The OLPC Foundation has been tireless in its efforts to educate children in developing nations through low cost laptops. Now former president of the non-profit, Walter Bender is trying something different.
Bender left OLPC to found Sugar Labs, a company which promotes Sugar, the software used on OLPC machines. TechnologyReview reports that Sugar Labs will today announce Sugar on a Stick. For $5, you get the 40 applications running on all XO laptops on a 1GB USB stick (including Read, Write, Paint and Etoys) and the ability to turn old, clapped out computers into useful educational tools.
"What we are doing is taking a bunch of old machines that barely run Windows 2000, and turning them into something interesting and useful for essentially zero cost," says Bender. "It becomes a whole new computer running off the USB key; we can breathe new life into millions of decrepit old machines."
TechnolgyReview also reports that this summer, Sugar Labs will deploy the software at the Gardner Pilot Academy, an elementary school in Boston, under a $20,000 grant from the Gould Charitable Foundation.
Read the full story here.
I can't find a link to this $5 thing. I'd gladly donate a little bit of change, hardware or no.
Second usb 1.1 is fast enough to get about the same performance as you
would get from the OLPC laptop and if not those computers do have pci slots and for about 7-15 usd you can buy yourself an awesome pci USB 2.0 upgrade.
Last RAM costs nothing or near to nothing who is to say they wont run the complete system from ram (on the OLPC the software takes only 256 megs so it should be able to run from a ramdrive).
In both solutions i just came up with you can use a Pentium 2 system do a RAM upgrade (512Mb DDR is about 20 USD if you look hard) and or plug in a 7 to 10 USD USB PCI card.
Total cost do make a donated system viable is below 40 bucks!
Second usb 1.1 is fast enough to get about the same performance as you
would get from the OLPC laptop and if not those computers do have pci slots and for about 7-15 usd you can buy yourself an awesome pci USB 2.0 upgrade.
Last RAM costs nothing or near to nothing who is to say they wont run the complete system from ram (on the OLPC the software takes only 256 megs so it should be able to run from a ramdrive).
In both solutions i just came up with you can use a Pentium 2 system do a RAM upgrade (512Mb DDR is about 20 USD if you look hard) and or plug in a 7 to 10 USD USB PCI card.
Total cost do make a donated system viable is below 40 bucks!
1. No Pentium II system used DDR ram.
2. I also greatly contest your claim the USB booting is supported on old Pentium/K6/Pentium II or even Pentium III motherboards. Even socket 478 and Socket A motherboards rarely had support for that function.
3. Old motherboards have ram limitations. For example, the i810 and i815 series only supported 512MB total ram (2x256). The even older Ali Alladin V only supported 256MB ram. The 440BX allowed up to 768MB. You can't go shoving 512MB ram sticks in there all willy-nilly and expect it to just work.
Hey, we're here to help em with what ever they need. Man kindness.
I don't know about you geeks, but I'm one, and would hate to have my 5 year old mess up my computer, so booting from a USB stick into a closed environment for $5 is a dream. I can help me kid play and learn on the computer without harming my coveted PC.
Sure I could grab a tutorial off the web and load up a stick, but I'm gonna save my 3 hours of trying and spend $5 bucks. Where do I send my money...
Laptops that old will use sdram like pc100 or pc133 in sodimm ff. Very cheap to find since most people are throwing it out instead of buying it up.
Props to Walt Bender for finding a solution to get the most out of antiquated yet capable equipment.
They provide their service on a USB bracelet that is very cool and can be purchased on Amazon.com.
I am sure it will, not lets push the "Educate" button.
I think switching Win2000 for Sugar is a step backwards, as there are hardly any programs out there that support Sugar.
And any computer that is too old to run Windows 2000 is a computer that must be at least a Pentium MMX. I don't know of many MMX-es still being used today. We're talking in the likes of 166Mhz and below.
Windows 2000 runs pretty fine on any 233Mhz pentium and up.
Many stores are selling a 1GB stick between $4 and $10.
2. I also greatly contest your claim the USB booting is supported on old Pentium/K6/Pentium II or even Pentium III motherboards. Even socket 478 and Socket A motherboards rarely had support for that function.
3. Old motherboards have ram limitations. For example, the i810 and i815 series only supported 512MB total ram (2x256). The even older Ali Alladin V only supported 256MB ram. The 440BX allowed up to 768MB. You can't go shoving 512MB ram sticks in there all willy-nilly and expect it to just work.
1. Loads of pentium II systems used DDR RAM though most of them indeed used SD which coincidental even cheaper for those who are willing to find it.
2.The ability to boot from a usb device is not something depending on the chipset but rather on the firmware (BIOS) so again its not impossible.
3.Your right there are limitations to how many RAM and in what formation it could be used though these limitations rarely bring it under 256megs and thus sufficient ram is possible.
I do understand that your the glass half empty kind of person but that does not mean in any way that it is impossible.
Making your notes kind of redundant since any one knows there are system specific limitations to each system, this however was not the question the question was could it be done.
Check it out here: http://blog.laptopmag.com/first-look-olpc-xo-generation-20