p2pnet news | Product News:- It looks as if a small French Linux house has trumped Bill and the Boyz.

Mandriva’s recent open letter to Microsoft heavy Steve Ballmer [Nigerian government - please read] complained about being passed over saying:

We recently closed a deal with the Nigerian Government. Maybe you heard about it, Steve. They were looking for an affordable hardware+software solution for their schools. The initial batch was 17,000 machines. We had a good answer to their need: the Classmate PC from Intel, with a customized Mandriva Linux solution.

We presented the solution to the local government, they liked the machine, they liked our system, they liked what we offered them, the fact that it was open, that we could customize it for their country and so on.

Then your people entered the game and the deal got more competitive. I would not say it got dirty, but someone could have said that. They fought and fought the deal, but still the customer was happy to get CMPC and Mandriva.

Now, “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,” according to the IDG News Service.

“We are sticking with that platform,” it has the official, who wouldn’t give his name, saying.

Adds the story:

“It’s not clear how much TSC would pay for each Windows XP license. Efforts to reach senior managers at TSC, which is a subsidiary of Alteq.ict, an IT consulting business in Nigeria, were unsuccessful.

“However, details on Mandriva’s deal with TSC have emerged. Mandriva is providing a customized OS for Nigeria for under $10 per license, including support, according to its local partner.”

Slashdot it!

Also See:
passed over – Mandriva open letter to Steve Ballmer, November 1, 2007
IDG News Service – Nigeria Favors Mandriva Over Microsoft Once More, November 9, 2007
Mandriva

http://digg.com/linux_unix/Linux_house_beats_Microsoft_in_Nigeria

This entry was posted on Friday, November 9th, 2007 at 12:26 pm and is filed under Product News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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