BusinessWeek 6/5/08 Steve Hamm OLPC: The Open-Source Controversy <clip> But OLPC's open-source approach has put it in conflict over the years with Microsoft and with government and educational leaders who want to use tried-and-true software such as Microsoft's Windows. This spring, Negroponte provoked a revolt <http://www.olpcnews.com/software/windows/> in the ranks of his employees and the open-source community when he agreed to produce a version of the XO that runs Windows XP in addition to Linux. Also, he criticized the Sugar software and referred to open-source advocates as "fundamentalists" in press interviews. <clip> Even though I see the logic and philosphical consistency of making open-source one of the key pieces of the OLPC project, I tend to agree with the pragmatists. Several foreign government officials I spoke to said it was very important to them to have Windows and thousands of Windows-based applications on computers for their students. Other countries had turned their backs on OLPC earlier because it didn't run Windows. Under pressure from OLPC, Microsoft has offered a $3 pricetag for Third-World schools for Windows and a package of educational and productivity applications. So, when you strip all of the religious debates away, the decision by OLPC to go with Windows was a response to customer demand. That's how business works, and, if social enterprises want to have major impacts, that's how they'll have to work, too. http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/blog/globespotting/archives/2008/06/olpc_the_open-s.html