Otter's Journal: Finally saw an OLPC; Gentoo is dying

• I was just walking through MIT and saw, for the first time, someone working on an OLPC. Seeing the thing in reality, I'm even less convinced by the conspiracy theories about how a terrified Bill Gates is trying to destroy it -- it looks like a pack of Altoids with a monitor in the lid.
• The slow-motion trainwreck of Gentoo continues. It's sad, as Gentoo at its peak was a great distribution and one of the most helpful communities in the open-source world. Back to CentOS for me, I think.

OK, so it's ugly by adult standards

[bersl2]

I'm sure that the cosmetic appearance of the OLPC could and still can be changed, if that were so desired. Again, they designed this thing for kids, but the hardware and software works well enough for (some) adults to use.

Re:

[Otter]

Actually, I liked the styling. It's the design as a whole that to me looks really awkward to base a child's entire education around.

I just walked by the guy, though, and didn't take a close look, let alone use it.

Re:

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

"provided certain analogous connections are made."

I'm a pretty good analogist, HiLJ. I enjoyed your vivid and long-remembered vioion of BattleZone and it's attendant arcade bullies.

I'm still at a loss in connecting this to the state and fate of Dan Robbin's experiment!

P.S. In 1970 I used to look into a gymbal-mounted periscope, to launch simulated torpedoes at WWII-era cargo ships. This was an arcade setup, I think called Wolfpack. I spend much allowance change on this damned thing - all mechanical, wit

Sea Raider!

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

Hah! You can find ANYTHING [marvin3m.com] on teh IntarWebz!

Rumors of the death of Gentoo are premature

[smittyoneeach]

Some charismatic fellow will make it fashionable again.

Re:

[Otter]

Fashionable, maybe, but making it functional again will be an uphill battle.

Re:

[smittyoneeach]

To say that Gentoo, the distro, is not functioning is simply untrue.
The paperwork for the foundation certainly requires some effort, dunno about 'uphill battle'.
The mindshare of the distro is a third conversation.