[WikiEN-l] Re: [Wikipedia-l] Re: [Foundation-l] Partnership with Mandrakesoft

Thu Sep 23 02:04:11 UTC 2004

Bryan Derksen wrote:

> I bet a nice market could be school libraries in not-so-well-off 
> neighborhoods. They could buy a cheap second-hand computer, stick a 
> Mandrake Wikipedia on it, and presto - a top-of-the-line (by some 
> standards :) encyclopedia that the kids could even make copies of and 
> take home if they wanted. I recall someone was asking about this very 
> possibility a month or so back, he wanted to install Wikipedia in some 
> local schools and was looking for a way to download the image database 
> to go with the text.

I'm not sure if this is unform across the US, but in places I've lived, 
school libraries (and public libraries) in not-so-well-off neighborhoods 
have been exceedingly well-connected, due to specific funding set aside 
to bring computer equipment and internet access to poor areas.  It is 
true that home internet connectivity strongly correlates with income 
though (although there's no real reason why it should, as cancelling 
your cable service---which a huge percentage of Americans, including 
poor Americans, pay for---and buying internet access instead will 
generally result in a net savings).

-Mark