$200 Brazillian Net PC to run Linux and KDE

As announced by Pimenta da Veiga, minister of
communications of Brazil, in the next 120 days, a Linux-based computer will be available on the Brazilian market for US$ 200. The computer configuration is a 500 Mhz AMD processor, 64 Mb RAM, 16 Mb flash disk (no hard disk included), 14 inch monitor, sound, 56 Kbps modem, ethernet, printer and USB ports. The software is Linux, KDE, KOffice, Konqueror, and all other technical specifications are public domain. The is not taxed by the Brazilian government, and it will be sold in 24 monthly payments of US$ 13. [Ed:Also, from Slashdot: The Brazilian government notice is available, as are pictures of the device. Nice.]

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Comments

This is kewl... This will get those countries who can't affort to support Dictator Bill on the 'net too. Let's hope that more countries will follow this example, so their opinions get heard too. Prehaps they can teach the "money-corps" that its perfectly possible to use KDE/Linux as an end user solution, and not just as a webserver! /kidcat

For those of u who don't wanna w8 half an hour to c the img of the baby... here it is :)/kidcat

by warning (not verified)

DON'T CLICK THAT ATTACHMENT!! IT'S GROSS!!!!

by me (not verified)

WTF?

Click on it, its anice little pc. Gross?

Thanks. :)

I wonder how they got KDE to fit in this computer without a harddrive!

Linux + KDE in 16Mo ?

Where can I find the Linux+KDE_in_16Mo_HowTo.txt ?

:)))

by not me (not verified)

Perhaps with cramfs. Supposedly you can get Linux + Xfree86 in 8 Mb with cramfs, and cramfs is designed specifically for Flash memory.

I'm really happy about this announcement, and although I wonder how KDE & Linux & X fit on 16MB, I think that this might make a very usable machine.

The only thing I'd be worried about is the current state of KWord. In my opinion, its not quite ready for prime time, at least in terms of stability. I am personally looking forward to the new KWord, with much improved architecture and hope it'll find its way into those boxes soon.

Let's hope, we might even gain some developers from this!

by Matt Newell (not verified)

What new and improved KWord? I update koffice from CVS quite frequently and I have seen very few changes taking place. Is there a different branch or something?

Matt Newell

by ac (not verified)

I agree with you. While I think that KDE2.1 is
a great desktop, KOffice is unusable.
If I recall correctly, this is also the Opinion
of the developers.
Hopefully this situation will improve (TheKompany is working on at least KWord) also because of the
millions brazilians which will now start to code and send in bugreports ;-).

by yngve (not verified)

Not entirely true. Killustrator is a nice piece of software, which I actually use quite often.

by Delcides F. Sou... (not verified)

I don't think there will millions of coders from Brazil ... From what I have gathered the braz. govt. wants these computers to be some kind of net /office appliance - that's why you don't have a HD and Linux/KDE is stored on flash memory. It's a preconfigured comp. with no messing around with tweakings and configuration files.

by Christian A Str... (not verified)

How much space does the system take up on this 16MB flash card? Is there any space left for saving documents etc.
And where's the mouse? The picture didn't show any, surely there must be a mouse with the pc.

Did you folks see the article on Brazil and AIDS treatment in last Sunday's New York Times Magazine?

The Brazillian govt. decided that the drug companies' pricing of AIDS medication was immoral, and patents be damned, they went ahead and produced cheap generics which are having a huge impact.

This story reminds me of that. Nice to see a 'third world' government take active steps to improve the situation of their people - although I gather that situation needs a LOT of improving.

By the way, on the 'Linux/KDE in 16MB' question, one of the links mentions 64MB. From my experience, though, I wonder whether 64MB is even enough to comfortably run KDE2. It runs great on machines with 128MB, but my home machine has 64, and it feels sluggish.

by Martin Andrews (not verified)

Well, my anemic home PC has 48 MB of RAM and a 133 MHz pentium and it runs kde "okay" - I guess it is a function of what you are used to (I could probably scream through my browsing with one of those brazilian boxes!).

Martin