PC Conectado

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

PC Conectado, or Computador para Todos, is a tax-free computer initiative launched by the Brazilian government, since 2003.

PCs available through the project are relatively low-end, but therefore are cheap enough to satisfy most of the population, at R$1200 (or about US$500). Most PCs available have:

128 or 256 MB RAM
A low end processor, usually a Celeron processor.
40 GB or 80 GB hard disk
Linux, usually Insigne Linux, a Fedora based distribution fully compatible with his software repositories^[1].

In the initial phases of the project, Microsoft offered the Brazilian government the use of its Windows XP Starter Edition, a cut down version of their popular OS for developing countries. The offer was rejected due to the severe limitations of the Starter Edition. Since then, the project has used only free and open source software for general work, like Inkscape, OpenOffice, GIMP and Amarok. However, a small share of people replace it by pirate copies of Windows (mostly Windows XP, which can be easily found).

An option providing cheap dial-up access to the Internet may be available soon, costing R$7 (about US$2.50).

1 Where to buy
2 See also
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Where to buy

PC Conectado can be acquired in many major Brazilian department stores. Many Brazilian stores have an independent Linux vendor on site from whom a user can choose the hardware configuration and distro.