The XO laptop from the One Laptop Per Child project was originally supposed to make inroads into the developing world and low-income areas for the free and open source community. But OLPC’s founder thinks that the Sugar OS is scaring off investors and buyers alike. He says:
"One can be an open-source advocate without being an open-source fundamentalist."
Which is true, but I think that’s a bit disingenuous when you’re ostensibly trying to provide simple, efficient, and low-cost computing to people who’ve never seen a mouse before. He complains that Sugar doesn’t support the latest Flash framework, required for many children’s sites, but can’t they just push a patch out? I’d guess there’s a lot more to it than that, and a proven OS might draw a few more investors. Open Source and Linux are definitely entering the mainstream, but I think compromises like this will have to be expected for a long time to come.