfully onto the USB stick to begin with? Did it show up when you selected the USB view in the Journal (by clicking on the USB icon at the bottom of the screen)? Did you safely unmount the USB stick (using the unmount item from the hover menu that appears when you put the cursor over the USB icon)? --Walter 11:24, 31 December 2007 (EST)

Thank u. But I did all that. I mean I open the pictures on my usb on the xo. I drag drop & unmount it and all. But I just can't get the pictures in mylaptop. There is nothing in my USB that corrosponds to the pictures from my xo.

Is 653 stable enough for general public to use in place of 650?

An independent olpc forum is now active online and people who have read this wiki and noticed references to o653 are recommending anyone with any sort of problem (including newbies) to load 653. Various places on this wiki seem to advise against this.

1)Could you kindly confirm as of today 12/31, if 652 is indeed the preferred build for the general public.

2)And if that is so, what is your planned procedure for advising ALL XO owners that they should be upgrading.

Thanks!

Build 653 is still undergoing QA. Please continue to use 650 until we make the official release announcement (unless you want to help with testing and feedback, of course). --Walter 11:42, 1 January 2008 (EST)

Need help connecting to home wireless network

Received our OX on Dec 17th 2007 on the B1G1 program and gave it to our daughter as a Christmas gift. We have NEVER been able to access the internet with it. We have a wireless network in our home running on a D-Link router and several other laptops connect to it without issue. It never shows up on the network page as a circle to choose, but we can see other peoples' locked networks from that page, and several mesh networks. I have spent over 20 hours following ALL of the directions I've found throughout this website including in the FAQs and chats. The home network is not WPA, only WEP. It is not hidden, but I even tried the hint for hidden networks. We have a 650 build unit and cannot upgrade to 653 because we CANNOT access the internet with the unit! I am EXTREMELY frustrated and disappointed in this purchase. It is not the simple process you made it out to be. My daughter is very disappointed and it doesn't help to explain that some child in another country received a compter too, because she just figures they can't use theirs EITHER! We need HELP!

Sorry you are having so much trouble. If you provide the information suggested here we may be able to diagnose the problem. --Walter 20:18, 1 January 2008 (EST)

wireless connection to linksys router with SSID

I have just recieved my new laptops for my kids and cannot find my homes wireless connection. i see my neighbors but not mine. i tried to follow a command to allow for this but cannot get it to work.

Can anyone give me more directions?My router is a wireless -g 801.11g - very common linksys router

Thanks, Tom

Ditto—Sorry you are having so much trouble. If you provide the information suggested here we may be able to diagnose the problem. --Walter 20:19, 1 January 2008 (EST)