[ Thanks to M.
Fioretti for this link. ]
“Ubuntu is a computer operating system alternative to
Windows, but free of license costs and well suited to families and
schools. When I read this message on the mailing list for Ubuntu
Italian users:“My kids learned very quickly how to use both Ubuntu and the
Mac. Chiara is 10 years old, Nikko 12, but he’s autistic. I MUST
use Windows only because the educational software for Nikko only
runs on Windows!!!! Talk about monopolies… what else should I
call this?“I contacted that mom to know more. The result was a really
interesting phone conversation in which we also talked about
Ubuntu, but mostly of the role that computers and the Internet have
in a family with special needs, the general role they could have in
society and of some software-related cliches. Here is (obviously
with the authorization of Donatella) a summary of that phone
call.“Stop: Are you a software programmer?
Donatella: No, I just learned by myself how to use computers and
I am not scared of thinkering with them. I began to use regularly a
computer and the Internet in 2000, just to collect as much
information as possible about autism, in order to help Nikko.“Stop: How did it go?”