Nicholas Negroponte, head of the "One Laptop per Child" project and co-founder of the MIT Media Laboratory has claimed that the project will make Linux as popular on the desktop as it is on the server today. Speaking at the Red Hat annual user summit, Negroponte said that the OLPC project should foster the mass adoption of Linux as a desktop operating system.
The OLPC project seeks to produce a portable PC for use by children in the developing world for a cheap price. The price started at $100, but has since risen to about $140. Negroponte claims that the price is floating (they are a non-profit organization) and that they have a target price of $100 by 2008. The project has received widespread support from companies such as Red Hat and AMD, but Microsoft and Intel, on the other hand, don't seem to think the project is up to much.
"AMD is our partner, which means Intel is p***ing on me. (Microsoft Chairman) Bill Gates is not pleased either, but if I am annoying Microsoft and Intel then I figure I am doing something right," Negroponte said.