Difference between revisions of "Features/Host Version"

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<noinclude>{{GoogleTrans-en}}{{TOCright}}
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[[Category:Feature Page Incomplete]]
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[[Category:Feature|Host Version]]</noinclude>
  
 
== Summary ==
 
== Summary ==
Using "hosts" variable in the activity.info files to determine whether an activity runs on the specific Sugar installation.
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Using the "hosts" variable in the activity.info file to define the Sugar version for which an activity was designed and tested.
  
 
== Owner ==
 
== Owner ==
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== Detailed Description ==
 
== Detailed Description ==
With 0.86 being on the horizont, 0.84 being used on SoaS, 0.82 being widely used among the G1G1 community and some deployments and many deployment still using pre-0.82 software I think the issue of activity compatibility deserves some serious attention. Otherwise this has the potential to create _a lot of_ confusion and frustration further down the road.
+
With 0.86 being on the horizon, 0.84 being used on SoaS, 0.82 being widely used among the G1G1 community and some deployments and many deployment still using pre-0.82 software I think the issue of activity compatibility deserves some serious attention. Otherwise this has the potential to create '''a lot of confusion''' and frustration further down the road (especially with things like the XO-1.5 that supports 3D acceleration on the horizon).
  
Not sure what the original plans wrt the technical implemention of this feature were but I would assume the harder part of solving this problem is spreading the word among activity developers to update their .xo bundles accordingly.
+
: Not sure what the original plans wrt the technical implemention of this feature were but I would assume the harder part of solving this problem is spreading the word among activity developers to update their .xo bundles accordingly.
 +
:: iirc, the original idea was roughly to have a monotonically increasing series of host #s which would define the point in the sugar devolution when the activity was finished and tested, with the idea that a later version of Sugar would be likely to run an older activity but not vice versa. If you are thinking in terms of 'on which of six platforms has this been tested' then this .info field may not be ideally suited to the task.  [[User:Sj|+sj]]  [[User Talk:Sj|<font color="#ff6996">+</font>]]
 +
::: Mmm, that's a very good point. Do we want to distinguish just between progressing versions or also between different flavors of the same version? [[User:ChristophD|ChristophD]]]
 +
 
 +
Someone, preferably the activity authors themselves, would need to check activities against the various Sugar versions which are in use and document their findings. This however could also be a nice entry-level task for people who want to start contributing to Sugar.
  
 
== Benefit to Sugar ==
 
== Benefit to Sugar ==
 +
* avoid user confusion as to why some activities might potentially not work on the currently installed OS.
 +
* identify activity developers who don't know about compatibility issues and the importance of testing on specific versions of Sugar (they won't have updated their default .info file)
  
 
''What is the benefit to the platform?  If this is a major capability update, what has changed?  If this is a new feature, what capabilities does it bring? Why will Sugar become a better platform or project because of this feature?''
 
  
 
== Scope ==
 
== Scope ==
''What work do the developers have to accomplish to complete the feature in time for release?  Is it a large change affecting many parts of the distribution or is it a very isolated change? What are those changes?''
+
TBD
  
 
== How To Test ==
 
== How To Test ==
''This does not need to be a full-fledged document.  Describe the dimensions of tests that this feature is expected to pass when it is done.  If it needs to be tested with different hardware or software configurations, indicate them.  The more specific you can be, the better the community testing can be.''
+
TBD
 
 
''Remember that you are writing this how to for interested testers to use to check out your feature - documenting what you do for testing is OK, but it's much better to document what *I* can do to test your feature.''
 
 
 
''A good "how to test" should answer these four questions:''
 
 
 
* ''What special hardware / data / etc. is needed (if any)?
 
* ''How do I prepare my system to test this feature? What packages need to be installed, config files edited, etc.?
 
* ''What specific actions do I perform to check that the feature is working like it's supposed to?
 
* ''What are the expected results of those actions?''
 
  
 
== User Experience ==
 
== User Experience ==
 
Depends on the implementation but one way could be to fail gracefully by showing a warning when an activity that doesn't work on the specific Sugar version is downloaded/run. The warning message could also include information or a link to information on how to update the XO to the latest version.
 
Depends on the implementation but one way could be to fail gracefully by showing a warning when an activity that doesn't work on the specific Sugar version is downloaded/run. The warning message could also include information or a link to information on how to update the XO to the latest version.
 +
 +
Also, the ability to sort a.sl.o activities by host. 
  
 
== Dependencies ==
 
== Dependencies ==
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* See [[{{TALKPAGENAME}}|discussion tab for this feature]]
 
* See [[{{TALKPAGENAME}}|discussion tab for this feature]]
  
[[Category:Feature Page Incomplete]]
 
[[Category:Feature]]
 
 
----
 
----
 
''You can add categories to tie features back to real deployments/schools requesting them, for example <nowiki>[[</nowiki>Category:Features requested by School Xyz]]''
 
''You can add categories to tie features back to real deployments/schools requesting them, for example <nowiki>[[</nowiki>Category:Features requested by School Xyz]]''

Latest revision as of 00:56, 18 October 2009

Summary

Using the "hosts" variable in the activity.info file to define the Sugar version for which an activity was designed and tested.

Owner

Current status

  • Targeted release: 0.86
  • Last updated: 2009-07-21
  • Percentage of completion: 0%

Detailed Description

With 0.86 being on the horizon, 0.84 being used on SoaS, 0.82 being widely used among the G1G1 community and some deployments and many deployment still using pre-0.82 software I think the issue of activity compatibility deserves some serious attention. Otherwise this has the potential to create a lot of confusion and frustration further down the road (especially with things like the XO-1.5 that supports 3D acceleration on the horizon).

Not sure what the original plans wrt the technical implemention of this feature were but I would assume the harder part of solving this problem is spreading the word among activity developers to update their .xo bundles accordingly.
iirc, the original idea was roughly to have a monotonically increasing series of host #s which would define the point in the sugar devolution when the activity was finished and tested, with the idea that a later version of Sugar would be likely to run an older activity but not vice versa. If you are thinking in terms of 'on which of six platforms has this been tested' then this .info field may not be ideally suited to the task. +sj +
Mmm, that's a very good point. Do we want to distinguish just between progressing versions or also between different flavors of the same version? ChristophD]

Someone, preferably the activity authors themselves, would need to check activities against the various Sugar versions which are in use and document their findings. This however could also be a nice entry-level task for people who want to start contributing to Sugar.

Benefit to Sugar

  • avoid user confusion as to why some activities might potentially not work on the currently installed OS.
  • identify activity developers who don't know about compatibility issues and the importance of testing on specific versions of Sugar (they won't have updated their default .info file)


Scope

TBD

How To Test

TBD

User Experience

Depends on the implementation but one way could be to fail gracefully by showing a warning when an activity that doesn't work on the specific Sugar version is downloaded/run. The warning message could also include information or a link to information on how to update the XO to the latest version.

Also, the ability to sort a.sl.o activities by host.

Dependencies

TBD

Contingency Plan

None yet

Documentation

None yet

Release Notes

TBD

Comments and Discussion


You can add categories to tie features back to real deployments/schools requesting them, for example [[Category:Features requested by School Xyz]]