Brazil is wiring up its favelas (shantytowns) using free software and recycled hardware, turning GNU/Linux into a serious force for sustainable development. Bill Gates is so freaked out by this that he's tried, unsuccessfully, to book a meeting with the President of Brazil, who turned him down. BRRRRRAAAAZZIIIILLLL!
"We have 80 computers here, all donated by Brazilian businesses," says the project organiser, Dalton Martins. Around him, children and teenagers from the Sacadura Cabral favela are tapping away on brightly-painted keyboards.
Dalton explains that open-source software is an essential to the project: partly because it drastically reduces costs; and partly because it can be modified to suit local needs.
But there are signs of nerves. In January, Mr Gates unsuccessfully sought a private meeting with President Lula at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
(Thanks, Andi!)
