Sloboden Softver Macedonia Presents XO Laptop in Skopje

Sloboden Softver Makedonija

Last Wednesday, at the Točka Cultural Centre in Skopje, the XO Laptop, created by the One Laptop Per Child foundation was presented, aimed to make computer technology available even to poorest countries in the world.

The XO laptop is created with the primary goal to be cheap and affordable. For that reason, some of its performances are limited, but only to the extent that it would still satisfy the demands of the average elementary school student.

Another important aspect that contributes to the low price is the selection of software packages and operating systems. XO operates on FOSS platforms, running on Linux operating system.

In his video-conference address to the presentation, Nicholas Negroponte, Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the creative force behind XO and the OLPC programme, emphasized that the XO is available for sale only to Governments, in packages of no less than 100,000 units, which are to be distributed to the elementary school students, as a tool that will introduce them to the world of computers, assist their learning processes and inspire creativity.

The presentation in Skopje was organized by Sloboden Softver (Free Software Macedonia), an organization dedicated to promotion of free and open software in Macedonia.