Red Hat boss claims digital divide contributes to terrorism

The first keynote of the Red Hat conference here in San Diego kicked off with a passionate speech from chief executive Matthew Szulik who asserted that some of the blame for the terrorist threat that many developed nations are facing, lies with the fact many developing countries have been left behind when it comes to the digital revolution – particularly when it comes to education.

"One of the things I am pushing is the call for large scale national open source initiatives – we have to provide the low-cost platforms – the hazard of nations that have not been brought into 21st century networks are manifesting themselves in worldwide terror," he said

Red Hat has been heavily involved in the One Laptop per Child project (OLPC) which aims to provide developing nations with access to a cheap PC for around $100.

Szulik also couldn't resist taking a side-swipe at Microsoft alluding to the time it has take to get Vista out of the door.

"…being able to produce four world class enterprise releases when our competitors struggled to get one out in the same time – you decide, you decide."