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Walter Bender, Former President of Software and Content for the OLPC project, has stepped down due to his disagreement with founder Nicholas Negroponte, who wants to abandon Linux in favor of Windows XP in order to increase the marketability of the XO laptop. Bender had led the development of XO’s Linux OS, called Sugar. Before his resignation, he had been reassigned to oversee deployment of the organizations low cost laptops to children in developing countries. He had this to say in his exit statement:

“After more than two years without a break at One Laptop per Child, I have decided to take some time to reflect on how I can best contribute going forward to the goal of giving children around the world opportunities for a quality learning experience. The OLPC Association is making headway getting laptops into the hands of children and it is encouraging to see that other non-profit and for-profit organizations are following suit. My personal interest is in helping build a community of developers, educators, and learners dedicated to advancing the quality of free and open source software for learning and the sharing of pedagogical approaches in this community by adopting the spirit and methodology of the open-source movement.

While my goal is to create a complementary effort to broaden the reach of the software and pedagogy—a free and open framework in support of “learning learning”, I hope to continue working with the great team at OLPC as well as the various groups that have formed around the world in support of one-laptop-per-child deployments.”

Negroponte told BusinessWeek earlier this year that he felt OLPC had been operating “like a terrorist group” and that it needed to be run “like Microsoft”, remarks that apparently did not sit well with Bender, who is an ardent supporter of Open Source projects. Negroponte also told BusinessWeek that he is looking for a new CEO to take over for him so he can take on a more “visionary” role.

Via [CrunchGear]