French students to get open-source software on USB key

French authorities will give out 175,000 USB memory sticks loaded with open-source software to Parisian high school students at the start of the next school year.

The sticks will give the students, ages 15 and 16, the freedom to access their e-mail, browser bookmarks and other documents on computers at school, home, a friend's house or in an Internet cafe -- but at a much lower cost than providing notebook computers for all, a spokesman for the Greater Paris Regional Council said Friday.

It's a way to reduce the digital divide, said spokesman Jean-Baptiste Roger.

More...