At last I meet you, OLPC XO!

Last Monday, I went with my wife and my 6-year-old daughter, Eimi, to an activity in a school.  The idea was to let parents know about this new educational optionl and its advantages for children who are about to start their elementary school life.

At the beginning, I was not very interested because we had already made arrangements for our daughter to go to an educational institution near home.

The principal was talking while the parents listened and the children made an effort to stay quiet.  I was growing tired, and so were the bunch of kids sitting on the chairs.  The principal was highlighting how they incorporate technology in the teaching of the subjects, but I was not convinced...

Then, she pulled out a little green laptop and all the children became alive again as if by magic. I have only seen technology cause such interest on children once: the day when my then 3-year-old daughter saw PicarOS for the first time.

I myself straightened my back when I recognized the OLPC XO laptop!

With that simple device, the principal captivated the audience; children and parents were under her spell as she described how the young students experience education for the future with a device designed exclusively for them.


It turns out that, in this humble school, children learn with Sugar OS, not just Windows.  And they also learn robotics.

One of the teachers tells the children about the OLPC XO laptop

After the tour and the activities, I asked Eimi what she thought about the school.  She was delighted and wanted to come to this new institution.  My wife and I agreed, so we did the paperwork and now Eimi will be going to a school that might be a bit further from home, but where she feels happier and my wife and I will be more satisfied.

The Red Fish, a Story of Success

When I first tried out PicarOS, there was a link to a site called "Poisson Rouge".

Given the fact that PicarOS is a Linux distro that specializes on children, it was no surprise that the site had content for children.  What I did not expect was that the crazy flash games on the site were so attractive to young children.

The activities in Poisson Rouge.  Children love to discover what they do.

I mean, the activities are simple and repetitive.  Yet, young children love them.  And best of all, everything was free; Poisson Rouge subsisted selling merchandise.

One day, however, I visited the site and got a sad announcement.  Poisson Rouge enjoyed a heavy traffic, but costs were too high and the site was on the verge of closing.

I remember the pain piercing my heart like an arrow.  As an adult, and mostly as a parent, I appreciated the artistic and educational value of the activities in Poisson Rouge.  It had become part of the fun time my then two-year old daughter had been experiencing with the computer, but all the songs, dancing images, and discoveries that brought laughter to my girl were about to be gone forever.  I really felt bad. I am not exaggerating.

But how do you save a site that is condemned already? 

On March 3, 2014, I clicked on the link again, expecting a dreadful 404 error.  To my relief, the page loaded.

There was something new.

It was a message informing users of an idea to save the site.  Poisson Rouge had a chance to survive as long as enough users were willing to pay a yearly registration fee.

Yes, I know many people may think that it was the proof of absolute stupidity.  Why paying for something that was free before?  After all, similar content should be available somewhere in the vast Web, right?  Who would be dumb enough to pay?

Well, call me stupid then.

What's more, call me stupid twice: I just renewed my annual membership yesterday.

My daughter, and many children, I'm sure, are happy that the site is alive.

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Does this contradict my beliefs regarding free software?  I don't know.

I am a weird kind of person.  I paid for the Mandriva Powerpack. And I did that several times.

I have paid for games in Desura, Steam, and The Humble Bundle.

I have also donated to other Linux distros and projects. I even donated to be able to install a beta of Elive.

Heck, I will pay for Elive when it's finally ready.

Yet, I cannot pay a subscription to MS Office or Windows.  Why?

Because I don't believe in those products.

Microsoft lost my trust long ago.