Nigerian Government may still stick with the Mandriva Linux installed on its Classmate PCs
Microsoft may not have beaten French Linux vendor Mandriva in a large deal to supply Nigerian elementary schools with laptop computers and software after all. Mandriva had closed a deal in mid-August to provide a customized Linux operating system and support for 17,000 Intel Classmate PCs intended for Nigerian schools, but found out last week that the company deploying the computers for the government, Technology Support Center (TSC), planned to wipe the computers’ disks and install Windows XP instead. Now, however, a government agency funding 11,000 of the PCs has overruled the supplier: Nigeria’s Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) wants to keep Mandriva Linux on the Classmate PCs, said an official who identified himself as the program manager for USPF’s Classmate PCs project. "We are sticking with that platform," said the official,
Last week, Mandriva heard that TSC planned to pay Mandriva for its customization work — but then abruptly change the OS on the computers to Windows XP. TSC had placed an order with a local Microsoft supplier for Windows XP and Office productivity software. The switch raised the question of why TSC would commit public money to buy computers with Mandriva, and then absorb the cost of buying Windows and installing it on the computers. Which operating system ultimately prevails is important since TSC is the biggest supplier of Intel Classmate PCs in West Africa, and is expected to eventually ship more than 100,000 of the computers. http://news.yahoo.com/s/infoworld/20071109/tc_infoworld/93293 >