Sugar Labs - User contributions [en]

Summer of Code/2015

2015-03-18T23:08:01Z

Pbrobinson: /* Sugar Activities */

'''Students''': See our guide on [[Summer_of_Code#How_to_participate|how to participate in Google Summer of Code]] for more information.

== Project candidates ==

In the table below is a list of projects potential participants might contribute to in the GSoC program.

;Note 0: These are project ideas from Sugar Labs contributors. Students, feel free to propose your ideas as well.
;Note 1: We are focusing on the Javascript components within Sugar this summer. It means that you've got to write activities for Sugar Web and Sugarizer. More information: on Sugar Web [https://github.com/sugarlabs/sugar-docs/blob/master/web-architecture.md][https://github.com/sugarlabs/sugar-docs/blob/master/activity.md] and on Sugarizer [http://sugarizer.org]
;Note 2: Potential mentors, please feel free to add ideas to this list. Also, feel free to add your name to a project you'd be willing to co-mentor.
;Note 3: Potential students, more project ideas can be found on our [[Features]] page.
;Note 4: Accepted projects are in '''Green'''

== Sugar Core ==

{| border=1 cellpadding=3 style="border: 1px solid white; border-collapse: collapse; background: #e3e4e5;"
|-style="background:#787878; color: white;"
! !! Title !! Mentor !! Project
|-
!valign=top | [[File:git_logo.png|90px|thumb|center]] ||valign=top width="15%" style="background:#e3e4e5;" |Git backend||valign=top width="15%" | Martin Abente Lahaye and Walter Bender ||align=left valign=top|
;Brief explanation: The Sugar Journal doesn't do a great job of supporting versioning or forking. This project is to build a backend for the Journal that is based on git, which does support versioning and forking. By building on top of a git hosting site we get the added benefit of network access as well.
;Expected results: Working code and an integration with Turtle Blocks
;Knowledge prerequisite: Strong background in Git and scripting languages such as Python, Ruby and JavaScript.

|-
!valign=top | [[File:Cordova_sugar.png|90px|center|thumb]] || valign=top style="background:#e3e4e5;" | Cordova/PhoneGap container for Sugar || valign=top | Puneet Kaur and Lionel Laské||align=left valign=top |
;Brief explanation: Making cordova plugins for sugar and demonstrating the working plugins via sugar activities, incooperating cordova plugins with the existing sugar activities visit : http://sugarcordova.blogspot.com/ for more info
;Expected results: Working Demonstration of new plugins and new activities based on implemented plugins
;Knowledge prerequisite: Strong background in JavaScript,python

|-
!valign=top | || valign=top style="background:#e3e4e5;" | Performance tuning on machines with limited memory || valign=top | Samuel Greenfeld and James Cameron||align=left valign=top |
;Brief explanation: The newer Sugar builds have performance issues on some old hardware with limited memory. This is keeping some Sugar deployments from upgrading. This project is to look into the performance issues and tune Sugar for low-memory devices.
;Expected results: build suitable for running on OLPC XO-1 hardware
;Knowledge prerequisite:

|-
!valign=top | || valign=top style="background:#e3e4e5;" | Re-design collaboration with web technologies || valign=top | Martin Abente Lahaye and Walter Bender ||align=left valign=top |
;Brief explanation: Now that JavaScript has become a first class citizen in the Sugar ecosystem, we must re-design our collaboration model to allow collaboration between web activities regardless of the platform.
;Knowledge prerequisite: JavaScript, web sockets, web services.
|}

== Sugar Activities ==

{| border=1 cellpadding=3 style="border: 1px solid white; border-collapse: collapse; background: #e3e4e5;"
|-style="background:#787878; color: white;"
! !! Title !! Mentor !! Project
|-
!valign=top | [[File:turtlejs.png|90px|thumb|center]] ||valign=top width="15%" style="background:#e3e4e5;" |Turtle Blocks 3D Javascript||valign=top width="15%" | Tony Forster and Walter Bender||align=left valign=top|
;Brief explanation: The Python version of Turtle Blocks 3D is based on GTK since Sugar uses GTK and GTK is largely incompatible with OpenGL. In a Javascript version, we could use OpenGL and take advantage of many more graphics libraries, such as 3D lighting models and texture mapping.
;Expected results: A new Turtle Blocks spin that adds basic 3D transforms to Turtle Blocks (e.g., setxyz, pitch, roll, yaw); camera and lighting models; surface texture mapping; and a rich set of example projects.
;Knowledge prerequisite: Strong background in Javascript
|-
!valign=top | [[File:turtlejs.png|90px|thumb|center]] ||valign=top width="15%" style="background:#e3e4e5;" |Turtle Blocks export as Javascript||valign=top width="15%" | Walter Bender||align=left valign=top|
;Brief explanation: The Python version of Turtle Blocks allows the user to export their project as Python code. We need an equivalent Javascript export for the Javascript version.
;Expected results: Working code integrated into Turtle Blocks JS
;Knowledge prerequisite: Strong background in Javascript
|-
!valign=top | [[File:turtlejs.png|90px|thumb|center]] ||valign=top width="15%" style="background:#e3e4e5;" |Turtle Blocks inline Javascript||valign=top width="15%" | Walter Bender||align=left valign=top|
;Brief explanation: There are several block-based programming environments that allow the user to extend the language in line, such as Blocky and Pencil Code. (Turtle Blocks uses plugins for this, but they are imported). The goal of this project is to write an in-line block editor for Turtle Blocks (Javascript version).
;Expected results: Working code integrated into Turtle Blocks JS
;Knowledge prerequisite: Strong background in Javascript
|-
!valign=top | [[File:turtlejs.png|90px|thumb|center]] ||valign=top width="15%" style="background:#e3e4e5;" |Turtle Blocks debugging tools||valign=top width="15%" | Cynthia Solomon and Walter Bender||align=left valign=top|
;Brief explanation: There are several debugging tools in Turtle Blocks: the ability to set breakpoints, step through code, and inspect variables. But we could use a more comprehensive approach, including a mechanism for tracking progress over time.
;Expected results: Working code integrated into Turtle Blocks JS
;Knowledge prerequisite: Strong background in Javascript
|-
!valign=top | [[File:turtlejs.png|90px|thumb|center]] ||valign=top width="15%" style="background:#e3e4e5;" |Turtle Blocks for in-line programming||valign=top width="15%" | Gonzalo Odiard and Walter Bender||align=left valign=top|
;Brief explanation: Often we'd like users to be able to extend or modify an activity. Rather than doing this by writing Python or Javascript, why not let them use the block language of Turtle Blocks as an in-line editor. For example, in the Turtle Pond activity, the user can upload Python code representing search algorithms for the turtle as it tries to find its way out of the pond. Why not use a block editor to write the search algorithm? Using the Turtle Blocks engine as an editor inside existing activities would be the preferred mechanism, as oppose to constantly extending Turtle Blocks itself. This would (1) let the editor be more specific to the needs of the individual activity; (2) lessen the burden on the user for installing plugins and extensions; (3) circumvent situations where there are barriers to sharing data between activities -- e.g., running outside of Sugar; and (4) perhaps encourage more developers to incorporate more programmatic elements in their activities.

;Expected results: Integration into the Physics Activity
;Knowledge prerequisite: Strong background in Javascript/Python
|-
!valign=top | [[File:mouse-music.png|90px|thumb|center]] ||valign=top width="15%" style="background:#e3e4e5;" |Music Blocks||valign=top width="15%" |Devin Ulibarri||align=left valign=top|
;Brief explanation: Using a framework similar to Turtle Blocks Javascript, build a suite of music tools for introducing the basic concepts of scale, beat, chord, phrasing, sequencing, transformations, etc. See some of Devin's sketches at [http://people.sugarlabs.org/walter/2015-02-16%20Mouse%20Music.pdf].
;Expected results: Working code
;Knowledge prerequisite: Strong background in Javascript
|-
!valign=top | [[File:confusion.png|90px|thumb|center]] ||valign=top width="15%" style="background:#e3e4e5;" |Beyond Flashcards: Programming to ReadJS||valign=top width="15%" | and Walter Bender||align=left valign=top|
;Brief explanation: Back in the 1980s, IBM had a literacy program, "Writing to Read". The gist was that writing was a great way to spark a child's interest in reading. What if writing code could achieve a similar result? The project is to explore how programming might be incorporated into a literacy program. Like turtle, only simple sentences instead of stacks. It would be a "whole word" approach rather than a "phonics" approach: they can take "sentences" and make paragraphs that result in animations.
;Expected results: Working prototype
;Knowledge prerequisite: Strong background in Javascript
|-
!valign=top | ||valign=top width="15%" style="background:#e3e4e5;" | Covert Record, Clock, Speak and Measure to gstreamer 1.0 ||valign=top width="15%" | <TBD> ||align=left valign=top|
;Brief explanation: The vast majority of Activities that use gstreamer for sound have been converted to gstreamer 1.0 because the older 0.10 is now End of Life and is no longer being developed. It also adds quite a large set of extra duplicate dependencies to Sugar distributions. There's a lot of good examples of Activities that have been converted to provide excellent examples. The gstreamer 1.0 bindings are provided by gobject-introspection so it also assists in the conversion of Activities to gtk3.
;Expected results: As many of the above Activities converted to use gst 1.0
;Knowledge prerequisite: Strong background in python, gobject-introspection and gstreamer
|-
!valign=top | ||valign=top width="15%" style="background:#e3e4e5;" | Covert TamTam to Csound6 ||valign=top width="15%" | <TBD> ||align=left valign=top|
;Brief explanation: TamTam makes extensive use of CSound, other Activities like Memorize, Pippy, and TurtleBlocks also can make use of CSound bindings. With the introduction of CSound 6 to a number of distributions TamTam needs migration to use the newer version of CSound.
;Expected results: Convert TamTam to use CSound6, possibly other Activities
;Knowledge prerequisite: Strong background in python, background in CSound
|-
!valign=top | ||valign=top width="15%" style="background:#e3e4e5;" | Modernise eToys Activity ||valign=top width="15%" | <TBD> ||align=left valign=top|
;Brief explanation: eToys hasn't been updated for some time to newer Sugar APIs and design. Improve the Sugar eToys Activity to no longer depend on the long obsolete sugar-precense-service and generally update it to more modern Sugar design and APIs.
;Expected results: Modernise eToys Sugar Activity
;Knowledge prerequisite: Strong background in python
|}

== Sugar Activities (Ports) ==

These are existing Python activities we'd like to see ported to JavaScript. In porting we expect that the activities will take on new UI features and pedagogical significance.

{| border=1 cellpadding=3 style="border: 1px solid white; border-collapse: collapse; background: #e3e4e5;"
|-style="background:#787878; color: white;"
! !! Title !! Mentor !! Project
|-
!valign=top | [[File:Gsoc2015 llaske.svg|90px|thumb|center]] ||valign=top width="15%" style="background:#e3e4e5;" |Sugar Web Basic Activity Set||valign=top width="15%" |Lionel Laské||align=left valign=top|
Using Sugar Web Framework - the JavaScript Framework for Sugar - you will have to develop and enhance basic Sugar activity set including activities: Calculate, Paint, Memorize and Record. All activities should use Sugar features (specific UI, journal and collaboration) and should work both on Sugar/Fedora and Sugarizer/Web.
Pre-requisite:
* Good level on HTML5/JavaScript and knowledge of frameworks to handle Canvas objects.
* Knowledge of PhoneGap/Cordova
* Understanding of Python
* Good capacity to do reverse engineering on existing code.
More information: Sugar Web [https://github.com/sugarlabs/sugar-docs/blob/master/web-architecture.md]
[https://github.com/sugarlabs/sugar-docs/blob/master/activity.md], Sugarizer [http://sugarizer.org], Calculate [http://activities.sugarlabs.org/en/sugar/addon/4076], Paint [http://activities.sugarlabs.org/en/sugar/addon/4082][http://activities.sugarlabs.org/en/sugar/addon/4695], Memorize [http://activities.sugarlabs.org/en/sugar/addon/4063][http://activities.sugarlabs.org/en/sugar/addon/4693] and Record [http://activities.sugarlabs.org/en/sugar/addon/4081].
|-
!valign=top | [[File:abacus.jpg|90px|thumb|center]] ||valign=top width="15%" style="background:#e3e4e5;" |Abacus JS||valign=top width="15%" | Walter Bender||align=left valign=top|
;Brief explanation: Port of the Abacus activity.
;Expected results:
;Knowledge prerequisite: Strong background in Javascript
|-
!valign=top | [[File:fototoon.png|90px|thumb|center]] ||valign=top width="15%" style="background:#e3e4e5;" |Fototoons JS||valign=top width="15%" |Gonzalo Odiard||align=left valign=top|
;Brief explanation: Port of Fototoons.
;Expected results:
;Knowledge prerequisite: Strong background in Javascript
|-
!valign=top | [[File:Activity-physics-55x55.png|90px|thumb|center]] ||valign=top width="15%" style="background:#e3e4e5;" |Physics JS||valign=top width="15%" | Walter Bender||align=left valign=top|
;Brief explanation: Port of Physics.
;Expected results:
;Knowledge prerequisite: Strong background in Javascript
|-
!valign=top | [[File:Dimensions-icon.png|90px|thumb|center]] ||valign=top width="15%" style="background:#e3e4e5;" |Dimensions JS||valign=top width="15%" | Walter Bender||align=left valign=top|
;Brief explanation: Port of Dimensions.
;Expected results:
;Knowledge prerequisite: Strong background in Javascript
|-
!valign=top | [[File:Spirolaterals-icon.svg|90px|thumb|center]] ||valign=top width="15%" style="background:#e3e4e5;" |Spirolaterals JS||valign=top width="15%" | Walter Bender||align=left valign=top|
;Brief explanation: Port of Spirolaterals.
;Expected results:
;Knowledge prerequisite: Strong background in Javascript
|-
!valign=top | [[File:Turtle-Flags.png|90px|thumb|center]] ||valign=top width="15%" style="background:#e3e4e5;" |Turtle Flags JS||valign=top width="15%" | Walter Bender||align=left valign=top|
;Brief explanation: Port of Turtle Flags.
;Expected results:
;Knowledge prerequisite: Strong background in Javascript
|-
!valign=top | [[File:confusion.png|90px|thumb|center]] ||valign=top width="15%" style="background:#e3e4e5;" |Turtle Confusion JS||valign=top width="15%" | Walter Bender||align=left valign=top|
;Brief explanation: Port of Turtle Confusion.
;Expected results:
;Knowledge prerequisite: Strong background in Javascript
|-
!valign=top | ||valign=top width="15%" style="background:#e3e4e5;" |Image Viewer JS||valign=top width="15%" | Walter Bender||align=left valign=top|
;Brief explanation: Port of Image Viewer (including image processing package)
;Expected results:
;Knowledge prerequisite: Strong background in Javascript
|}

== Web Technology ==

Sugar is based on the Python programming language. A major new emphasis is on web techologies: HTML5, CSS, and Javascript. There is a need to help
our users learn these technologies.

{| border=1 cellpadding=3 style="border: 1px solid white; border-collapse: collapse; background: #e3e4e5;"
|-style="background:#787878; color: white;"
! !! Title !! Mentor !! Project
|-
!valign=top | [[File:GSOC_Browse.png|90px|thumb|center]] ||valign=top width="15%" style="background:#e3e4e5;" |Web Confusion||valign=top width="15%" |Tony Anderson||align=left valign=top|
Create a representative set of web pages as challenges to learners who are developing skills in HTML and CSS. The idea is comparable to Turtle Confusion
which provides a set of figures to be created using TurtleBlocks. The web pages should not require Javascript. Creative use of images, audio and video should be encouraged (users have access to a camera and microphone and so can create media).

Pre-requisite:
* Good knowledge of HTML and CSS and creative design skills
|}
{| border=1 cellpadding=3 style="border: 1px solid white; border-collapse: collapse; background: #e3e4e5;"
|-style="background:#787878; color: white;"
! !! Title !! Mentor !! Project
|-
!valign=top | [[File:GSOC_Browse.png|90px|thumb|center]] ||valign=top width="15%" style="background:#e3e4e5;" |Interactive Javascript Shell||valign=top width="15%" |Tony Anderson||align=left valign=top|

There are many online tools that allow the user to type in javascript and then immediately run it. This is very useful in teaching a language.
Research available tools and their design, create an open source tool which can be run from an offline host (e.g. school server) or on the XO to support user learning of Javascript.

Pre-requisite:
* Good knowledge of javascript
|}
==Subpages==
{{Special:PrefixIndex/{{PAGENAMEE}}/}}

Summer of Code/2013

2013-03-27T14:42:25Z

Pbrobinson: /* PackageKit control panel plugin for Distribution Activity/OS installs/updates */

[[Summer of Code/2013/Application|A draft copy of our application]]

= Project candidates =

A list of projects potential participants might contribute within GSoC program.

;Note:Potential mentors, please feel free to add ideas to this list. Also, feel free to add your name to a project you'd be willing to co-mentor.
;Note:Potential students, more project ideas can be found on our [[Features]] page.

__TOC__

== Sugar Core ==

=== Sugar Framework for writing activity in full HTML5 ===

[[File:Sugarhtml5.png|300px]]

The objective is to develop a JavaScript framework allowing to write Sugar activities in full HTML5/JavaScript. The framework will expose to JavaScript an API to call Sugar features:
* Journal/Datastore,
* Collaboration/Telepathy,
* Toolbar handling,
* Sugar look&feel - for example via a CSS style sheet usable on HTML controls
* Access to Sugar settings (buddy name, colors, current language, ...),
* View source.
Like PhoneGap/Cordova, the framework will come with a template to develop and package easily a new HTML5 activity. A basic tutorial will be include too.
The work could be inspired by the work done with Enyo Framework in [http://booki.flossmanuals.net/make-your-own-sugar-activities/_draft/_v/1.0/developing-sugar-activities-using-html5/ 1]. By the way, the resulting framework should be JavaScript framework agnostic (no need for jQuery, Enyo, ...).

''Mentor'': [mailto:lionel@olpc-france.org Lionel Laské]

''Co-Mentor'': Daniel Narvaez

Level: Advanced

Benefits to the Student: A chance to learn from touching almost every corner of an advanced system.

Benefits to the Community: We'll greatly expand the reach of the project by opening the door to JavaScript programmers. Plus it will force us to clean up our APIs.

=== Unified journal view ===

Rather than viewing the details of a Journal entry on a separate page, the idea is to make the details appear in an expandable in-line format on the main Journal view. The look and feel would be more like Google+ or Facebook. Performance will be a major challenge.

[[File:Journal-02.jpeg|300px]]

This project requires some working knowledge of the low-level Sugar Journal and datastore code.

''Contact'': [[User:Walter]]

Level: Advanced

Benefits to the Student: A chance to exercise both design/UI and programming skills

Benefits to the Community: Long-overdue feature that will make this core Sugar feature more visible and appealing to our users

=== Plugin support ===

A number of activities, notably [[Activities/TurtleArt#Plugins|Turtle Art]], are supporting plugins -- the ability to extend features by downloading additional modules. However, [[Activities/TurtleArt#How_to_install_a_plugin|the mechanism for installing plugins]] is anything but friendly. It would be nice to design a uniform plugin bundle type and modify the activity installer to recognize this new type. Caveats include dependencies -- presumably the plugin would take care of that -- and version control -- plugins are often incumbent upon a specific version of an activity. [http://activities.sugarlabs.org ASLO hosting]] should also be considered.

Strong Python skills and experience with Sugar toolkit required.

''Contact'': [[User:Walter]]

''Co-mentor:'' [[User:Aneesh Dogra]]

''Co-mentor: '' [[User:Francis]]

Level: Intermediate

Benefits to the Student: A chance to touch lots of code

Benefits to the Community: A simple way to develop and deliver customizations to activities and Sugar itself. Sugar can remain simple and stable, while the extensions can be more of a play ground for new ideas

=== PackageKit control panel plugin for Distribution Activity/OS installs/updates ===

The updates Control Panel only deals with updating of user installed Activities and is badly broken with Sugar 0.98. PackageKit is a universal interface to a number of packaging standards (rpm/deb etc) used by a number of distributions. It can work with Fedora/OpenSuse/Debian/Ubuntu and others so provides a single packaging interface to multiple distributions.

By interfacing with the distribution's packaging interface the user can be displayed with a list of all installed and available Sugar Activities available in the distro, apply Activity and OS updates to their system or install new ones. It allows the distro to have available their Activity set that has been tested and QAed on their platforms.

It will also ease deployments that wish to use a central OS/Activities repository as they can configure in the OS the underlying repositories where they wish to pull the distro updates from to ensure the Sugar users only get tested and approved activities and OS updates

Strong Python skills and experience with Sugar toolkit required.

''Contact'': Needs Python mentor

''Co-mentor:'' [[User:Peter Robinson]]

''Co-mentor: ''

Level: Intermediate

Benefits to the Student: A chance to develop good integration with core OS infrastructure and core Sugar control panel code.

Benefits to the Community: A simple way to deploy new and updated Activities as well as core OS improvements including updates to Sugar itself. Sugar can remain simple and stable, while the updater can help deployments or individual users on all Distributions.

=== End-user modifications of Sugar source ===

We have an existing mechanism for duplicating and modifying Sugar activities: a copy of the bundle can be creaed in ~/Activities, where it can be modified by the end user. We also have a mechanism for viewing the Sugar toolkit source, but no such convenient way for making changes without risking messing up the system. While it should be easy enough to make a duplicate copy in the user's home directory, and to change the Python paths to use the modified code, we need some mechanism -- presumably at boot -- to choose which version to run: the installed version or the modified version.

Strong Python skills and experience with Sugar toolkit required.

''Contact'': [[User:Walter]]

Level: Advanced

Benefits to the Student: A chance to touch lots of code

Benefits to the Community: We'll come further towards our goal of enabling and encouraging our users to "own" through modification all aspects of our code.

=== Project sharing website ===

Create a Project Hosting Site similar to the Scratch website where kids can share the projects they have created using various Sugar Activities. The site should foster collaboration and sharing of projects. The Web Site should be built using a free web framework so that it can be installed at deployment sites. Some features include:

* Ability to engage and connect with friends and classmates using various Social Networking sites/techniques.
* Ability to post projects from various Sugar Activities (ex: Turtle Blocks, Etoys, Memorize, Physics, etc.)
* Separate landing pages for different audiences (kids, teachers, parents, etc)
* Section to share kid created art from projects
* Ability for users to create galleries (of their own projects, favorite projects, subject specific topics, etc).
* Ability to have “private classroom spaces”
* Tools to support community management of the site
* Multi-language support

''Contact'': [[User:MrSteve]]

''Co-mentor'': [[User:dogi]]

Level: Advanced

Benefits to the Student: Learn more about web services

Benefits to the Community: We need more mechanisms for sharing ideas and work. This is low-hanging fruit.

=== Social Sugar ===

Design and Develop GUI components that can help Sugar to reflect user's social interactions. A perfect target can be the Group-View that shows user's friends and their shared activities [http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Human_Interface_Guidelines/The_Laptop_Experience/Zoom_Metaphor#Groups], but it could also show social information about these friends, IE social network or sharing platforms publications. This would also give this ZOOM level added value.

Community members are already working on the backend component to support this feature [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/sugar-devel/2013-March/042055.html]. This is also a great opportunity to complement other GSoC-2013 proposals.

''Contact'': [[User:tch]]

Level: Advanced

Benefits to the Student: (a) Learn about Sugar's core, UI Design and web services and (b) interact with community members and other GSoC participants.

Benefits to the Community: Social interaction is a key element in the learning process, therefore we should promote this.

=== Sugar as a Service website ===

Create a Site for managing multiple "Sugar in a Browser" sessions like [https://one.treehouse.su/gar treehouse] or [http://cscott.net/junk/ta-broadway.png broadway gnome]
Some features include:
* Ability of integration of [https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/gbchcmhmhahfdphkhkmpfmihenigjmpp Chrome Remote Desktop]
* Ability to share or to allow other user watch this session
* Ability to scale the infrastructure onto local (virtualbox}, private (kvm) and other public clouds (http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Cloud_SIG, http://xvm.mit.edu/ or http://cloud.ubuntu.com/)

''Contact'': [[User:dogi]]

''Co-mentor'': [[User:Aneesh Dogra]]

Level: Advanced

Benefits to the Student: Learn more about web services

Benefits to the Community: We need to reach out to people who are not yet comfortable with virtual machines et al. by developing less invasive mechanisms for distributing Sugar.

===Clean up Ubuntu Sugar packaging===
[[File:Tuquito-6-jabber.png|300px]]

We have a number of disjointed half-finished or out of date efforts to package Sugar for Ubuntu, including:
* https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Sugar (sugar-remix -- deprecated)
* http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sweets_Distribution#Installation (sweets -- Sugar 0.94)

This task is to develop a work flow such that Ubuntu becomes part of the Sugar release process, ensuring that Sugar on Ubuntu is current.

''Contact'': [[User:Satellit]]

''Contact'': alsroot on #sugar

Level: Advanced

Benefits to the Student: Learn about packaging

Benefits to the Community: Ubuntu is widely used and we should have our best bits bundled with it in order to reach more potential users.

=== Implement help mechanism for activities using Mallard ===

[http://projectmallard.org/ Mallard] is a mark-up language that makes it easy to provide user help. It would be a nice feature to add Mallard-like help to activities, accessed through a mechanism similar to the view source mechanism. We need to sort through two issues: integration into Sugar and integration into our i18n / L10n system.

''Contact'': [[User:Walter]]

''Co-mentor'': [[User:Aneesh Dogra]]

''Co-mentor'': [[User:Francis]]

Level: Advanced

Benefits to the Student: Learn about lots of cool tools.

Benefits to the Community: Most of our help is in the wiki and in English. This will enable us to reach our users more directly and in their first language.

=== Activity Development Framework ===

This framework should allow to:
* Make toolbars from factories removing many lines of code.
* Start a project through typing a command.
* Doing collaboration easier to implement.
* Any other work which makes the development process hard and can be framed.

''Contact'': [[User:Francis]]

''Co-Mentor'': [[User:Ignacio_Rodríguez]]

Benefits to the Student: Learn to articulate to others how to do something useful.

Benefits to the Community: We don't provide enough support for our developers. Time to address that deficiency.

=== ASLO Enhancements ===

The current [http://activities.sugarlabs.org/ Activity Library] is based in an old version of the [http://addons.mozilla.org/ Mozilla Add-ons Library].

This project is divided in three parts:

* Update the old platform and have the corresponding modifications to distribute Sugar Activities instead of Mozilla Plugins.
* Add an activity manager to the control panel. Allowing the installation/update of activities from ASLO.
* Add to the Sugar Bundle Builder a way to auto-upload activities to ASLO.

''Contact'': [[User:Francis]]

''Co-mentor'': [[User:RafaelOrtiz]]

Level: Advanced

Benefits to the Student: Learn about web services

Benefits to the Community: Our "app store" is not as accessible as it needs to be.

== Sugar Activities ==

=== Write Turtle Blocks in Turtle Blocks ===

In support of making Sugar as transparent and fungible as possible, we'd like to make it not just Free, but provide affordances for end-user modifications. Turtle Blocks is a possible stepping stone towards that end: a programming environment approachable by children as young as five-years old. So as a first step, let's write Turtle Blocks in Turtle Blocks. From that experience, we'll hopefully know how to approach the more general Sugar problem.

''Contact'': [[User:Walter]]

''Co-mentor'':Tony Forster

Level: Advanced

Benefits to the Student: Lots of good Python hacking involved

Benefits to the Community: We'll learn how far we can push on the idea that end users *can* modify code.

=== Python export functionality for Turtle Blocks ===

A goal of Turtle Blocks is not just to get children programming, but to launch them out of block world into text-based languages where they can develop more sophisticated programs. While Turtle Blocks is written in Python and can be extended by importing Python modules, it currently exports only in its native block language and in Logo. For this project, we'd want to enable a Python export option so that programmers can take their Turtle projects and extend them into full-fledged Python projects. The hypothesis is that this would lead more children to grow their programming skills beyond simple block programs.

''Contact'': [[User:Walter]]

''Co-mentor'': Tony Forster

Level: Advanced

Benefits to the Student: Lots of good Python hacking involved

Benefits to the Community: We'll have a vehicle for studying whether or not we can bring students of programming from block worlds to text-based programming and debugging.

=== Portfolio videos ===

Working with the maintainer of [[Activities/Portfolio|Portfolio]] to add a mechanism for exporting .ogv (voice over still images) of a portfolio presentation. This is a request that has come from deployments: they'd like to be able to post videos of student work, which is currently available as a slide show with audio voice-over.

[[File:Portfolio-Tool.png|300px]]

A working knowledge of Python and some gstreamer skills are a must.

''Contact'': [[User:Walter]]

''Co-mentor:'' [[User:Aneesh Dogra]]

Level: Intermediate

Benefits to the Student: Learn how to master GStreamer

Benefits to the Community: We need more vehicles of expression for our users. Video tools are to scare in Sugar.

=== Implement collaboration in Paint Activity ===

Paint Activity does not implement collaboration yet. The easy part is send the mouse positions and draw in the different machines, but you need have the status of the different tools used, copy/paste operations and undo/redo. Another task to do is port the graphics operations to cairo.

Requires familiarity with Python.

''Contact'': [[User:Godiard]]

Level: Beginner

Benefits to the Student: Learn about our collaboration stack

Benefits to the Community: More shared spaces for expression is aligned with our pedagogical goals.

=== IRC Activity fixes ===

* [[Activities/IRC]] is built around an all-Python IRC client, [http://urk.sourceforge.net/ Urk] which is no longer maintained since 2007. Thus, its better to port the activity to a newer and a better all-python IRC library.
* [[Activities/IRC]] is significantly slower than other IRC clients available on other platforms. The reason being its not multi-threaded. Thus, adding multi-threading support will be very useful.
* [[Activities/IRC]] is missing some useful features including sound on highlight (play a sound when the user is highlighted in a channel), user info (whois data) and many others. Look at some popular IRC clients running on other platforms and research about the features which can be added to [[Activities/IRC]] and how can they be added.

Requires familiarity with Python and IRC protocol specifications.

''Mentor'': [[User:Aneesh Dogra]]

''Co-mentor'': [[User:RafaelOrtiz]]

Level: Intermediate

Benefits to the Student: Learn Python and some UI design

Benefits to the Community: We use IRC as the backbone of our community discourse so we should better support it within Sugar itself

=== Chat Activity with translation ===

[[File:Chat.JPG|300px]]

Above is an example of a chat where two people connected by chat could not talk to each other due to language barrier.

The project task is to add a drop-down box that translates of the chat messages coming from another user similar to the private/shared drop-down menu shown. This could work like the #sugar / #sugar-es channels on IRC.

''Contact'': [[User:Satellit]]

''Co-mentor'': [[User:Aneesh Dogra]]

Level: Intermediate

Benefits to the Student: Learn about machine translation and web services

Benefits to the Community: The better we can accommodate users across multiple languages, the farther we'll reach.

=== ASL Open Video Chat ===

Open Video Chat is an Free/Open Source video conferencing activity for the XO laptop. This project was originally started in March 2010 with funding from the National Technical Institute for the Deaf in Rochester NY.

'''Focus'''

The primary focus of Open Video Chat is to provide streaming video at frame rates that are suitable for communicating with sign language. This ends up being somewhere between 20 and 30 frames per second.

'''Current Features'''
* 20 FPS video
* preview window
* text chat

'''Desired Features'''
*RTP protocol implementation
*faster frame rate (30+ FPS)
*audio
*higher resolution video

IRC
* The contributors of Open Video Chat frequent #rit-foss on freenode

''Contact'': [[User:decause]]

Level: Intermediate/Advanced

Benefits to the Student: Learn about gstreamer video pipelines. Learn about sugar networking stack and services (Telepathy). Learn about Python and Sugar UI.

Benefits to the Community: The Video/Text chat software is nearly complete (90%), it just needs to be ported to latest version of sugar and include new telepathy bindings.

Source Code: [https://github.com/FOSSRIT/Open-Video-chat Github Repository]
Activity Page: [http://activities.sugarlabs.org/en-US/sugar/addon/4305 A.SL.O]

Summer of Code/2013

2013-03-27T14:33:08Z

Pbrobinson: /* Sugar Core */

[[Summer of Code/2013/Application|A draft copy of our application]]

= Project candidates =

A list of projects potential participants might contribute within GSoC program.

;Note:Potential mentors, please feel free to add ideas to this list. Also, feel free to add your name to a project you'd be willing to co-mentor.
;Note:Potential students, more project ideas can be found on our [[Features]] page.

__TOC__

== Sugar Core ==

=== Sugar Framework for writing activity in full HTML5 ===

[[File:Sugarhtml5.png|300px]]

The objective is to develop a JavaScript framework allowing to write Sugar activities in full HTML5/JavaScript. The framework will expose to JavaScript an API to call Sugar features:
* Journal/Datastore,
* Collaboration/Telepathy,
* Toolbar handling,
* Sugar look&feel - for example via a CSS style sheet usable on HTML controls
* Access to Sugar settings (buddy name, colors, current language, ...),
* View source.
Like PhoneGap/Cordova, the framework will come with a template to develop and package easily a new HTML5 activity. A basic tutorial will be include too.
The work could be inspired by the work done with Enyo Framework in [http://booki.flossmanuals.net/make-your-own-sugar-activities/_draft/_v/1.0/developing-sugar-activities-using-html5/ 1]. By the way, the resulting framework should be JavaScript framework agnostic (no need for jQuery, Enyo, ...).

''Mentor'': [mailto:lionel@olpc-france.org Lionel Laské]

''Co-Mentor'': Daniel Narvaez

Level: Advanced

Benefits to the Student: A chance to learn from touching almost every corner of an advanced system.

Benefits to the Community: We'll greatly expand the reach of the project by opening the door to JavaScript programmers. Plus it will force us to clean up our APIs.

=== Unified journal view ===

Rather than viewing the details of a Journal entry on a separate page, the idea is to make the details appear in an expandable in-line format on the main Journal view. The look and feel would be more like Google+ or Facebook. Performance will be a major challenge.

[[File:Journal-02.jpeg|300px]]

This project requires some working knowledge of the low-level Sugar Journal and datastore code.

''Contact'': [[User:Walter]]

Level: Advanced

Benefits to the Student: A chance to exercise both design/UI and programming skills

Benefits to the Community: Long-overdue feature that will make this core Sugar feature more visible and appealing to our users

=== Plugin support ===

A number of activities, notably [[Activities/TurtleArt#Plugins|Turtle Art]], are supporting plugins -- the ability to extend features by downloading additional modules. However, [[Activities/TurtleArt#How_to_install_a_plugin|the mechanism for installing plugins]] is anything but friendly. It would be nice to design a uniform plugin bundle type and modify the activity installer to recognize this new type. Caveats include dependencies -- presumably the plugin would take care of that -- and version control -- plugins are often incumbent upon a specific version of an activity. [http://activities.sugarlabs.org ASLO hosting]] should also be considered.

Strong Python skills and experience with Sugar toolkit required.

''Contact'': [[User:Walter]]

''Co-mentor:'' [[User:Aneesh Dogra]]

''Co-mentor: '' [[User:Francis]]

Level: Intermediate

Benefits to the Student: A chance to touch lots of code

Benefits to the Community: A simple way to develop and deliver customizations to activities and Sugar itself. Sugar can remain simple and stable, while the extensions can be more of a play ground for new ideas

=== PackageKit control panel plugin for Distribution Activity/OS installs/updates ===

The updates Control Panel only deals with user installs

Strong Python skills and experience with Sugar toolkit required.

''Contact'': [[User:Walter]]

''Co-mentor:'' [[User:Aneesh Dogra]]

''Co-mentor: '' [[User:Francis]]

Level: Intermediate

Benefits to the Student: A chance to touch lots of code

Benefits to the Community: A simple way to develop and deliver customizations to activities and Sugar itself. Sugar can remain simple and stable, while the extensions can be more of a play ground for new ideas

=== End-user modifications of Sugar source ===

We have an existing mechanism for duplicating and modifying Sugar activities: a copy of the bundle can be creaed in ~/Activities, where it can be modified by the end user. We also have a mechanism for viewing the Sugar toolkit source, but no such convenient way for making changes without risking messing up the system. While it should be easy enough to make a duplicate copy in the user's home directory, and to change the Python paths to use the modified code, we need some mechanism -- presumably at boot -- to choose which version to run: the installed version or the modified version.

Strong Python skills and experience with Sugar toolkit required.

''Contact'': [[User:Walter]]

Level: Advanced

Benefits to the Student: A chance to touch lots of code

Benefits to the Community: We'll come further towards our goal of enabling and encouraging our users to "own" through modification all aspects of our code.

=== Project sharing website ===

Create a Project Hosting Site similar to the Scratch website where kids can share the projects they have created using various Sugar Activities. The site should foster collaboration and sharing of projects. The Web Site should be built using a free web framework so that it can be installed at deployment sites. Some features include:

* Ability to engage and connect with friends and classmates using various Social Networking sites/techniques.
* Ability to post projects from various Sugar Activities (ex: Turtle Blocks, Etoys, Memorize, Physics, etc.)
* Separate landing pages for different audiences (kids, teachers, parents, etc)
* Section to share kid created art from projects
* Ability for users to create galleries (of their own projects, favorite projects, subject specific topics, etc).
* Ability to have “private classroom spaces”
* Tools to support community management of the site
* Multi-language support

''Contact'': [[User:MrSteve]]

''Co-mentor'': [[User:dogi]]

Level: Advanced

Benefits to the Student: Learn more about web services

Benefits to the Community: We need more mechanisms for sharing ideas and work. This is low-hanging fruit.

=== Social Sugar ===

Design and Develop GUI components that can help Sugar to reflect user's social interactions. A perfect target can be the Group-View that shows user's friends and their shared activities [http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Human_Interface_Guidelines/The_Laptop_Experience/Zoom_Metaphor#Groups], but it could also show social information about these friends, IE social network or sharing platforms publications. This would also give this ZOOM level added value.

Community members are already working on the backend component to support this feature [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/sugar-devel/2013-March/042055.html]. This is also a great opportunity to complement other GSoC-2013 proposals.

''Contact'': [[User:tch]]

Level: Advanced

Benefits to the Student: (a) Learn about Sugar's core, UI Design and web services and (b) interact with community members and other GSoC participants.

Benefits to the Community: Social interaction is a key element in the learning process, therefore we should promote this.

=== Sugar as a Service website ===

Create a Site for managing multiple "Sugar in a Browser" sessions like [https://one.treehouse.su/gar treehouse] or [http://cscott.net/junk/ta-broadway.png broadway gnome]
Some features include:
* Ability of integration of [https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/gbchcmhmhahfdphkhkmpfmihenigjmpp Chrome Remote Desktop]
* Ability to share or to allow other user watch this session
* Ability to scale the infrastructure onto local (virtualbox}, private (kvm) and other public clouds (http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Cloud_SIG, http://xvm.mit.edu/ or http://cloud.ubuntu.com/)

''Contact'': [[User:dogi]]

''Co-mentor'': [[User:Aneesh Dogra]]

Level: Advanced

Benefits to the Student: Learn more about web services

Benefits to the Community: We need to reach out to people who are not yet comfortable with virtual machines et al. by developing less invasive mechanisms for distributing Sugar.

===Clean up Ubuntu Sugar packaging===
[[File:Tuquito-6-jabber.png|300px]]

We have a number of disjointed half-finished or out of date efforts to package Sugar for Ubuntu, including:
* https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Sugar (sugar-remix -- deprecated)
* http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sweets_Distribution#Installation (sweets -- Sugar 0.94)

This task is to develop a work flow such that Ubuntu becomes part of the Sugar release process, ensuring that Sugar on Ubuntu is current.

''Contact'': [[User:Satellit]]

''Contact'': alsroot on #sugar

Level: Advanced

Benefits to the Student: Learn about packaging

Benefits to the Community: Ubuntu is widely used and we should have our best bits bundled with it in order to reach more potential users.

=== Implement help mechanism for activities using Mallard ===

[http://projectmallard.org/ Mallard] is a mark-up language that makes it easy to provide user help. It would be a nice feature to add Mallard-like help to activities, accessed through a mechanism similar to the view source mechanism. We need to sort through two issues: integration into Sugar and integration into our i18n / L10n system.

''Contact'': [[User:Walter]]

''Co-mentor'': [[User:Aneesh Dogra]]

''Co-mentor'': [[User:Francis]]

Level: Advanced

Benefits to the Student: Learn about lots of cool tools.

Benefits to the Community: Most of our help is in the wiki and in English. This will enable us to reach our users more directly and in their first language.

=== Activity Development Framework ===

This framework should allow to:
* Make toolbars from factories removing many lines of code.
* Start a project through typing a command.
* Doing collaboration easier to implement.
* Any other work which makes the development process hard and can be framed.

''Contact'': [[User:Francis]]

''Co-Mentor'': [[User:Ignacio_Rodríguez]]

Benefits to the Student: Learn to articulate to others how to do something useful.

Benefits to the Community: We don't provide enough support for our developers. Time to address that deficiency.

=== ASLO Enhancements ===

The current [http://activities.sugarlabs.org/ Activity Library] is based in an old version of the [http://addons.mozilla.org/ Mozilla Add-ons Library].

This project is divided in three parts:

* Update the old platform and have the corresponding modifications to distribute Sugar Activities instead of Mozilla Plugins.
* Add an activity manager to the control panel. Allowing the installation/update of activities from ASLO.
* Add to the Sugar Bundle Builder a way to auto-upload activities to ASLO.

''Contact'': [[User:Francis]]

''Co-mentor'': [[User:RafaelOrtiz]]

Level: Advanced

Benefits to the Student: Learn about web services

Benefits to the Community: Our "app store" is not as accessible as it needs to be.

== Sugar Activities ==

=== Write Turtle Blocks in Turtle Blocks ===

In support of making Sugar as transparent and fungible as possible, we'd like to make it not just Free, but provide affordances for end-user modifications. Turtle Blocks is a possible stepping stone towards that end: a programming environment approachable by children as young as five-years old. So as a first step, let's write Turtle Blocks in Turtle Blocks. From that experience, we'll hopefully know how to approach the more general Sugar problem.

''Contact'': [[User:Walter]]

''Co-mentor'':Tony Forster

Level: Advanced

Benefits to the Student: Lots of good Python hacking involved

Benefits to the Community: We'll learn how far we can push on the idea that end users *can* modify code.

=== Python export functionality for Turtle Blocks ===

A goal of Turtle Blocks is not just to get children programming, but to launch them out of block world into text-based languages where they can develop more sophisticated programs. While Turtle Blocks is written in Python and can be extended by importing Python modules, it currently exports only in its native block language and in Logo. For this project, we'd want to enable a Python export option so that programmers can take their Turtle projects and extend them into full-fledged Python projects. The hypothesis is that this would lead more children to grow their programming skills beyond simple block programs.

''Contact'': [[User:Walter]]

''Co-mentor'': Tony Forster

Level: Advanced

Benefits to the Student: Lots of good Python hacking involved

Benefits to the Community: We'll have a vehicle for studying whether or not we can bring students of programming from block worlds to text-based programming and debugging.

=== Portfolio videos ===

Working with the maintainer of [[Activities/Portfolio|Portfolio]] to add a mechanism for exporting .ogv (voice over still images) of a portfolio presentation. This is a request that has come from deployments: they'd like to be able to post videos of student work, which is currently available as a slide show with audio voice-over.

[[File:Portfolio-Tool.png|300px]]

A working knowledge of Python and some gstreamer skills are a must.

''Contact'': [[User:Walter]]

''Co-mentor:'' [[User:Aneesh Dogra]]

Level: Intermediate

Benefits to the Student: Learn how to master GStreamer

Benefits to the Community: We need more vehicles of expression for our users. Video tools are to scare in Sugar.

=== Implement collaboration in Paint Activity ===

Paint Activity does not implement collaboration yet. The easy part is send the mouse positions and draw in the different machines, but you need have the status of the different tools used, copy/paste operations and undo/redo. Another task to do is port the graphics operations to cairo.

Requires familiarity with Python.

''Contact'': [[User:Godiard]]

Level: Beginner

Benefits to the Student: Learn about our collaboration stack

Benefits to the Community: More shared spaces for expression is aligned with our pedagogical goals.

=== IRC Activity fixes ===

* [[Activities/IRC]] is built around an all-Python IRC client, [http://urk.sourceforge.net/ Urk] which is no longer maintained since 2007. Thus, its better to port the activity to a newer and a better all-python IRC library.
* [[Activities/IRC]] is significantly slower than other IRC clients available on other platforms. The reason being its not multi-threaded. Thus, adding multi-threading support will be very useful.
* [[Activities/IRC]] is missing some useful features including sound on highlight (play a sound when the user is highlighted in a channel), user info (whois data) and many others. Look at some popular IRC clients running on other platforms and research about the features which can be added to [[Activities/IRC]] and how can they be added.

Requires familiarity with Python and IRC protocol specifications.

''Mentor'': [[User:Aneesh Dogra]]

''Co-mentor'': [[User:RafaelOrtiz]]

Level: Intermediate

Benefits to the Student: Learn Python and some UI design

Benefits to the Community: We use IRC as the backbone of our community discourse so we should better support it within Sugar itself

=== Chat Activity with translation ===

[[File:Chat.JPG|300px]]

Above is an example of a chat where two people connected by chat could not talk to each other due to language barrier.

The project task is to add a drop-down box that translates of the chat messages coming from another user similar to the private/shared drop-down menu shown. This could work like the #sugar / #sugar-es channels on IRC.

''Contact'': [[User:Satellit]]

''Co-mentor'': [[User:Aneesh Dogra]]

Level: Intermediate

Benefits to the Student: Learn about machine translation and web services

Benefits to the Community: The better we can accommodate users across multiple languages, the farther we'll reach.

=== ASL Open Video Chat ===

Open Video Chat is an Free/Open Source video conferencing activity for the XO laptop. This project was originally started in March 2010 with funding from the National Technical Institute for the Deaf in Rochester NY.

'''Focus'''

The primary focus of Open Video Chat is to provide streaming video at frame rates that are suitable for communicating with sign language. This ends up being somewhere between 20 and 30 frames per second.

'''Current Features'''
* 20 FPS video
* preview window
* text chat

'''Desired Features'''
*RTP protocol implementation
*faster frame rate (30+ FPS)
*audio
*higher resolution video

IRC
* The contributors of Open Video Chat frequent #rit-foss on freenode

''Contact'': [[User:decause]]

Level: Intermediate/Advanced

Benefits to the Student: Learn about gstreamer video pipelines. Learn about sugar networking stack and services (Telepathy). Learn about Python and Sugar UI.

Benefits to the Community: The Video/Text chat software is nearly complete (90%), it just needs to be ported to latest version of sugar and include new telepathy bindings.

Source Code: [https://github.com/FOSSRIT/Open-Video-chat Github Repository]
Activity Page: [http://activities.sugarlabs.org/en-US/sugar/addon/4305 A.SL.O]

Sugar on a Stick/Quandong

2012-06-05T14:12:03Z

Pbrobinson: /* Sugar on a Stick - Quandong */

<noinclude>[[Category:Live USB]]</noinclude>
== Sugar on a Stick - Quandong ==

:''a Sugar environment you can carry in your pocket''

{|
|-
| colspan="2" style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |'''Quandong''' is the 7th version of '''[[Sugar on a Stick]]''' Quandong is the name of a native [[wikipedia:Santalum_acuminatum|Australian fruit]].

| rowspan="3" style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 350px;" | [[File:SugaronastickQuandong.png|320px|link=http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas/#downloads]]
|- style="border: 0; border-width: 0; text-align: center"
|[[File:Download Mirabell.png|link=http://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/alt/releases/17/Spins/x86_64/Fedora-17-x86_64-Live-SoaS.iso]]
x86_64
|[[File:Download Mirabell.png|link=http://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/alt/releases/17/Spins/i686/Fedora-17-i686-Live-SoaS.iso]]
i686
|-
| colspan="2" style="border: 0; border-width: 0; text-align: center"|[[Sugar on a Stick/Quandong/hashes| hashes to verify downloads]]

See these [[Sugar on a Stick/Installation|installation instructions]].
|}__TOC__

* Fedora 17 Release Announcement: https://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/test-announce/2012-May/000460.html
=== What's new in Quandong ===

'''Sugar version 0.96.1''' The most recent release of the Sugar Learning Platform features more activities with new toolbars, activity duplication features, view source for the Sugar toolkit, and improved support for booting on Intel-based Apple computers.

More information about the 0.96.1 release of Sugar is available at [[0.96/Notes]] and [http://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/Fedora/17/html/Release_Notes/ f17 Release Notes]
*If Installing to Hard Disk or USB with [[Sugar_Creation_Kit/sck/liveinst|liveinst]] Look at: [http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Common_F17_bugs f17 Common Bugs]
=====SoaS Release Announcement:06/05/2012=====
Peter Robinson:

There's been a lot of work go into this release from a lot of
communities from Fedora and all the Fedora 17 features that give us
new and exciting hardware support to the Sugar Labs community and all
the new features that come with the Sugar 0.96 release on which SoaS
v7 is based.

Thanks go to all the people that have contributed to this release
including Kalpa and Thomas who helped directly with SoaS, the Sugar
development team and other Sugar developers. A lot of work has been
done to ensure we can get working core Activities like Read and Browse
and what should a good working base for deployments to test and add
to.

Some of the key new features of this release include:
:- Based on Fedora 17 and it's new features [1]
:- Massively improved x86 Mac support [2]
:- Sugar 0.96 with initial support for GTK3 Activities and many other improvements [3]
:- Return of Browse, now based on WebKit
:- The long awaited return of Read and inclusion of GetBooks
:- Enhanced hardware support with the 3.3 kernel
:- An increase in default Activities by nearly 50%

*Almost all of the previous Activities have seen updated releases
including but not limited to:
- Abacus 35 (GTK3)
- Record 95
- Physics 9
- TurtleArt 138

*Newly added Activities include:
- Browse 137 (GTK3)
- Countries 33
- Finance 7
- GetBooks 11
- Help 14 (GTK3)
- Infoslicer 14
- Labyrinth 12
- Paint 43
- Portfolio 21
- Read 99 (GTK3)

There are many more Activities available through the usual Fedora repositories.

*The release name, Quandong, continues the tradition of naming releases
by types of fruit. The Quandong [4] or Native Peach is a native
Australian bushfood.

You can download the release from the following link.

http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas/

It can also be installed as part of a standard Fedora 17 install and
is shipped as part of the official Fedora installer DVD and the Fedora
Multi Spin Live DVD. It can also be installed from the GUI package
tool within a running Fedora install or by command line "sudo yum
install @sugar-desktop".
:[1] https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/17/FeatureList
:[2] http://mjg59.dreamwidth.org/12037.html
:[3] http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/0.96/Notes
:[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santalum_acuminatum

==='''Customize your own remix of Sugar on a Stick.'''===
*----Needs Updating----
Pineapple has a slightly larger Activity selection than its predecessor and has continued the trend of providing a few, better-tested Activities. We've realized that we'll never be able to create an Activity selection suitable for all deployments—instead, we've chosen to include and support a core set of basic, teacher-tested Activities in the default image, and invite deployments to use this as a base on which to build a customized Activity selection for their classrooms. See:
#[[Build Your Own Remix with Fedora]]
#[http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/customization-guide customization guide]
#[[Sugar on a Stick/Sugar Clone]] A quick, but less pristine, method of build customization
#[http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sck/ASLOxo ASLO Activity Collection] DVD full of ASLO xo activities to Drag Drop into Soas Journal from DVD for Individual customizations.

'''Sugar on a Stick is a Fedora Spin.''' Since SoaS v3 Mirabelle, Sugar on a Stick has been recognized by the [http://fedoraproject.org Fedora Project] as an official [http://spins.fedoraproject.org Spin]. For the first time, SoaS Pineapple is going to be shipped on the Fedora Multi Spin DVD. This means we'll be shipping on the front a
number of computer magazines across Europe and likely elsewhere in the coming months. These close ties with Fedora's release cycle and resources from their engineering and marketing teams extends the reach of Sugar on a Stick and makes the project itself more sustainable. In exchange, users of Fedora have access to an easily deployable implementation of the Sugar Platform; it's a great example of a mutually beneficial upstream–downstream relationship.

=== Contributing to Sugar on a Stick ===

With v6 of Sugar on a Stick, the team recognizes the need to continue to improve its release processes and engineering sustainability. New contributors are urged to get involved and help us move towards our long-term vision of bringing stability and deployability to Sugar's personalized learning environment.

If you'd like to contribute to the next version, [[Sugar on a Stick/v7|SoaS v7]], due for release in May of 2012, join our [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/soas mailing list] and visit '''[[Sugar on a Stick]]'''. All types of contributions are welcome, from the technical to the pedagogical, and we're happy to teach what we know and learn what you have to share.

Thank you to all the people involved for their awesome work!

== Release history ==

=== Introduction ===

This section is a recap of the events during the v5 Coconut release cycle of Sugar on a Stick.

* SoaS v5 is based on Fedora 15, and was delayed. From the Fedora wiki,
*: "The move to NetworkManager 0.9 came after the feature freeze, and the Sugar desktop wasn't accounted for in the scramble to get alternate desktop environments working with it." [http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Fedora_15_Retrospective#Could_have_been_better]

=== Re-approved as a Fedora Spin ===

"[Spins are alternate versions of Fedora, tailored for various types of users via hand-picked application sets and other customizations." --from http://spins.fedoraproject.org/about

See the release notes for v3 and v4 for history on the transition to a Fedora Spin.

=== Feature process ===

* [[Features/Soas_V5/]]



=== QA ===
:Much thanks to Peter Robinson who did a majority of the work to program, prepare and coordinate the work with many other sugar developers for this release.
:Thomas Gilliard did field-testing (building real SoaS sticks from .iso files and testing on those) - it's the closest thing to systematic testing we've had yet, though we still have a ways to go.
:Thank you also to James Cameron in Australia for his testing help!
:Much help was also provided by the team at #fedora-qa; freenode IRC

=== Documentation ===



A new release of documentation should come out with each new release of SoaS (although resources have prevented this).

The Fedora-site documentation may not be an improvement over our Sugar Labs, ad hoc wiki documentation methods, as the tools needed to participate are more complicated, and the Spin page documentation is not open to editing. The Fedora Sugar on a Stick pages have not been edited since Mirabelle was released in May 2010. The attempt to better support a small number of known, working, "how to set up SoaS", instructions has not yet been fulfilled.

=== Major accomplishments this release cycle ===

* Expanded discussion with upstream Fedora especially Fedora QA team and the new AutoQA processes. Initial integration in the Fedora Desktop QA testing process with initial guidelines and test process created. This will be expanded in Fedora 15 for the SoaS v5 release.

== Press coverage ==

Feel free to add links to press coverage you find about Coconut to this section.

Sugar on a Stick

2012-06-05T14:11:06Z

Pbrobinson: /* What is Sugar on a Stick? */

<noinclude>
[[Category:Project]]
[[Category:Live USB]]
[[Category:Sugar on a Stick]]

{{TeamHeader|Sugar on a Stick|home=Project Home|xbgColor=ffe792}}__NOTOC__</noinclude>
==What is Sugar on a Stick?==
*'''Sugar on a Stick version 7 Released''' [[Sugar_on_a_Stick/Quandong|Sugar on a Stick: Quandong release page]]
{{:Sugar on a Stick/Downloads}}
=== Want to use Sugar on a Stick? ===
{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 350px;" | [[File:Cici-maze.jpg |300px|left|link=http://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/alt/releases/17/Spins/i686/Fedora-17-i686-Live-SoaS.iso]]

|After you've tried out Sugar on a Stick, we hope you'll come back here and join our community of contributors to help us make the next release even better.
|}
=== Want to contribute to Sugar on a Stick? ===
{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 350px;" | [[File:SoaS-contributors.jpg |300px|left|link=Sugar_on_a_Stick]]
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
You're in the right place! This page is a contributors portal to the project, and contains everything you need to get started in becoming part of the Sugar on a Stick community.
|}

== New contributors start here! ==

Welcome! We're excited that you want to help us bring the Sugar Learning Platform to children around the world. No prior experience with computers or educational technology is required - in fact, we actively encourage a diversity of backgrounds, ages, and perspectives. See the [[Joining Sugar on a Stick]] page for instructions on how to get started. You may also want to check out the [http://openhatch.org/+projects/Sugar%20on%20a%20Stick Sugar on a Stick project page] on [http://openhatch.org OpenHatch], or attend one of our [[Sugar on a Stick meetings]].

== What can you do? ==

There are three main ways you can contribute to the Sugar on a Stick community. We work closely with our upstreams, [http://sugarlabs.org Sugar Labs] and [http://fedoraproject.org the Fedora Project].

=== Get Activities on the Stick ===

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |

We're always looking for help with all aspects of the [[Sugar on a Stick release process]]. Here are a few things you can do:

* [[Sugar on a Stick QA|Test Sugar on a Stick]] and help us find bugs and think of ways the project could be better. When you find a bug or think of an enhancement, [[How to file a ticket|file a ticket!]] ''No technical experience required.''
* Help make it easier for others to test Sugar on a Stick by writing [[Sugar on a Stick QA#Test cases|test cases]]. ''If you've run a test case, you can write a test case.''
* [http://bugs.sugarlabs.org Fix a bug or add a feature] to an existing Activity, to [[Development Team|sugar-core itself]], or to [http://bugs.sugarlabs.org/query?status=accepted&status=assigned&status=new&status=reopened&component=SoaS&order=priority&col=id&col=summary&col=status&col=type&col=priority&col=milestone&col=component Sugar on a Stick]. See [[How to fix an Activity bug]] and [[How to fix a sugar-core bug]] to get started. ''Basic Python programming skills - or the desire to learn - are all that's needed.''
* [https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Sugar_Activities Package Sugar Activities for Fedora]. ''If you're a [https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/PackageMaintainers/Join Fedora Packager] or want to become one, help in this area is something we desperately need - it's a trickier thing to learn, but rewarding once you get the hang of it.''
* [[Sugar on a Stick release process#Review|Review Activities for inclusion in the build]] - check submitted Activities against our [[Sugar on a Stick/Activity Criteria]] and help us choose what gets included in the next release! ''No prior experience needed - we do reviews during our [[Sugar on a Stick meetings|weekly meetings]] and will teach you how.''
* Have an idea for a technical feature that isn't an Activity? Check out our [[Sugar on a Stick release process#Feature process|feature process]].

| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 150px;" |[[Image:SoaS-netbook-1.jpg|150px|right|link=http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick_release_process]][[Image:SoaS-netbook-2.jpg|150px|right|link=http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick_release_process]][[Image:SoaS-netbook-3.jpg|150px|right|link=http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick_release_process]]
|}

=== Get Sticks into Schools ===

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 250px;" | [[File:Cici-stick.jpg |200px|left|link=Sugar_on_a_Stick_deployment_process]]
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
Deployments all over the world need many different types of help as they work through the [[Sugar on a Stick deployment process]] - we need help building resources for all deployments to use, supporting those deployments, and helping new deployments start, as well as gathering stories and feedback from deployments so that we can make the next version of Sugar on a Stick even better.

Some things you can do to help:

* ''"It's a wiki: Edit away!"'' is often said in open source communities. Almost nothing is set in stone and can't be undone. So if you've got ideas how to make instructions clearer and more accessible, just go for it!
* We produce official documentation such as the [http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/creation-kit/ Creation Kit] or the [http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/customization-guide/ Customization Guide]. If you've an idea how to make them better, why don't you jump in and create a patch? Creating these nifty text files is simple - instructions live in the [[Sugar_on_a_Stick/Documentation_SOP|Documentation SOP]].
* Unofficial documentation for unsupported workarounds for [[Sugar on a Stick/Installation|installation]] and [[Sugar on a Stick/Sugar Clone|customization]] need to be edited, tested, and submitted for approval for official support. Check them out and leave comments and improvements; just jump in and edit the page.
* Interested in starting a deployment or helping a specific one (with anything from pedagogical design to technical support to funding logistics)? Introduce yourself on the deployment lists for [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/ Sugar Labs] and [http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/ One Laptop Per Child] and we'll get you connected with some teachers on the ground.
* We're looking for some people to help us assemble tools for our support team to use. Email the [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/soas Sugar on a Stick mailing list] if you're interested.
|}

=== Get Contributors ===

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |

Contributors are the lifeblood of the Sugar on a Stick community - we work hard to bring a playful mindset of teaching, learning, and meaningful work to the children we aim to reach, and we aim to keep that mindset in our own work and community as well. Welcoming and teaching new contributors or all types, building the resources they need, and teaching them how to empower others in their turn is one of the most important things you can do; it is ''everyone's'' responsibility to help build our community, one person at a time.

Some things you can do:

* Edit this page and [[Joining Sugar on a Stick]]. Is there something we could do to make the "getting started" process easier? You don't have to ask permission to edit; just do it!
* Help us fill in our remaining task-starter pages: [[Sugar on a Stick release process]], [[How to fix an Activity bug]], [[How to fix a sugar-core bug]], and [[Sugar on a Stick deployment process]]/
* [http://openhatch.org/+projects/Sugar%20on%20a%20Stick Point out starter tasks on OpenHatch] - fill in questions and ideas for beginner jobs, and point newcomers towards them.
* [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/soas Watch for introductions on the mailing list], and send welcome emails to new contributors (copy the list, so we can see what advice a newcomer has gotten so far).
* Hang out with us on IRC: [http://webchat.freenode.net?channels=sugar #sugar]. This is where the [http://activities.sugarlabs.org/en-US/sugar/addon/4029 IRC Activity] starts off. Help new joiners past initial questions and provide instant help!

| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 200px;" |[[Image:Cici-netbook.jpg|200px|right|link=http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick]]
|}

== What's happening? ==

=== Meetings ===

We have weekly meetings on IRC - see [[Sugar on a Stick meetings]] for more information, including logs from past meetings. Attending a meeting is a great way for newcomers to get started.

=== Release schedule ===

Our release schedule is based on the [[fedora:Releases/Schedule | Fedora release schedule]].

=== Contributor stories ===

To find out what other contributors are doing, check out [http://planet.sugarlabs.org Planet Sugar Labs], where contributors to Sugar Labs and the Sugar on a Stick project aggregate their blogs. You can also [[Sysadmin/Planet syndication request|add your own blog to the Planet]].

== Related work ==

While the projects listed below are not part of Sugar on a Stick, we watch them closely and try to work with them when possible (or at least we're trying to learn!)

* For deployments lacking easy Internet access, one can turn a computer into a '''Sugar on a Stick Creation Station'''. The [[Sugar Creation Kit]] is a downloadable DVD which includes the materials you need to create Pineapple sticks and to install additional Activities, along with documentation and previous versions of Sugar on a Stick.
* Older [[:Category:Live USB|portable Sugar distributions]] based on other Linux distributions .
* [[The undiscoverable]] is an unofficial FAQ for tips, tricks, and solutions to common problems that may otherwise be tricky to find. These are being considered for inclusion in the official SoaS documentation.

== Previous versions and other subpages index ==
{{Show|Earlier versions of Sugar on a Stick and other project pages can be reviewed at these pages: |{{Special:PrefixIndex/Sugar on a Stick/}}}}

Sugar on a Stick

2012-06-05T14:08:23Z

Pbrobinson: /* What is Sugar on a Stick? */

<noinclude>
[[Category:Project]]
[[Category:Live USB]]
[[Category:Sugar on a Stick]]

{{TeamHeader|Sugar on a Stick|home=Project Home|xbgColor=ffe792}}__NOTOC__</noinclude>
==What is Sugar on a Stick?==
*'''Sugar on a Stick version 7 Released''' [[Sugar_on_a_Stick/Quandong|Sugar_on_a_Stick/Quandong]]
{{:Sugar on a Stick/Downloads}}
=== Want to use Sugar on a Stick? ===
{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 350px;" | [[File:Cici-maze.jpg |300px|left|link=http://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/alt/releases/17/Spins/i686/Fedora-17-i686-Live-SoaS.iso]]

|After you've tried out Sugar on a Stick, we hope you'll come back here and join our community of contributors to help us make the next release even better.
|}
=== Want to contribute to Sugar on a Stick? ===
{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 350px;" | [[File:SoaS-contributors.jpg |300px|left|link=Sugar_on_a_Stick]]
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
You're in the right place! This page is a contributors portal to the project, and contains everything you need to get started in becoming part of the Sugar on a Stick community.
|}

== New contributors start here! ==

Welcome! We're excited that you want to help us bring the Sugar Learning Platform to children around the world. No prior experience with computers or educational technology is required - in fact, we actively encourage a diversity of backgrounds, ages, and perspectives. See the [[Joining Sugar on a Stick]] page for instructions on how to get started. You may also want to check out the [http://openhatch.org/+projects/Sugar%20on%20a%20Stick Sugar on a Stick project page] on [http://openhatch.org OpenHatch], or attend one of our [[Sugar on a Stick meetings]].

== What can you do? ==

There are three main ways you can contribute to the Sugar on a Stick community. We work closely with our upstreams, [http://sugarlabs.org Sugar Labs] and [http://fedoraproject.org the Fedora Project].

=== Get Activities on the Stick ===

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |

We're always looking for help with all aspects of the [[Sugar on a Stick release process]]. Here are a few things you can do:

* [[Sugar on a Stick QA|Test Sugar on a Stick]] and help us find bugs and think of ways the project could be better. When you find a bug or think of an enhancement, [[How to file a ticket|file a ticket!]] ''No technical experience required.''
* Help make it easier for others to test Sugar on a Stick by writing [[Sugar on a Stick QA#Test cases|test cases]]. ''If you've run a test case, you can write a test case.''
* [http://bugs.sugarlabs.org Fix a bug or add a feature] to an existing Activity, to [[Development Team|sugar-core itself]], or to [http://bugs.sugarlabs.org/query?status=accepted&status=assigned&status=new&status=reopened&component=SoaS&order=priority&col=id&col=summary&col=status&col=type&col=priority&col=milestone&col=component Sugar on a Stick]. See [[How to fix an Activity bug]] and [[How to fix a sugar-core bug]] to get started. ''Basic Python programming skills - or the desire to learn - are all that's needed.''
* [https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Sugar_Activities Package Sugar Activities for Fedora]. ''If you're a [https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/PackageMaintainers/Join Fedora Packager] or want to become one, help in this area is something we desperately need - it's a trickier thing to learn, but rewarding once you get the hang of it.''
* [[Sugar on a Stick release process#Review|Review Activities for inclusion in the build]] - check submitted Activities against our [[Sugar on a Stick/Activity Criteria]] and help us choose what gets included in the next release! ''No prior experience needed - we do reviews during our [[Sugar on a Stick meetings|weekly meetings]] and will teach you how.''
* Have an idea for a technical feature that isn't an Activity? Check out our [[Sugar on a Stick release process#Feature process|feature process]].

| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 150px;" |[[Image:SoaS-netbook-1.jpg|150px|right|link=http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick_release_process]][[Image:SoaS-netbook-2.jpg|150px|right|link=http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick_release_process]][[Image:SoaS-netbook-3.jpg|150px|right|link=http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick_release_process]]
|}

=== Get Sticks into Schools ===

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 250px;" | [[File:Cici-stick.jpg |200px|left|link=Sugar_on_a_Stick_deployment_process]]
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
Deployments all over the world need many different types of help as they work through the [[Sugar on a Stick deployment process]] - we need help building resources for all deployments to use, supporting those deployments, and helping new deployments start, as well as gathering stories and feedback from deployments so that we can make the next version of Sugar on a Stick even better.

Some things you can do to help:

* ''"It's a wiki: Edit away!"'' is often said in open source communities. Almost nothing is set in stone and can't be undone. So if you've got ideas how to make instructions clearer and more accessible, just go for it!
* We produce official documentation such as the [http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/creation-kit/ Creation Kit] or the [http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/customization-guide/ Customization Guide]. If you've an idea how to make them better, why don't you jump in and create a patch? Creating these nifty text files is simple - instructions live in the [[Sugar_on_a_Stick/Documentation_SOP|Documentation SOP]].
* Unofficial documentation for unsupported workarounds for [[Sugar on a Stick/Installation|installation]] and [[Sugar on a Stick/Sugar Clone|customization]] need to be edited, tested, and submitted for approval for official support. Check them out and leave comments and improvements; just jump in and edit the page.
* Interested in starting a deployment or helping a specific one (with anything from pedagogical design to technical support to funding logistics)? Introduce yourself on the deployment lists for [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/ Sugar Labs] and [http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/ One Laptop Per Child] and we'll get you connected with some teachers on the ground.
* We're looking for some people to help us assemble tools for our support team to use. Email the [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/soas Sugar on a Stick mailing list] if you're interested.
|}

=== Get Contributors ===

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |

Contributors are the lifeblood of the Sugar on a Stick community - we work hard to bring a playful mindset of teaching, learning, and meaningful work to the children we aim to reach, and we aim to keep that mindset in our own work and community as well. Welcoming and teaching new contributors or all types, building the resources they need, and teaching them how to empower others in their turn is one of the most important things you can do; it is ''everyone's'' responsibility to help build our community, one person at a time.

Some things you can do:

* Edit this page and [[Joining Sugar on a Stick]]. Is there something we could do to make the "getting started" process easier? You don't have to ask permission to edit; just do it!
* Help us fill in our remaining task-starter pages: [[Sugar on a Stick release process]], [[How to fix an Activity bug]], [[How to fix a sugar-core bug]], and [[Sugar on a Stick deployment process]]/
* [http://openhatch.org/+projects/Sugar%20on%20a%20Stick Point out starter tasks on OpenHatch] - fill in questions and ideas for beginner jobs, and point newcomers towards them.
* [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/soas Watch for introductions on the mailing list], and send welcome emails to new contributors (copy the list, so we can see what advice a newcomer has gotten so far).
* Hang out with us on IRC: [http://webchat.freenode.net?channels=sugar #sugar]. This is where the [http://activities.sugarlabs.org/en-US/sugar/addon/4029 IRC Activity] starts off. Help new joiners past initial questions and provide instant help!

| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 200px;" |[[Image:Cici-netbook.jpg|200px|right|link=http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick]]
|}

== What's happening? ==

=== Meetings ===

We have weekly meetings on IRC - see [[Sugar on a Stick meetings]] for more information, including logs from past meetings. Attending a meeting is a great way for newcomers to get started.

=== Release schedule ===

Our release schedule is based on the [[fedora:Releases/Schedule | Fedora release schedule]].

=== Contributor stories ===

To find out what other contributors are doing, check out [http://planet.sugarlabs.org Planet Sugar Labs], where contributors to Sugar Labs and the Sugar on a Stick project aggregate their blogs. You can also [[Sysadmin/Planet syndication request|add your own blog to the Planet]].

== Related work ==

While the projects listed below are not part of Sugar on a Stick, we watch them closely and try to work with them when possible (or at least we're trying to learn!)

* For deployments lacking easy Internet access, one can turn a computer into a '''Sugar on a Stick Creation Station'''. The [[Sugar Creation Kit]] is a downloadable DVD which includes the materials you need to create Pineapple sticks and to install additional Activities, along with documentation and previous versions of Sugar on a Stick.
* Older [[:Category:Live USB|portable Sugar distributions]] based on other Linux distributions .
* [[The undiscoverable]] is an unofficial FAQ for tips, tricks, and solutions to common problems that may otherwise be tricky to find. These are being considered for inclusion in the official SoaS documentation.

== Previous versions and other subpages index ==
{{Show|Earlier versions of Sugar on a Stick and other project pages can be reviewed at these pages: |{{Special:PrefixIndex/Sugar on a Stick/}}}}

Sugar on a Stick

2012-06-05T14:07:22Z

Pbrobinson:

<noinclude>
[[Category:Project]]
[[Category:Live USB]]
[[Category:Sugar on a Stick]]

{{TeamHeader|Sugar on a Stick|home=Project Home|xbgColor=ffe792}}__NOTOC__</noinclude>
==What is Sugar on a Stick?==
*'''Sugar on a Stick version 7 Released''' (05/29/2011) Go here to Download latest version: [[Sugar_on_a_Stick/Quandong|Sugar_on_a_Stick/Quandong]]
{{:Sugar on a Stick/Downloads}}
=== Want to use Sugar on a Stick? ===
{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 350px;" | [[File:Cici-maze.jpg |300px|left|link=http://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/alt/releases/17/Spins/i686/Fedora-17-i686-Live-SoaS.iso]]

|After you've tried out Sugar on a Stick, we hope you'll come back here and join our community of contributors to help us make the next release even better.
|}
=== Want to contribute to Sugar on a Stick? ===
{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 350px;" | [[File:SoaS-contributors.jpg |300px|left|link=Sugar_on_a_Stick]]
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
You're in the right place! This page is a contributors portal to the project, and contains everything you need to get started in becoming part of the Sugar on a Stick community.
|}

== New contributors start here! ==

Welcome! We're excited that you want to help us bring the Sugar Learning Platform to children around the world. No prior experience with computers or educational technology is required - in fact, we actively encourage a diversity of backgrounds, ages, and perspectives. See the [[Joining Sugar on a Stick]] page for instructions on how to get started. You may also want to check out the [http://openhatch.org/+projects/Sugar%20on%20a%20Stick Sugar on a Stick project page] on [http://openhatch.org OpenHatch], or attend one of our [[Sugar on a Stick meetings]].

== What can you do? ==

There are three main ways you can contribute to the Sugar on a Stick community. We work closely with our upstreams, [http://sugarlabs.org Sugar Labs] and [http://fedoraproject.org the Fedora Project].

=== Get Activities on the Stick ===

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |

We're always looking for help with all aspects of the [[Sugar on a Stick release process]]. Here are a few things you can do:

* [[Sugar on a Stick QA|Test Sugar on a Stick]] and help us find bugs and think of ways the project could be better. When you find a bug or think of an enhancement, [[How to file a ticket|file a ticket!]] ''No technical experience required.''
* Help make it easier for others to test Sugar on a Stick by writing [[Sugar on a Stick QA#Test cases|test cases]]. ''If you've run a test case, you can write a test case.''
* [http://bugs.sugarlabs.org Fix a bug or add a feature] to an existing Activity, to [[Development Team|sugar-core itself]], or to [http://bugs.sugarlabs.org/query?status=accepted&status=assigned&status=new&status=reopened&component=SoaS&order=priority&col=id&col=summary&col=status&col=type&col=priority&col=milestone&col=component Sugar on a Stick]. See [[How to fix an Activity bug]] and [[How to fix a sugar-core bug]] to get started. ''Basic Python programming skills - or the desire to learn - are all that's needed.''
* [https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Sugar_Activities Package Sugar Activities for Fedora]. ''If you're a [https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/PackageMaintainers/Join Fedora Packager] or want to become one, help in this area is something we desperately need - it's a trickier thing to learn, but rewarding once you get the hang of it.''
* [[Sugar on a Stick release process#Review|Review Activities for inclusion in the build]] - check submitted Activities against our [[Sugar on a Stick/Activity Criteria]] and help us choose what gets included in the next release! ''No prior experience needed - we do reviews during our [[Sugar on a Stick meetings|weekly meetings]] and will teach you how.''
* Have an idea for a technical feature that isn't an Activity? Check out our [[Sugar on a Stick release process#Feature process|feature process]].

| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 150px;" |[[Image:SoaS-netbook-1.jpg|150px|right|link=http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick_release_process]][[Image:SoaS-netbook-2.jpg|150px|right|link=http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick_release_process]][[Image:SoaS-netbook-3.jpg|150px|right|link=http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick_release_process]]
|}

=== Get Sticks into Schools ===

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 250px;" | [[File:Cici-stick.jpg |200px|left|link=Sugar_on_a_Stick_deployment_process]]
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
Deployments all over the world need many different types of help as they work through the [[Sugar on a Stick deployment process]] - we need help building resources for all deployments to use, supporting those deployments, and helping new deployments start, as well as gathering stories and feedback from deployments so that we can make the next version of Sugar on a Stick even better.

Some things you can do to help:

* ''"It's a wiki: Edit away!"'' is often said in open source communities. Almost nothing is set in stone and can't be undone. So if you've got ideas how to make instructions clearer and more accessible, just go for it!
* We produce official documentation such as the [http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/creation-kit/ Creation Kit] or the [http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/customization-guide/ Customization Guide]. If you've an idea how to make them better, why don't you jump in and create a patch? Creating these nifty text files is simple - instructions live in the [[Sugar_on_a_Stick/Documentation_SOP|Documentation SOP]].
* Unofficial documentation for unsupported workarounds for [[Sugar on a Stick/Installation|installation]] and [[Sugar on a Stick/Sugar Clone|customization]] need to be edited, tested, and submitted for approval for official support. Check them out and leave comments and improvements; just jump in and edit the page.
* Interested in starting a deployment or helping a specific one (with anything from pedagogical design to technical support to funding logistics)? Introduce yourself on the deployment lists for [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/ Sugar Labs] and [http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/ One Laptop Per Child] and we'll get you connected with some teachers on the ground.
* We're looking for some people to help us assemble tools for our support team to use. Email the [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/soas Sugar on a Stick mailing list] if you're interested.
|}

=== Get Contributors ===

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |

Contributors are the lifeblood of the Sugar on a Stick community - we work hard to bring a playful mindset of teaching, learning, and meaningful work to the children we aim to reach, and we aim to keep that mindset in our own work and community as well. Welcoming and teaching new contributors or all types, building the resources they need, and teaching them how to empower others in their turn is one of the most important things you can do; it is ''everyone's'' responsibility to help build our community, one person at a time.

Some things you can do:

* Edit this page and [[Joining Sugar on a Stick]]. Is there something we could do to make the "getting started" process easier? You don't have to ask permission to edit; just do it!
* Help us fill in our remaining task-starter pages: [[Sugar on a Stick release process]], [[How to fix an Activity bug]], [[How to fix a sugar-core bug]], and [[Sugar on a Stick deployment process]]/
* [http://openhatch.org/+projects/Sugar%20on%20a%20Stick Point out starter tasks on OpenHatch] - fill in questions and ideas for beginner jobs, and point newcomers towards them.
* [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/soas Watch for introductions on the mailing list], and send welcome emails to new contributors (copy the list, so we can see what advice a newcomer has gotten so far).
* Hang out with us on IRC: [http://webchat.freenode.net?channels=sugar #sugar]. This is where the [http://activities.sugarlabs.org/en-US/sugar/addon/4029 IRC Activity] starts off. Help new joiners past initial questions and provide instant help!

| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 200px;" |[[Image:Cici-netbook.jpg|200px|right|link=http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick]]
|}

== What's happening? ==

=== Meetings ===

We have weekly meetings on IRC - see [[Sugar on a Stick meetings]] for more information, including logs from past meetings. Attending a meeting is a great way for newcomers to get started.

=== Release schedule ===

Our release schedule is based on the [[fedora:Releases/Schedule | Fedora release schedule]].

=== Contributor stories ===

To find out what other contributors are doing, check out [http://planet.sugarlabs.org Planet Sugar Labs], where contributors to Sugar Labs and the Sugar on a Stick project aggregate their blogs. You can also [[Sysadmin/Planet syndication request|add your own blog to the Planet]].

== Related work ==

While the projects listed below are not part of Sugar on a Stick, we watch them closely and try to work with them when possible (or at least we're trying to learn!)

* For deployments lacking easy Internet access, one can turn a computer into a '''Sugar on a Stick Creation Station'''. The [[Sugar Creation Kit]] is a downloadable DVD which includes the materials you need to create Pineapple sticks and to install additional Activities, along with documentation and previous versions of Sugar on a Stick.
* Older [[:Category:Live USB|portable Sugar distributions]] based on other Linux distributions .
* [[The undiscoverable]] is an unofficial FAQ for tips, tricks, and solutions to common problems that may otherwise be tricky to find. These are being considered for inclusion in the official SoaS documentation.

== Previous versions and other subpages index ==
{{Show|Earlier versions of Sugar on a Stick and other project pages can be reviewed at these pages: |{{Special:PrefixIndex/Sugar on a Stick/}}}}

Activity Team/Activity Development Fedora 17

2012-06-05T14:03:14Z

Pbrobinson: /* Install Fedora 17 */

=Develop an Activity under Fedora 17=
Developing an activity under Fedora has never been so easy. Here are the most basic steps to get you started.

==Install Fedora 17==
Follow the instructions at the [http://fedoraproject.org/en/get-fedora Fedora page] and install Fedora or run it in a virtualized environment.

==Install Sugar==
Now install Sugar:
yum groupinstall sugar-desktop

For running Sugar under GNOME you can use the 'sugar-emulator' install the package:
yum install sugar-emulator

==Start the sugar emulator==
You can start the Sugar emulator from the terminal, like:
sugar-emulator

Or you can run it from your launcher like any other application:

[[File:1 develop activity f17 start sugar emulator.png]]

[[File:2 develop activity f17 running emulator.png]]

[[File:3 develop activity f17 running emulator 3.png]]

[[File:4 develop activity f17 home.png]]

==Modify an Activity==
The Activities you installed earlier with the 'groupinstall' command are installed under '/usr/share/sugar/activities/'. For developing it is easier to have them available in a user accessible part of the system. Sugar does look in the $HOME/Activities folder for Activities. The folder has to be named to end with '.activity'.

Start a terminal and create the folder in your $HOME directory and change into it:
cd
mkdir Activities
cd Activities/

Clone the HelloWorld activity (in the folder helloworld.activity):
git clone git://git.sugarlabs.org/hello-world/mainline.git helloworld.activity

[[File:6 develop activity f17 get helloworld.png]]

If you know restart the sugar-emulator the activity will be available. You can favorite it in the activity-list view in the Home view.

[[File:7_develop_activity_f17_helloworld_favorite.png]]

[[File:8_develop_activity_f17_helloworld_favorte_2.png]]

[[File:9_develop_activity_f17_helloworld_favorite_3.png]]

[[File:10_develop_activity_f17_run_helloworld.png]]

So the first fun thing to do is to change the HelloWorld Activity to welcome yourself. Just change the activity.py file in the Activity folder with your favorite editor and restart the Activity. You do not need to restart the emulator for that.

[[File:11 develop activity f17 edit activity 1.png]]

[[File:12 develop activity f17 edit activity.png]]

[[File:13 develop activity f17 result.png]]

If you made it that far yo have been made a big step to become an Activity developer using the tools available in Fedora 17. I hope you enjoyed it.

Sugar on a Stick/Project sitemap

2011-12-20T15:49:21Z

Pbrobinson: /* Proposed for Archive */

{{Under construction|Contributions by multiple editors welcome! --[[User:Inkyfingers|Inkyfingers]] 09:52, 20 December 2011 (EST) }}
== What is this page? ==
Arguably there are so many pages on the Sugar on a Stick project that a newcomer will find it difficult to find information easily.
This page was produced quickly to help review the possibility that some of the SoaS project pages could be moved to an archive. Additionally we can use this page to flag up to newcomers the "Front of House" pages, and any other "heading" that might be thought fit.
Perhaps you could help by moving pages into what you consider the most appropriate "heading".

If you would be prepared to vouch for the technical accuracy of any page(s), putting your signature against it would be really appreciated.

I suggest the first target is to move everything out of "To be classified"

=== ... and in the future ... ===
I propose this page as a maintenance tool right now, but hopefully after maintenance is complete, the page will provide a useful index or project site-map for newcomers and those reflecting on the history of the project.

== Team or Project Header ==
These pages are referenced by the "Project Header" navigation bar.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Page
! Checked for Accuracy
|---
|[[Sugar on a Stick]]
|''signature and timestamp''
|-
|[[Sugar on a Stick/Getting Involved]]
|
|-
|[[Sugar on a Stick/Contacts]]
|
|-
|[[Sugar on a Stick/Resources]]
|
|-
|[[Sugar on a Stick/FAQ]]
|
|-
|[[Sugar on a Stick/Roadmap]]
|
|-
|[[Sugar on a Stick/TODO]]
|
|-
|[[Sugar on a Stick/Meetings]]
|
|-<--! Flag last row -->
|}

== Other Primary, or "Front of House" Pages, ==
[[Sugar on a Stick/Beta]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Boot]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Downloads]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Installation]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Installation/Variations]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Pineapple]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Pineapple/hashes]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Linux]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Mac]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Windows]]

[[Sugar on a Stick Bugs]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Getting Involved/Testing]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Smoke Test]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Stick Layout]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Sugar Clone]]

== Secondary Pages ==
[[Sugar on a Stick/Archive]] - is already an archive.

[[Sugar on a Stick/Coconut]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Coconut/hashes]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Mango Lassi]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Subpages]]

== Back office pages, perhaps ==

== Developer pages ==

== Any other heading ... ==

== To be classified - Work in Progress ==

Pages have been classified quickly, on "first pass" basis. Please move as appropriate.

All translation pages have been omitted at this stage.--[[User:Inkyfingers|Inkyfingers]] 12:34, 4 December 2011 (EST)

[[Sugar on a Stick/Customization]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Documentation SOP]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Essence]]

[[Sugar on a Stick meeting]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/ebooks]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Goals]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Hardware]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/USB format]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/VirtualBox/Preparing a disk image]]

[[VirtualBox]] - not strictly SoaS, but referenced.

[[Sugar on a Stick QA]]

[[Sugar on a Stick in Delhi India]]

[[Sugar on a Stick meetings]] cf [[Sugar on a Stick/Meetings]]

[[Sugar on a Stick release process]]

== Proposed for Archive ==

Pages have been classified quickly, on "first pass" basis. Please move as appropriate.

'''Proposed Archive method'''

This requires clarification, but I propose multiple editors could mark target pages on this list with a letter as follows:-
<ol type="a">
<li> Where a new page name/title is desired, once the new content is ready, moving the old page title to the new title, and then pasting the new content over the old, is best for preserving the full history of that page topic.</li>
<li> Obsolete themes and content can be moved to the background in explicit 'Obsolete' or 'Archive' subpages, e.g., Activity Team/Obsolete, Archive/Current Events.</li>
: Please confirm if this is satisfactory for preserving the history of the page concept.
:: Yes, page moves include the history, and optionally, the subpages.
<li> Copy the new version to the current version of the target page.</li>
</ol>

'''Proposed Archive result:'''

To keep the main subpage listing shorter and less cluttered, we should perhaps organize the archive under '''Sugar on a Stick Archive'''. --[[User:FGrose|FGrose]] 23:09, 4 December 2011 (EST)

'''Sugar on a Stick/Old Page''' to be renamed '''Sugar on a Stick Archive/Old Page''' - using method b) above.

'''Proposed Archive List - Method b)'''

[[Sugar on a Stick/Activity Criteria]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Blueberry]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Blueberry/Activities]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Explore]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Install]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Installation/Windows]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Mirabelle]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Pancake page]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Proposals]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Strawberry]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Usage]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/blueberry]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/ebooks]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/deja-dup]]

[[Sugar on a Stick Ubuntu]]

[[Sugar on a Stick deployment process]]

[[Sugar on a Stick meetings/2010-08-30]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/ASLOxo Activity Test Table]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Activity Criteria/Status]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Linux/Non-compressed Fedora]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Linux/openSUSE]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Installation/OLPC]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/VirtualBox/Preparing a disk image]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/ZyX-LiveInstaller]]

[[Sugar on a Stick Parallels]]

== Sub page list for reference ==
{{Special:PrefixIndex/Sugar on a Stick}}

Sugar on a Stick/Project sitemap

2011-12-20T15:49:01Z

Pbrobinson: /* To be classified - Work in Progress */

{{Under construction|Contributions by multiple editors welcome! --[[User:Inkyfingers|Inkyfingers]] 09:52, 20 December 2011 (EST) }}
== What is this page? ==
Arguably there are so many pages on the Sugar on a Stick project that a newcomer will find it difficult to find information easily.
This page was produced quickly to help review the possibility that some of the SoaS project pages could be moved to an archive. Additionally we can use this page to flag up to newcomers the "Front of House" pages, and any other "heading" that might be thought fit.
Perhaps you could help by moving pages into what you consider the most appropriate "heading".

If you would be prepared to vouch for the technical accuracy of any page(s), putting your signature against it would be really appreciated.

I suggest the first target is to move everything out of "To be classified"

=== ... and in the future ... ===
I propose this page as a maintenance tool right now, but hopefully after maintenance is complete, the page will provide a useful index or project site-map for newcomers and those reflecting on the history of the project.

== Team or Project Header ==
These pages are referenced by the "Project Header" navigation bar.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Page
! Checked for Accuracy
|---
|[[Sugar on a Stick]]
|''signature and timestamp''
|-
|[[Sugar on a Stick/Getting Involved]]
|
|-
|[[Sugar on a Stick/Contacts]]
|
|-
|[[Sugar on a Stick/Resources]]
|
|-
|[[Sugar on a Stick/FAQ]]
|
|-
|[[Sugar on a Stick/Roadmap]]
|
|-
|[[Sugar on a Stick/TODO]]
|
|-
|[[Sugar on a Stick/Meetings]]
|
|-<--! Flag last row -->
|}

== Other Primary, or "Front of House" Pages, ==
[[Sugar on a Stick/Beta]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Boot]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Downloads]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Installation]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Installation/Variations]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Pineapple]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Pineapple/hashes]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Linux]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Mac]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Windows]]

[[Sugar on a Stick Bugs]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Getting Involved/Testing]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Smoke Test]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Stick Layout]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Sugar Clone]]

== Secondary Pages ==
[[Sugar on a Stick/Archive]] - is already an archive.

[[Sugar on a Stick/Coconut]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Coconut/hashes]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Mango Lassi]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Subpages]]

== Back office pages, perhaps ==

== Developer pages ==

== Any other heading ... ==

== To be classified - Work in Progress ==

Pages have been classified quickly, on "first pass" basis. Please move as appropriate.

All translation pages have been omitted at this stage.--[[User:Inkyfingers|Inkyfingers]] 12:34, 4 December 2011 (EST)

[[Sugar on a Stick/Customization]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Documentation SOP]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Essence]]

[[Sugar on a Stick meeting]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/ebooks]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Goals]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Hardware]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/USB format]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/VirtualBox/Preparing a disk image]]

[[VirtualBox]] - not strictly SoaS, but referenced.

[[Sugar on a Stick QA]]

[[Sugar on a Stick in Delhi India]]

[[Sugar on a Stick meetings]] cf [[Sugar on a Stick/Meetings]]

[[Sugar on a Stick release process]]

== Proposed for Archive ==

Pages have been classified quickly, on "first pass" basis. Please move as appropriate.

'''Proposed Archive method'''

This requires clarification, but I propose multiple editors could mark target pages on this list with a letter as follows:-
<ol type="a">
<li> Where a new page name/title is desired, once the new content is ready, moving the old page title to the new title, and then pasting the new content over the old, is best for preserving the full history of that page topic.</li>
<li> Obsolete themes and content can be moved to the background in explicit 'Obsolete' or 'Archive' subpages, e.g., Activity Team/Obsolete, Archive/Current Events.</li>
: Please confirm if this is satisfactory for preserving the history of the page concept.
:: Yes, page moves include the history, and optionally, the subpages.
<li> Copy the new version to the current version of the target page.</li>
</ol>

'''Proposed Archive result:'''

To keep the main subpage listing shorter and less cluttered, we should perhaps organize the archive under '''Sugar on a Stick Archive'''. --[[User:FGrose|FGrose]] 23:09, 4 December 2011 (EST)

'''Sugar on a Stick/Old Page''' to be renamed '''Sugar on a Stick Archive/Old Page''' - using method b) above.

'''Proposed Archive List - Method b)'''

[[Sugar on a Stick/Activity Criteria]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Blueberry]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Blueberry/Activities]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Explore]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Install]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Installation/Windows]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Mirabelle]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Pancake page]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Proposals]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Strawberry]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/Usage]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/blueberry]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/ebooks]]

[[Sugar on a Stick/deja-dup]]

[[Sugar on a Stick Ubuntu]]

[[Sugar on a Stick deployment process]]

[[Sugar on a Stick meetings/2010-08-30]]

== Sub page list for reference ==
{{Special:PrefixIndex/Sugar on a Stick}}

0.96/Platform Components

2011-11-12T09:55:41Z

Pbrobinson:

<noinclude></noinclude>[[Category:Platform Cycle]]
{{Note/warning|''Note:''| ''This page is outdated and based on a copy of the [[0.88/Platform Components]] with partial updates but will need final updates for 0.96.''}}

The [[Sugar Platform Stack]] is a set of versioned components on which activity authors can rely when targeting their activities to run on a particular Sugar version.

Activity authors can expect to find the following components in a system running Sugar 0.94:

{| border=1 cellpadding=3 style="border: 1px solid white; border-collapse: collapse; background: #e3e4e5;"
|-style="background:#787878; color: white;"
! Name
! Minimum version
! [http://api.sugarlabs.org API] docs
! Notes
|-
|Python
|2.5
|
|
|-
| [http://www.gtk.org/ glib2]
| 2.16
| http://library.gnome.org/devel/glib/stable/
| Needs updated versions
|-
| [http://www.gtk.org/ Gtk+]
| 2.16
| http://library.gnome.org/devel/gtk3/stable/
| Needs updated versions
|-
| [http://www.gtk.org/ GObject]
| 2.?? / 3?
| http://library.gnome.org/devel/gobject/stable/
| Should we split this in glib, gobject, gio, etc?
|-
| [http://www.gstreamer.net/ GStreamer]
| 0.10.14
| http://gstreamer.freedesktop.org/data/doc/gstreamer/head/gstreamer-libs/html/
|
|-
| [http://telepathy.freedesktop.org/wiki Telepathy]
| 0.7.25
| http://telepathy.freedesktop.org/wiki/Telepathy%20GLib
| Do we need to list explicit versions of salut/gabble/t-m-c
|-
| [http://projects.gnome.org/evince Evince]
| 2.26
| http://library.gnome.org/devel/libevview/unstable http://library.gnome.org/devel/libevdocument/unstable/
| Should we split this in libevview and libevdocument?
|-
| [http://www.abisource.com Abiword]
| 2.6
|
|
|-
| [http://www.squeakland.org Etoys]
| 4.0.2340
| http://download.sugarlabs.org/sources/sucrose/glucose/etoys/
| Etoys is part of Sugar itself, why is it listed here?
|-
| [https://live.gnome.org/PyGObject PyGObject]
| 3.0
| http://readthedocs.org/docs/python-gtk-3-tutorial/en/latest/index.html
|
|-
| PyGTK
| 2.14
| http://www.pygtk.org/docs/pygtk/index.html
| Deprecated, not recommended for new Activities?
|-
| dbus
| 1.1x
|
|
|-
| [http://squeakvm.org/unix/ squeak-vm]
| 3.10-4
|
|
|-
|gst-plugins-base
|0.10.15
|
|
|-
|gst-plugins-good
|0.10.6
|
|
|-
|[http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Activity_Team/gst-plugins-espeak gst-plugins-espeak]
|0.3
|
|
|-
|espeak
|1.40.02
|
|
|-
|numpy
|1.0.3
|
|
|-
|pygame
|1.7.1
|
|
|-
|olpcsound / csound / csound-python
|5.08
|
|
|-
|libxml2-python
|2.6.30
|
|
|
|-
|libffi
|3.0.5
|
|
|
|-
|xulrunner
|1.9.1
|
|
|
|-
|[http://www.webkitgtk.org/ webkitgtk]
|1.6.x
|http://webkitgtk.org/reference/index.html
|
|
|-
|vte
|
|
|Including Python bindings
|}

{{Template:Developers}}
* [http://developer.gnome.org/platform-overview/ GNOME platform]

[[Category:Development Team]]

0.96/Platform Components

2011-11-12T09:54:50Z

Pbrobinson:

<noinclude></noinclude>[[Category:Platform Cycle]]
{{Note/warning|''Note:''| ''This page is outdated and based on a copy of the [[0.88/Platform Components]] with partial updates but will need final updates for 0.96.''}}

The [[Sugar Platform Stack]] is a set of versioned components on which activity authors can rely when targeting their activities to run on a particular Sugar version.

Activity authors can expect to find the following components in a system running Sugar 0.94:

{| border=1 cellpadding=3 style="border: 1px solid white; border-collapse: collapse; background: #e3e4e5;"
|-style="background:#787878; color: white;"
! Name
! Minimum version
! [http://api.sugarlabs.org API] docs
! Notes
|-
|Python
|2.5
|
|
|-
| [http://www.gtk.org/ glib2]
| 2.16
| http://library.gnome.org/devel/glib/stable/
| Needs updated versions
|-
| [http://www.gtk.org/ Gtk+]
| 2.16
| http://library.gnome.org/devel/gtk3/stable/
| Needs updated versions
|-
| [http://www.gtk.org/ GObject]
| 2.?? / 3?
| http://library.gnome.org/devel/gobject/stable/
| Should we split this in glib, gobject, gio, etc?
|-
| [http://www.gstreamer.net/ GStreamer]
| 0.10.14
| http://gstreamer.freedesktop.org/data/doc/gstreamer/head/gstreamer-libs/html/
|
|-
| [http://telepathy.freedesktop.org/wiki Telepathy]
| 0.7.25
| http://telepathy.freedesktop.org/wiki/Telepathy%20GLib
| Do we need to list explicit versions of salut/gabble/t-m-c
|-
| [http://projects.gnome.org/evince Evince]
| 2.26
| http://library.gnome.org/devel/libevview/unstable http://library.gnome.org/devel/libevdocument/unstable/
| Should we split this in libevview and libevdocument?
|-
| [http://www.abisource.com Abiword]
| 2.6
|
|
|-
| [http://www.squeakland.org Etoys]
| 4.0.2340
| http://download.sugarlabs.org/sources/sucrose/glucose/etoys/
| Etoys is part of Sugar itself, why is it listed here?
|-
| [https://live.gnome.org/PyGObject PyGObject]
| 3.0
| http://readthedocs.org/docs/python-gtk-3-tutorial/en/latest/index.html
| API link outdated
|-
| PyGTK
| 2.14
| http://www.pygtk.org/docs/pygtk/index.html
| Deprecated, not recommended for new Activities?
|-
| dbus
| 1.1x
|
|
|-
| [http://squeakvm.org/unix/ squeak-vm]
| 3.10-4
|
|
|-
|gst-plugins-base
|0.10.15
|
|
|-
|gst-plugins-good
|0.10.6
|
|
|-
|[http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Activity_Team/gst-plugins-espeak gst-plugins-espeak]
|0.3
|
|
|-
|espeak
|1.40.02
|
|
|-
|numpy
|1.0.3
|
|
|-
|pygame
|1.7.1
|
|
|-
|olpcsound / csound / csound-python
|5.08
|
|
|-
|libxml2-python
|2.6.30
|
|
|
|-
|libffi
|3.0.5
|
|
|
|-
|xulrunner
|1.9.1
|
|
|
|-
|[http://www.webkitgtk.org/ webkitgtk]
|1.6.x
|http://webkitgtk.org/reference/index.html
|
|
|-
|vte
|
|
|Including Python bindings
|}

{{Template:Developers}}
* [http://developer.gnome.org/platform-overview/ GNOME platform]

[[Category:Development Team]]

0.96/Platform Components

2011-11-12T09:51:43Z

Pbrobinson:

<noinclude></noinclude>[[Category:Platform Cycle]]
{{Note/warning|''Note:''| ''This page is outdated (only a copy of the [[0.88/Platform Components]] for now) and needs an update.''}}

The [[Sugar Platform Stack]] is a set of versioned components on which activity authors can rely when targeting their activities to run on a particular Sugar version.

Activity authors can expect to find the following components in a system running Sugar 0.94:

{| border=1 cellpadding=3 style="border: 1px solid white; border-collapse: collapse; background: #e3e4e5;"
|-style="background:#787878; color: white;"
! Name
! Minimum version
! [http://api.sugarlabs.org API] docs
! Notes
|-
|Python
|2.5
|
|
|-
| [http://www.gtk.org/ glib2]
| 2.16
| http://library.gnome.org/devel/glib/stable/
| Needs updated versions
|-
| [http://www.gtk.org/ Gtk+]
| 2.16
| http://library.gnome.org/devel/gtk3/stable/
| Needs updated versions
|-
| [http://www.gtk.org/ GObject]
| 2.?? / 3?
| http://library.gnome.org/devel/gobject/stable/
| Should we split this in glib, gobject, gio, etc?
|-
| [http://www.gstreamer.net/ GStreamer]
| 0.10.14
| http://gstreamer.freedesktop.org/data/doc/gstreamer/head/gstreamer-libs/html/
|
|-
| [http://telepathy.freedesktop.org/wiki Telepathy]
| 0.7.25
| http://telepathy.freedesktop.org/wiki/Telepathy%20GLib
| Do we need to list explicit versions of salut/gabble/t-m-c
|-
| [http://projects.gnome.org/evince Evince]
| 2.26
| http://library.gnome.org/devel/libevview/unstable http://library.gnome.org/devel/libevdocument/unstable/
| Should we split this in libevview and libevdocument?
|-
| [http://www.abisource.com Abiword]
| 2.6
|
|
|-
| [http://www.squeakland.org Etoys]
| 4.0.2340
| http://download.sugarlabs.org/sources/sucrose/glucose/etoys/
| Etoys is part of Sugar itself, why is it listed here?
|-
| [https://live.gnome.org/PyGObject PyGObject]
| 3.0
| http://readthedocs.org/docs/python-gtk-3-tutorial/en/latest/index.html
| API link outdated
|-
| PyGTK
| 2.14
| http://www.pygtk.org/docs/pygtk/index.html
| Deprecated, not recommended for new Activities?
|-
| dbus
| 1.1x
|
|
|-
| [http://squeakvm.org/unix/ squeak-vm]
| 3.10-4
|
|
|-
|gst-plugins-base
|0.10.15
|
|
|-
|gst-plugins-good
|0.10.6
|
|
|-
|[http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Activity_Team/gst-plugins-espeak gst-plugins-espeak]
|0.3
|
|
|-
|espeak
|1.40.02
|
|
|-
|numpy
|1.0.3
|
|
|-
|pygame
|1.7.1
|
|
|-
|olpcsound / csound / csound-python
|5.08
|
|
|-
|libxml2-python
|2.6.30
|
|
|
|-
|libffi
|3.0.5
|
|
|
|-
|xulrunner
|1.9.1
|
|
|
|-
|vte
|
|
|Including Python bindings
|}

{{Template:Developers}}
* [http://developer.gnome.org/platform-overview/ GNOME platform]

[[Category:Development Team]]

0.96/Platform Components

2011-11-12T09:44:11Z

Pbrobinson:

<noinclude></noinclude>[[Category:Platform Cycle]]
{{Note/warning|''Note:''| ''This page is outdated (only a copy of the [[0.88/Platform Components]] for now) and needs an update.''}}

The [[Sugar Platform Stack]] is a set of versioned components on which activity authors can rely when targeting their activities to run on a particular Sugar version.

Activity authors can expect to find the following components in a system running Sugar 0.94:

{| border=1 cellpadding=3 style="border: 1px solid white; border-collapse: collapse; background: #e3e4e5;"
|-style="background:#787878; color: white;"
! Name
! Minimum version
! [http://api.sugarlabs.org API] docs
! Notes
|-
|Python
|2.5
|
|
|-
| [http://www.gtk.org/ glib2]
| 2.16
| http://library.gnome.org/devel/glib/stable/
| Needs updated versions
|-
| [http://www.gtk.org/ Gtk+]
| 2.16
| http://library.gnome.org/devel/gtk3/stable/
| Needs updated versions
|-
| [http://www.gtk.org/ GObject]
| 2.?? / 3?
| http://library.gnome.org/devel/gobject/stable/
| Should we split this in glib, gobject, gio, etc?
|-
| [http://www.gstreamer.net/ GStreamer]
| 0.10.14
| http://gstreamer.freedesktop.org/data/doc/gstreamer/head/gstreamer-libs/html/
|
|-
| [http://telepathy.freedesktop.org/wiki Telepathy]
| 0.7.25
| http://telepathy.freedesktop.org/wiki/Telepathy%20GLib
|
|-
| [http://projects.gnome.org/evince Evince]
| 2.26
| http://library.gnome.org/devel/libevview/unstable http://library.gnome.org/devel/libevdocument/unstable/
| Should we split this in libevview and libevdocument?
|-
| [http://www.abisource.com Abiword]
| 2.6
|
|
|-
| [http://www.squeakland.org Etoys]
| 4.0.2340
| http://download.sugarlabs.org/sources/sucrose/glucose/etoys/
| Etoys is part of Sugar itself, why is it listed here?
|-
| PyGObject
| 2.16
| http://www.pygtk.org/docs/pygobject/index.html
| API link outdated
|-
| PyGTK
| 2.14
| http://www.pygtk.org/docs/pygtk/index.html
| API link outdated
|-
| dbus
| 1.1x
|
|
|-
| [http://squeakvm.org/unix/ squeak-vm]
| 3.10-4
|
|
|-
|gst-plugins-base
|0.10.15
|
|
|-
|gst-plugins-good
|0.10.6
|
|
|-
|[http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Activity_Team/gst-plugins-espeak gst-plugins-espeak]
|0.3
|
|
|-
|espeak
|1.40.02
|
|
|-
|numpy
|1.0.3
|
|
|-
|pygame
|1.7.1
|
|
|-
|olpcsound / csound / csound-python
|5.08
|
|
|-
|libxml2-python
|2.6.30
|
|
|
|-
|libffi
|3.0.5
|
|
|
|-
|xulrunner
|1.9.1
|
|
|
|-
|vte
|
|
|Including Python bindings
|}

{{Template:Developers}}
* [http://developer.gnome.org/platform-overview/ GNOME platform]

[[Category:Development Team]]

0.96/Platform Components

2011-11-12T09:39:13Z

Pbrobinson: Created page with "<noinclude></noinclude>Category:Platform Cycle {{Note/warning|''Note:''| ''This page is outdated (only a copy of the 0.88/Platform Components for now) and needs an update..."

<noinclude></noinclude>[[Category:Platform Cycle]]
{{Note/warning|''Note:''| ''This page is outdated (only a copy of the [[0.88/Platform Components]] for now) and needs an update.''}}

The [[Sugar Platform Stack]] is a set of versioned components on which activity authors can rely when targeting their activities to run on a particular Sugar version.

Activity authors can expect to find the following components in a system running Sugar 0.94:

{| border=1 cellpadding=3 style="border: 1px solid white; border-collapse: collapse; background: #e3e4e5;"
|-style="background:#787878; color: white;"
! Name
! Minimum version
! [http://api.sugarlabs.org API] docs
! Notes
|-
|Python
|2.5
|
|
|-
| [http://www.gtk.org/ Gtk+]
| 2.16
| http://www.gtk.org/documentation.html
| Should we split this in glib, gobject, gio, etc?
|-
| [http://www.gstreamer.net/ GStreamer]
| 0.10.14
| http://gstreamer.freedesktop.org/data/doc/gstreamer/head/gstreamer-libs/html/
|
|-
| [http://telepathy.freedesktop.org/wiki Telepathy]
| 0.7.25
| http://telepathy.freedesktop.org/wiki/Telepathy%20GLib
|
|-
| [http://projects.gnome.org/evince Evince]
| 2.26
| http://library.gnome.org/devel/libevview/unstable http://library.gnome.org/devel/libevdocument/unstable/
| Should we split this in libevview and libevdocument?
|-
| [http://www.abisource.com Abiword]
| 2.6
|
|
|-
| [http://www.squeakland.org Etoys]
| 4.0.2340
| http://download.sugarlabs.org/sources/sucrose/glucose/etoys/
| Etoys is part of Sugar itself, why is it listed here?
|-
| PyGObject
| 2.16
| http://www.pygtk.org/docs/pygobject/index.html
| API link outdated
|-
| PyGTK
| 2.14
| http://www.pygtk.org/docs/pygtk/index.html
| API link outdated
|-
| dbus
| 1.1x
|
|
|-
| [http://squeakvm.org/unix/ squeak-vm]
| 3.10-4
|
|
|-
|gst-plugins-base
|0.10.15
|
|
|-
|gst-plugins-good
|0.10.6
|
|
|-
|[http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Activity_Team/gst-plugins-espeak gst-plugins-espeak]
|0.3
|
|
|-
|espeak
|1.40.02
|
|
|-
|numpy
|1.0.3
|
|
|-
|pygame
|1.7.1
|
|
|-
|olpcsound / csound / csound-python
|5.08
|
|
|-
|libxml2-python
|2.6.30
|
|
|
|-
|libffi
|3.0.5
|
|
|
|-
|xulrunner
|1.9.1
|
|
|
|-
|vte
|
|
|Including Python bindings
|}

{{Template:Developers}}
* [http://developer.gnome.org/platform-overview/ GNOME platform]

[[Category:Development Team]]

Sugar on a Stick/Pineapple/hashes

2011-11-09T09:52:41Z

Pbrobinson: Created page with "==Fedora-16-i686-Live-SoaS.iso== =====sha256sum===== 5aa938737cc4ebeb1d269c4d8b2bf56e41bacd1967c3997b8969b42b88b63bfa ==Fedora-16-x86_64-Live-SoaS.iso== =====sha256sum===== 15f7..."

==Fedora-16-i686-Live-SoaS.iso==
=====sha256sum=====
5aa938737cc4ebeb1d269c4d8b2bf56e41bacd1967c3997b8969b42b88b63bfa

==Fedora-16-x86_64-Live-SoaS.iso==
=====sha256sum=====
15f72ce2af12e31824f51568fc6add911bafe8c6e09c0f813b30a80575074db9

Sugar on a Stick

2011-11-09T09:49:51Z

Pbrobinson: /* Want to use Sugar on a Stick? */

<noinclude>
[[Category:Project]]
[[Category:Live USB]]
[[Category:Sugar on a Stick]]
</noinclude>

== What is Sugar on a Stick? ==

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 350px;" | [[File:SugaronastickCoconut.png|320px|left|link=http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas]]
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" | '''[[Sugar on a Stick]]''' is a [http://fedoraproject.org Fedora-based] [[wikipedia:Live USB|Live USB]] operating system featuring the award-winning [[What is Sugar?|Sugar Learning Platform]] and designed to fit on an ordinary USB thumbdrive ("stick"). The most recent version is version 5, named '''[[Sugar on a Stick/Coconut|Coconut]]''' and was released on '''09 October 2011.'''
{{Highlight|Download links: SoaS v5 Coconut:}} [http://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/alt/spins/linux/releases/15/Spins/i686/Fedora-15-i686-Live-SoaS.iso i686], [http://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/alt/spins/linux/releases/15/Spins/x86_64/Fedora-15-x86_64-Live-SoaS.iso x86_64]

'''Turn your computer into a Sugar on a Stick Creation Station:''' A related project is the [[Sugar Creation Kit]], a downloadable DVD which includes the materials you need to create Mango Lassi sticks and install additional Activities on it, along with documentation and previous versions of Sugar on a Stick.
|}

{{Highlight|'''Note''': For a commercial source of SoaS-loaded USB flash drives and SDHC Cards, [[Sugar_Creation_Kit#Commercial_source_of_SoaS-loaded_media | see this section]].}}

__NOTOC__

=== Want to use Sugar on a Stick? ===

{|
|-
| rowspan="4" style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 350px;" | [[File:Cici-maze.jpg |300px|left|link=http://alt.fedoraproject.org/pub/alt/spins/linux/releases/14/Spins/i686/Fedora-14-i686-Live-SoaS.iso]]
|-
|style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" align="center" | [[File:Download Mirabell.png|center|link=http://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/alt/spins/linux/releases/16/Spins/x86_64/Fedora-16-x86_64-Live-SoaS.iso]]i686
|style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" align="center" | [[File:Download Mirabell.png|center|link=http://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/alt/spins/linux/releases/16/Spins/x86_64/Fedora-16-x86_64-Live-SoaS.iso]]x86_64
|-
| colspan="2" align="center"|[[Sugar on a Stick/Pineapple/hashes | hashes to verify downloads]]
|-
| colspan="2"|See these [[Sugar on a Stick/Installation|installation instructions]].

After you've tried out Sugar on a Stick, we hope you'll come back here and join our community of contributors to help us make the next release even better.
|}

=== Want to contribute to Sugar on a Stick? ===

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 350px;" | [[File:SoaS-contributors.jpg |300px|left|link=Sugar_on_a_Stick]]
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
You're in the right place! This page is a contributors portal to the project, and contains everything you need to get started in becoming part of the Sugar on a Stick community.
|}

== New contributors start here! ==

Welcome! We're excited that you want to help us bring the Sugar Learning Platform to children around the world. No prior experience with computers or educational technology is required - in fact, we actively encourage a diversity of backgrounds, ages, and perspectives. See the [[Joining Sugar on a Stick]] page for instructions on how to get started. You may also want to check out the [http://openhatch.org/+projects/Sugar%20on%20a%20Stick Sugar on a Stick project page] on [http://openhatch.org OpenHatch], or attend one of our [[Sugar on a Stick meetings]].

== What can you do? ==

There are three main ways you can contribute to the Sugar on a Stick community. We work closely with our upstreams, [http://sugarlabs.org Sugar Labs] and [http://fedoraproject.org the Fedora Project].

=== Get Activities on the Stick ===

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |

We're always looking for help with all aspects of the [[Sugar on a Stick release process]]. Here are a few things you can do:

* [[Sugar on a Stick QA|Test Sugar on a Stick]] and help us find bugs and think of ways the project could be better. When you find a bug or think of an enhancement, [[How to file a ticket|file a ticket!]] ''No technical experience required.''
* Help make it easier for others to test Sugar on a Stick by writing [[Sugar on a Stick QA#Test cases|test cases]]. ''If you've run a test case, you can write a test case.''
* [http://bugs.sugarlabs.org Fix a bug or add a feature] to an existing Activity, to [[Development Team|sugar-core itself]], or to [http://bugs.sugarlabs.org/query?status=accepted&status=assigned&status=new&status=reopened&component=SoaS&order=priority&col=id&col=summary&col=status&col=type&col=priority&col=milestone&col=component Sugar on a Stick]. See [[How to fix an Activity bug]] and [[How to fix a sugar-core bug]] to get started. ''Basic Python programming skills - or the desire to learn - are all that's needed.''
* [https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Sugar_Activities Package Sugar Activities for Fedora]. ''If you're a [https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/PackageMaintainers/Join Fedora Packager] or want to become one, help in this area is something we desperately need - it's a trickier thing to learn, but rewarding once you get the hang of it.''
* [[Sugar on a Stick release process#Review|Review Activities for inclusion in the build]] - check submitted Activities against our [[Sugar on a Stick/Activity Criteria]] and help us choose what gets included in the next release! ''No prior experience needed - we do reviews during our [[Sugar on a Stick meetings|weekly meetings]] and will teach you how.''
* Have an idea for a technical feature that isn't an Activity? Check out our [[Sugar on a Stick release process#Feature process|feature process]].

| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 150px;" |[[Image:SoaS-netbook-1.jpg|150px|right|link=http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick_release_process]][[Image:SoaS-netbook-2.jpg|150px|right|link=http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick_release_process]][[Image:SoaS-netbook-3.jpg|150px|right|link=http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick_release_process]]
|}

=== Get Sticks into Schools ===

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 250px;" | [[File:Cici-stick.jpg |200px|left|link=Sugar_on_a_Stick_deployment_process]]
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
Deployments all over the world need many different types of help as they work through the [[Sugar on a Stick deployment process]] - we need help building resources for all deployments to use, supporting those deployments, and helping new deployments start, as well as gathering stories and feedback from deployments so that we can make the next version of Sugar on a Stick even better.

Some things you can do to help:

* ''"It's a wiki: Edit away!"'' is often said in open source communities. Almost nothing is set in stone and can't be undone. So if you've got ideas how to make instructions clearer and more accessible, just go for it!
* We produce official documentation such as the [http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/creation-kit/ Creation Kit] or the [http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/customization-guide/ Customization Guide]. If you've an idea how to make them better, why don't you jump in and create a patch? Creating these nifty text files is simple - instructions live in the [[Sugar_on_a_Stick/Documentation_SOP|Documentation SOP]].
* Unofficial documentation for unsupported workarounds for [[Sugar on a Stick/Installation|installation]] and [[Sugar on a Stick/Sugar Clone|customization]] need to be edited, tested, and submitted for approval for official support. Check them out and leave comments and improvements; just jump in and edit the page.
* Interested in starting a deployment or helping a specific one (with anything from pedagogical design to technical support to funding logistics)? Introduce yourself on the deployment lists for [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/ Sugar Labs] and [http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/ One Laptop Per Child] and we'll get you connected with some teachers on the ground.
* We're looking for some people to help us assemble tools for our support team to use. Email the [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/soas Sugar on a Stick mailing list] if you're interested.
|}

=== Get Contributors ===

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |

Contributors are the lifeblood of the Sugar on a Stick community - we work hard to bring a playful mindset of teaching, learning, and meaningful work to the children we aim to reach, and we aim to keep that mindset in our own work and community as well. Welcoming and teaching new contributors or all types, building the resources they need, and teaching them how to empower others in their turn is one of the most important things you can do; it is ''everyone's'' responsibility to help build our community, one person at a time.

Some things you can do:

* Edit this page and [[Joining Sugar on a Stick]]. Is there something we could do to make the "getting started" process easier? You don't have to ask permission to edit; just do it!
* Help us fill in our remaining task-starter pages: [[Sugar on a Stick release process]], [[How to fix an Activity bug]], [[How to fix a sugar-core bug]], and [[Sugar on a Stick deployment process]]/
* [http://openhatch.org/+projects/Sugar%20on%20a%20Stick Point out starter tasks on OpenHatch] - fill in questions and ideas for beginner jobs, and point newcomers towards them.
* [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/soas Watch for introductions on the mailing list], and send welcome emails to new contributors (copy the list, so we can see what advice a newcomer has gotten so far).
* Hang out with us on IRC: [http://webchat.freenode.net?channels=sugar #sugar]. This is where the [http://activities.sugarlabs.org/en-US/sugar/addon/4029 IRC Activity] starts off. Help new joiners past initial questions and provide instant help!

| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 200px;" |[[Image:Cici-netbook.jpg|200px|right|link=http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick]]
|}

== What's happening? ==

=== Meetings ===

We have weekly meetings on IRC - see [[Sugar on a Stick meetings]] for more information, including logs from past meetings. Attending a meeting is a great way for newcomers to get started.

=== Release schedule ===

Our release schedule is based on the [[fedora:Releases/Schedule | Fedora release schedule]]. The most recent release was v.4, code-named '''[[Sugar on a Stick/Mango Lassi|Mango Lassi]]''', shipped on '''November 2, 2010''' and based on the Fedora 14 release schedule. The next Sugar on a Stick version will be based on the [[fedora:Releases/15/Schedule | Fedora 15 release schedule]].

{|border="1" cellspacing="0" width="100%"
|-
|rowspan="2"| 2010-11-01 || Sugar on a Stick v.4.0 Mango Lassi released
|-
| Planning & Development Begins
|-
| 2010-07-27 || Feature Freeze (all features have to be ''approved'' and in a satisfying state.)
|-
| 2010-08-03 || Alpha Change deadline (all changes will have to be ''pushed'' by this time. pending submissions are insufficient.)
|-
| 2010-08-17 || Alpha Release
|-
| 2010-09-07 || Beta Change deadline (all changes will have to be ''pushed'' by this time. pending submissions are insufficient.)
|-
| 2010-09-21 || Beta Release
|-
| 2010-10-12 || Final Freeze (all changes have to be ''pushed''. no further changes permitted.)
|-
| 2010-10-14 || Compose Release Candidate
|-
| 2010-11-01 || Sugar on a Stick v.4.0 Final Release
|-
|}

=== Contributor stories ===

To find out what other contributors are doing, check out [http://planet.sugarlabs.org Planet Sugar Labs], where contributors to Sugar Labs and the Sugar on a Stick project aggregate their blogs. You can also [[Sysadmin/Planet syndication request|add your own blog to the Planet]].

== Related work ==

While the projects listed below are not part of Sugar on a Stick, we watch them closely and try to work with them when possible (or at least we're trying to learn!)

* [[Talk:Sugar_Creation_Kit#Introduction_to_Soas-v3_Mirabelle|Introduction to SoaS]]
* [[Sugar_on_a_Stick/Installation/Variations#SugarCreationKit_DVD|SugarCreationKit DVD]] - Complete DVD containing all the resources required to create all 3 versions of Sugar-on-a-Stick without requiring Internet access
* Other [[:Category:Live USB|portable Sugar distributions]] - Live USB work based on other Linux distributions.
* A [[https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Sugar Sugar Team]] is working to package Sugar for Ubuntu. (also see http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Community/Distributions/Ubuntu )
* [[The undiscoverable]] is an unofficial FAQ for tips, tricks, and solutions to common problems that may otherwise be tricky to find. These are being considered for inclusion in the official SoaS documentation.

== Previous versions and subpage index ==
{{Show|Earlier versions of Sugar on a Stick can be reviewed at these pages: |{{Special:PrefixIndex/Sugar on a Stick}}}}

: Fedora wiki: : https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Sugar_on_a_Stick

*[http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick/Linux/openSUSE#openSUSE_Sugar-Desktop_on_a_stick openSUSE_Sugar-Desktop_on_a_stick]

Sugar on a Stick/Pineapple

2011-11-09T09:42:35Z

Pbrobinson: /* Release history */

<noinclude>[[Category:Live USB]]</noinclude>
[[File:SugaronastickPineapple.png|320px|right|a Sugar environment you can carry in your pocket!|link=http://alt.fedoraproject.org/pub/alt/spins/linux/releases/16/Spins/]]

== Sugar on a Stick - Pineapple ==

:''a Sugar environment you can carry in your pocket''

'''Pineapple''' is the 6th version of '''[[Sugar on a Stick]]''' released on 08 November 2011.

[[File:Download Mirabell.png|link=http://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/alt/spins/linux/releases/16/Spins/x86_64/Fedora-16-x86_64-Live-SoaS.iso]] x86_64

[[File:Download Mirabell.png|link=http://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/alt/spins/linux/releases/16/Spins/i686/Fedora-16-i686-Live-SoaS.iso]] i686

== Release announcement ==



=== What's new in Pineapple ===

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 300px;" | [[File:PineappleHome.png|300px|left|link=0.94/Notes]]
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
'''Sugar version 0.94.''' The most recent release of the Sugar Learning Platform features more activities with new toolbars and duplication features.

More information about the 0.94 release of Sugar is available at [[0.94/Notes]].
|}

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
'''Customize your own remix of Sugar on a Stick.''' Coconut has a slightly larger Activity selection than its predecessor Mango Lassi and has continued the trend of providing a few, better-tested Activities. We've realized that we'll never be able to create an Activity selection suitable for all deployments—instead, we've chosen to include and support a core set of basic, teacher-tested Activities in the default image, and invite deployments to use this as a base on which to build a customized Activity selection for their classrooms. See:
#[[Build Your Own Remix with Fedora]]
#[http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/customization-guide customization guide]
#[[Sugar on a Stick/Sugar Clone]] A quick, but less pristine, method of build customization
#[http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sck/ASLOxo ASLO Activity Collection] DVD full of ASLO xo activities to Drag Drop into Soas Journal from DVD for Individual customizations.
| ]
|}

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 150px;" |
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
'''Sugar on a Stick is a Fedora Spin.''' Since SoaS v3 Mirabelle, Sugar on a Stick has been recognized by the [http://fedoraproject.org Fedora Project] as an official [http://spins.fedoraproject.org Spin]. This ties us more closely to Fedora's release cycle and gives us resources from their engineering and marketing teams, which extends the reach of Sugar on a Stick and makes the project itself more sustainable. In exchange, users of Fedora have access to an easily deployable implementation of the Sugar Platform; it's a great example of a mutually beneficial upstream–downstream relationship.
|}

=== Contributing to Sugar on a Stick ===

With v6 of Sugar on a Stick, the team recognizes the need to continue to improve its release processes and engineering sustainability. New contributors are urged to get involved and help us move towards our long-term vision of bringing stability and deployability to Sugar's personalized learning environment.

If you'd like to contribute to the next version, due for release in November of 2011, join our [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/soas mailing list] and visit '''[[Sugar on a Stick]]'''. All types of contributions are welcome, from the technical to the pedagogical, and we're happy to teach what we know and learn what you have to share.

Thank you to all the people involved for their awesome work!

== Release history ==

=== Introduction ===

This section is a recap of the events during the v5 Coconut release cycle of Sugar on a Stick.

* SoaS v5 is based on Fedora 15, and was delayed. From the Fedora wiki,
*: "The move to NetworkManager 0.9 came after the feature freeze, and the Sugar desktop wasn't accounted for in the scramble to get alternate desktop environments working with it." [http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Fedora_15_Retrospective#Could_have_been_better]

=== Re-approved as a Fedora Spin ===

"[Spins are alternate versions of Fedora, tailored for various types of users via hand-picked application sets and other customizations." --from http://spins.fedoraproject.org/about

See the release notes for v3 and v4 for history on the transition to a Fedora Spin.

=== Feature process ===

* [[Features/Soas_V5/]]



=== QA ===
:Much thanks to Peter Robinson who did a majority of the work to program, prepare and coordinate the work with many other sugar developers for this release.
:Thomas Gilliard did field-testing (building real SoaS sticks from .iso files and testing on those) - it's the closest thing to systematic testing we've had yet, though we still have a ways to go.
:Thank you also to James Cameron in Australia for his testing help!
:Much help was also provided by the team at #fedora-qa; freenode IRC

=== Documentation ===



A new release of documentation should come out with each new release of SoaS (although resources have prevented this).

The Fedora-site documentation may not be an improvement over our Sugar Labs, ad hoc wiki documentation methods, as the tools needed to participate are more complicated, and the Spin page documentation is not open to editing. The Fedora Sugar on a Stick pages have not been edited since Mirabelle was released in May 2010. The attempt to better support a small number of known, working, "how to set up SoaS", instructions has not yet been fulfilled.

=== Major accomplishments this release cycle ===

* Expanded discussion with upstream Fedora especially Fedora QA team and the new AutoQA processes. Initial integration in the Fedora Desktop QA testing process with initial guidelines and test process created. This will be expanded in Fedora 15 for the SoaS v5 release.

== Press coverage ==

Feel free to add links to press coverage you find about Coconut to this section.

Features/Evince Introspection Bindings

2011-11-04T14:01:00Z

Pbrobinson: /* Initial information */

<noinclude>{{TOCright}}
[[Category:Feature Page Incomplete]]
[[Category:Feature|WebKit]]

</noinclude>

== Summary ==

The pygtk bindings used until F14 to use the evince backend in Read activity, are no longer present in F16.
We need use the new gi based bindings

== Owner ==
* [[User:Godiard|Gonzalo Odiard]]

== Current status ==
* Targeted release: 0.96
* Last updated: 25/10/2011
* Percentage of completion: 0%

== Initial information ==

* The bindings are not ready to use. We need work closely with upstream to solve the remaining issues.

There is a related bug https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=635705
the evince developers know we need it, and they are working on this.
The patches are against evince 3.4 (shipped in F17), after review of the patches, we need look if it can be backported to evince 3.2
to update Fedora 16.

=== Implementation plan ===

The first step is port this simple demo to gtk3:

e = evince.View()
docmodel = evince.DocumentModel()
doc = evince.document_factory_get_document('file:///path/to/file/example.pdf')
docmodel.set_document(doc)
e.set_model(model)

With gtk 3 is:

from gi.repository import Gtk, Gio
from gi.repository import EvinceDocument
from gi.repository import EvinceView

class HelloWorldApp(Gtk.Application):
def __init__(self):
Gtk.Application.__init__(self, application_id="apps.test.helloevince",
flags=Gio.ApplicationFlags.FLAGS_NONE)
self.connect("activate", self.on_activate)

def on_activate(self, data=None):
window = Gtk.Window(type=Gtk.WindowType.TOPLEVEL)
window.set_title("Evince Gtk3 Python Example")
window.set_border_width(24)

scroll = Gtk.ScrolledWindow()
window.add(scroll)

EvinceDocument.init()
doc = EvinceDocument.Document.factory_get_document('file:///home/gonzalo/Desktop/AjedrezyLeyendas-Postmortem.pdf')
view = EvinceView.View()
model = EvinceView.DocumentModel()
model.set_document(doc)
view.set_model(model)
scroll.add(view)

window.show_all()
self.add_window(window)

if __name__ == "__main__":
app = HelloWorldApp()
app.run(None)

=== More information ===

Simon did tests and report:

what I did today to get a bit of a feeling of what is needed to port Read was looking at the evince bidings through introspection. So first, hmmm what is the gi repository called?

In Fedora you can have a look at '/usr/lib/girepository-1.0/' and find out that there is a EvinceDocument-3.0.typelib and a EvinceDocument-3.0.typelib. If we have a quick look at [1] we find out that the .typelib is a Binary version of the invocation info. Ok let's try this:

from gi.repository import EvinceDocument
dir(EvinceDocument)

from gi.repository import EvinceView
dir(EvinceView)

Works!

Looking at the invokations in read/evinceadapter.py I did extract the calls we did previously on the evince module (e.g. evince.View()) and checked if they were present, too.

The evince.View() is now EvinceView.View().

Furthermore are present:

help(view)
view.set_model
view.can_zoom_in, view.can_zoom_out
view.zoom_in
view_zoom_out
view.find_next
view.find_previous
view.scroll
view.copy
view.find_set_highlight_search

I could not find: update_view_size, find_changed

Some further transitions:

evince.JobFind -> EvinceView.JobFind
evince.Job.scheduler_push_job -> EvinceView.Job

I could not find: evince.SIZING_* (e.g. evince.SIZING_BEST_FIT)

More info on the EvinceView API are at [2].

And then I came across an hard one (which I have not solved yet):

I could not find out how 'evince.document_factory_get_document(file_path)' should be called now. Looking at the API it should be maybe something like EvinceDocument.factory_get_document, trying that:

>>> EvinceDocument.factory_get_document
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/gi/module.py", line 243, in __getattr__
return getattr(self._introspection_module, name)
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/gi/module.py", line 105, in __getattr__
self.__name__, name))
AttributeError: 'gi.repository.EvinceDocument' object has no attribute 'factory_get_document'
>>>

Hmm, I did get the sources, then to have a look because the .typelib is a Binary version of the invocation info and therefore I need to have a look at the .gir file to dig a bit deeper. After installing all the dependencies I did a './autogen.sh --enable-introspection' and run 'make' and had a .gir file placed in libdocument/EvinceDocument-3.0.gir. Looking at the definition it says:

<function name="factory_get_document"
c:identifier="ev_document_factory_get_document"
introspectable="0"
throws="1">

Hmm, so it should not be available 'introspectable="0"'. Why, how, this exercise is left to the reader, I am a bit stuck on this :)

A good resource for asking related is questions is #introspection on GimpNet. I have attached the chat I had with Tomeu about that issue.

Regards,
Simon

[1] http://live.gnome.org/GObjectIntrospection/Architecture

[2] http://developer.gnome.org/libevview/stable/

[3] http://developer.gnome.org/libevdocument/stable/libevdocument-ev-document-factory.html

The gir file is installed with the package evince-devel in /usr/share/gir-1.0/EvinceDocument-3.0.gir

== Benefit to Sugar ==
''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?''

''Make sure to note here as well if this feature has been requested by a specific deployment, or if it has emerged from a bug report.''

== 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?''

==UI Design==
''Does the feature have a direct impact on the work flow, or does it need a UI? Link here mockups, or add detailed descriptions.''

== How To Test ==

== User Experience ==
''If this feature is noticeable by its target audience, how will their experiences change as a result? Describe what they will see or notice.''

== Dependencies ==

== Contingency Plan ==
''If you cannot complete your feature by the final development freeze, what is the backup plan? This might be as simple as "None necessary, revert to previous release behaviour." Or it might not. If your feature is not completed in time, we want to assure others that other parts of Sugar will not be in jeopardy.''

== Documentation ==
''Is there upstream documentation on this feature, or notes you have written yourself? Has this topic been discussed in the mailing list or during a meeting? Link to that material here so other interested developers can get involved.''

== Release Notes ==
''The Sugar Release Notes inform end-users about what is new in the release. An Example is [[0.84/Notes]]. The release notes also help users know how to deal with platform changes such as ABIs/APIs, configuration or data file formats, or upgrade concerns. If there are any such changes involved in this feature, indicate them here. You can also link to upstream documentation if it satisfies this need. This information forms the basis of the release notes edited by the release team and shipped with the release.''

== Comments and Discussion ==
* See [[{{TALKPAGENAME}}|discussion tab for this feature]]

Sugar on a Stick

2010-11-03T08:36:34Z

Pbrobinson: /* Release schedule */

<noinclude>
[[Category:Project]]
[[Category:Live USB]]
[[Category:Sugar on a Stick]]
</noinclude>

== What is Sugar on a Stick? ==

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 350px;" | [[File:SugaronastickMirabelle.png |300px|left|link=http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas]]
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" | '''[[Sugar on a Stick]]''' is a [http://fedoraproject.org Fedora-based] [[wikipedia:Live USB|Live USB]] operating system featuring the award-winning [[What is Sugar?|Sugar Learning Platform]] and designed to fit on an ordinary USB thumbdrive ("stick"). Learn more about [http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas/#home the project] and the [http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas/#about principles] behind it at our [http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas Spin webpage]. The most recent version is version 4, code-named '''[[Sugar on a Stick/MangoLassi|Mango Lassi]]''' and was released on '''November 2, 2010.'''

'''Turn your computer into a Sugar on a Stick Creation Station:''' A related project is the [[Sugar Creation Kit]], a downloadable DVD which includes the materials you need to create Mango Lassi sticks and install additional Activities on it, along with documentation and previous versions of Sugar on a Stick.
|}

__NOTOC__

=== Want to use Sugar on a Stick? ===

{|
|-
| rowspan="3" style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 350px;" | [[File:Cici-maze.jpg |300px|left|link=http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas]]
|-
|
|style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" align="center" | [[File:Download Mirabell.png|center|link=http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas/#downloads]]
|-
|
|If you'd like to try out Sugar on a Stick, check out the [http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas Sugar on a Stick Spin Page] - it's where our software downloads, usage instructions, and support information lives. You will also need the [[Sugar on a Stick/Installation|installation instructions]].

After you've tried out Sugar on a Stick, we hope you'll come back here and join our community of contributors to help us make the next release even better.
|}

=== Want to contribute to Sugar on a Stick? ===

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 350px;" | [[File:SoaS-contributors.jpg |300px|left|link=Sugar_on_a_Stick]]
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
You're in the right place! This page is a contributors portal to the project, and contains everything you need to get started in becoming part of the Sugar on a Stick community.
|}

== New contributors start here! ==

Welcome! We're excited that you want to help us bring the Sugar Learning Platform to children around the world. No prior experience with computers or educational technology is required - in fact, we actively encourage a diversity of backgrounds, ages, and perspectives. See the [[Joining Sugar on a Stick]] page for instructions on how to get started. You may also want to check out the [http://openhatch.org/+projects/Sugar%20on%20a%20Stick Sugar on a Stick project page] on [http://openhatch.org OpenHatch], or attend one of our [[Sugar on a Stick meetings]].

== What can you do? ==

There are three main ways you can contribute to the Sugar on a Stick community. We work closely with our upstreams, [http://sugarlabs.org Sugar Labs] and [http://fedoraproject.org the Fedora Project].

=== Get Activities on the Stick ===

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |

We're always looking for help with all aspects of the [[Sugar on a Stick release process]]. Here are a few things you can do:

* [[Sugar on a Stick QA|Test Sugar on a Stick]] and help us find bugs and think of ways the project could be better. When you find a bug or think of an enhancement, [[How to file a ticket|file a ticket!]] ''No technical experience required.''
* Help make it easier for others to test Sugar on a Stick by writing [[Sugar on a Stick QA#Test cases|test cases]]. ''If you've run a test case, you can write a test case.''
* [http://bugs.sugarlabs.org Fix a bug or add a feature] to an existing Activity, to [[Development Team|sugar-core itself]], or to [http://bugs.sugarlabs.org/query?status=accepted&status=assigned&status=new&status=reopened&component=SoaS&order=priority&col=id&col=summary&col=status&col=type&col=priority&col=milestone&col=component Sugar on a Stick]. See [[How to fix an Activity bug]] and [[How to fix a sugar-core bug]] to get started. ''Basic Python programming skills - or the desire to learn - are all that's needed.''
* [https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Sugar_Activities Package Sugar Activities for Fedora]. ''If you're a [https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/PackageMaintainers/Join Fedora Packager] or want to become one, help in this area is something we desperately need - it's a trickier thing to learn, but rewarding once you get the hang of it.''
* [[Sugar on a Stick release process#Review|Review Activities for inclusion in the build]] - check submitted Activities against our [[SoaS Activity Criteria]] and help us choose what gets included in the next release! ''No prior experience needed - we do reviews during our [[Sugar on a Stick meetings|weekly meetings]] and will teach you how.''
* Have an idea for a technical feature that isn't an Activity? Check out our [[Sugar on a Stick release process#Feature process|feature process]].

| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 150px;" |[[Image:SoaS-netbook-1.jpg|150px|right|link=http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick_release_process]][[Image:SoaS-netbook-2.jpg|150px|right|link=http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick_release_process]][[Image:SoaS-netbook-3.jpg|150px|right|link=http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick_release_process]]
|}

=== Get Sticks into Schools ===

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 250px;" | [[File:Cici-stick.jpg |200px|left|link=Sugar_on_a_Stick_deployment_process]]
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
Deployments all over the world need many different types of help as they work through the [[Sugar on a Stick deployment process]] - we need help building resources for all deployments to use, supporting those deployments, and helping new deployments start, as well as gathering stories and feedback from deployments so that we can make the next version of Sugar on a Stick even better.

Some things you can do to help:

* ''"It's a wiki: Edit away!"'' is often said in open source communities. Almost nothing is set in stone and can't be undone. So if you've got ideas how to make instructions clearer and more accessible, just go for it!
* We produce official documentation such as the [http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/creation-kit/ Creation Kit] or the [http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/customization-guide/ Customization Guide]. If you've an idea how to make them better, why don't you jump in and create a patch? Creating these nifty text files is simple - instructions live in the [[Sugar_on_a_Stick/Documentation_SOP|Documentation SOP]].
* Unofficial documentation for unsupported workarounds for [[Sugar on a Stick/Installation|installation]] and [[Sugar on a Stick/Sugar Clone|customization]] need to be edited, tested, and submitted for approval for official support. Check them out and leave comments and improvements; just jump in and edit the page.
* Interested in starting a deployment or helping a specific one (with anything from pedagogical design to technical support to funding logistics)? Introduce yourself on the deployment lists for [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/ Sugar Labs] and [http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/ One Laptop Per Child] and we'll get you connected with some teachers on the ground.
* We're looking for some people to help us assemble tools for our support team to use. Email the [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/soas Sugar on a Stick mailing list] if you're interested.
|}

=== Get Contributors ===

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |

Contributors are the lifeblood of the Sugar on a Stick community - we work hard to bring a playful mindset of teaching, learning, and meaningful work to the children we aim to reach, and we aim to keep that mindset in our own work and community as well. Welcoming and teaching new contributors or all types, building the resources they need, and teaching them how to empower others in their turn is one of the most important things you can do; it is ''everyone's'' responsibility to help build our community, one person at a time.

Some things you can do:

* Edit this page and [[Joining Sugar on a Stick]]. Is there something we could do to make the "getting started" process easier? You don't have to ask permission to edit; just do it!
* Help us fill in our remaining task-starter pages: [[Sugar on a Stick release process]], [[How to fix an Activity bug]], [[How to fix a sugar-core bug]], and [[Sugar on a Stick deployment process]]/
* [http://openhatch.org/+projects/Sugar%20on%20a%20Stick Point out starter tasks on OpenHatch] - fill in questions and ideas for beginner jobs, and point newcomers towards them.
* [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/soas Watch for introductions on the mailing list], and send welcome emails to new contributors (copy the list, so we can see what advice a newcomer has gotten so far).
* Hang out with us on IRC: [http://webchat.freenode.net?channels=sugar #sugar]. This is where the [http://activities.sugarlabs.org/en-US/sugar/addon/4029 IRC Activity] starts off. Help new joiners past initial questions and provide instant help!

| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 200px;" |[[Image:Cici-netbook.jpg|200px|right|link=http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick]]
|}

== What's happening? ==

=== Meetings ===

We have weekly meetings on IRC - see [[Sugar on a Stick meetings]] for more information, including logs from past meetings. Attending a meeting is a great way for newcomers to get started.

=== Release schedule ===

Our release schedule is based on the [[fedora:Releases/Schedule | Fedora release schedule]]. The most recent release was v.4, code-named '''[[Sugar on a Stick/MangoLassi|Mango Lassi]]''', shipped on '''November 2, 2010''' and based on the Fedora 14 release schedule. The next Sugar on a Stick version will be based on the [[fedora:Releases/15/Schedule | Fedora 15 release schedule]].

{|border="1" cellspacing="0" width="100%"
|-
|rowspan="2"| 2010-11-01 || Sugar on a Stick v.4.0 Mango Lassi released
|-
| Planning & Development Begins
|-
| 2010-07-27 || Feature Freeze (all features have to be ''approved'' and in a satisfying state.)
|-
| 2010-08-03 || Alpha Change deadline (all changes will have to be ''pushed'' by this time. pending submissions are insufficient.)
|-
| 2010-08-17 || Alpha Release
|-
| 2010-09-07 || Beta Change deadline (all changes will have to be ''pushed'' by this time. pending submissions are insufficient.)
|-
| 2010-09-21 || Beta Release
|-
| 2010-10-12 || Final Freeze (all changes have to be ''pushed''. no further changes permitted.)
|-
| 2010-10-14 || Compose Release Candidate
|-
| 2010-11-01 || Sugar on a Stick v.4.0 Final Release
|-
|}

=== Contributor stories ===

To find out what other contributors are doing, check out [http://planet.sugarlabs.org Planet Sugar Labs], where contributors to Sugar Labs and the Sugar on a Stick project aggregate their blogs. You can also [[Sysadmin/Planet syndication request|add your own blog to the Planet]].

== Related work ==

While the projects listed below are not part of Sugar on a Stick, we watch them closely and try to work with them when possible (or at least we're trying to learn!)

* [[Talk:Sugar_Creation_Kit#Introduction_to_Soas-v3_Mirabelle|Introduction to SoaS]]
* [[Sugar_on_a_Stick/Installation/Variations#SugarCreationKit_DVD|SugarCreationKit DVD]] - Complete DVD containing all the resources required to create all 3 versions of Sugar-on-a-Stick without requiring Internet access
* Other [[:Category:Live USB|portable Sugar distributions]] - Live USB work based on other Linux distributions.
* [[The undiscoverable]] is an unofficial FAQ for tips, tricks, and solutions to common problems that may otherwise be tricky to find. These are being considered for inclusion in the official SoaS documentation.

== Previous versions and subpage index ==
{{Show|Earlier versions of Sugar on a Stick can be reviewed at these pages: |{{Special:PrefixIndex/Sugar on a Stick}}}}

Sugar on a Stick

2010-11-03T08:35:10Z

Pbrobinson: /* Related work */

<noinclude>
[[Category:Project]]
[[Category:Live USB]]
[[Category:Sugar on a Stick]]
</noinclude>

== What is Sugar on a Stick? ==

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 350px;" | [[File:SugaronastickMirabelle.png |300px|left|link=http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas]]
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" | '''[[Sugar on a Stick]]''' is a [http://fedoraproject.org Fedora-based] [[wikipedia:Live USB|Live USB]] operating system featuring the award-winning [[What is Sugar?|Sugar Learning Platform]] and designed to fit on an ordinary USB thumbdrive ("stick"). Learn more about [http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas/#home the project] and the [http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas/#about principles] behind it at our [http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas Spin webpage]. The most recent version is version 4, code-named '''[[Sugar on a Stick/MangoLassi|Mango Lassi]]''' and was released on '''November 2, 2010.'''

'''Turn your computer into a Sugar on a Stick Creation Station:''' A related project is the [[Sugar Creation Kit]], a downloadable DVD which includes the materials you need to create Mango Lassi sticks and install additional Activities on it, along with documentation and previous versions of Sugar on a Stick.
|}

__NOTOC__

=== Want to use Sugar on a Stick? ===

{|
|-
| rowspan="3" style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 350px;" | [[File:Cici-maze.jpg |300px|left|link=http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas]]
|-
|
|style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" align="center" | [[File:Download Mirabell.png|center|link=http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas/#downloads]]
|-
|
|If you'd like to try out Sugar on a Stick, check out the [http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas Sugar on a Stick Spin Page] - it's where our software downloads, usage instructions, and support information lives. You will also need the [[Sugar on a Stick/Installation|installation instructions]].

After you've tried out Sugar on a Stick, we hope you'll come back here and join our community of contributors to help us make the next release even better.
|}

=== Want to contribute to Sugar on a Stick? ===

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 350px;" | [[File:SoaS-contributors.jpg |300px|left|link=Sugar_on_a_Stick]]
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
You're in the right place! This page is a contributors portal to the project, and contains everything you need to get started in becoming part of the Sugar on a Stick community.
|}

== New contributors start here! ==

Welcome! We're excited that you want to help us bring the Sugar Learning Platform to children around the world. No prior experience with computers or educational technology is required - in fact, we actively encourage a diversity of backgrounds, ages, and perspectives. See the [[Joining Sugar on a Stick]] page for instructions on how to get started. You may also want to check out the [http://openhatch.org/+projects/Sugar%20on%20a%20Stick Sugar on a Stick project page] on [http://openhatch.org OpenHatch], or attend one of our [[Sugar on a Stick meetings]].

== What can you do? ==

There are three main ways you can contribute to the Sugar on a Stick community. We work closely with our upstreams, [http://sugarlabs.org Sugar Labs] and [http://fedoraproject.org the Fedora Project].

=== Get Activities on the Stick ===

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |

We're always looking for help with all aspects of the [[Sugar on a Stick release process]]. Here are a few things you can do:

* [[Sugar on a Stick QA|Test Sugar on a Stick]] and help us find bugs and think of ways the project could be better. When you find a bug or think of an enhancement, [[How to file a ticket|file a ticket!]] ''No technical experience required.''
* Help make it easier for others to test Sugar on a Stick by writing [[Sugar on a Stick QA#Test cases|test cases]]. ''If you've run a test case, you can write a test case.''
* [http://bugs.sugarlabs.org Fix a bug or add a feature] to an existing Activity, to [[Development Team|sugar-core itself]], or to [http://bugs.sugarlabs.org/query?status=accepted&status=assigned&status=new&status=reopened&component=SoaS&order=priority&col=id&col=summary&col=status&col=type&col=priority&col=milestone&col=component Sugar on a Stick]. See [[How to fix an Activity bug]] and [[How to fix a sugar-core bug]] to get started. ''Basic Python programming skills - or the desire to learn - are all that's needed.''
* [https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Sugar_Activities Package Sugar Activities for Fedora]. ''If you're a [https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/PackageMaintainers/Join Fedora Packager] or want to become one, help in this area is something we desperately need - it's a trickier thing to learn, but rewarding once you get the hang of it.''
* [[Sugar on a Stick release process#Review|Review Activities for inclusion in the build]] - check submitted Activities against our [[SoaS Activity Criteria]] and help us choose what gets included in the next release! ''No prior experience needed - we do reviews during our [[Sugar on a Stick meetings|weekly meetings]] and will teach you how.''
* Have an idea for a technical feature that isn't an Activity? Check out our [[Sugar on a Stick release process#Feature process|feature process]].

| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 150px;" |[[Image:SoaS-netbook-1.jpg|150px|right|link=http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick_release_process]][[Image:SoaS-netbook-2.jpg|150px|right|link=http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick_release_process]][[Image:SoaS-netbook-3.jpg|150px|right|link=http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick_release_process]]
|}

=== Get Sticks into Schools ===

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 250px;" | [[File:Cici-stick.jpg |200px|left|link=Sugar_on_a_Stick_deployment_process]]
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
Deployments all over the world need many different types of help as they work through the [[Sugar on a Stick deployment process]] - we need help building resources for all deployments to use, supporting those deployments, and helping new deployments start, as well as gathering stories and feedback from deployments so that we can make the next version of Sugar on a Stick even better.

Some things you can do to help:

* ''"It's a wiki: Edit away!"'' is often said in open source communities. Almost nothing is set in stone and can't be undone. So if you've got ideas how to make instructions clearer and more accessible, just go for it!
* We produce official documentation such as the [http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/creation-kit/ Creation Kit] or the [http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/customization-guide/ Customization Guide]. If you've an idea how to make them better, why don't you jump in and create a patch? Creating these nifty text files is simple - instructions live in the [[Sugar_on_a_Stick/Documentation_SOP|Documentation SOP]].
* Unofficial documentation for unsupported workarounds for [[Sugar on a Stick/Installation|installation]] and [[Sugar on a Stick/Sugar Clone|customization]] need to be edited, tested, and submitted for approval for official support. Check them out and leave comments and improvements; just jump in and edit the page.
* Interested in starting a deployment or helping a specific one (with anything from pedagogical design to technical support to funding logistics)? Introduce yourself on the deployment lists for [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/ Sugar Labs] and [http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/ One Laptop Per Child] and we'll get you connected with some teachers on the ground.
* We're looking for some people to help us assemble tools for our support team to use. Email the [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/soas Sugar on a Stick mailing list] if you're interested.
|}

=== Get Contributors ===

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |

Contributors are the lifeblood of the Sugar on a Stick community - we work hard to bring a playful mindset of teaching, learning, and meaningful work to the children we aim to reach, and we aim to keep that mindset in our own work and community as well. Welcoming and teaching new contributors or all types, building the resources they need, and teaching them how to empower others in their turn is one of the most important things you can do; it is ''everyone's'' responsibility to help build our community, one person at a time.

Some things you can do:

* Edit this page and [[Joining Sugar on a Stick]]. Is there something we could do to make the "getting started" process easier? You don't have to ask permission to edit; just do it!
* Help us fill in our remaining task-starter pages: [[Sugar on a Stick release process]], [[How to fix an Activity bug]], [[How to fix a sugar-core bug]], and [[Sugar on a Stick deployment process]]/
* [http://openhatch.org/+projects/Sugar%20on%20a%20Stick Point out starter tasks on OpenHatch] - fill in questions and ideas for beginner jobs, and point newcomers towards them.
* [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/soas Watch for introductions on the mailing list], and send welcome emails to new contributors (copy the list, so we can see what advice a newcomer has gotten so far).
* Hang out with us on IRC: [http://webchat.freenode.net?channels=sugar #sugar]. This is where the [http://activities.sugarlabs.org/en-US/sugar/addon/4029 IRC Activity] starts off. Help new joiners past initial questions and provide instant help!

| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 200px;" |[[Image:Cici-netbook.jpg|200px|right|link=http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick]]
|}

== What's happening? ==

=== Meetings ===

We have weekly meetings on IRC - see [[Sugar on a Stick meetings]] for more information, including logs from past meetings. Attending a meeting is a great way for newcomers to get started.

=== Release schedule ===

Our release schedule is based on the [[fedora:Releases/Schedule | Fedora release schedule]]. The most recent release was v.4, code-named [[MangoLassi]], shipped on '''November 2, 2010''' and based on the Fedora 14 release schedule. The next Sugar on a Stick version will be based on the [[fedora:Releases/15/Schedule | Fedora 15 release schedule]].

{|border="1" cellspacing="0" width="100%"
|-
|rowspan="2"| 2010-11-01 || Sugar on a Stick v.4.0 Mango Lassi released
|-
| Planning & Development Begins
|-
| 2010-07-27 || Feature Freeze (all features have to be ''approved'' and in a satisfying state.)
|-
| 2010-08-03 || Alpha Change deadline (all changes will have to be ''pushed'' by this time. pending submissions are insufficient.)
|-
| 2010-08-17 || Alpha Release
|-
| 2010-09-07 || Beta Change deadline (all changes will have to be ''pushed'' by this time. pending submissions are insufficient.)
|-
| 2010-09-21 || Beta Release
|-
| 2010-10-12 || Final Freeze (all changes have to be ''pushed''. no further changes permitted.)
|-
| 2010-10-14 || Compose Release Candidate
|-
| 2010-11-01 || Sugar on a Stick v.4.0 Final Release
|-
|}

=== Contributor stories ===

To find out what other contributors are doing, check out [http://planet.sugarlabs.org Planet Sugar Labs], where contributors to Sugar Labs and the Sugar on a Stick project aggregate their blogs. You can also [[Sysadmin/Planet syndication request|add your own blog to the Planet]].

== Related work ==

While the projects listed below are not part of Sugar on a Stick, we watch them closely and try to work with them when possible (or at least we're trying to learn!)

* [[Talk:Sugar_Creation_Kit#Introduction_to_Soas-v3_Mirabelle|Introduction to SoaS]]
* [[Sugar_on_a_Stick/Installation/Variations#SugarCreationKit_DVD|SugarCreationKit DVD]] - Complete DVD containing all the resources required to create all 3 versions of Sugar-on-a-Stick without requiring Internet access
* Other [[:Category:Live USB|portable Sugar distributions]] - Live USB work based on other Linux distributions.
* [[The undiscoverable]] is an unofficial FAQ for tips, tricks, and solutions to common problems that may otherwise be tricky to find. These are being considered for inclusion in the official SoaS documentation.

== Previous versions and subpage index ==
{{Show|Earlier versions of Sugar on a Stick can be reviewed at these pages: |{{Special:PrefixIndex/Sugar on a Stick}}}}

Sugar on a Stick

2010-11-03T08:34:35Z

Pbrobinson: /* Release schedule */

<noinclude>
[[Category:Project]]
[[Category:Live USB]]
[[Category:Sugar on a Stick]]
</noinclude>

== What is Sugar on a Stick? ==

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 350px;" | [[File:SugaronastickMirabelle.png |300px|left|link=http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas]]
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" | '''[[Sugar on a Stick]]''' is a [http://fedoraproject.org Fedora-based] [[wikipedia:Live USB|Live USB]] operating system featuring the award-winning [[What is Sugar?|Sugar Learning Platform]] and designed to fit on an ordinary USB thumbdrive ("stick"). Learn more about [http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas/#home the project] and the [http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas/#about principles] behind it at our [http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas Spin webpage]. The most recent version is version 4, code-named '''[[Sugar on a Stick/MangoLassi|Mango Lassi]]''' and was released on '''November 2, 2010.'''

'''Turn your computer into a Sugar on a Stick Creation Station:''' A related project is the [[Sugar Creation Kit]], a downloadable DVD which includes the materials you need to create Mango Lassi sticks and install additional Activities on it, along with documentation and previous versions of Sugar on a Stick.
|}

__NOTOC__

=== Want to use Sugar on a Stick? ===

{|
|-
| rowspan="3" style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 350px;" | [[File:Cici-maze.jpg |300px|left|link=http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas]]
|-
|
|style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" align="center" | [[File:Download Mirabell.png|center|link=http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas/#downloads]]
|-
|
|If you'd like to try out Sugar on a Stick, check out the [http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas Sugar on a Stick Spin Page] - it's where our software downloads, usage instructions, and support information lives. You will also need the [[Sugar on a Stick/Installation|installation instructions]].

After you've tried out Sugar on a Stick, we hope you'll come back here and join our community of contributors to help us make the next release even better.
|}

=== Want to contribute to Sugar on a Stick? ===

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 350px;" | [[File:SoaS-contributors.jpg |300px|left|link=Sugar_on_a_Stick]]
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
You're in the right place! This page is a contributors portal to the project, and contains everything you need to get started in becoming part of the Sugar on a Stick community.
|}

== New contributors start here! ==

Welcome! We're excited that you want to help us bring the Sugar Learning Platform to children around the world. No prior experience with computers or educational technology is required - in fact, we actively encourage a diversity of backgrounds, ages, and perspectives. See the [[Joining Sugar on a Stick]] page for instructions on how to get started. You may also want to check out the [http://openhatch.org/+projects/Sugar%20on%20a%20Stick Sugar on a Stick project page] on [http://openhatch.org OpenHatch], or attend one of our [[Sugar on a Stick meetings]].

== What can you do? ==

There are three main ways you can contribute to the Sugar on a Stick community. We work closely with our upstreams, [http://sugarlabs.org Sugar Labs] and [http://fedoraproject.org the Fedora Project].

=== Get Activities on the Stick ===

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |

We're always looking for help with all aspects of the [[Sugar on a Stick release process]]. Here are a few things you can do:

* [[Sugar on a Stick QA|Test Sugar on a Stick]] and help us find bugs and think of ways the project could be better. When you find a bug or think of an enhancement, [[How to file a ticket|file a ticket!]] ''No technical experience required.''
* Help make it easier for others to test Sugar on a Stick by writing [[Sugar on a Stick QA#Test cases|test cases]]. ''If you've run a test case, you can write a test case.''
* [http://bugs.sugarlabs.org Fix a bug or add a feature] to an existing Activity, to [[Development Team|sugar-core itself]], or to [http://bugs.sugarlabs.org/query?status=accepted&status=assigned&status=new&status=reopened&component=SoaS&order=priority&col=id&col=summary&col=status&col=type&col=priority&col=milestone&col=component Sugar on a Stick]. See [[How to fix an Activity bug]] and [[How to fix a sugar-core bug]] to get started. ''Basic Python programming skills - or the desire to learn - are all that's needed.''
* [https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Sugar_Activities Package Sugar Activities for Fedora]. ''If you're a [https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/PackageMaintainers/Join Fedora Packager] or want to become one, help in this area is something we desperately need - it's a trickier thing to learn, but rewarding once you get the hang of it.''
* [[Sugar on a Stick release process#Review|Review Activities for inclusion in the build]] - check submitted Activities against our [[SoaS Activity Criteria]] and help us choose what gets included in the next release! ''No prior experience needed - we do reviews during our [[Sugar on a Stick meetings|weekly meetings]] and will teach you how.''
* Have an idea for a technical feature that isn't an Activity? Check out our [[Sugar on a Stick release process#Feature process|feature process]].

| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 150px;" |[[Image:SoaS-netbook-1.jpg|150px|right|link=http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick_release_process]][[Image:SoaS-netbook-2.jpg|150px|right|link=http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick_release_process]][[Image:SoaS-netbook-3.jpg|150px|right|link=http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick_release_process]]
|}

=== Get Sticks into Schools ===

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 250px;" | [[File:Cici-stick.jpg |200px|left|link=Sugar_on_a_Stick_deployment_process]]
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
Deployments all over the world need many different types of help as they work through the [[Sugar on a Stick deployment process]] - we need help building resources for all deployments to use, supporting those deployments, and helping new deployments start, as well as gathering stories and feedback from deployments so that we can make the next version of Sugar on a Stick even better.

Some things you can do to help:

* ''"It's a wiki: Edit away!"'' is often said in open source communities. Almost nothing is set in stone and can't be undone. So if you've got ideas how to make instructions clearer and more accessible, just go for it!
* We produce official documentation such as the [http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/creation-kit/ Creation Kit] or the [http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/customization-guide/ Customization Guide]. If you've an idea how to make them better, why don't you jump in and create a patch? Creating these nifty text files is simple - instructions live in the [[Sugar_on_a_Stick/Documentation_SOP|Documentation SOP]].
* Unofficial documentation for unsupported workarounds for [[Sugar on a Stick/Installation|installation]] and [[Sugar on a Stick/Sugar Clone|customization]] need to be edited, tested, and submitted for approval for official support. Check them out and leave comments and improvements; just jump in and edit the page.
* Interested in starting a deployment or helping a specific one (with anything from pedagogical design to technical support to funding logistics)? Introduce yourself on the deployment lists for [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/ Sugar Labs] and [http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/ One Laptop Per Child] and we'll get you connected with some teachers on the ground.
* We're looking for some people to help us assemble tools for our support team to use. Email the [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/soas Sugar on a Stick mailing list] if you're interested.
|}

=== Get Contributors ===

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |

Contributors are the lifeblood of the Sugar on a Stick community - we work hard to bring a playful mindset of teaching, learning, and meaningful work to the children we aim to reach, and we aim to keep that mindset in our own work and community as well. Welcoming and teaching new contributors or all types, building the resources they need, and teaching them how to empower others in their turn is one of the most important things you can do; it is ''everyone's'' responsibility to help build our community, one person at a time.

Some things you can do:

* Edit this page and [[Joining Sugar on a Stick]]. Is there something we could do to make the "getting started" process easier? You don't have to ask permission to edit; just do it!
* Help us fill in our remaining task-starter pages: [[Sugar on a Stick release process]], [[How to fix an Activity bug]], [[How to fix a sugar-core bug]], and [[Sugar on a Stick deployment process]]/
* [http://openhatch.org/+projects/Sugar%20on%20a%20Stick Point out starter tasks on OpenHatch] - fill in questions and ideas for beginner jobs, and point newcomers towards them.
* [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/soas Watch for introductions on the mailing list], and send welcome emails to new contributors (copy the list, so we can see what advice a newcomer has gotten so far).
* Hang out with us on IRC: [http://webchat.freenode.net?channels=sugar #sugar]. This is where the [http://activities.sugarlabs.org/en-US/sugar/addon/4029 IRC Activity] starts off. Help new joiners past initial questions and provide instant help!

| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 200px;" |[[Image:Cici-netbook.jpg|200px|right|link=http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick]]
|}

== What's happening? ==

=== Meetings ===

We have weekly meetings on IRC - see [[Sugar on a Stick meetings]] for more information, including logs from past meetings. Attending a meeting is a great way for newcomers to get started.

=== Release schedule ===

Our release schedule is based on the [[fedora:Releases/Schedule | Fedora release schedule]]. The most recent release was v.4, code-named [[MangoLassi]], shipped on '''November 2, 2010''' and based on the Fedora 14 release schedule. The next Sugar on a Stick version will be based on the [[fedora:Releases/15/Schedule | Fedora 15 release schedule]].

{|border="1" cellspacing="0" width="100%"
|-
|rowspan="2"| 2010-11-01 || Sugar on a Stick v.4.0 Mango Lassi released
|-
| Planning & Development Begins
|-
| 2010-07-27 || Feature Freeze (all features have to be ''approved'' and in a satisfying state.)
|-
| 2010-08-03 || Alpha Change deadline (all changes will have to be ''pushed'' by this time. pending submissions are insufficient.)
|-
| 2010-08-17 || Alpha Release
|-
| 2010-09-07 || Beta Change deadline (all changes will have to be ''pushed'' by this time. pending submissions are insufficient.)
|-
| 2010-09-21 || Beta Release
|-
| 2010-10-12 || Final Freeze (all changes have to be ''pushed''. no further changes permitted.)
|-
| 2010-10-14 || Compose Release Candidate
|-
| 2010-11-01 || Sugar on a Stick v.4.0 Final Release
|-
|}

=== Contributor stories ===

To find out what other contributors are doing, check out [http://planet.sugarlabs.org Planet Sugar Labs], where contributors to Sugar Labs and the Sugar on a Stick project aggregate their blogs. You can also [[Sysadmin/Planet syndication request|add your own blog to the Planet]].

== Related work ==

While the projects listed below are not part of Sugar on a Stick, we watch them closely and try to work with them when possible (or at least we're trying to learn!)

* [[Talk:Sugar_Creation_Kit#Introduction_to_Soas-v3_Mirabelle|Introduction to Mirabelle]]
* [[Sugar_on_a_Stick/Installation/Variations#SugarCreationKit_DVD|SugarCreationKit DVD]] - Complete DVD containing all the resources required to create all 3 versions of Sugar-on-a-Stick without requiring Internet access
* Other [[:Category:Live USB|portable Sugar distributions]] - Live USB work based on other Linux distributions.
* [[The undiscoverable]] is an unofficial FAQ for tips, tricks, and solutions to common problems that may otherwise be tricky to find. These are being considered for inclusion in the official SoaS documentation.

== Previous versions and subpage index ==
{{Show|Earlier versions of Sugar on a Stick can be reviewed at these pages: |{{Special:PrefixIndex/Sugar on a Stick}}}}

Sugar on a Stick/Mango Lassi

2010-11-03T08:30:42Z

Pbrobinson: /* Major accomplishments this release cycle */

<noinclude>
[[Category:Live USB]]
[[Category:Sugar on a Stick]]
</noinclude>

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
== Sugar on a Stick - Mango Lassi ==
: ''a Sugar environment you can carry in your pocket''

Mango Lassi is the most recent release of the '''[[Sugar on a Stick]]''' project. It was released on the '''2nd November 2010.'''
__TOC__

| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 200px;" |[[File:SugaronastickMirabelle.png|450px|right|a Sugar environment you can carry in your pocket!]]
|}

== Release announcement ==

We are proud to announce the availability of [[Sugar on a Stick]] v.4, code-named Mango Lassi. More information about Sugar on a Stick, including download and installation details, is available at http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas/.

[[File:Download Mirabell.png|center|link=http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas/#downloads]]

The [http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/creation-kit/ Creation Kit] has a Quick Guide to download and installation.

=== What's new in Mango Lassi ===

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 200px;" | [[File:Mirabelle-home-screen.png|200px|left|link=0.88/Notes]]
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
'''Sugar version 0.90.''' The most recent release of the Sugar Learning Platform features support for Ad-hoc WiFi networks expanding the "under a tree"-scenario to standard wi-fi enabled devices, increased accessibility, enhanced UI capabilities including a spiral home view, enhanced colour selector as well as a lot of under the hood improvements for stability. More information about the 0.90 release of Sugar is available at [[0.90/Notes]].
|}

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
'''Customize your own remix of Sugar on a Stick.''' Mango Lassi has a slightly larger Activity selection than its predecessor Mirrabelle but has continued the trend of less but better tested Activities. We realized we'll never be able to create an Activity selection suitable for all deployments - instead, we've chosen to include and support a core set of basic, teacher-tested Activities in the default image, and invite deployments to use this as a base on which to build a customized Activity selection for their classrooms. Instructions on how to do this are available at http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/customization-guide/. A quick, but less pristine, method of build customization is available at [[Sugar on a Stick/Sugar Clone]].
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 120px;" |[[File:Cici-stick.jpg|120px|right|http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/customization-guide/]]
|}

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 150px;" | [[File:Fedora remix logo.png|left|link=http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas]]
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
'''Sugar on a Stick is now a Fedora Spin.''' After two prior releases of being based on the [http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Overview Fedora distribution], Sugar on a Stick has been recognized by the [http://fedoraproject.org Fedora Project] as an official [http://spins.fedoraproject.org Spin]. This ties us more closely to Fedora's release cycle and gives us resources from their engineering and marketing teams, which extends the reach of Sugar on a Stick and makes the project itself more sustainable. In exchange, users of Fedora have access to an easily deployable implementation of the Sugar Platform; it's a great example of a mutually beneficial upstream–downstream relationship.
|}

=== Contributing to Sugar on a Stick ===

The v.4 of Sugar on a Stick has continued the process of improving its release processes and engineering sustainability; it's now much easier for new contributors to get involved. We continue to move towards our long-term vision of bringing stability and deployability to Sugar's personalized learning environment, and invite all interested parties to join us.

If you'd like to contribute to the next version, due for release in early November, join us at our Contributors Portal at '''[[Sugar on a Stick]]'''. All types of contributions are welcome, from the technical to the pedagogical, and we're happy to teach what we know and learn what you have to share.

Thank you to all the people involved for their awesome work!

== Release history ==

=== Introduction ===

This section is a recap of the events that happened during the v4 release cycle (Mango Lassi) of Sugar on a Stick. It was largely an evolution of the v3 release with improved involvement with upstream Fedora and consolidation of the process. Its mostly documented on the mailing list, from personal memory and [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/soas/ soas mailing list archives], since there was no attempt to document the release history during the course of the release cycle itself.

=== Pre-release ===

* '''25th May 2010''' - [http://fedoraproject.org Fedora] (and therefore [http://spins.fedoraproject.org Fedora Spin]) release cycle for Fedora 14 begins; this is significant since Fedora is one of our major upstreams.

=== Re approved as a Fedora Spin ===

"[Spins are alternate versions of Fedora, tailored for various types of users via hand-picked application sets and other customizations." --from http://spins.fedoraproject.org/about

Before SoaS was a spin, it was a Fedora Remix - which means that bit-wise, the product looked the same, but the technical work that needed to happen to generate it was all done manually and without external resources and support, so it happened spasmodically and slowly and with a great number of sleepless nights.

Becoming a Fedora Spin gave us access to Fedora's engineering, marketing, and QA resources, which dramatically improved the sustainability and scalability of our release engineering processes. For instance, .iso files stopped being produced by the "Sebastian manually builds them every time" process, and started being automatically generated for testing by Fedora build servers. We gained some instant automation of the infrastructure we need anyway, without any more work or maintenance on our part, so we could focus on things like... making Activities work, the stuff that's actually unique to Sugar.

Feature Freeze (in the Fedora 14 cycle, July 27, 2010) was a hard deadline for Spin approval, so it was significant that we got in before that (Fedora-imposed) deadline. If we'd missed that, we would not have been able to take advantage of Fedora's engineering, etc. resources at all for Mango Lassi.

=== Feature process ===

The main point made here is that unlike two of our major upstreams (Sugar and Fedora) we ''didn't'' have a feature freeze for SoaS, but should have around this time.

* '''July 27, 2010''' - [https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/Policy Fedora Feature Freeze]

The way features happen in Fedora is that early in the release process, developers propose features, and they are approved by a feature freeze date (which is before the alpha release). They have to meet certain criteria by certain deadlines - if they don't, they're dropped and not eligible for mention as features. Major features must be in and testable by Alpha; minor changes need to be in and testable by Beta, after Beta it's only bugfixes allowed.

This feature process is not unique to Fedora. Feature processes are things that happen in basically every major FOSS project, and really in every major engineering project (even non-software) - it's how we systematically make sure we build something that's good and working.

The feature process also aids with marketing. The Marketing team in Fedora makes their plans according to the feature list that's set by Alpha - this lets us plan how to target what features early in the process.

Since SoaS relies on both Sugar and Fedora as upstreams, we rely on their feature processes - most SoaS features come from either Fedora features or Sugar features. (For reference, our main upstreams are Fedora, Sugar Labs (sugar-core), ASLO (Activities), GNOME, and Python.) For v4, we built the release using a lightweight feature process for SoaS that inherits from those two upstreams.

=== Activity development confusion ===

Activity developers weren't informed of changes in the libraries their Activities depended on, when those libraries changed in Fedora (and thus got included in SoaS). This led to confusion and instability late in the cycle when Activity folks belatedly realized this had happened.

Two of our upstreams (Fedora and ASLO) basically collided when they combined, and didn't realize that collision was coming, because we didn't track dependencies between them... part of the problem was that we didn't know who was responsible for keeping track of that aspect of communication, so everyone assumed it was someone else and nobody did it.

The Activities confusion manifests itself in the small number of "supported" activities in the v3 release. Marketing was then confronted with the sudden removal/noninclusion of activities from the release - again, this is something that could have been prevented with a working feature process.

=== QA ===

Thomas did field-testing (building real SoaS sticks from .iso files and testing on those) - it's the closest thing to systematic testing we've had yet, though we still have a ways to go. Thank you also to James Cameron in Australia for his testing help!

Mango Lassi didn't have a test plan and it made things confusing for both testers and release engineering; it wasn't always clear what needed to be tested, or what had been tested and how, or where results were or what they meant, and how test results should impact development and vice versa.

=== Documentation ===

We now have a [http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/customization-guide/ Customization Guide] and [http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/creation-kit/ Creation Kit] as official documentation on how to custom-build an image and burn a SoaS stick, respectively. A new release of the documentation will come out with each new release of SoaS. This is an improvement over our ad-hoc wiki documentation methods, allowing us to better support a small number of known-working "how to set up SoaS" instructions.

=== Release and Marketing ===

Mango Lassi was released on November 2, 2010. It's shiny! It's orange! It had over 50 downloads within the 12 hours of release.

We have a [http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas shiny user-facing page] as well as a [[Sugar on a Stick|Contributors Portal]], to serve (and hopefully link) the two different audiences. We hope most people will want to wear both hats, in part.

=== Major accomplishments this release cycle ===

* We followed the Fedora release schedule relatively well with more people understanding the process.
* We expanded the use of the Fedora Spins process and engineering resources, which made release engineering much smoother.
* Continued use of public communications channels - notably the SoaS mailing list - so things are more transparent.
* Expanded discussion with upstream Fedora especially Fedora QA team and the new AutoQA processes. Initial integration in the Fedora Desktop QA testing process with initial guidelines and test process created. This will be expanded in Fedora 15 for the SoaS v5 release.

== Press coverage ==

Feel free to add links to press coverage you find about Mango Lassi to this section.

Sugar on a Stick/Mango Lassi

2010-11-03T08:25:37Z

Pbrobinson: /* Release history */

<noinclude>
[[Category:Live USB]]
[[Category:Sugar on a Stick]]
</noinclude>

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
== Sugar on a Stick - Mango Lassi ==
: ''a Sugar environment you can carry in your pocket''

Mango Lassi is the most recent release of the '''[[Sugar on a Stick]]''' project. It was released on the '''2nd November 2010.'''
__TOC__

| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 200px;" |[[File:SugaronastickMirabelle.png|450px|right|a Sugar environment you can carry in your pocket!]]
|}

== Release announcement ==

We are proud to announce the availability of [[Sugar on a Stick]] v.4, code-named Mango Lassi. More information about Sugar on a Stick, including download and installation details, is available at http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas/.

[[File:Download Mirabell.png|center|link=http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas/#downloads]]

The [http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/creation-kit/ Creation Kit] has a Quick Guide to download and installation.

=== What's new in Mango Lassi ===

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 200px;" | [[File:Mirabelle-home-screen.png|200px|left|link=0.88/Notes]]
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
'''Sugar version 0.90.''' The most recent release of the Sugar Learning Platform features support for Ad-hoc WiFi networks expanding the "under a tree"-scenario to standard wi-fi enabled devices, increased accessibility, enhanced UI capabilities including a spiral home view, enhanced colour selector as well as a lot of under the hood improvements for stability. More information about the 0.90 release of Sugar is available at [[0.90/Notes]].
|}

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
'''Customize your own remix of Sugar on a Stick.''' Mango Lassi has a slightly larger Activity selection than its predecessor Mirrabelle but has continued the trend of less but better tested Activities. We realized we'll never be able to create an Activity selection suitable for all deployments - instead, we've chosen to include and support a core set of basic, teacher-tested Activities in the default image, and invite deployments to use this as a base on which to build a customized Activity selection for their classrooms. Instructions on how to do this are available at http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/customization-guide/. A quick, but less pristine, method of build customization is available at [[Sugar on a Stick/Sugar Clone]].
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 120px;" |[[File:Cici-stick.jpg|120px|right|http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/customization-guide/]]
|}

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 150px;" | [[File:Fedora remix logo.png|left|link=http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas]]
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
'''Sugar on a Stick is now a Fedora Spin.''' After two prior releases of being based on the [http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Overview Fedora distribution], Sugar on a Stick has been recognized by the [http://fedoraproject.org Fedora Project] as an official [http://spins.fedoraproject.org Spin]. This ties us more closely to Fedora's release cycle and gives us resources from their engineering and marketing teams, which extends the reach of Sugar on a Stick and makes the project itself more sustainable. In exchange, users of Fedora have access to an easily deployable implementation of the Sugar Platform; it's a great example of a mutually beneficial upstream–downstream relationship.
|}

=== Contributing to Sugar on a Stick ===

The v.4 of Sugar on a Stick has continued the process of improving its release processes and engineering sustainability; it's now much easier for new contributors to get involved. We continue to move towards our long-term vision of bringing stability and deployability to Sugar's personalized learning environment, and invite all interested parties to join us.

If you'd like to contribute to the next version, due for release in early November, join us at our Contributors Portal at '''[[Sugar on a Stick]]'''. All types of contributions are welcome, from the technical to the pedagogical, and we're happy to teach what we know and learn what you have to share.

Thank you to all the people involved for their awesome work!

== Release history ==

=== Introduction ===

This section is a recap of the events that happened during the v4 release cycle (Mango Lassi) of Sugar on a Stick. It was largely an evolution of the v3 release with improved involvement with upstream Fedora and consolidation of the process. Its mostly documented on the mailing list, from personal memory and [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/soas/ soas mailing list archives], since there was no attempt to document the release history during the course of the release cycle itself.

=== Pre-release ===

* '''25th May 2010''' - [http://fedoraproject.org Fedora] (and therefore [http://spins.fedoraproject.org Fedora Spin]) release cycle for Fedora 14 begins; this is significant since Fedora is one of our major upstreams.

=== Re approved as a Fedora Spin ===

"[Spins are alternate versions of Fedora, tailored for various types of users via hand-picked application sets and other customizations." --from http://spins.fedoraproject.org/about

Before SoaS was a spin, it was a Fedora Remix - which means that bit-wise, the product looked the same, but the technical work that needed to happen to generate it was all done manually and without external resources and support, so it happened spasmodically and slowly and with a great number of sleepless nights.

Becoming a Fedora Spin gave us access to Fedora's engineering, marketing, and QA resources, which dramatically improved the sustainability and scalability of our release engineering processes. For instance, .iso files stopped being produced by the "Sebastian manually builds them every time" process, and started being automatically generated for testing by Fedora build servers. We gained some instant automation of the infrastructure we need anyway, without any more work or maintenance on our part, so we could focus on things like... making Activities work, the stuff that's actually unique to Sugar.

Feature Freeze (in the Fedora 14 cycle, July 27, 2010) was a hard deadline for Spin approval, so it was significant that we got in before that (Fedora-imposed) deadline. If we'd missed that, we would not have been able to take advantage of Fedora's engineering, etc. resources at all for Mango Lassi.

=== Feature process ===

The main point made here is that unlike two of our major upstreams (Sugar and Fedora) we ''didn't'' have a feature freeze for SoaS, but should have around this time.

* '''July 27, 2010''' - [https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/Policy Fedora Feature Freeze]

The way features happen in Fedora is that early in the release process, developers propose features, and they are approved by a feature freeze date (which is before the alpha release). They have to meet certain criteria by certain deadlines - if they don't, they're dropped and not eligible for mention as features. Major features must be in and testable by Alpha; minor changes need to be in and testable by Beta, after Beta it's only bugfixes allowed.

This feature process is not unique to Fedora. Feature processes are things that happen in basically every major FOSS project, and really in every major engineering project (even non-software) - it's how we systematically make sure we build something that's good and working.

The feature process also aids with marketing. The Marketing team in Fedora makes their plans according to the feature list that's set by Alpha - this lets us plan how to target what features early in the process.

Since SoaS relies on both Sugar and Fedora as upstreams, we rely on their feature processes - most SoaS features come from either Fedora features or Sugar features. (For reference, our main upstreams are Fedora, Sugar Labs (sugar-core), ASLO (Activities), GNOME, and Python.) For v4, we built the release using a lightweight feature process for SoaS that inherits from those two upstreams.

=== Activity development confusion ===

Activity developers weren't informed of changes in the libraries their Activities depended on, when those libraries changed in Fedora (and thus got included in SoaS). This led to confusion and instability late in the cycle when Activity folks belatedly realized this had happened.

Two of our upstreams (Fedora and ASLO) basically collided when they combined, and didn't realize that collision was coming, because we didn't track dependencies between them... part of the problem was that we didn't know who was responsible for keeping track of that aspect of communication, so everyone assumed it was someone else and nobody did it.

The Activities confusion manifests itself in the small number of "supported" activities in the v3 release. Marketing was then confronted with the sudden removal/noninclusion of activities from the release - again, this is something that could have been prevented with a working feature process.

=== QA ===

Thomas did field-testing (building real SoaS sticks from .iso files and testing on those) - it's the closest thing to systematic testing we've had yet, though we still have a ways to go. Thank you also to James Cameron in Australia for his testing help!

Mango Lassi didn't have a test plan and it made things confusing for both testers and release engineering; it wasn't always clear what needed to be tested, or what had been tested and how, or where results were or what they meant, and how test results should impact development and vice versa.

=== Documentation ===

We now have a [http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/customization-guide/ Customization Guide] and [http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/creation-kit/ Creation Kit] as official documentation on how to custom-build an image and burn a SoaS stick, respectively. A new release of the documentation will come out with each new release of SoaS. This is an improvement over our ad-hoc wiki documentation methods, allowing us to better support a small number of known-working "how to set up SoaS" instructions.

=== Release and Marketing ===

Mango Lassi was released on November 2, 2010. It's shiny! It's orange! It had over 50 downloads within the 12 hours of release.

We have a [http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas shiny user-facing page] as well as a [[Sugar on a Stick|Contributors Portal]], to serve (and hopefully link) the two different audiences. We hope most people will want to wear both hats, in part.

=== Major accomplishments this release cycle ===

* We have a team!
* We have a release schedule!
* We started using the Fedora Spins process and engineering resources, which made release engineering much smoother.
* We started driving communications to public channels - notably the SoaS mailing list - so things are more transparent.
* Multiple people have commit access to each repository that needs to be handled, so there are no single-person bottlenecks remaining.
* We shifted to a time-based release cycle, meaning we had a target release date set early in the process rather than our prior "it seems ready... now-ish?" method.

== Press coverage ==

Feel free to add links to press coverage you find about Mango Lassi to this section.

Sugar on a Stick/Mango Lassi

2010-11-03T08:17:39Z

Pbrobinson: /* What's new in Mango Lassi */

<noinclude>
[[Category:Live USB]]
[[Category:Sugar on a Stick]]
</noinclude>

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
== Sugar on a Stick - Mango Lassi ==
: ''a Sugar environment you can carry in your pocket''

Mango Lassi is the most recent release of the '''[[Sugar on a Stick]]''' project. It was released on the '''2nd November 2010.'''
__TOC__

| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 200px;" |[[File:SugaronastickMirabelle.png|450px|right|a Sugar environment you can carry in your pocket!]]
|}

== Release announcement ==

We are proud to announce the availability of [[Sugar on a Stick]] v.4, code-named Mango Lassi. More information about Sugar on a Stick, including download and installation details, is available at http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas/.

[[File:Download Mirabell.png|center|link=http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas/#downloads]]

The [http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/creation-kit/ Creation Kit] has a Quick Guide to download and installation.

=== What's new in Mango Lassi ===

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 200px;" | [[File:Mirabelle-home-screen.png|200px|left|link=0.88/Notes]]
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
'''Sugar version 0.90.''' The most recent release of the Sugar Learning Platform features support for Ad-hoc WiFi networks expanding the "under a tree"-scenario to standard wi-fi enabled devices, increased accessibility, enhanced UI capabilities including a spiral home view, enhanced colour selector as well as a lot of under the hood improvements for stability. More information about the 0.90 release of Sugar is available at [[0.90/Notes]].
|}

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
'''Customize your own remix of Sugar on a Stick.''' Mango Lassi has a slightly larger Activity selection than its predecessor Mirrabelle but has continued the trend of less but better tested Activities. We realized we'll never be able to create an Activity selection suitable for all deployments - instead, we've chosen to include and support a core set of basic, teacher-tested Activities in the default image, and invite deployments to use this as a base on which to build a customized Activity selection for their classrooms. Instructions on how to do this are available at http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/customization-guide/. A quick, but less pristine, method of build customization is available at [[Sugar on a Stick/Sugar Clone]].
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 120px;" |[[File:Cici-stick.jpg|120px|right|http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/customization-guide/]]
|}

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 150px;" | [[File:Fedora remix logo.png|left|link=http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas]]
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
'''Sugar on a Stick is now a Fedora Spin.''' After two prior releases of being based on the [http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Overview Fedora distribution], Sugar on a Stick has been recognized by the [http://fedoraproject.org Fedora Project] as an official [http://spins.fedoraproject.org Spin]. This ties us more closely to Fedora's release cycle and gives us resources from their engineering and marketing teams, which extends the reach of Sugar on a Stick and makes the project itself more sustainable. In exchange, users of Fedora have access to an easily deployable implementation of the Sugar Platform; it's a great example of a mutually beneficial upstream–downstream relationship.
|}

=== Contributing to Sugar on a Stick ===

The v.4 of Sugar on a Stick has continued the process of improving its release processes and engineering sustainability; it's now much easier for new contributors to get involved. We continue to move towards our long-term vision of bringing stability and deployability to Sugar's personalized learning environment, and invite all interested parties to join us.

If you'd like to contribute to the next version, due for release in early November, join us at our Contributors Portal at '''[[Sugar on a Stick]]'''. All types of contributions are welcome, from the technical to the pedagogical, and we're happy to teach what we know and learn what you have to share.

Thank you to all the people involved for their awesome work!

== Release history ==

=== Introduction ===

This section is a recap of the events that happened during the v3 release cycle (Mango Lassi) of Sugar on a Stick. It was largely constructed during the v3 release review meeting on 5/31/2010 [http://meeting.olpcorps.net/sugar-meeting/sugar-meeting.minutes.20100531_1507.html (minutes)] [http://meeting.olpcorps.net/sugar-meeting/sugar-meeting.log.20100531_1507.html (log)] from personal memory and [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/soas/ soas mailing list archives], since there was no attempt to document the release history during the course of the release cycle itself.

=== Pre-release ===

* '''November 11, 2009''' - [http://fedoraproject.org Fedora] (and therefore [http://spins.fedoraproject.org Fedora Spin]) release cycle for Fedora 13 begins; this is significant since Fedora is one of our major upstreams.
* '''November 2009''' - [[Oversight Board|SLOBs]] declares the term "SoaS" to refer to this project (predating the [[Trademark]] policy).
* '''December 2009''' - We're still actually on the Blueberry release and haven't started making Mango Lassi yet. Blueberry is getting a lot of good PR from SeanDaly and the Marketing crew.

=== Approval as a Fedora Spin ===

"[Spins are alternate versions of Fedora, tailored for various types of users via hand-picked application sets and other customizations." --from http://spins.fedoraproject.org/about

Before SoaS was a spin, it was a Fedora Remix - which means that bit-wise, the product looked the same, but the technical work that needed to happen to generate it was all done manually and without external resources and support, so it happened spasmodically and slowly and with a great number of sleepless nights.

Becoming a Fedora Spin gave us access to Fedora's engineering, marketing, and QA resources, which dramatically improved the sustainability and scaleability of our release engineering processes. For instance, .iso files stopped being produced by the "Sebastian manually builds them every time" process, and started being automatically generated for testing by Fedora build servers. We gained some instant automation of the infrastructure we need anyway, without any more work or maintenance on our part, so we could focus on things like... making Activities work, the stuff that's actually unique to Sugar.

The [http://meeting.olpcorps.net/sugar-meeting/sugar-meeting.minutes.20100108_1109.html January 8, 2010 SoaS planning meeting] led to the decision to apply for spin status.

* '''January 14, 2010''' - [http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/advisory-board/2010-January/007869.html The Fedora Project approves SoaS as a Fedora spin for F13.]

Feature Freeze (in the Fedora 13 cycle, Feb 9, 2010) was a hard deadline for Spin approval, so it was significant that we got in before that (Fedora-imposed) deadline. If we'd missed that, we would not have been able to take advantage of Fedora's engineering, etc. resources at all for Mango Lassi.

Looking at the [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/soas/2010-January/thread.html January mailing list archives], we didn't explain the significance of the spin decision very well then, which may have led to communication disconnects down the line that made Activity development and Marketing more difficult. In particular, we did not make it clear enough that we were now tied to the Fedora release cycle, and what that meant.

=== Feature process ===

The main point made here is that unlike two of our major upstreams (Sugar and Fedora) we ''didn't'' have a feature freeze for SoaS, but should have around this time.

* '''February 9, 2010''' - [https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/Policy Fedora Feature Freeze]

The way features happen in Fedora is that early in the release process, developers propose features, and they are approved by a feature freeze date (which is before the alpha release). They have to meet certain criteria by certain deadlines - if they don't, they're dropped and not eligible for mention as features. Major features must be in and testable by Alpha; minor changes need to be in and testable by Beta, after Beta it's only bugfixes allowed.

This feature process is not unique to Fedora. Feature processes are things that happen in basically every major FOSS project, and really in every major engineering project (even non-software) - it's how we systematically make sure we build something that's good and working.

The feature process also aids with marketing. The Marketing team in Fedora makes their plans according to the feature list that's set by Alpha - this lets us plan how to target what features early in the process.

Since SoaS relies on both Sugar and Fedora as upstreams, we rely on their feature processes - most SoaS features come from either Fedora features or Sugar features. (For reference, our main upstreams are Fedora, Sugar Labs (sugar-core), ASLO (Activities), GNOME, and Python.) For v4, we will be building and using a lightweight feature process for SoaS that inherits from those two upstreams.

=== Activity development confusion ===

Activity developers weren't informed of changes in the libraries their Activities depended on, when those libraries changed in Fedora (and thus got included in SoaS). This led to confusion and instability late in the cycle when Activity folks belatedly realized this had happened.

Two of our upstreams (Fedora and ASLO) basically collided when they combined, and didn't realize that collision was coming, because we didn't track dependencies between them... part of the problem was that we didn't know who was responsible for keeping track of that aspect of communication, so everyone assumed it was someone else and nobody did it.

The Activities confusion manifests itself in the small number of "supported" activities in the v3 release. Marketing was then confronted with the sudden removal/noninclusion of activities from the release - again, this is something that could have been prevented with a working feature process.

=== QA ===

Thomas did field-testing (building real SoaS sticks from .iso files and testing on those) - it's the closest thing to systematic testing we've had yet, though we still have a ways to go. Thank you also to James Cameron in Australia for his testing help!

Mango Lassi didn't have a test plan and it made things confusing for both testers and release engineering; it wasn't always clear what needed to be tested, or what had been tested and how, or where results were or what they meant, and how test results should impact development and vice versa.

=== Documentation ===

We now have a [http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/customization-guide/ Customization Guide] and [http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/creation-kit/ Creation Kit] as official documentation on how to custom-build an image and burn a SoaS stick, respectively. A new release of the documentation will come out with each new release of SoaS. This is an improvement over our ad-hoc wiki documentation methods, allowing us to better support a small number of known-working "how to set up SoaS" instructions.

=== Release and Marketing ===

Mango Lassi was released on November 2, 2010. It's shiny! It's orange! It had over 50 downloads within the 12 hours of release.

We have a [http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas shiny user-facing page] as well as a [[Sugar on a Stick|Contributors Portal]], to serve (and hopefully link) the two different audiences. We hope most people will want to wear both hats, in part.

=== Major accomplishments this release cycle ===

* We have a team!
* We have a release schedule!
* We started using the Fedora Spins process and engineering resources, which made release engineering much smoother.
* We started driving communications to public channels - notably the SoaS mailing list - so things are more transparent.
* Multiple people have commit access to each repository that needs to be handled, so there are no single-person bottlenecks remaining.
* We shifted to a time-based release cycle, meaning we had a target release date set early in the process rather than our prior "it seems ready... now-ish?" method.

== Press coverage ==

Feel free to add links to press coverage you find about Mango Lassi to this section.

Sugar on a Stick/Mango Lassi

2010-11-03T08:11:12Z

Pbrobinson: /* What's new in Mango Lassi */

<noinclude>
[[Category:Live USB]]
[[Category:Sugar on a Stick]]
</noinclude>

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
== Sugar on a Stick - Mango Lassi ==
: ''a Sugar environment you can carry in your pocket''

Mango Lassi is the most recent release of the '''[[Sugar on a Stick]]''' project. It was released on the '''2nd November 2010.'''
__TOC__

| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 200px;" |[[File:SugaronastickMirabelle.png|450px|right|a Sugar environment you can carry in your pocket!]]
|}

== Release announcement ==

We are proud to announce the availability of [[Sugar on a Stick]] v.4, code-named Mango Lassi. More information about Sugar on a Stick, including download and installation details, is available at http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas/.

[[File:Download Mirabell.png|center|link=http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas/#downloads]]

The [http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/creation-kit/ Creation Kit] has a Quick Guide to download and installation.

=== What's new in Mango Lassi ===

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 200px;" | [[File:Mirabelle-home-screen.png|200px|left|link=0.88/Notes]]
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
'''Sugar version 0.88.''' The most recent release of the Sugar Learning Platform features support for 3G connections, increased accessibility, and better integration with our Activity Portal (http://activities.sugarlabs.org) allowing students and teachers to update their sticks with additional Activities. More information about the 0.90 release of Sugar is available at [[0.90/Notes]].
|}

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
'''Customize your own remix of Sugar on a Stick.''' Mango Lassi has a slightly larger Activity selection than its predecessor Mirrabelle but has continued the trend of less but better tested Activities. We realized we'll never be able to create an Activity selection suitable for all deployments - instead, we've chosen to include and support a core set of basic, teacher-tested Activities in the default image, and invite deployments to use this as a base on which to build a customized Activity selection for their classrooms. Instructions on how to do this are available at http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/customization-guide/. A quick, but less pristine, method of build customization is available at [[Sugar on a Stick/Sugar Clone]].
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 120px;" |[[File:Cici-stick.jpg|120px|right|http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/customization-guide/]]
|}

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 150px;" | [[File:Fedora remix logo.png|left|link=http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas]]
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
'''Sugar on a Stick is now a Fedora Spin.''' After two prior releases of being based on the [http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Overview Fedora distribution], Sugar on a Stick has been recognized by the [http://fedoraproject.org Fedora Project] as an official [http://spins.fedoraproject.org Spin]. This ties us more closely to Fedora's release cycle and gives us resources from their engineering and marketing teams, which extends the reach of Sugar on a Stick and makes the project itself more sustainable. In exchange, users of Fedora have access to an easily deployable implementation of the Sugar Platform; it's a great example of a mutually beneficial upstream–downstream relationship.
|}

=== Contributing to Sugar on a Stick ===

The v.4 of Sugar on a Stick has continued the process of improving its release processes and engineering sustainability; it's now much easier for new contributors to get involved. We continue to move towards our long-term vision of bringing stability and deployability to Sugar's personalized learning environment, and invite all interested parties to join us.

If you'd like to contribute to the next version, due for release in early November, join us at our Contributors Portal at '''[[Sugar on a Stick]]'''. All types of contributions are welcome, from the technical to the pedagogical, and we're happy to teach what we know and learn what you have to share.

Thank you to all the people involved for their awesome work!

== Release history ==

=== Introduction ===

This section is a recap of the events that happened during the v3 release cycle (Mango Lassi) of Sugar on a Stick. It was largely constructed during the v3 release review meeting on 5/31/2010 [http://meeting.olpcorps.net/sugar-meeting/sugar-meeting.minutes.20100531_1507.html (minutes)] [http://meeting.olpcorps.net/sugar-meeting/sugar-meeting.log.20100531_1507.html (log)] from personal memory and [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/soas/ soas mailing list archives], since there was no attempt to document the release history during the course of the release cycle itself.

=== Pre-release ===

* '''November 11, 2009''' - [http://fedoraproject.org Fedora] (and therefore [http://spins.fedoraproject.org Fedora Spin]) release cycle for Fedora 13 begins; this is significant since Fedora is one of our major upstreams.
* '''November 2009''' - [[Oversight Board|SLOBs]] declares the term "SoaS" to refer to this project (predating the [[Trademark]] policy).
* '''December 2009''' - We're still actually on the Blueberry release and haven't started making Mango Lassi yet. Blueberry is getting a lot of good PR from SeanDaly and the Marketing crew.

=== Approval as a Fedora Spin ===

"[Spins are alternate versions of Fedora, tailored for various types of users via hand-picked application sets and other customizations." --from http://spins.fedoraproject.org/about

Before SoaS was a spin, it was a Fedora Remix - which means that bit-wise, the product looked the same, but the technical work that needed to happen to generate it was all done manually and without external resources and support, so it happened spasmodically and slowly and with a great number of sleepless nights.

Becoming a Fedora Spin gave us access to Fedora's engineering, marketing, and QA resources, which dramatically improved the sustainability and scaleability of our release engineering processes. For instance, .iso files stopped being produced by the "Sebastian manually builds them every time" process, and started being automatically generated for testing by Fedora build servers. We gained some instant automation of the infrastructure we need anyway, without any more work or maintenance on our part, so we could focus on things like... making Activities work, the stuff that's actually unique to Sugar.

The [http://meeting.olpcorps.net/sugar-meeting/sugar-meeting.minutes.20100108_1109.html January 8, 2010 SoaS planning meeting] led to the decision to apply for spin status.

* '''January 14, 2010''' - [http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/advisory-board/2010-January/007869.html The Fedora Project approves SoaS as a Fedora spin for F13.]

Feature Freeze (in the Fedora 13 cycle, Feb 9, 2010) was a hard deadline for Spin approval, so it was significant that we got in before that (Fedora-imposed) deadline. If we'd missed that, we would not have been able to take advantage of Fedora's engineering, etc. resources at all for Mango Lassi.

Looking at the [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/soas/2010-January/thread.html January mailing list archives], we didn't explain the significance of the spin decision very well then, which may have led to communication disconnects down the line that made Activity development and Marketing more difficult. In particular, we did not make it clear enough that we were now tied to the Fedora release cycle, and what that meant.

=== Feature process ===

The main point made here is that unlike two of our major upstreams (Sugar and Fedora) we ''didn't'' have a feature freeze for SoaS, but should have around this time.

* '''February 9, 2010''' - [https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/Policy Fedora Feature Freeze]

The way features happen in Fedora is that early in the release process, developers propose features, and they are approved by a feature freeze date (which is before the alpha release). They have to meet certain criteria by certain deadlines - if they don't, they're dropped and not eligible for mention as features. Major features must be in and testable by Alpha; minor changes need to be in and testable by Beta, after Beta it's only bugfixes allowed.

This feature process is not unique to Fedora. Feature processes are things that happen in basically every major FOSS project, and really in every major engineering project (even non-software) - it's how we systematically make sure we build something that's good and working.

The feature process also aids with marketing. The Marketing team in Fedora makes their plans according to the feature list that's set by Alpha - this lets us plan how to target what features early in the process.

Since SoaS relies on both Sugar and Fedora as upstreams, we rely on their feature processes - most SoaS features come from either Fedora features or Sugar features. (For reference, our main upstreams are Fedora, Sugar Labs (sugar-core), ASLO (Activities), GNOME, and Python.) For v4, we will be building and using a lightweight feature process for SoaS that inherits from those two upstreams.

=== Activity development confusion ===

Activity developers weren't informed of changes in the libraries their Activities depended on, when those libraries changed in Fedora (and thus got included in SoaS). This led to confusion and instability late in the cycle when Activity folks belatedly realized this had happened.

Two of our upstreams (Fedora and ASLO) basically collided when they combined, and didn't realize that collision was coming, because we didn't track dependencies between them... part of the problem was that we didn't know who was responsible for keeping track of that aspect of communication, so everyone assumed it was someone else and nobody did it.

The Activities confusion manifests itself in the small number of "supported" activities in the v3 release. Marketing was then confronted with the sudden removal/noninclusion of activities from the release - again, this is something that could have been prevented with a working feature process.

=== QA ===

Thomas did field-testing (building real SoaS sticks from .iso files and testing on those) - it's the closest thing to systematic testing we've had yet, though we still have a ways to go. Thank you also to James Cameron in Australia for his testing help!

Mango Lassi didn't have a test plan and it made things confusing for both testers and release engineering; it wasn't always clear what needed to be tested, or what had been tested and how, or where results were or what they meant, and how test results should impact development and vice versa.

=== Documentation ===

We now have a [http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/customization-guide/ Customization Guide] and [http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/creation-kit/ Creation Kit] as official documentation on how to custom-build an image and burn a SoaS stick, respectively. A new release of the documentation will come out with each new release of SoaS. This is an improvement over our ad-hoc wiki documentation methods, allowing us to better support a small number of known-working "how to set up SoaS" instructions.

=== Release and Marketing ===

Mango Lassi was released on November 2, 2010. It's shiny! It's orange! It had over 50 downloads within the 12 hours of release.

We have a [http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas shiny user-facing page] as well as a [[Sugar on a Stick|Contributors Portal]], to serve (and hopefully link) the two different audiences. We hope most people will want to wear both hats, in part.

=== Major accomplishments this release cycle ===

* We have a team!
* We have a release schedule!
* We started using the Fedora Spins process and engineering resources, which made release engineering much smoother.
* We started driving communications to public channels - notably the SoaS mailing list - so things are more transparent.
* Multiple people have commit access to each repository that needs to be handled, so there are no single-person bottlenecks remaining.
* We shifted to a time-based release cycle, meaning we had a target release date set early in the process rather than our prior "it seems ready... now-ish?" method.

== Press coverage ==

Feel free to add links to press coverage you find about Mango Lassi to this section.

Sugar on a Stick/Mango Lassi

2010-11-03T08:10:01Z

Pbrobinson: /* Sugar on a Stick - Mango Lassi */

<noinclude>
[[Category:Live USB]]
[[Category:Sugar on a Stick]]
</noinclude>

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
== Sugar on a Stick - Mango Lassi ==
: ''a Sugar environment you can carry in your pocket''

Mango Lassi is the most recent release of the '''[[Sugar on a Stick]]''' project. It was released on the '''2nd November 2010.'''
__TOC__

| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 200px;" |[[File:SugaronastickMirabelle.png|450px|right|a Sugar environment you can carry in your pocket!]]
|}

== Release announcement ==

We are proud to announce the availability of [[Sugar on a Stick]] v.4, code-named Mango Lassi. More information about Sugar on a Stick, including download and installation details, is available at http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas/.

[[File:Download Mirabell.png|center|link=http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas/#downloads]]

The [http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/creation-kit/ Creation Kit] has a Quick Guide to download and installation.

=== What's new in Mango Lassi ===

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 200px;" | [[File:Mango Lassi-home-screen.png|200px|left|link=0.88/Notes]]
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
'''Sugar version 0.88.''' The most recent release of the Sugar Learning Platform features support for 3G connections, increased accessibility, and better integration with our Activity Portal (http://activities.sugarlabs.org) allowing students and teachers to update their sticks with additional Activities. More information about the 0.90 release of Sugar is available at [[0.90/Notes]].
|}

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
'''Customize your own remix of Sugar on a Stick.''' Mango Lassi has a slightly larger Activity selection than its predecessor Mirrabelle but has continued the trend of less but better tested Activities. We realized we'll never be able to create an Activity selection suitable for all deployments - instead, we've chosen to include and support a core set of basic, teacher-tested Activities in the default image, and invite deployments to use this as a base on which to build a customized Activity selection for their classrooms. Instructions on how to do this are available at http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/customization-guide/. A quick, but less pristine, method of build customization is available at [[Sugar on a Stick/Sugar Clone]].
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 120px;" |[[File:Cici-stick.jpg|120px|right|http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/customization-guide/]]
|}

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 150px;" | [[File:Fedora remix logo.png|left|link=http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas]]
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
'''Sugar on a Stick is now a Fedora Spin.''' After two prior releases of being based on the [http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Overview Fedora distribution], Sugar on a Stick has been recognized by the [http://fedoraproject.org Fedora Project] as an official [http://spins.fedoraproject.org Spin]. This ties us more closely to Fedora's release cycle and gives us resources from their engineering and marketing teams, which extends the reach of Sugar on a Stick and makes the project itself more sustainable. In exchange, users of Fedora have access to an easily deployable implementation of the Sugar Platform; it's a great example of a mutually beneficial upstream–downstream relationship.
|}

=== Contributing to Sugar on a Stick ===

The v.4 of Sugar on a Stick has continued the process of improving its release processes and engineering sustainability; it's now much easier for new contributors to get involved. We continue to move towards our long-term vision of bringing stability and deployability to Sugar's personalized learning environment, and invite all interested parties to join us.

If you'd like to contribute to the next version, due for release in early November, join us at our Contributors Portal at '''[[Sugar on a Stick]]'''. All types of contributions are welcome, from the technical to the pedagogical, and we're happy to teach what we know and learn what you have to share.

Thank you to all the people involved for their awesome work!

== Release history ==

=== Introduction ===

This section is a recap of the events that happened during the v3 release cycle (Mango Lassi) of Sugar on a Stick. It was largely constructed during the v3 release review meeting on 5/31/2010 [http://meeting.olpcorps.net/sugar-meeting/sugar-meeting.minutes.20100531_1507.html (minutes)] [http://meeting.olpcorps.net/sugar-meeting/sugar-meeting.log.20100531_1507.html (log)] from personal memory and [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/soas/ soas mailing list archives], since there was no attempt to document the release history during the course of the release cycle itself.

=== Pre-release ===

* '''November 11, 2009''' - [http://fedoraproject.org Fedora] (and therefore [http://spins.fedoraproject.org Fedora Spin]) release cycle for Fedora 13 begins; this is significant since Fedora is one of our major upstreams.
* '''November 2009''' - [[Oversight Board|SLOBs]] declares the term "SoaS" to refer to this project (predating the [[Trademark]] policy).
* '''December 2009''' - We're still actually on the Blueberry release and haven't started making Mango Lassi yet. Blueberry is getting a lot of good PR from SeanDaly and the Marketing crew.

=== Approval as a Fedora Spin ===

"[Spins are alternate versions of Fedora, tailored for various types of users via hand-picked application sets and other customizations." --from http://spins.fedoraproject.org/about

Before SoaS was a spin, it was a Fedora Remix - which means that bit-wise, the product looked the same, but the technical work that needed to happen to generate it was all done manually and without external resources and support, so it happened spasmodically and slowly and with a great number of sleepless nights.

Becoming a Fedora Spin gave us access to Fedora's engineering, marketing, and QA resources, which dramatically improved the sustainability and scaleability of our release engineering processes. For instance, .iso files stopped being produced by the "Sebastian manually builds them every time" process, and started being automatically generated for testing by Fedora build servers. We gained some instant automation of the infrastructure we need anyway, without any more work or maintenance on our part, so we could focus on things like... making Activities work, the stuff that's actually unique to Sugar.

The [http://meeting.olpcorps.net/sugar-meeting/sugar-meeting.minutes.20100108_1109.html January 8, 2010 SoaS planning meeting] led to the decision to apply for spin status.

* '''January 14, 2010''' - [http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/advisory-board/2010-January/007869.html The Fedora Project approves SoaS as a Fedora spin for F13.]

Feature Freeze (in the Fedora 13 cycle, Feb 9, 2010) was a hard deadline for Spin approval, so it was significant that we got in before that (Fedora-imposed) deadline. If we'd missed that, we would not have been able to take advantage of Fedora's engineering, etc. resources at all for Mango Lassi.

Looking at the [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/soas/2010-January/thread.html January mailing list archives], we didn't explain the significance of the spin decision very well then, which may have led to communication disconnects down the line that made Activity development and Marketing more difficult. In particular, we did not make it clear enough that we were now tied to the Fedora release cycle, and what that meant.

=== Feature process ===

The main point made here is that unlike two of our major upstreams (Sugar and Fedora) we ''didn't'' have a feature freeze for SoaS, but should have around this time.

* '''February 9, 2010''' - [https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/Policy Fedora Feature Freeze]

The way features happen in Fedora is that early in the release process, developers propose features, and they are approved by a feature freeze date (which is before the alpha release). They have to meet certain criteria by certain deadlines - if they don't, they're dropped and not eligible for mention as features. Major features must be in and testable by Alpha; minor changes need to be in and testable by Beta, after Beta it's only bugfixes allowed.

This feature process is not unique to Fedora. Feature processes are things that happen in basically every major FOSS project, and really in every major engineering project (even non-software) - it's how we systematically make sure we build something that's good and working.

The feature process also aids with marketing. The Marketing team in Fedora makes their plans according to the feature list that's set by Alpha - this lets us plan how to target what features early in the process.

Since SoaS relies on both Sugar and Fedora as upstreams, we rely on their feature processes - most SoaS features come from either Fedora features or Sugar features. (For reference, our main upstreams are Fedora, Sugar Labs (sugar-core), ASLO (Activities), GNOME, and Python.) For v4, we will be building and using a lightweight feature process for SoaS that inherits from those two upstreams.

=== Activity development confusion ===

Activity developers weren't informed of changes in the libraries their Activities depended on, when those libraries changed in Fedora (and thus got included in SoaS). This led to confusion and instability late in the cycle when Activity folks belatedly realized this had happened.

Two of our upstreams (Fedora and ASLO) basically collided when they combined, and didn't realize that collision was coming, because we didn't track dependencies between them... part of the problem was that we didn't know who was responsible for keeping track of that aspect of communication, so everyone assumed it was someone else and nobody did it.

The Activities confusion manifests itself in the small number of "supported" activities in the v3 release. Marketing was then confronted with the sudden removal/noninclusion of activities from the release - again, this is something that could have been prevented with a working feature process.

=== QA ===

Thomas did field-testing (building real SoaS sticks from .iso files and testing on those) - it's the closest thing to systematic testing we've had yet, though we still have a ways to go. Thank you also to James Cameron in Australia for his testing help!

Mango Lassi didn't have a test plan and it made things confusing for both testers and release engineering; it wasn't always clear what needed to be tested, or what had been tested and how, or where results were or what they meant, and how test results should impact development and vice versa.

=== Documentation ===

We now have a [http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/customization-guide/ Customization Guide] and [http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/creation-kit/ Creation Kit] as official documentation on how to custom-build an image and burn a SoaS stick, respectively. A new release of the documentation will come out with each new release of SoaS. This is an improvement over our ad-hoc wiki documentation methods, allowing us to better support a small number of known-working "how to set up SoaS" instructions.

=== Release and Marketing ===

Mango Lassi was released on November 2, 2010. It's shiny! It's orange! It had over 50 downloads within the 12 hours of release.

We have a [http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas shiny user-facing page] as well as a [[Sugar on a Stick|Contributors Portal]], to serve (and hopefully link) the two different audiences. We hope most people will want to wear both hats, in part.

=== Major accomplishments this release cycle ===

* We have a team!
* We have a release schedule!
* We started using the Fedora Spins process and engineering resources, which made release engineering much smoother.
* We started driving communications to public channels - notably the SoaS mailing list - so things are more transparent.
* Multiple people have commit access to each repository that needs to be handled, so there are no single-person bottlenecks remaining.
* We shifted to a time-based release cycle, meaning we had a target release date set early in the process rather than our prior "it seems ready... now-ish?" method.

== Press coverage ==

Feel free to add links to press coverage you find about Mango Lassi to this section.

Sugar on a Stick/Mango Lassi

2010-11-03T08:09:20Z

Pbrobinson: /* Sugar on a Stick - Mango Lassi */

<noinclude>
[[Category:Live USB]]
[[Category:Sugar on a Stick]]
</noinclude>

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
== Sugar on a Stick - Mango Lassi ==
: ''a Sugar environment you can carry in your pocket''

Mango Lassi is the most recent release of the '''[[Sugar on a Stick]]''' project. It was released on the '''2nd November 2010.'''
__TOC__

| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 200px;" |[[File:SugaronastickMango Lassi.png|450px|right|a Sugar environment you can carry in your pocket!]]
|}

== Release announcement ==

We are proud to announce the availability of [[Sugar on a Stick]] v.4, code-named Mango Lassi. More information about Sugar on a Stick, including download and installation details, is available at http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas/.

[[File:Download Mirabell.png|center|link=http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas/#downloads]]

The [http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/creation-kit/ Creation Kit] has a Quick Guide to download and installation.

=== What's new in Mango Lassi ===

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 200px;" | [[File:Mango Lassi-home-screen.png|200px|left|link=0.88/Notes]]
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
'''Sugar version 0.88.''' The most recent release of the Sugar Learning Platform features support for 3G connections, increased accessibility, and better integration with our Activity Portal (http://activities.sugarlabs.org) allowing students and teachers to update their sticks with additional Activities. More information about the 0.90 release of Sugar is available at [[0.90/Notes]].
|}

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
'''Customize your own remix of Sugar on a Stick.''' Mango Lassi has a slightly larger Activity selection than its predecessor Mirrabelle but has continued the trend of less but better tested Activities. We realized we'll never be able to create an Activity selection suitable for all deployments - instead, we've chosen to include and support a core set of basic, teacher-tested Activities in the default image, and invite deployments to use this as a base on which to build a customized Activity selection for their classrooms. Instructions on how to do this are available at http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/customization-guide/. A quick, but less pristine, method of build customization is available at [[Sugar on a Stick/Sugar Clone]].
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 120px;" |[[File:Cici-stick.jpg|120px|right|http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/customization-guide/]]
|}

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 150px;" | [[File:Fedora remix logo.png|left|link=http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas]]
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
'''Sugar on a Stick is now a Fedora Spin.''' After two prior releases of being based on the [http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Overview Fedora distribution], Sugar on a Stick has been recognized by the [http://fedoraproject.org Fedora Project] as an official [http://spins.fedoraproject.org Spin]. This ties us more closely to Fedora's release cycle and gives us resources from their engineering and marketing teams, which extends the reach of Sugar on a Stick and makes the project itself more sustainable. In exchange, users of Fedora have access to an easily deployable implementation of the Sugar Platform; it's a great example of a mutually beneficial upstream–downstream relationship.
|}

=== Contributing to Sugar on a Stick ===

The v.4 of Sugar on a Stick has continued the process of improving its release processes and engineering sustainability; it's now much easier for new contributors to get involved. We continue to move towards our long-term vision of bringing stability and deployability to Sugar's personalized learning environment, and invite all interested parties to join us.

If you'd like to contribute to the next version, due for release in early November, join us at our Contributors Portal at '''[[Sugar on a Stick]]'''. All types of contributions are welcome, from the technical to the pedagogical, and we're happy to teach what we know and learn what you have to share.

Thank you to all the people involved for their awesome work!

== Release history ==

=== Introduction ===

This section is a recap of the events that happened during the v3 release cycle (Mango Lassi) of Sugar on a Stick. It was largely constructed during the v3 release review meeting on 5/31/2010 [http://meeting.olpcorps.net/sugar-meeting/sugar-meeting.minutes.20100531_1507.html (minutes)] [http://meeting.olpcorps.net/sugar-meeting/sugar-meeting.log.20100531_1507.html (log)] from personal memory and [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/soas/ soas mailing list archives], since there was no attempt to document the release history during the course of the release cycle itself.

=== Pre-release ===

* '''November 11, 2009''' - [http://fedoraproject.org Fedora] (and therefore [http://spins.fedoraproject.org Fedora Spin]) release cycle for Fedora 13 begins; this is significant since Fedora is one of our major upstreams.
* '''November 2009''' - [[Oversight Board|SLOBs]] declares the term "SoaS" to refer to this project (predating the [[Trademark]] policy).
* '''December 2009''' - We're still actually on the Blueberry release and haven't started making Mango Lassi yet. Blueberry is getting a lot of good PR from SeanDaly and the Marketing crew.

=== Approval as a Fedora Spin ===

"[Spins are alternate versions of Fedora, tailored for various types of users via hand-picked application sets and other customizations." --from http://spins.fedoraproject.org/about

Before SoaS was a spin, it was a Fedora Remix - which means that bit-wise, the product looked the same, but the technical work that needed to happen to generate it was all done manually and without external resources and support, so it happened spasmodically and slowly and with a great number of sleepless nights.

Becoming a Fedora Spin gave us access to Fedora's engineering, marketing, and QA resources, which dramatically improved the sustainability and scaleability of our release engineering processes. For instance, .iso files stopped being produced by the "Sebastian manually builds them every time" process, and started being automatically generated for testing by Fedora build servers. We gained some instant automation of the infrastructure we need anyway, without any more work or maintenance on our part, so we could focus on things like... making Activities work, the stuff that's actually unique to Sugar.

The [http://meeting.olpcorps.net/sugar-meeting/sugar-meeting.minutes.20100108_1109.html January 8, 2010 SoaS planning meeting] led to the decision to apply for spin status.

* '''January 14, 2010''' - [http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/advisory-board/2010-January/007869.html The Fedora Project approves SoaS as a Fedora spin for F13.]

Feature Freeze (in the Fedora 13 cycle, Feb 9, 2010) was a hard deadline for Spin approval, so it was significant that we got in before that (Fedora-imposed) deadline. If we'd missed that, we would not have been able to take advantage of Fedora's engineering, etc. resources at all for Mango Lassi.

Looking at the [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/soas/2010-January/thread.html January mailing list archives], we didn't explain the significance of the spin decision very well then, which may have led to communication disconnects down the line that made Activity development and Marketing more difficult. In particular, we did not make it clear enough that we were now tied to the Fedora release cycle, and what that meant.

=== Feature process ===

The main point made here is that unlike two of our major upstreams (Sugar and Fedora) we ''didn't'' have a feature freeze for SoaS, but should have around this time.

* '''February 9, 2010''' - [https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/Policy Fedora Feature Freeze]

The way features happen in Fedora is that early in the release process, developers propose features, and they are approved by a feature freeze date (which is before the alpha release). They have to meet certain criteria by certain deadlines - if they don't, they're dropped and not eligible for mention as features. Major features must be in and testable by Alpha; minor changes need to be in and testable by Beta, after Beta it's only bugfixes allowed.

This feature process is not unique to Fedora. Feature processes are things that happen in basically every major FOSS project, and really in every major engineering project (even non-software) - it's how we systematically make sure we build something that's good and working.

The feature process also aids with marketing. The Marketing team in Fedora makes their plans according to the feature list that's set by Alpha - this lets us plan how to target what features early in the process.

Since SoaS relies on both Sugar and Fedora as upstreams, we rely on their feature processes - most SoaS features come from either Fedora features or Sugar features. (For reference, our main upstreams are Fedora, Sugar Labs (sugar-core), ASLO (Activities), GNOME, and Python.) For v4, we will be building and using a lightweight feature process for SoaS that inherits from those two upstreams.

=== Activity development confusion ===

Activity developers weren't informed of changes in the libraries their Activities depended on, when those libraries changed in Fedora (and thus got included in SoaS). This led to confusion and instability late in the cycle when Activity folks belatedly realized this had happened.

Two of our upstreams (Fedora and ASLO) basically collided when they combined, and didn't realize that collision was coming, because we didn't track dependencies between them... part of the problem was that we didn't know who was responsible for keeping track of that aspect of communication, so everyone assumed it was someone else and nobody did it.

The Activities confusion manifests itself in the small number of "supported" activities in the v3 release. Marketing was then confronted with the sudden removal/noninclusion of activities from the release - again, this is something that could have been prevented with a working feature process.

=== QA ===

Thomas did field-testing (building real SoaS sticks from .iso files and testing on those) - it's the closest thing to systematic testing we've had yet, though we still have a ways to go. Thank you also to James Cameron in Australia for his testing help!

Mango Lassi didn't have a test plan and it made things confusing for both testers and release engineering; it wasn't always clear what needed to be tested, or what had been tested and how, or where results were or what they meant, and how test results should impact development and vice versa.

=== Documentation ===

We now have a [http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/customization-guide/ Customization Guide] and [http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/creation-kit/ Creation Kit] as official documentation on how to custom-build an image and burn a SoaS stick, respectively. A new release of the documentation will come out with each new release of SoaS. This is an improvement over our ad-hoc wiki documentation methods, allowing us to better support a small number of known-working "how to set up SoaS" instructions.

=== Release and Marketing ===

Mango Lassi was released on November 2, 2010. It's shiny! It's orange! It had over 50 downloads within the 12 hours of release.

We have a [http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas shiny user-facing page] as well as a [[Sugar on a Stick|Contributors Portal]], to serve (and hopefully link) the two different audiences. We hope most people will want to wear both hats, in part.

=== Major accomplishments this release cycle ===

* We have a team!
* We have a release schedule!
* We started using the Fedora Spins process and engineering resources, which made release engineering much smoother.
* We started driving communications to public channels - notably the SoaS mailing list - so things are more transparent.
* Multiple people have commit access to each repository that needs to be handled, so there are no single-person bottlenecks remaining.
* We shifted to a time-based release cycle, meaning we had a target release date set early in the process rather than our prior "it seems ready... now-ish?" method.

== Press coverage ==

Feel free to add links to press coverage you find about Mango Lassi to this section.

Sugar on a Stick/Mango Lassi

2010-11-03T08:08:17Z

Pbrobinson: Created page with "<noinclude> Category:Live USB Category:Sugar on a Stick </noinclude> {| |- | style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" | == Sugar on a Stick - Mango Lassi == : ''a Sugar envi..."

<noinclude>
[[Category:Live USB]]
[[Category:Sugar on a Stick]]
</noinclude>

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
== Sugar on a Stick - Mango Lassi ==
: ''a Sugar environment you can carry in your pocket''

Mango Lassi is the most recent release of the '''[[Sugar on a Stick]]''' project. It was released on '''2nd November 2010.'''
__TOC__

| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 200px;" |[[File:SugaronastickMango Lassi.png|450px|right|a Sugar environment you can carry in your pocket!]]
|}

== Release announcement ==

We are proud to announce the availability of [[Sugar on a Stick]] v.4, code-named Mango Lassi. More information about Sugar on a Stick, including download and installation details, is available at http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas/.

[[File:Download Mirabell.png|center|link=http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas/#downloads]]

The [http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/creation-kit/ Creation Kit] has a Quick Guide to download and installation.

=== What's new in Mango Lassi ===

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 200px;" | [[File:Mango Lassi-home-screen.png|200px|left|link=0.88/Notes]]
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
'''Sugar version 0.88.''' The most recent release of the Sugar Learning Platform features support for 3G connections, increased accessibility, and better integration with our Activity Portal (http://activities.sugarlabs.org) allowing students and teachers to update their sticks with additional Activities. More information about the 0.90 release of Sugar is available at [[0.90/Notes]].
|}

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
'''Customize your own remix of Sugar on a Stick.''' Mango Lassi has a slightly larger Activity selection than its predecessor Mirrabelle but has continued the trend of less but better tested Activities. We realized we'll never be able to create an Activity selection suitable for all deployments - instead, we've chosen to include and support a core set of basic, teacher-tested Activities in the default image, and invite deployments to use this as a base on which to build a customized Activity selection for their classrooms. Instructions on how to do this are available at http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/customization-guide/. A quick, but less pristine, method of build customization is available at [[Sugar on a Stick/Sugar Clone]].
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 120px;" |[[File:Cici-stick.jpg|120px|right|http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/customization-guide/]]
|}

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 150px;" | [[File:Fedora remix logo.png|left|link=http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas]]
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
'''Sugar on a Stick is now a Fedora Spin.''' After two prior releases of being based on the [http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Overview Fedora distribution], Sugar on a Stick has been recognized by the [http://fedoraproject.org Fedora Project] as an official [http://spins.fedoraproject.org Spin]. This ties us more closely to Fedora's release cycle and gives us resources from their engineering and marketing teams, which extends the reach of Sugar on a Stick and makes the project itself more sustainable. In exchange, users of Fedora have access to an easily deployable implementation of the Sugar Platform; it's a great example of a mutually beneficial upstream–downstream relationship.
|}

=== Contributing to Sugar on a Stick ===

The v.4 of Sugar on a Stick has continued the process of improving its release processes and engineering sustainability; it's now much easier for new contributors to get involved. We continue to move towards our long-term vision of bringing stability and deployability to Sugar's personalized learning environment, and invite all interested parties to join us.

If you'd like to contribute to the next version, due for release in early November, join us at our Contributors Portal at '''[[Sugar on a Stick]]'''. All types of contributions are welcome, from the technical to the pedagogical, and we're happy to teach what we know and learn what you have to share.

Thank you to all the people involved for their awesome work!

== Release history ==

=== Introduction ===

This section is a recap of the events that happened during the v3 release cycle (Mango Lassi) of Sugar on a Stick. It was largely constructed during the v3 release review meeting on 5/31/2010 [http://meeting.olpcorps.net/sugar-meeting/sugar-meeting.minutes.20100531_1507.html (minutes)] [http://meeting.olpcorps.net/sugar-meeting/sugar-meeting.log.20100531_1507.html (log)] from personal memory and [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/soas/ soas mailing list archives], since there was no attempt to document the release history during the course of the release cycle itself.

=== Pre-release ===

* '''November 11, 2009''' - [http://fedoraproject.org Fedora] (and therefore [http://spins.fedoraproject.org Fedora Spin]) release cycle for Fedora 13 begins; this is significant since Fedora is one of our major upstreams.
* '''November 2009''' - [[Oversight Board|SLOBs]] declares the term "SoaS" to refer to this project (predating the [[Trademark]] policy).
* '''December 2009''' - We're still actually on the Blueberry release and haven't started making Mango Lassi yet. Blueberry is getting a lot of good PR from SeanDaly and the Marketing crew.

=== Approval as a Fedora Spin ===

"[Spins are alternate versions of Fedora, tailored for various types of users via hand-picked application sets and other customizations." --from http://spins.fedoraproject.org/about

Before SoaS was a spin, it was a Fedora Remix - which means that bit-wise, the product looked the same, but the technical work that needed to happen to generate it was all done manually and without external resources and support, so it happened spasmodically and slowly and with a great number of sleepless nights.

Becoming a Fedora Spin gave us access to Fedora's engineering, marketing, and QA resources, which dramatically improved the sustainability and scaleability of our release engineering processes. For instance, .iso files stopped being produced by the "Sebastian manually builds them every time" process, and started being automatically generated for testing by Fedora build servers. We gained some instant automation of the infrastructure we need anyway, without any more work or maintenance on our part, so we could focus on things like... making Activities work, the stuff that's actually unique to Sugar.

The [http://meeting.olpcorps.net/sugar-meeting/sugar-meeting.minutes.20100108_1109.html January 8, 2010 SoaS planning meeting] led to the decision to apply for spin status.

* '''January 14, 2010''' - [http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/advisory-board/2010-January/007869.html The Fedora Project approves SoaS as a Fedora spin for F13.]

Feature Freeze (in the Fedora 13 cycle, Feb 9, 2010) was a hard deadline for Spin approval, so it was significant that we got in before that (Fedora-imposed) deadline. If we'd missed that, we would not have been able to take advantage of Fedora's engineering, etc. resources at all for Mango Lassi.

Looking at the [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/soas/2010-January/thread.html January mailing list archives], we didn't explain the significance of the spin decision very well then, which may have led to communication disconnects down the line that made Activity development and Marketing more difficult. In particular, we did not make it clear enough that we were now tied to the Fedora release cycle, and what that meant.

=== Feature process ===

The main point made here is that unlike two of our major upstreams (Sugar and Fedora) we ''didn't'' have a feature freeze for SoaS, but should have around this time.

* '''February 9, 2010''' - [https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/Policy Fedora Feature Freeze]

The way features happen in Fedora is that early in the release process, developers propose features, and they are approved by a feature freeze date (which is before the alpha release). They have to meet certain criteria by certain deadlines - if they don't, they're dropped and not eligible for mention as features. Major features must be in and testable by Alpha; minor changes need to be in and testable by Beta, after Beta it's only bugfixes allowed.

This feature process is not unique to Fedora. Feature processes are things that happen in basically every major FOSS project, and really in every major engineering project (even non-software) - it's how we systematically make sure we build something that's good and working.

The feature process also aids with marketing. The Marketing team in Fedora makes their plans according to the feature list that's set by Alpha - this lets us plan how to target what features early in the process.

Since SoaS relies on both Sugar and Fedora as upstreams, we rely on their feature processes - most SoaS features come from either Fedora features or Sugar features. (For reference, our main upstreams are Fedora, Sugar Labs (sugar-core), ASLO (Activities), GNOME, and Python.) For v4, we will be building and using a lightweight feature process for SoaS that inherits from those two upstreams.

=== Activity development confusion ===

Activity developers weren't informed of changes in the libraries their Activities depended on, when those libraries changed in Fedora (and thus got included in SoaS). This led to confusion and instability late in the cycle when Activity folks belatedly realized this had happened.

Two of our upstreams (Fedora and ASLO) basically collided when they combined, and didn't realize that collision was coming, because we didn't track dependencies between them... part of the problem was that we didn't know who was responsible for keeping track of that aspect of communication, so everyone assumed it was someone else and nobody did it.

The Activities confusion manifests itself in the small number of "supported" activities in the v3 release. Marketing was then confronted with the sudden removal/noninclusion of activities from the release - again, this is something that could have been prevented with a working feature process.

=== QA ===

Thomas did field-testing (building real SoaS sticks from .iso files and testing on those) - it's the closest thing to systematic testing we've had yet, though we still have a ways to go. Thank you also to James Cameron in Australia for his testing help!

Mango Lassi didn't have a test plan and it made things confusing for both testers and release engineering; it wasn't always clear what needed to be tested, or what had been tested and how, or where results were or what they meant, and how test results should impact development and vice versa.

=== Documentation ===

We now have a [http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/customization-guide/ Customization Guide] and [http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/creation-kit/ Creation Kit] as official documentation on how to custom-build an image and burn a SoaS stick, respectively. A new release of the documentation will come out with each new release of SoaS. This is an improvement over our ad-hoc wiki documentation methods, allowing us to better support a small number of known-working "how to set up SoaS" instructions.

=== Release and Marketing ===

Mango Lassi was released on November 2, 2010. It's shiny! It's orange! It had over 50 downloads within the 12 hours of release.

We have a [http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas shiny user-facing page] as well as a [[Sugar on a Stick|Contributors Portal]], to serve (and hopefully link) the two different audiences. We hope most people will want to wear both hats, in part.

=== Major accomplishments this release cycle ===

* We have a team!
* We have a release schedule!
* We started using the Fedora Spins process and engineering resources, which made release engineering much smoother.
* We started driving communications to public channels - notably the SoaS mailing list - so things are more transparent.
* Multiple people have commit access to each repository that needs to be handled, so there are no single-person bottlenecks remaining.
* We shifted to a time-based release cycle, meaning we had a target release date set early in the process rather than our prior "it seems ready... now-ish?" method.

== Press coverage ==

Feel free to add links to press coverage you find about Mango Lassi to this section.

Sugar on a Stick

2010-11-03T08:00:31Z

Pbrobinson: /* What is Sugar on a Stick? */

<noinclude>
[[Category:Project]]
[[Category:Live USB]]
[[Category:Sugar on a Stick]]
</noinclude>

== What is Sugar on a Stick? ==

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 350px;" | [[File:SugaronastickMirabelle.png |300px|left|link=http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas]]
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" | '''[[Sugar on a Stick]]''' is a [http://fedoraproject.org Fedora-based] [[wikipedia:Live USB|Live USB]] operating system featuring the award-winning [[What is Sugar?|Sugar Learning Platform]] and designed to fit on an ordinary USB thumbdrive ("stick"). Learn more about [http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas/#home the project] and the [http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas/#about principles] behind it at our [http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas Spin webpage]. The most recent version is version 4, code-named '''[[Sugar on a Stick/MangoLassi|Mango Lassi]]''' and was released on '''November 2, 2010.'''

'''Turn your computer into a Sugar on a Stick Creation Station:''' A related project is the [[Sugar Creation Kit]], a downloadable DVD which includes the materials you need to create Mango Lassi sticks and install additional Activities on it, along with documentation and previous versions of Sugar on a Stick.
|}

__NOTOC__

=== Want to use Sugar on a Stick? ===

{|
|-
| rowspan="3" style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 350px;" | [[File:Cici-maze.jpg |300px|left|link=http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas]]
|-
|
|style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" align="center" | [[File:Download Mirabell.png|center|link=http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas/#downloads]]
|-
|
|If you'd like to try out Sugar on a Stick, check out the [http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas Sugar on a Stick Spin Page] - it's where our software downloads, usage instructions, and support information lives. You will also need the [[Sugar on a Stick/Installation|installation instructions]].

After you've tried out Sugar on a Stick, we hope you'll come back here and join our community of contributors to help us make the next release even better.
|}

=== Want to contribute to Sugar on a Stick? ===

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 350px;" | [[File:SoaS-contributors.jpg |300px|left|link=Sugar_on_a_Stick]]
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
You're in the right place! This page is a contributors portal to the project, and contains everything you need to get started in becoming part of the Sugar on a Stick community.
|}

== New contributors start here! ==

Welcome! We're excited that you want to help us bring the Sugar Learning Platform to children around the world. No prior experience with computers or educational technology is required - in fact, we actively encourage a diversity of backgrounds, ages, and perspectives. See the [[Joining Sugar on a Stick]] page for instructions on how to get started. You may also want to check out the [http://openhatch.org/+projects/Sugar%20on%20a%20Stick Sugar on a Stick project page] on [http://openhatch.org OpenHatch], or attend one of our [[Sugar on a Stick meetings]].

== What can you do? ==

There are three main ways you can contribute to the Sugar on a Stick community. We work closely with our upstreams, [http://sugarlabs.org Sugar Labs] and [http://fedoraproject.org the Fedora Project].

=== Get Activities on the Stick ===

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |

We're always looking for help with all aspects of the [[Sugar on a Stick release process]]. Here are a few things you can do:

* [[Sugar on a Stick QA|Test Sugar on a Stick]] and help us find bugs and think of ways the project could be better. When you find a bug or think of an enhancement, [[How to file a ticket|file a ticket!]] ''No technical experience required.''
* Help make it easier for others to test Sugar on a Stick by writing [[Sugar on a Stick QA#Test cases|test cases]]. ''If you've run a test case, you can write a test case.''
* [http://bugs.sugarlabs.org Fix a bug or add a feature] to an existing Activity, to [[Development Team|sugar-core itself]], or to [http://bugs.sugarlabs.org/query?status=accepted&status=assigned&status=new&status=reopened&component=SoaS&order=priority&col=id&col=summary&col=status&col=type&col=priority&col=milestone&col=component Sugar on a Stick]. See [[How to fix an Activity bug]] and [[How to fix a sugar-core bug]] to get started. ''Basic Python programming skills - or the desire to learn - are all that's needed.''
* [https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Sugar_Activities Package Sugar Activities for Fedora]. ''If you're a [https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/PackageMaintainers/Join Fedora Packager] or want to become one, help in this area is something we desperately need - it's a trickier thing to learn, but rewarding once you get the hang of it.''
* [[Sugar on a Stick release process#Review|Review Activities for inclusion in the build]] - check submitted Activities against our [[SoaS Activity Criteria]] and help us choose what gets included in the next release! ''No prior experience needed - we do reviews during our [[Sugar on a Stick meetings|weekly meetings]] and will teach you how.''
* Have an idea for a technical feature that isn't an Activity? Check out our [[Sugar on a Stick release process#Feature process|feature process]].

| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 150px;" |[[Image:SoaS-netbook-1.jpg|150px|right|link=http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick_release_process]][[Image:SoaS-netbook-2.jpg|150px|right|link=http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick_release_process]][[Image:SoaS-netbook-3.jpg|150px|right|link=http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick_release_process]]
|}

=== Get Sticks into Schools ===

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 250px;" | [[File:Cici-stick.jpg |200px|left|link=Sugar_on_a_Stick_deployment_process]]
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
Deployments all over the world need many different types of help as they work through the [[Sugar on a Stick deployment process]] - we need help building resources for all deployments to use, supporting those deployments, and helping new deployments start, as well as gathering stories and feedback from deployments so that we can make the next version of Sugar on a Stick even better.

Some things you can do to help:

* ''"It's a wiki: Edit away!"'' is often said in open source communities. Almost nothing is set in stone and can't be undone. So if you've got ideas how to make instructions clearer and more accessible, just go for it!
* We produce official documentation such as the [http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/creation-kit/ Creation Kit] or the [http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/customization-guide/ Customization Guide]. If you've an idea how to make them better, why don't you jump in and create a patch? Creating these nifty text files is simple - instructions live in the [[Sugar_on_a_Stick/Documentation_SOP|Documentation SOP]].
* Unofficial documentation for unsupported workarounds for [[Sugar on a Stick/Installation|installation]] and [[Sugar on a Stick/Sugar Clone|customization]] need to be edited, tested, and submitted for approval for official support. Check them out and leave comments and improvements; just jump in and edit the page.
* Interested in starting a deployment or helping a specific one (with anything from pedagogical design to technical support to funding logistics)? Introduce yourself on the deployment lists for [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/ Sugar Labs] and [http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/ One Laptop Per Child] and we'll get you connected with some teachers on the ground.
* We're looking for some people to help us assemble tools for our support team to use. Email the [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/soas Sugar on a Stick mailing list] if you're interested.
|}

=== Get Contributors ===

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |

Contributors are the lifeblood of the Sugar on a Stick community - we work hard to bring a playful mindset of teaching, learning, and meaningful work to the children we aim to reach, and we aim to keep that mindset in our own work and community as well. Welcoming and teaching new contributors or all types, building the resources they need, and teaching them how to empower others in their turn is one of the most important things you can do; it is ''everyone's'' responsibility to help build our community, one person at a time.

Some things you can do:

* Edit this page and [[Joining Sugar on a Stick]]. Is there something we could do to make the "getting started" process easier? You don't have to ask permission to edit; just do it!
* Help us fill in our remaining task-starter pages: [[Sugar on a Stick release process]], [[How to fix an Activity bug]], [[How to fix a sugar-core bug]], and [[Sugar on a Stick deployment process]]/
* [http://openhatch.org/+projects/Sugar%20on%20a%20Stick Point out starter tasks on OpenHatch] - fill in questions and ideas for beginner jobs, and point newcomers towards them.
* [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/soas Watch for introductions on the mailing list], and send welcome emails to new contributors (copy the list, so we can see what advice a newcomer has gotten so far).
* Hang out with us on IRC: [http://webchat.freenode.net?channels=sugar #sugar]. This is where the [http://activities.sugarlabs.org/en-US/sugar/addon/4029 IRC Activity] starts off. Help new joiners past initial questions and provide instant help!

| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 200px;" |[[Image:Cici-netbook.jpg|200px|right|link=http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick]]
|}

== What's happening? ==

=== Meetings ===

We have weekly meetings on IRC - see [[Sugar on a Stick meetings]] for more information, including logs from past meetings. Attending a meeting is a great way for newcomers to get started.

=== Release schedule ===

Our release schedule is based on the [[fedora:Releases/Schedule | Fedora release schedule]]. The most recent release was v.3, code-named [[Mirabelle]], shipped on '''May 25, 2010''' and based on the Fedora 13 release schedule. The next Sugar on a Stick version will be based on the [[fedora:Releases/14/Schedule | Fedora 14 release schedule]].

{|border="1" cellspacing="0" width="100%"
|-
|rowspan="2"| 2010-05-25 || Sugar on a Stick v.3.0 Mirabelle released
|-
| Planning & Development Begins
|-
| 2010-07-27 || Feature Freeze (all features have to be ''approved'' and in a satisfying state.)
|-
| 2010-08-03 || Alpha Change deadline (all changes will have to be ''pushed'' by this time. pending submissions are insufficient.)
|-
| 2010-08-17 || Alpha Release
|-
| 2010-09-07 || Beta Change deadline (all changes will have to be ''pushed'' by this time. pending submissions are insufficient.)
|-
| 2010-09-21 || Beta Release
|-
| 2010-10-12 || Final Freeze (all changes have to be ''pushed''. no further changes permitted.)
|-
| 2010-10-14 || Compose Release Candidate
|-
| 2010-10-26 || Sugar on a Stick v.4.0 Final Release
|-
|}

=== Contributor stories ===

To find out what other contributors are doing, check out [http://planet.sugarlabs.org Planet Sugar Labs], where contributors to Sugar Labs and the Sugar on a Stick project aggregate their blogs. You can also [[Sysadmin/Planet syndication request|add your own blog to the Planet]].

== Related work ==

While the projects listed below are not part of Sugar on a Stick, we watch them closely and try to work with them when possible (or at least we're trying to learn!)

* [[Talk:Sugar_Creation_Kit#Introduction_to_Soas-v3_Mirabelle|Introduction to Mirabelle]]
* [[Sugar_on_a_Stick/Installation/Variations#SugarCreationKit_DVD|SugarCreationKit DVD]] - Complete DVD containing all the resources required to create all 3 versions of Sugar-on-a-Stick without requiring Internet access
* Other [[:Category:Live USB|portable Sugar distributions]] - Live USB work based on other Linux distributions.
* [[The undiscoverable]] is an unofficial FAQ for tips, tricks, and solutions to common problems that may otherwise be tricky to find. These are being considered for inclusion in the official SoaS documentation.

== Previous versions and subpage index ==
{{Show|Earlier versions of Sugar on a Stick can be reviewed at these pages: |{{Special:PrefixIndex/Sugar on a Stick}}}}

0.90/0.89.6 Notes

2010-09-22T12:29:09Z

Pbrobinson: /* Updated */

<noinclude>[[Category:Release Notes]]</noinclude>

= Sucrose 0.89.6 Release Notes =

== Announcement ==
This is our development release number 6 in the [http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/0.90/Roadmap 0.90 development cycle]! This is our Release candidate!

We now entered [[Development_Team/Release#Hard_Code_Freeze | Hard Code Freeze]]. When the hard code freeze is in effect, each and every code change should be approved by the release team. Only critical fixes will be considered. To request approval send mail to sugar-devel@lists.sugarlabs.org, including the patch and a detailed description of the changes, the benefits and the risks. Approval will have to be granted by two members of the team.

Thanks everyone for your great contributions!

== Compatibility ==
There are no known compatibility issues, as of today.

== Update to this version ==
Please use the instructions for your distribution (SoaS, Fedora, Ubuntu, Debian etc) of choice to upgrade to this release. Note that it may take a while until the release is packaged for each distribution. Please stay tuned for distribution specific announcements and watch out for updates at [[Downloads|Get Sugar]].

== <abbr title="Glucose, the base Sugar environment">Glucose</abbr> (base) modules==

===Updated===
* [http://download.sugarlabs.org/sources/sucrose/glucose/sugar-datastore/sugar-datastore-0.89.4.tar.bz2 sugar-datastore 0.89.4]
* [http://download.sugarlabs.org/sources/sucrose/glucose/etoys/etoys-4.1.2387.tar.gz eToys 4.1.2387]
* [http://download.sugarlabs.org/sources/sucrose/glucose/sugar/sugar-0.89.10.tar.bz2 sugar 0.89.10]

===Not Updated===
* [http://download.sugarlabs.org/sources/sucrose/glucose/sugar-toolkit/sugar-toolkit-0.89.5.tar.bz2 sugar-toolkit 0.89.5]
* [http://download.sugarlabs.org/sources/sucrose/glucose/sugar-base/sugar-base-0.90.0.tar.bz2 sugar-base 0.90.0]
* [http://download.sugarlabs.org/sources/sucrose/glucose/hulahop/hulahop-0.7.1.tar.bz2 hulahop 0.7.1]
* [http://download.sugarlabs.org/sources/sucrose/glucose/sugar-presence-service/sugar-presence-service-0.90.1.tar.bz2 sugar-presence-service 0.90.1]
* [http://download.sugarlabs.org/sources/sucrose/glucose/sugar-artwork/sugar-artwork-0.89.4.tar.bz2 sugar-artwork 0.89.4]

== Glucose news ==
=== sugar ===
* Pass the contact-id to the buddy-removed signal instead of the handle {{Bug|2349}} (Tomeu Vizoso)
* Make sure we don't change the owner's colors because of a network event {{Bug|2348}} (Tomeu Vizoso)
* Commit from Sugar Labs: Translation System by user mschlager.: 361 of 363 messages translated (0 fuzzy). (Markus Schlager)
* Properly store and load friends {{Bug|2331}} (Tomeu Vizoso)
* Announce file transfer capabilities {{Bug|1603}} (Tomeu Vizoso)
* Reset resolver cache when connection has been established {{Bug|1940}} (Simon Schampijer)
* Display changed to 'Sugar in a window' instead of 'Xephyr on' Ticket {{Bug|2285}} (Ishan Bansal)
* Protected Activities Support {{Bug|2087}} (Martin Abente)
* Increase timeout for buddy properties queries {{Bug|2298}} (Tomeu Vizoso)
* Set param-register to False after a RegistrationExists error {{Bug|2296}} (Tomeu Vizoso)
* Change owner's jid to be hashed_pubkey@server {{Bug|2279}} (Tomeu Vizoso)

=== sugar-datastore ===
* metadata-only update sets filesize property to 0 {{Bug|2229}}
* commit 3644fac reintroduced race condition, broke test suite {{Bug|2104}}
* autogen.sh: pass --enable-maintainer-mode to configure

=== Etoys ===
* fix Journal saving fails in Sugar 0.82
* updated translations: de, ja, ta
* fix error when adding variable named 'val'
* fix tile help balloons not being translated
* add button to reset saved preferences
* make soundReverb a preference
* do not hard-code squeak vm path
* replace == with = in shell tests
* fix paintbox in event theatre
* fix SuppliesPlayersTool guide
* remove MenuMakeNewFlap guide from index
* pop-up arrows now enabled by default
* new DrGeo examples project (see gallery)
* new home project (green border more visible)
* Demon Castle renamed to Etoys Castle and fixed
* revised guides for English and Spanish
* DrGeoII translations for de,es,fr,ja
* updated German and Japanese translations
* do not ship languages with too few translations (ar_SY, en_GB, km, pap, pl, zh_TW)
* hide distracting/not-functional preference panel buttons
* allow negative timer values
* shared flaps are not destroyed anymore when switching projects
* various smaller fixes

==<abbr title="Fructose, the base set of demonstration activities">Fructose</abbr> (base activity) modules==
* [http://download.sugarlabs.org/sources/sucrose/fructose/Pippy/Pippy-37.tar.bz2 Pippy 37]
* [http://download.sugarlabs.org/sources/sucrose/fructose/Browse/Browse-117.tar.bz2 Browse 117]
* [http://download.sugarlabs.org/sources/sucrose/fructose/Calculate/Calculate-32.tar.bz2 Calculate 32]
* [http://download.sugarlabs.org/sources/sucrose/fructose/Etoys/Etoys-116.tar.gz Etoys 116]
* [http://download.sugarlabs.org/sources/sucrose/fructose/Chat/Chat-67.tar.bz2 Chat 67]
* [http://download.sugarlabs.org/sources/sucrose/fructose/TurtleArt/TurtleArt-98.tar.bz2 TurtleArt 98]

==Fructose news==
=== Chat ===
* Remove access to a private member of the presence service (Tomeu Vizoso)

=== TurtleBlocks ===
====98====
* fixed palette selection bug introduced by alpha-value checking

====97====
* recenter default turtle when dragged onto palette
* removed comment label from collapsible stacks
* made font smaller on the bottom-of-collapsible-stack block (#2305)
* rgs fixed resume problem in GNOME version (#2293)
* checking alpha value to block 'hit' detection (#1852)
* trap and display math errors in python block (#2313)

====96====
* fixed deleted-turtle ghost bug

====95====
* some performance enhancements (block creation and stack dragging)
* removed depreciated field from desktop file (Luke Farone)
* fixed problem with setup.py in non-Sugar environments (Luke Farone)
* new example program for turtle sees block
* fixed broken clock example
* catch import error for upload (#2194)
* rescaling of read pixel values (#2188)
* turtle sees block takes into account gray and shade (#2188)
* hide extra turtles on clean (#2191)
* hide coordinate overlays on clean (#2191)
* reset scale, gray on clean (#2191)
* work-around to c-c/c-v toolbar bug (Raul Gutierrez #2050)
* writing config file in config directory (Luke Farone #2193)
* using turtle name to generate color for multiple turtles
* delete turtle when dragged onto the palette (#2191)

====94====
* added "turtle sees" block
* added read_pixel block
* updated sample images (smaller file sizes)
* updated license for sample images
* updated nl translation
* fixed path problem with Exec in desktop file (Matthew Gallagher)
* fixed path problem with icon in turtleart.py (Matthew Gallagher)
* moved modules to TurtleArt subdirectory
* limit size of upload file (Jamie Boisture)

====93====
* recenter overlays when window resizes (Jamie Boisture)
* added icon for Desktop mode (Jamie Boisture)
* support for project upload to server for Desktop mode (Jamie Boisture)

====92====
* fixed sharing bug introduced in v91
* cleaned up cmdline processing

====91====
* added black and white blocks
* fixed cgi escape bug (#1854)
* fixed bug with overzealous block resizing (#2092)
* speed up of refresh code (expose_cb handling)

====90====
* fixed problem with keyboard accelerators: Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V, and Alt-Return

====89====
* added non-interactive mode (with help from Jamie Boisture)
* fix problem with icon in F13
* block scale saved between sessions

====88====
* alsroot fixed ObjectChooser bug (#2002)

====87====
* added fill block
* added gray block
* fixed typo in sample code
* added mouse support to sample code (See
http://tonyforster.blogspot.com/2010/03/mouse-support-in-turtleart.html)

====86====
* More .es updates

====85====
* Fixed bug loading floating point numbers from saved projects
* 'store in box' accepts strings and numbers as labels
* New .es translations

== What is new for packagers ==
New API has been added to telepathy-gabble and telepathy-salut to support the work on the collaboration framework, which results in needing 0.9.16 for tp-gabble and 0.3.13 for tp-salut.

One of the goals of the collaboration refactoring was dropping functionality in sugar that has been implemented in [http://telepathy.freedesktop.org/wiki/Mission%20Control telepathy-mission-control], so Sugar now depends on tp-mission-control 5.4.3.

Sugar on a Stick release process

2010-06-21T20:27:43Z

Pbrobinson: /* Approved features for the current release */

== Feature process ==

The feature process for Sugar on a Stick aims at providing a structured way of implementing and keeping track of upcoming features for the next release of Sugar on a Stick. This document outlines the guidelines for submitting feature proposals. An important thing to realize is the release schedule for each release.

* ''What is a feature?'' A feature is defined as a significant change or enhancement to the version of Sugar on a Stick currently under development that may or may not include new packages and also relate to features of both Fedora and Sugar
* ''What are the deadlines?'' The deadlines for the release currently under development are outlined in the [[Sugar_on_a_Stick#Release_schedule|release schedule]].
* ''What do I get with a feature?'' Having your feature approved not only helps everybody involved in the development and engineering process to keep track of its state, but also allows other teams - like the [[Marketing_Team|marketing team]] - to leverage your work and promote it.
* ''What are my responsibilities?'' By signing up for a feature, you sign up for taking care of it. That means you'll be the one responsible for providing updates and interacting with the different teams concerned by your feature, like the release engineering for Sugar on a Stick. It does, however, not mean that you've to realize your feature all alone - go out and tell the [http://lists.sugarlabs.org lists] and the [http://planet.sugarlabs.org planet] about your work. Get people excited to help you!
* ''How does evaluation happen?'' Your proposal needs a majority of ''YAY'' votes from the release team (determined for a given release by the release manager - the v4 release manager is Sebastian Dziallas, and the current relase team is formed by Peter Robinson, Mel Chua and Sebastian Dziallas) to get approval. Discussion will happen at a weekly meeting, while the decisions will be announced to the SoaS mailing list.'''
* ''What if my feature got rejected?'' No worries! Features that are originally rejected can be revised and resubmitted.

=== How to submit a feature for consideration ===
# Fill out the [[Features/Feature_Template|template]] and stick it on a page in the wiki. ('''TODO:''' create ''Category:SoaS_v4_Feature'' so people can make their pages belong to the appropriate category so that we know which version you're targeting ).
# Place a link to your proposal in the [[#Current feature ideas]] section of this page while you're working on the document.
# Send an email to the SoaS [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/soas list] and incorporate any feedback you might receive.
# When you think your feature proposal is ready, move it to the [[#Features submitted for review]] section of this page. It will be brought up at the next [[Sugar on a Stick meeting]], where it'll be evaluated and voted on. We might ask you to make further adjustments and revisit it at a later point or approve the feature directly. We're looking forward to hearing about your ideas!

=== Approved features for the current release ===

''Features must be added to this list by a member of the release team. Place complete feature proposals in the [[#Features submitted for review]] section for consideration at the next meeting.''

* [[Features/Sugar_0.90|Sugar 0.90]]

=== Features submitted for review ===

When your feature proposal is complete and ready to review, add it to the list below. These will be considered at the next [[Sugar on a Stick meeting]].

* Add feature here

=== Current feature ideas ===

These feature ideas are in various stages of development.

* School server
* [[Kickstart generator]]
* Sugar Creation Kit DVD [http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Features/Sugar_Creation_Kit_DVD#Summary]
* ASLOxo (Also included on SCK DVD: over 140 ASLO.xo files to put on a second USB stick for installing activities by drag-drop into the sugar Journal of a running Soas Stick.) [http://people.sugarlabs.org/Tgillard/ASLOxo-2+ss.tar.bz2]
* Revised Browse default bookmarks_html [http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Features/Revised_Browse_default-bookmarks.html]
* btrfs and snapshots
* systemd
* [[More robust iso]]
* [[Features/Revised_Browse_default-bookmarks.html]]
* ASLOxo (Also included on SCK DVD: over 140 ASLO.xo files to put on a second USB stick for installing activities by drag-drop into the sugar Journal of a running Soas Stick.) [http://people.sugarlabs.org/Tgillard/ASLOxo-2+ss.tar.bz2]

== Testing process ==

Our test process, which is under construction, will consist of the following:

# An agreed-upon image each week for testers to attack (the daily build on $datetime of each week, for instance)
# An agreed-upon set of test cases for them to execute (iow, the "test plan" thing we haven't had before)
# An agreed-upon place and format for the results from running those test cases to be reported to
# An agreed-upon $datetime each week by which all test results for that week will be submitted - so that the development team has a chance to look at those results and revise the build before the next test image goes out.

=== Test image ===

The test image is the most recent [http://alt.fedoraproject.org/pub/alt/nightly-composes/soas/ nightly build] as of 23:59:59 on the most recent Thursday.

There is currently no image under test. It will appear here when it is available.

=== Test cases ===

We do not yet have test cases. They will appear here when they are available.

=== Test results ===

We do not yet have a place to report test results. Instructions will be listed here when they are available.

[[Category:Sugar on a Stick]]

Category:FeatureAcceptedSoaS4

2010-06-21T20:27:00Z

Pbrobinson: Created page with 'This is a list of features accepted for Sugar on a Stick 4. Category:Features'

This is a list of features [[Sugar_on_a_Stick_release_process|accepted]] for [[Sugar_on_a_Stick/4/FeatureList|Sugar on a Stick 4]].

[[Category:Features]]

Features/Sugar 0.90

2010-06-21T20:19:57Z

Pbrobinson: /* Comments and Discussion */

Sugar on a Stick release process

2010-06-21T20:18:06Z

Pbrobinson: /* Approved features for the current release */

== Feature process ==

The feature process for Sugar on a Stick aims at providing a structured way of implementing and keeping track of upcoming features for the next release of Sugar on a Stick. This document outlines the guidelines for submitting feature proposals. An important thing to realize is the release schedule for each release.

* ''What is a feature?'' A feature is defined as a significant change or enhancement to the version of Sugar on a Stick currently under development that may or may not include new packages and also relate to features of both Fedora and Sugar
* ''What are the deadlines?'' The deadlines for the release currently under development are outlined in the [[Sugar_on_a_Stick#Release_schedule|release schedule]].
* ''What do I get with a feature?'' Having your feature approved not only helps everybody involved in the development and engineering process to keep track of its state, but also allows other teams - like the [[Marketing_Team|marketing team]] - to leverage your work and promote it.
* ''What are my responsibilities?'' By signing up for a feature, you sign up for taking care of it. That means you'll be the one responsible for providing updates and interacting with the different teams concerned by your feature, like the release engineering for Sugar on a Stick. It does, however, not mean that you've to realize your feature all alone - go out and tell the [http://lists.sugarlabs.org lists] and the [http://planet.sugarlabs.org planet] about your work. Get people excited to help you!
* ''How does evaluation happen?'' Your proposal needs a majority of ''YAY'' votes from the release team (determined for a given release by the release manager - the v4 release manager is Sebastian Dziallas, and the current relase team is formed by Peter Robinson, Mel Chua and Sebastian Dziallas) to get approval. Discussion will happen at a weekly meeting, while the decisions will be announced to the SoaS mailing list.'''
* ''What if my feature got rejected?'' No worries! Features that are originally rejected can be revised and resubmitted.

=== How to submit a feature for consideration ===
# Fill out the [[Features/Feature_Template|template]] and stick it on a page in the wiki. ('''TODO:''' create ''Category:SoaS_v4_Feature'' so people can make their pages belong to the appropriate category so that we know which version you're targeting ).
# Place a link to your proposal in the [[#Current feature ideas]] section of this page while you're working on the document.
# Send an email to the SoaS [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/soas list] and incorporate any feedback you might receive.
# When you think your feature proposal is ready, move it to the [[#Features submitted for review]] section of this page. It will be brought up at the next [[Sugar on a Stick meeting]], where it'll be evaluated and voted on. We might ask you to make further adjustments and revisit it at a later point or approve the feature directly. We're looking forward to hearing about your ideas!

=== Approved features for the current release ===

''Features must be added to this list by a member of the release team. Place complete feature proposals in the [[#Features submitted for review]] section for consideration at the next meeting.''

* [[Features/Sugar_0.90 Sugar 0.90]]

=== Features submitted for review ===

When your feature proposal is complete and ready to review, add it to the list below. These will be considered at the next [[Sugar on a Stick meeting]].

* Add feature here

=== Current feature ideas ===

These feature ideas are in various stages of development.

* School server
* [[Kickstart generator]]
* Sugar Creation Kit DVD [http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Features/Sugar_Creation_Kit_DVD#Summary]
* ASLOxo (Also included on SCK DVD: over 140 ASLO.xo files to put on a second USB stick for installing activities by drag-drop into the sugar Journal of a running Soas Stick.) [http://people.sugarlabs.org/Tgillard/ASLOxo-2+ss.tar.bz2]
* Revised Browse default bookmarks_html [http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Features/Revised_Browse_default-bookmarks.html]
* btrfs and snapshots
* systemd
* [[More robust iso]]
* [[Features/Revised_Browse_default-bookmarks.html]]
* ASLOxo (Also included on SCK DVD: over 140 ASLO.xo files to put on a second USB stick for installing activities by drag-drop into the sugar Journal of a running Soas Stick.) [http://people.sugarlabs.org/Tgillard/ASLOxo-2+ss.tar.bz2]

== Testing process ==

Our test process, which is under construction, will consist of the following:

# An agreed-upon image each week for testers to attack (the daily build on $datetime of each week, for instance)
# An agreed-upon set of test cases for them to execute (iow, the "test plan" thing we haven't had before)
# An agreed-upon place and format for the results from running those test cases to be reported to
# An agreed-upon $datetime each week by which all test results for that week will be submitted - so that the development team has a chance to look at those results and revise the build before the next test image goes out.

=== Test image ===

The test image is the most recent [http://alt.fedoraproject.org/pub/alt/nightly-composes/soas/ nightly build] as of 23:59:59 on the most recent Thursday.

There is currently no image under test. It will appear here when it is available.

=== Test cases ===

We do not yet have test cases. They will appear here when they are available.

=== Test results ===

We do not yet have a place to report test results. Instructions will be listed here when they are available.

[[Category:Sugar on a Stick]]

Sugar on a Stick meetings

2010-06-14T19:29:56Z

Pbrobinson: /* Agenda */

<noinclude>{{TOCright}}
[[Category:Sugar on a Stick]]
[[Category:Meetings]]
</noinclude>
== Meeting details ==

Regular meetings for [[Sugar on a Stick]] take place on '''[irc://irc.freenode.net irc.freenode.net]''' in '''#sugar-meeting''', every '''Monday''' at '''1900 UTC'''.

We use [[IRC]] for our meetings. If you don't have an IRC client (yet), you can use webchat - go to http://webchat.freenode.net and connect to #sugar-meeting, or click the screenshot below. (Replace "your_name" or the random ID provided with your name or some other nick you'd like to be known by.)

[[File:Freenode-webchat-screenshot.png|left|link=http://webchat.freenode.net/?randomnick=1&channels=sugar-meeting&prompt=1]]

== How we run meetings ==

With as much involvement as possible at all times.

The motivation is to have as many simultaneous actively participating people in the meeting as possible - ideally, at ''all times'' in the meeting, ''everyone'' in the meeting should be ''doing something really cool'' (and hopefully related to Sugar on a Stick) - not just waiting for their turn to speak. Think of it as a virtual version of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_Two_Feet#Philosophy law of two feet].

Are YOU running a SoaS meeting? Take a look at [[How to run a meeting]] for an example of how a meeting is run, with commands listed out.

== Agenda ==

{{Anchor|Next_Meeting}}

Our next meeting is the SoaS v.4.0 planning meeting. Things to be decided:

* name & colors (current proposals are as follows)

{|border="1" cellspacing="0"
|-
| '''Name''' || '''Submitter'''
|-
| Cloudberry || Walter
|-
| 'Ōhelo Berries || Thomas
|-
| Sequoyah || Caryl
|-
| Gooseberry || Bert
|-
| Vanilla || Peter
|-
| Cookies & Cream || Peter
|-
| Alphonso || Anish
|-
| Jambul || Harriet
|-
| Sweet Cream || Mel
|-
| Lilikoi || Tom
|}

* [[Features/Revised_Browse_default-bookmarks.html]] - feature for consideration
* [[Features/Sugar_0.90]] - Sugar 0.90 feature.
* dev-test-release cycle.
* mtd: "someone should just ask sdziallas and pbrobinson nicely if they'd mind terribly if someone suggested some patches / post-processing scripts for the soas spin .iso and promised to help maintain those patches / scripts for at least a few releases."

== Procedure for Minutes and Logging ==

See the instructions on [[how to run a meeting]].

== Minutes ==

* [http://me.etin.gs/sugar-meeting/sugar-meeting.minutes.20100607_1510.html 2010-06-07 Sugar on a Stick v4 Planning Meeting (regular weekly time)]
* [http://me.etin.gs/sugar-meeting/sugar-meeting.minutes.20100531_1507.html 2010-05-31 v3 Mirabelle Release Review Meeting (regular weekly time)]

Features/Sugar 0.90

2010-06-14T19:19:07Z

Pbrobinson:

Features/Sugar 0.90

2010-06-14T19:10:37Z

Pbrobinson: Created page with '== Summary == Update to the latest Sugar 0.90 stable release. == Owner == ''This should link to your home wiki page so we know who you are'' * Name: [[User:Pbrobinson| Peter R...'

== Summary ==

Update to the latest Sugar 0.90 stable release.

== Owner ==

''This should link to your home wiki page so we know who you are''
* Name: [[User:Pbrobinson| Peter Robinson]]
* Email: pbrobinson at gmail dot com

== Current status ==
* Targeted release: SoaS v4
* Last updated: [[User:Pbrobinson| Peter Robinson]]
* Percentage of completion: 0%

== Detailed Description ==

We want to provide the latest version of the Sugar desktop environment as well as more activities to allow further building upon the collaborative environment.

Developers interested in working on the Sugar interface or writing activities can have a development platform without needing an XO laptop.

The includes all the core activities included in the Sucrose release.

== Benefit to SoaS ==

Latest upstream Sugar release

== Scope ==

Update packages to the latest release, add any new packages as necessary.

==UI Design==

Defined by upstream.

== How To Test ==

A stna

== User Experience ==
''If this feature is noticeable by its target audience, how will their experiences change as a result? Describe what they will see or notice.''

== Dependencies ==
''What other packages (RPMs) depend on this package? Are there changes outside the developers' control on which completion of this feature depends? In other words, does your feature depend on completion of another feature owned by someone else or that you would need to coordinate, which might cause you to be unable to finish on time? Other upstream projects like Python?''

== Contingency Plan ==
''If you cannot complete your feature by the final development freeze, what is the backup plan? This might be as simple as "None necessary, revert to previous release behaviour." Or it might not. If your feature is not completed in time, we want to assure others that other parts of Sugar will not be in jeopardy.''

== Documentation ==
''Is there upstream documentation on this feature, or notes you have written yourself? Has this topic been discussed in the mailing list or during a meeting? Link to that material here so other interested developers can get involved.''

The below links are not sorted, but are here for reference when this feature proposal is being written up in more detail. Not all of them may be useful, as a warning for the next person to tackle this page. [[User:Mchua|Mchua]] 19:04, 11 June 2010 (EDT)

* http://cgit.sugarlabs.org/soas/mainline/tree/make_fake_device.sh?h=blueberry#n44
* http://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/soas/2010-January/000715.html
* http://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/soas/2010-January/000654.html
* http://cgit.sugarlabs.org/soas/mainline/tree/livecd-iso-to-bootable-tree.sh?h=blueberry
* http://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/soas/2010-January/000656.html
* http://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/soas/2010-January/000683.html

== Release Notes ==
''The Sugar Release Notes inform end-users about what is new in the release. An Example is [[0.84/Notes]]. The release notes also help users know how to deal with platform changes such as ABIs/APIs, configuration or data file formats, or upgrade concerns. If there are any such changes involved in this feature, indicate them here. You can also link to upstream documentation if it satisfies this need. This information forms the basis of the release notes edited by the release team and shipped with the release.''

== Comments and Discussion ==
* See [[{{TALKPAGENAME}}|discussion tab for this feature]]

Sugar on a Stick/Mirabelle

2010-06-14T12:08:45Z

Pbrobinson: /* Press coverage */

<noinclude>
[[Category:Live USB]]
[[Category:Sugar on a Stick]]
</noinclude>

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
== Sugar on a Stick - Mirabelle ==
: ''a Sugar environment you can carry in your pocket''

Mirabelle is the most recent release of the '''[[Sugar on a Stick]]''' project. It was released on '''25 May 2010.''' Mirabelle is named after the [[wikipedia:Mirabelle | Mirabelle plum]].
__TOC__

| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 200px;" |[[File:SugaronastickMirabelle.png|450px|right|a Sugar environment you can carry in your pocket!]]
|}

== Release announcement ==

We are proud to announce the availability of [[Sugar on a Stick]] v.3, code-named Mirabelle. More information about Sugar on a Stick, including download and installation details, is available at http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas/.

[[File:Download Mirabell.png|center|link=http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas/#downloads]]

=== What's new in Mirabelle ===

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 200px;" | [[File:Mirabelle-home-screen.png|200px|left|link=0.88/Notes]]
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
'''Sugar version 0.88.''' The most recent release of the Sugar Learning Platform features support for 3G connections, increased accessibility, and better integration with our Activity Portal (http://activities.sugarlabs.org) allowing students and teachers to update their sticks with additional Activities. More information about the 0.88 release of Sugar is available at [[0.88/Notes]].
|}

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
'''Customize your own remix of Sugar on a Stick.''' You'll notice that v.3 Mirabelle has a smaller Activity selection than its predecessors, Blueberry and Strawberry. We realized we'll never be able to create an Activity selection suitable for all deployments - instead, we've chosen to include and support a core set of basic, teacher-tested Activities in the default image, and invite deployments to use this as a base on which to build a customized Activity selection for their classrooms. Instructions on how to do this are available at http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/customization-guide/. A quick, but less pristine, method of build customization is available at [[Sugar on a Stick/Sugar Clone]].
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 120px;" |[[File:Cici-stick.jpg|120px|right|http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/customization-guide/]]
|}

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 150px;" | [[File:Fedora remix logo.png|left|link=http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas]]
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
'''Sugar on a Stick is now a Fedora Spin.''' After two prior releases of being based on the [http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Overview Fedora distribution], Sugar on a Stick has been recognized by the [http://fedoraproject.org Fedora Project] as an official [http://spins.fedoraproject.org Spin]. This ties us more closely to Fedora's release cycle and gives us resources from their engineering and marketing teams, which extends the reach of Sugar on a Stick and makes the project itself more sustainable. In exchange, users of Fedora have access to an easily deployable implementation of the Sugar Platform; it's a great example of a mutually beneficial upstream–downstream relationship.
|}

=== Contributing to Sugar on a Stick ===

The biggest difference in v.3 of Sugar on a Stick has been in its release processes and engineering sustainability; it's now much easier for new contributors to get involved. We continue to move towards our long-term vision of bringing stability and deployability to Sugar's personalized learning environment, and invite all interested parties to join us.

If you'd like to contribute to the next version, due for release in early November, join us at our Contributors Portal at '''[[Sugar on a Stick]]'''. All types of contributions are welcome, from the technical to the pedagogical, and we're happy to teach what we know and learn what you have to share.

Thank you to all the people involved for their awesome work!

== Release history ==

=== Introduction ===

This section is a recap of the events that happened during the v3 release cycle (Mirabelle) of Sugar on a Stick. It was largely constructed during the v3 release review meeting on 5/31/2010 [http://meeting.olpcorps.net/sugar-meeting/sugar-meeting.minutes.20100531_1507.html (minutes)] [http://meeting.olpcorps.net/sugar-meeting/sugar-meeting.log.20100531_1507.html (log)] from personal memory and [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/soas/ soas mailing list archives], since there was no attempt to document the release history during the course of the release cycle itself.

=== Pre-release ===

* '''November 11, 2009''' - [http://fedoraproject.org Fedora] (and therefore [http://spins.fedoraproject.org Fedora Spin]) release cycle for Fedora 13 begins; this is significant since Fedora is one of our major upstreams.
* '''November 2009''' - [[Oversight Board|SLOBs]] declares the term "SoaS" to refer to this project (predating the [[Trademark]] policy).
* '''December 2009''' - We're still actually on the Blueberry release and haven't started making Mirabelle yet. Blueberry is getting a lot of good PR from SeanDaly and the Marketing crew.

=== Approval as a Fedora Spin ===

"[Spins are alternate versions of Fedora, tailored for various types of users via hand-picked application sets and other customizations." --from http://spins.fedoraproject.org/about

Before SoaS was a spin, it was a Fedora Remix - which means that bit-wise, the product looked the same, but the technical work that needed to happen to generate it was all done manually and without external resources and support, so it happened spasmodically and slowly and with a great number of sleepless nights.

Becoming a Fedora Spin gave us access to Fedora's engineering, marketing, and QA resources, which dramatically improved the sustainability and scaleability of our release engineering processes. For instance, .iso files stopped being produced by the "Sebastian manually builds them every time" process, and started being automatically generated for testing by Fedora build servers. We gained some instant automation of the infrastructure we need anyway, without any more work or maintenance on our part, so we could focus on things like... making Activities work, the stuff that's actually unique to Sugar.

The [http://meeting.olpcorps.net/sugar-meeting/sugar-meeting.minutes.20100108_1109.html January 8, 2010 SoaS planning meeting] led to the decision to apply for spin status.

* '''January 14, 2010''' - [http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/advisory-board/2010-January/007869.html The Fedora Project approves SoaS as a Fedora spin for F13.]

Feature Freeze (in the Fedora 13 cycle, Feb 9, 2010) was a hard deadline for Spin approval, so it was significant that we got in before that (Fedora-imposed) deadline. If we'd missed that, we would not have been able to take advantage of Fedora's engineering, etc. resources at all for Mirabelle.

Looking at the [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/soas/2010-January/thread.html January mailing list archives], we didn't explain the significance of the spin decision very well then, which may have led to communication disconnects down the line that made Activity development and Marketing more difficult. In particular, we did not make it clear enough that we were now tied to the Fedora release cycle, and what that meant.

=== Feature process ===

The main point made here is that unlike two of our major upstreams (Sugar and Fedora) we ''didn't'' have a feature freeze for SoaS, but should have around this time.

* '''February 9, 2010''' - [https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/Policy Fedora Feature Freeze]

The way features happen in Fedora is that early in the release process, developers propose features, and they are approved by a feature freeze date (which is before the alpha release). They have to meet certain criteria by certain deadlines - if they don't, they're dropped and not eligible for mention as features. Major features must be in and testable by Alpha; minor changes need to be in and testable by Beta, after Beta it's only bugfixes allowed.

This feature process is not unique to Fedora. Feature processes are things that happen in basically every major FOSS project, and really in every major engineering project (even non-software) - it's how we systematically make sure we build something that's good and working.

The feature process also aids with marketing. The Marketing team in Fedora makes their plans according to the feature list that's set by Alpha - this lets us plan how to target what features early in the process.

Since SoaS relies on both Sugar and Fedora as upstreams, we rely on their feature processes - most SoaS features come from either Fedora features or Sugar features. (For reference, our main upstreams are Fedora, Sugar Labs (sugar-core), ASLO (Activities), GNOME, and Python.) For v4, we will be building and using a lightweight feature process for SoaS that inherits from those two upstreams.

=== Activity development confusion ===

Activity developers weren't informed of changes in the libraries their Activities depended on, when those libraries changed in Fedora (and thus got included in SoaS). This led to confusion and instability late in the cycle when Activity folks belatedly realized this had happened.

Two of our upstreams (Fedora and ASLO) basically collided when they combined, and didn't realize that collision was coming, because we didn't track dependencies between them... part of the problem was that we didn't know who was responsible for keeping track of that aspect of communication, so everyone assumed it was someone else and nobody did it.

The Activities confusion manifests itself in the small number of "supported" activities in the v3 release. Marketing was then confronted with the sudden removal/noninclusion of activities from the release - again, this is something that could have been prevented with a working feature process.

=== QA ===

Thomas did field-testing (building real SoaS sticks from .iso files and testing on those) - it's the closest thing to systematic testing we've had yet, though we still have a ways to go. Thank you also to James Cameron in Australia for his testing help!

Mirabelle didn't have a test plan and it made things confusing for both testers and release engineering; it wasn't always clear what needed to be tested, or what had been tested and how, or where results were or what they meant, and how test results should impact development and vice versa.

=== Documentation ===

We now have a [http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/customization-guide/ Customization Guide] and [http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/creation-kit/ Creation Kit] as official documentation on how to custom-build an image and burn a SoaS stick, respectively. A new release of the documentation will come out with each new release of SoaS. This is an improvement over our ad-hoc wiki documentation methods, allowing us to better support a small number of known-working "how to set up SoaS" instructions.

We standardized on official install methods (liveusb-creator, unetbootin) but this was done quickly without broad consensus so there's still friction about alternate methods that are out there.

=== Release and Marketing ===

Mirabelle was released on May 25, 2010. It's shiny! It's yellow! It had over 300 downloads within the first week - as of this writing 10 days after release, we're at 429 downloads.

We've gotten some very nice letters from [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/sugar-devel/2010-May/024203.html Daniel] and [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/iaep/2010-May/010956.html Simon] on the release process.

We have a [http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas shiny user-facing page] as well as a [[Sugar on a Stick|Contributors Portal]], to serve (and hopefully link) the two different audiences. We hope most people will want to wear both hats, in part.

=== Major accomplishments this release cycle ===

* We have a team!
* We have a release schedule!
* We started using the Fedora Spins process and engineering resources, which made release engineering much smoother.
* We started driving communications to public channels - notably the SoaS mailing list - so things are more transparent.
* Multiple people have commit access to each repository that needs to be handled, so there are no single-person bottlenecks remaining.
* We shifted to a time-based release cycle, meaning we had a target release date set early in the process rather than our prior "it seems ready... now-ish?" method.

=== Notes for the future ===

* Pick SoaS v.4 color combos soon.
* Sync with Design earlier in the release cycle for color-choosing, etc.
* There's a FUDCon in September in Zurich, we may want to look at that as a Sugar/SoaS meetup opportunity.
* Send fortnightly release schedule emails to the SoaS list about upcoming milestones
* Activity Inclusions Criteria to be finalized for v.4
* Track core libraries and dependencies more closely, especially for Activity developers - make sure our upstreams are also in sync with each other, and that it's clear whose responsibility it is to keep track of what.
* It would be good if we could enable a python option to close check the api and break the build if there's something missing / changed.
* We need a central test reporting location.
* We should find ways to tap tabs and the Welly/Auckland testers for SoaS QA.
* We should look at the Fedora AutoQA project to see what QA features we can automate.
* SeanDaly is taking the Mirabelle media launch discussion up at the next Marketing meeting.
* SeanDaly to start discussion on multiple website (spins.fp.o, wiki.sl.o, etc.) divergence on-list
* satellit to bring up DVD as feature for consideration in v4, by way of figuring out the feature inclusion process
* make a modified browse startup screen with added links to home/wiki/bugs/school/activities plus the the on-line SugarCreationKit(DVD) -to be maintained by fedora for v4 Builds of Soas

== Press coverage ==

Feel free to add links to press coverage you find about Mirabelle to this section.
* [http://www.h-online.com/open/news/item/Sugar-on-a-Stick-v3-Mirabelle-released-1021393.html 2010-06-14 Sugar on a Stick v3 Mirabelle released - The H Online]
* [http://opensource.com/education/10/6/correlation-mirabelles-and-sustainability 2010-06-11 The correlation of Mirabelles and sustainability]
* [http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/11/sugar-on-a-stick-hits-3-0-teaches-us-about-a-new-kind-of-fruit/ 2010-06-11 Sugar on a Stick hits 3.0, teaches us about a new kind of fruit]
* [http://blog.internetnews.com/skerner/2010/05/sugar-on-a-stick-mirabelle-get.html 2010-05-28 Sugar on a Stick gets sweeter with Fedora Linux (InternetNews)]
* [http://www.linux-magazin.de/content/view/full/51984 2010-05-28 Sugar on a Stick v3.0 geht ins GSM-Netz (Linux-Magazin)]
* [http://www.pro-linux.de/news/1/15722/sugar-on-a-stick-v3-freigegeben.html 2010-05-27 Sugar on a Stick v3 freigegeben (Pro-Linux.de)]
* [http://lwn.net/Articles/389346/ 2010-05-26 Announcing Sugar on a Stick v.3 (LWN.net)]

Sugar on a Stick/Mirabelle

2010-06-12T15:22:35Z

Pbrobinson: /* Press coverage */

<noinclude>
[[Category:Live USB]]
[[Category:Sugar on a Stick]]
</noinclude>

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
== Sugar on a Stick - Mirabelle ==
: ''a Sugar environment you can carry in your pocket''

Mirabelle is the most recent release of the '''[[Sugar on a Stick]]''' project. It was released on '''25 May 2010.''' Mirabelle is named after the [[wikipedia:Mirabelle | Mirabelle plum]].
__TOC__

| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 200px;" |[[File:SugaronastickMirabelle.png|450px|right|a Sugar environment you can carry in your pocket!]]
|}

== Release announcement ==

We are proud to announce the availability of [[Sugar on a Stick]] v.3, code-named Mirabelle. More information about Sugar on a Stick, including download and installation details, is available at http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas/.

[[File:Download Mirabell.png|center|link=http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas/#downloads]]

=== What's new in Mirabelle ===

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 200px;" | [[File:Mirabelle-home-screen.png|200px|left|link=0.88/Notes]]
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
'''Sugar version 0.88.''' The most recent release of the Sugar Learning Platform features support for 3G connections, increased accessibility, and better integration with our Activity Portal (http://activities.sugarlabs.org) allowing students and teachers to update their sticks with additional Activities. More information about the 0.88 release of Sugar is available at [[0.88/Notes]].
|}

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
'''Customize your own remix of Sugar on a Stick.''' You'll notice that v.3 Mirabelle has a smaller Activity selection than its predecessors, Blueberry and Strawberry. We realized we'll never be able to create an Activity selection suitable for all deployments - instead, we've chosen to include and support a core set of basic, teacher-tested Activities in the default image, and invite deployments to use this as a base on which to build a customized Activity selection for their classrooms. Instructions on how to do this are available at http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/customization-guide/. A quick, but less pristine, method of build customization is available at [[Sugar on a Stick/Sugar Clone]].
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 120px;" |[[File:Cici-stick.jpg|120px|right|http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/customization-guide/]]
|}

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 150px;" | [[File:Fedora remix logo.png|left|link=http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas]]
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
'''Sugar on a Stick is now a Fedora Spin.''' After two prior releases of being based on the [http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Overview Fedora distribution], Sugar on a Stick has been recognized by the [http://fedoraproject.org Fedora Project] as an official [http://spins.fedoraproject.org Spin]. This ties us more closely to Fedora's release cycle and gives us resources from their engineering and marketing teams, which extends the reach of Sugar on a Stick and makes the project itself more sustainable. In exchange, users of Fedora have access to an easily deployable implementation of the Sugar Platform; it's a great example of a mutually beneficial upstream–downstream relationship.
|}

=== Contributing to Sugar on a Stick ===

The biggest difference in v.3 of Sugar on a Stick has been in its release processes and engineering sustainability; it's now much easier for new contributors to get involved. We continue to move towards our long-term vision of bringing stability and deployability to Sugar's personalized learning environment, and invite all interested parties to join us.

If you'd like to contribute to the next version, due for release in early November, join us at our Contributors Portal at '''[[Sugar on a Stick]]'''. All types of contributions are welcome, from the technical to the pedagogical, and we're happy to teach what we know and learn what you have to share.

Thank you to all the people involved for their awesome work!

== Release history ==

=== Introduction ===

This section is a recap of the events that happened during the v3 release cycle (Mirabelle) of Sugar on a Stick. It was largely constructed during the v3 release review meeting on 5/31/2010 [http://meeting.olpcorps.net/sugar-meeting/sugar-meeting.minutes.20100531_1507.html (minutes)] [http://meeting.olpcorps.net/sugar-meeting/sugar-meeting.log.20100531_1507.html (log)] from personal memory and [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/soas/ soas mailing list archives], since there was no attempt to document the release history during the course of the release cycle itself.

=== Pre-release ===

* '''November 11, 2009''' - [http://fedoraproject.org Fedora] (and therefore [http://spins.fedoraproject.org Fedora Spin]) release cycle for Fedora 13 begins; this is significant since Fedora is one of our major upstreams.
* '''November 2009''' - [[Oversight Board|SLOBs]] declares the term "SoaS" to refer to this project (predating the [[Trademark]] policy).
* '''December 2009''' - We're still actually on the Blueberry release and haven't started making Mirabelle yet. Blueberry is getting a lot of good PR from SeanDaly and the Marketing crew.

=== Approval as a Fedora Spin ===

"[Spins are alternate versions of Fedora, tailored for various types of users via hand-picked application sets and other customizations." --from http://spins.fedoraproject.org/about

Before SoaS was a spin, it was a Fedora Remix - which means that bit-wise, the product looked the same, but the technical work that needed to happen to generate it was all done manually and without external resources and support, so it happened spasmodically and slowly and with a great number of sleepless nights.

Becoming a Fedora Spin gave us access to Fedora's engineering, marketing, and QA resources, which dramatically improved the sustainability and scaleability of our release engineering processes. For instance, .iso files stopped being produced by the "Sebastian manually builds them every time" process, and started being automatically generated for testing by Fedora build servers. We gained some instant automation of the infrastructure we need anyway, without any more work or maintenance on our part, so we could focus on things like... making Activities work, the stuff that's actually unique to Sugar.

The [http://meeting.olpcorps.net/sugar-meeting/sugar-meeting.minutes.20100108_1109.html January 8, 2010 SoaS planning meeting] led to the decision to apply for spin status.

* '''January 14, 2010''' - [http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/advisory-board/2010-January/007869.html The Fedora Project approves SoaS as a Fedora spin for F13.]

Feature Freeze (in the Fedora 13 cycle, Feb 9, 2010) was a hard deadline for Spin approval, so it was significant that we got in before that (Fedora-imposed) deadline. If we'd missed that, we would not have been able to take advantage of Fedora's engineering, etc. resources at all for Mirabelle.

Looking at the [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/soas/2010-January/thread.html January mailing list archives], we didn't explain the significance of the spin decision very well then, which may have led to communication disconnects down the line that made Activity development and Marketing more difficult. In particular, we did not make it clear enough that we were now tied to the Fedora release cycle, and what that meant.

=== Feature process ===

The main point made here is that unlike two of our major upstreams (Sugar and Fedora) we ''didn't'' have a feature freeze for SoaS, but should have around this time.

* '''February 9, 2010''' - [https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/Policy Fedora Feature Freeze]

The way features happen in Fedora is that early in the release process, developers propose features, and they are approved by a feature freeze date (which is before the alpha release). They have to meet certain criteria by certain deadlines - if they don't, they're dropped and not eligible for mention as features. Major features must be in and testable by Alpha; minor changes need to be in and testable by Beta, after Beta it's only bugfixes allowed.

This feature process is not unique to Fedora. Feature processes are things that happen in basically every major FOSS project, and really in every major engineering project (even non-software) - it's how we systematically make sure we build something that's good and working.

The feature process also aids with marketing. The Marketing team in Fedora makes their plans according to the feature list that's set by Alpha - this lets us plan how to target what features early in the process.

Since SoaS relies on both Sugar and Fedora as upstreams, we rely on their feature processes - most SoaS features come from either Fedora features or Sugar features. (For reference, our main upstreams are Fedora, Sugar Labs (sugar-core), ASLO (Activities), GNOME, and Python.) For v4, we will be building and using a lightweight feature process for SoaS that inherits from those two upstreams.

=== Activity development confusion ===

Activity developers weren't informed of changes in the libraries their Activities depended on, when those libraries changed in Fedora (and thus got included in SoaS). This led to confusion and instability late in the cycle when Activity folks belatedly realized this had happened.

Two of our upstreams (Fedora and ASLO) basically collided when they combined, and didn't realize that collision was coming, because we didn't track dependencies between them... part of the problem was that we didn't know who was responsible for keeping track of that aspect of communication, so everyone assumed it was someone else and nobody did it.

The Activities confusion manifests itself in the small number of "supported" activities in the v3 release. Marketing was then confronted with the sudden removal/noninclusion of activities from the release - again, this is something that could have been prevented with a working feature process.

=== QA ===

Thomas did field-testing (building real SoaS sticks from .iso files and testing on those) - it's the closest thing to systematic testing we've had yet, though we still have a ways to go. Thank you also to James Cameron in Australia for his testing help!

Mirabelle didn't have a test plan and it made things confusing for both testers and release engineering; it wasn't always clear what needed to be tested, or what had been tested and how, or where results were or what they meant, and how test results should impact development and vice versa.

=== Documentation ===

We now have a [http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/customization-guide/ Customization Guide] and [http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/creation-kit/ Creation Kit] as official documentation on how to custom-build an image and burn a SoaS stick, respectively. A new release of the documentation will come out with each new release of SoaS. This is an improvement over our ad-hoc wiki documentation methods, allowing us to better support a small number of known-working "how to set up SoaS" instructions.

We standardized on official install methods (liveusb-creator, unetbootin) but this was done quickly without broad consensus so there's still friction about alternate methods that are out there.

=== Release and Marketing ===

Mirabelle was released on May 25, 2010. It's shiny! It's yellow! It had over 300 downloads within the first week - as of this writing 10 days after release, we're at 429 downloads.

We've gotten some very nice letters from [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/sugar-devel/2010-May/024203.html Daniel] and [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/iaep/2010-May/010956.html Simon] on the release process.

We have a [http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas shiny user-facing page] as well as a [[Sugar on a Stick|Contributors Portal]], to serve (and hopefully link) the two different audiences. We hope most people will want to wear both hats, in part.

=== Major accomplishments this release cycle ===

* We have a team!
* We have a release schedule!
* We started using the Fedora Spins process and engineering resources, which made release engineering much smoother.
* We started driving communications to public channels - notably the SoaS mailing list - so things are more transparent.
* Multiple people have commit access to each repository that needs to be handled, so there are no single-person bottlenecks remaining.
* We shifted to a time-based release cycle, meaning we had a target release date set early in the process rather than our prior "it seems ready... now-ish?" method.

=== Notes for the future ===

* Pick SoaS v.4 color combos soon.
* Sync with Design earlier in the release cycle for color-choosing, etc.
* There's a FUDCon in September in Zurich, we may want to look at that as a Sugar/SoaS meetup opportunity.
* Send fortnightly release schedule emails to the SoaS list about upcoming milestones
* Activity Inclusions Criteria to be finalized for v.4
* Track core libraries and dependencies more closely, especially for Activity developers - make sure our upstreams are also in sync with each other, and that it's clear whose responsibility it is to keep track of what.
* It would be good if we could enable a python option to close check the api and break the build if there's something missing / changed.
* We need a central test reporting location.
* We should find ways to tap tabs and the Welly/Auckland testers for SoaS QA.
* We should look at the Fedora AutoQA project to see what QA features we can automate.
* SeanDaly is taking the Mirabelle media launch discussion up at the next Marketing meeting.
* SeanDaly to start discussion on multiple website (spins.fp.o, wiki.sl.o, etc.) divergence on-list
* satellit to bring up DVD as feature for consideration in v4, by way of figuring out the feature inclusion process

== Press coverage ==

Feel free to add links to press coverage you find about Mirabelle to this section.
* [http://opensource.com/education/10/6/correlation-mirabelles-and-sustainability 2010-06-11 The correlation of Mirabelles and sustainability]
* [http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/11/sugar-on-a-stick-hits-3-0-teaches-us-about-a-new-kind-of-fruit/ 2010-06-11 Sugar on a Stick hits 3.0, teaches us about a new kind of fruit]
* [http://blog.internetnews.com/skerner/2010/05/sugar-on-a-stick-mirabelle-get.html 2010-05-28 Sugar on a Stick gets sweeter with Fedora Linux (InternetNews)]
* [http://www.linux-magazin.de/content/view/full/51984 2010-05-28 Sugar on a Stick v3.0 geht ins GSM-Netz (Linux-Magazin)]
* [http://www.pro-linux.de/news/1/15722/sugar-on-a-stick-v3-freigegeben.html 2010-05-27 Sugar on a Stick v3 freigegeben (Pro-Linux.de)]
* [http://lwn.net/Articles/389346/ 2010-05-26 Announcing Sugar on a Stick v.3 (LWN.net)]

Sugar on a Stick/Mirabelle

2010-06-11T15:02:49Z

Pbrobinson: /* Press coverage */

<noinclude>
[[Category:Live USB]]
[[Category:Sugar on a Stick]]
</noinclude>

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
== Sugar on a Stick - Mirabelle ==
: ''a Sugar environment you can carry in your pocket''

Mirabelle is the most recent release of the '''[[Sugar on a Stick]]''' project. It was released on '''25 May 2010.''' Mirabelle is named after the [[wikipedia:Mirabelle | Mirabelle plum]].
__TOC__

| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 200px;" |[[File:SugaronastickMirabelle.png|450px|right|a Sugar environment you can carry in your pocket!]]
|}

== Release announcement ==

We are proud to announce the availability of [[Sugar on a Stick]] v.3, code-named Mirabelle. More information about Sugar on a Stick, including download and installation details, is available at http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas/.

[[File:Download Mirabell.png|center|link=http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas/#downloads]]

=== What's new in Mirabelle ===

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 200px;" | [[File:Mirabelle-home-screen.png|200px|left|link=0.88/Notes]]
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
'''Sugar version 0.88.''' The most recent release of the Sugar Learning Platform features support for 3G connections, increased accessibility, and better integration with our Activity Portal (http://activities.sugarlabs.org) allowing students and teachers to update their sticks with additional Activities. More information about the 0.88 release of Sugar is available at [[0.88/Notes]].
|}

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
'''Customize your own remix of Sugar on a Stick.''' You'll notice that v.3 Mirabelle has a smaller Activity selection than its predecessors, Blueberry and Strawberry. We realized we'll never be able to create an Activity selection suitable for all deployments - instead, we've chosen to include and support a core set of basic, teacher-tested Activities in the default image, and invite deployments to use this as a base on which to build a customized Activity selection for their classrooms. Instructions on how to do this are available at http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/customization-guide/. A quick, but less pristine, method of build customization is available at [[Sugar on a Stick/Sugar Clone]].
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 120px;" |[[File:Cici-stick.jpg|120px|right|http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/customization-guide/]]
|}

{|
|-
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0; width: 150px;" | [[File:Fedora remix logo.png|left|link=http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas]]
| style="border: 0; border-width: 0;" |
'''Sugar on a Stick is now a Fedora Spin.''' After two prior releases of being based on the [http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Overview Fedora distribution], Sugar on a Stick has been recognized by the [http://fedoraproject.org Fedora Project] as an official [http://spins.fedoraproject.org Spin]. This ties us more closely to Fedora's release cycle and gives us resources from their engineering and marketing teams, which extends the reach of Sugar on a Stick and makes the project itself more sustainable. In exchange, users of Fedora have access to an easily deployable implementation of the Sugar Platform; it's a great example of a mutually beneficial upstream–downstream relationship.
|}

=== Contributing to Sugar on a Stick ===

The biggest difference in v.3 of Sugar on a Stick has been in its release processes and engineering sustainability; it's now much easier for new contributors to get involved. We continue to move towards our long-term vision of bringing stability and deployability to Sugar's personalized learning environment, and invite all interested parties to join us.

If you'd like to contribute to the next version, due for release in early November, join us at our Contributors Portal at '''[[Sugar on a Stick]]'''. All types of contributions are welcome, from the technical to the pedagogical, and we're happy to teach what we know and learn what you have to share.

Thank you to all the people involved for their awesome work!

== Release history ==

=== Introduction ===

This section is a recap of the events that happened during the v3 release cycle (Mirabelle) of Sugar on a Stick. It was largely constructed during the v3 release review meeting on 5/31/2010 [http://meeting.olpcorps.net/sugar-meeting/sugar-meeting.minutes.20100531_1507.html (minutes)] [http://meeting.olpcorps.net/sugar-meeting/sugar-meeting.log.20100531_1507.html (log)] from personal memory and [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/soas/ soas mailing list archives], since there was no attempt to document the release history during the course of the release cycle itself.

=== Pre-release ===

* '''November 11, 2009''' - [http://fedoraproject.org Fedora] (and therefore [http://spins.fedoraproject.org Fedora Spin]) release cycle for Fedora 13 begins; this is significant since Fedora is one of our major upstreams.
* '''November 2009''' - [[Oversight Board|SLOBs]] declares the term "SoaS" to refer to this project (predating the [[Trademark]] policy).
* '''December 2009''' - We're still actually on the Blueberry release and haven't started making Mirabelle yet. Blueberry is getting a lot of good PR from SeanDaly and the Marketing crew.

=== Approval as a Fedora Spin ===

"[Spins are alternate versions of Fedora, tailored for various types of users via hand-picked application sets and other customizations." --from http://spins.fedoraproject.org/about

Before SoaS was a spin, it was a Fedora Remix - which means that bit-wise, the product looked the same, but the technical work that needed to happen to generate it was all done manually and without external resources and support, so it happened spasmodically and slowly and with a great number of sleepless nights.

Becoming a Fedora Spin gave us access to Fedora's engineering, marketing, and QA resources, which dramatically improved the sustainability and scaleability of our release engineering processes. For instance, .iso files stopped being produced by the "Sebastian manually builds them every time" process, and started being automatically generated for testing by Fedora build servers. We gained some instant automation of the infrastructure we need anyway, without any more work or maintenance on our part, so we could focus on things like... making Activities work, the stuff that's actually unique to Sugar.

The [http://meeting.olpcorps.net/sugar-meeting/sugar-meeting.minutes.20100108_1109.html January 8, 2010 SoaS planning meeting] led to the decision to apply for spin status.

* '''January 14, 2010''' - [http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/advisory-board/2010-January/007869.html The Fedora Project approves SoaS as a Fedora spin for F13.]

Feature Freeze (in the Fedora 13 cycle, Feb 9, 2010) was a hard deadline for Spin approval, so it was significant that we got in before that (Fedora-imposed) deadline. If we'd missed that, we would not have been able to take advantage of Fedora's engineering, etc. resources at all for Mirabelle.

Looking at the [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/soas/2010-January/thread.html January mailing list archives], we didn't explain the significance of the spin decision very well then, which may have led to communication disconnects down the line that made Activity development and Marketing more difficult. In particular, we did not make it clear enough that we were now tied to the Fedora release cycle, and what that meant.

=== Feature process ===

The main point made here is that unlike two of our major upstreams (Sugar and Fedora) we ''didn't'' have a feature freeze for SoaS, but should have around this time.

* '''February 9, 2010''' - [https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/Policy Fedora Feature Freeze]

The way features happen in Fedora is that early in the release process, developers propose features, and they are approved by a feature freeze date (which is before the alpha release). They have to meet certain criteria by certain deadlines - if they don't, they're dropped and not eligible for mention as features. Major features must be in and testable by Alpha; minor changes need to be in and testable by Beta, after Beta it's only bugfixes allowed.

This feature process is not unique to Fedora. Feature processes are things that happen in basically every major FOSS project, and really in every major engineering project (even non-software) - it's how we systematically make sure we build something that's good and working.

The feature process also aids with marketing. The Marketing team in Fedora makes their plans according to the feature list that's set by Alpha - this lets us plan how to target what features early in the process.

Since SoaS relies on both Sugar and Fedora as upstreams, we rely on their feature processes - most SoaS features come from either Fedora features or Sugar features. (For reference, our main upstreams are Fedora, Sugar Labs (sugar-core), ASLO (Activities), GNOME, and Python.) For v4, we will be building and using a lightweight feature process for SoaS that inherits from those two upstreams.

=== Activity development confusion ===

Activity developers weren't informed of changes in the libraries their Activities depended on, when those libraries changed in Fedora (and thus got included in SoaS). This led to confusion and instability late in the cycle when Activity folks belatedly realized this had happened.

Two of our upstreams (Fedora and ASLO) basically collided when they combined, and didn't realize that collision was coming, because we didn't track dependencies between them... part of the problem was that we didn't know who was responsible for keeping track of that aspect of communication, so everyone assumed it was someone else and nobody did it.

The Activities confusion manifests itself in the small number of "supported" activities in the v3 release. Marketing was then confronted with the sudden removal/noninclusion of activities from the release - again, this is something that could have been prevented with a working feature process.

=== QA ===

Thomas did field-testing (building real SoaS sticks from .iso files and testing on those) - it's the closest thing to systematic testing we've had yet, though we still have a ways to go. Thank you also to James Cameron in Australia for his testing help!

Mirabelle didn't have a test plan and it made things confusing for both testers and release engineering; it wasn't always clear what needed to be tested, or what had been tested and how, or where results were or what they meant, and how test results should impact development and vice versa.

=== Documentation ===

We now have a [http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/customization-guide/ Customization Guide] and [http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/creation-kit/ Creation Kit] as official documentation on how to custom-build an image and burn a SoaS stick, respectively. A new release of the documentation will come out with each new release of SoaS. This is an improvement over our ad-hoc wiki documentation methods, allowing us to better support a small number of known-working "how to set up SoaS" instructions.

We standardized on official install methods (liveusb-creator, unetbootin) but this was done quickly without broad consensus so there's still friction about alternate methods that are out there.

=== Release and Marketing ===

Mirabelle was released on May 25, 2010. It's shiny! It's yellow! It had over 300 downloads within the first week - as of this writing 10 days after release, we're at 429 downloads.

We've gotten some very nice letters from [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/sugar-devel/2010-May/024203.html Daniel] and [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/iaep/2010-May/010956.html Simon] on the release process.

We have a [http://spins.fedoraproject.org/soas shiny user-facing page] as well as a [[Sugar on a Stick|Contributors Portal]], to serve (and hopefully link) the two different audiences. We hope most people will want to wear both hats, in part.

=== Major accomplishments this release cycle ===

* We have a team!
* We have a release schedule!
* We started using the Fedora Spins process and engineering resources, which made release engineering much smoother.
* We started driving communications to public channels - notably the SoaS mailing list - so things are more transparent.
* Multiple people have commit access to each repository that needs to be handled, so there are no single-person bottlenecks remaining.
* We shifted to a time-based release cycle, meaning we had a target release date set early in the process rather than our prior "it seems ready... now-ish?" method.

=== Notes for the future ===

* Pick SoaS v.4 color combos soon.
* Sync with Design earlier in the release cycle for color-choosing, etc.
* There's a FUDCon in September in Zurich, we may want to look at that as a Sugar/SoaS meetup opportunity.
* Send fortnightly release schedule emails to the SoaS list about upcoming milestones
* Activity Inclusions Criteria to be finalized for v.4
* Track core libraries and dependencies more closely, especially for Activity developers - make sure our upstreams are also in sync with each other, and that it's clear whose responsibility it is to keep track of what.
* It would be good if we could enable a python option to close check the api and break the build if there's something missing / changed.
* We need a central test reporting location.
* We should find ways to tap tabs and the Welly/Auckland testers for SoaS QA.
* We should look at the Fedora AutoQA project to see what QA features we can automate.
* SeanDaly is taking the Mirabelle media launch discussion up at the next Marketing meeting.
* SeanDaly to start discussion on multiple website (spins.fp.o, wiki.sl.o, etc.) divergence on-list
* satellit to bring up DVD as feature for consideration in v4, by way of figuring out the feature inclusion process

== Press coverage ==

Feel free to add links to press coverage you find about Mirabelle to this section.

* [http://blog.internetnews.com/skerner/2010/05/sugar-on-a-stick-mirabelle-get.html 2010-05-28 Sugar on a Stick gets sweeter with Fedora Linux (InternetNews)]
* [http://www.linux-magazin.de/content/view/full/51984 2010-05-28 Sugar on a Stick v3.0 geht ins GSM-Netz (Linux-Magazin)]
* [http://www.pro-linux.de/news/1/15722/sugar-on-a-stick-v3-freigegeben.html 2010-05-27 Sugar on a Stick v3 freigegeben (Pro-Linux.de)]
* [http://lwn.net/Articles/389346/ 2010-05-26 Announcing Sugar on a Stick v.3 (LWN.net)]
* [http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/11/sugar-on-a-stick-hits-3-0-teaches-us-about-a-new-kind-of-fruit/ 2010-06011 Sugar on a Stick hits 3.0, teaches us about a new kind of fruit]

Sugar on a Stick/Mirabelle

2010-05-28T14:30:45Z

Pbrobinson: /* Press coverage */

Summer of Code/2010/Improved Sugar on a Stick

2010-04-08T20:44:41Z

Pbrobinson: /* You and the community */

<noinclude>{{TOCright}}
[[Category:2010 GSoC applications]]
[[Category:GSoC]]
</noinclude>

=== About you ===

# What is your name? Sebastian Dziallas
# What is your email address? sebastian@when.com
# What is your Sugar Labs wiki username? [[User:Sdz|sdz]]
# What is your IRC nickname? sdziallas
# What is your primary language? German; English and French work fine, though.
# Where are you located, and what hours do you tend to work? Located close to Hannover in Germany with variable work hours; might be in different time zones during the summer.
# Have you participated in an open-source project before?
#* http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/User:Sdz
#* http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/User:Sdz

=== About your project ===

# What is the name of your project? Improving Sugar on a Stick
# Describe your project in 10-20 sentences. What are you making? Who are you making it for, and why do they need it? What technologies (programming languages, etc.) will you be using?
#* I'm going to work on improving the means of communication between users, like students or deployments, and developers to reach out for feedback and interact. One of the biggest issue Sugar on a Stick has been facing in recent times is a lack of specific feedback. This is especially of importance, since Sugar on a Stick unites the Sugar learning environment with the Fedora linux distribution. Different, not-entirely-aligned release cycles have been a source for issues.
#* I plan to integrate features addressing this lack of feedback directly in the Sugar control panel -- or within a set of activities -- by making heavy use of various upstream projects. This proposal mentions a number of possible projects, which are all related, since they all partially address a certain area of these issues and would all have to be integrated in the control panel. This integration requires knowledge of Python, as well as of the general Sugar on a Stick build process using kickstart files.
#* The project I will tackle first is integrating Fedora's [https://fedorahosted.org/smolt/ Smolt] initiative in Sugar. Since Sugar on a Stick relies on the underlying distribution, understanding what hardware our users are using is crucial, especially when it comes to understanding and eventually fixing issues. By integrating this functionality, the process of fixing hardware related issues will improve significantly, as users will not need to execute cryptic commands and upload logs anymore, but will rather be able to post a link to their profile.
#* If, at this point, time should be left, I will continue to investigate on integrating upstream projects, such as [https://fedorahosted.org/abrt/ ABRT] into Sugar. Giving users a way of reporting crashes in Sugar automatically is another aspect, that will allow even less experienced students to contribute to the community by simply reporting their experiences with Sugar on a Stick.
#* Finally, working on a [http://packagekit.org/ PackageKit] interface to provide users with an actual upgrade path using the distribution's RPM packages would be a huge improvement, compared to requiring users to wait for the next release and start from scratch each time. This is a key part of Sugar on a Stick's way to become actually deployable in masses. However, since time is scarce, this aspect will only be tackled if the other ideas are completed early.
#* I'll be evaluating options of different options on file system usage for Sugar on a Stick, if time permits.
#* This also includes work on the [https://fedorahosted.org/liveusb-creator LiveUSB Creator], towards which this propsal might shift. Generally, I'll be trying to improve SoaS through providing, integrating or improving essential tools.
# What is the timeline for development of your project? The Summer of Code work period is 7 weeks long, May 23 - August 10; tell us what you will be working on each week.
#* While the timeline is set in stone here already, the projects I'll be working on may shift with regard to the proposal above.
#* May 24 - 30: initial gathering of information, diving into python
#* May 31 - June 6: creation of first mockups
#* June 7 - 13: evaluation of upstream code base
#* June 14 - 20: further python knowledge gathering
#* June 21 - 27: attempt to integrate smolt into the control panel
#* June 28 - July 4: coding
#* July 5 - 11: evaluation of smolt integration, possible cleanups
#*--- mid-terms ---
#* July 12 - 18: creation of mockups for abrt
#* July 19 - 25: evaluation of upstream code base
#* July 26 - August 1: further python knowledge gathering
#* August 2 - 8: attempt to integrate abrt into the control panel
#* August 9 - 15: evaluation, possible cleanups and look at packagekit
# Convince us, in 5-15 sentences, that you will be able to successfully complete your project in the timeline you have described. This is usually where people describe their past experiences, credentials, prior projects, schoolwork, and that sort of thing, but be creative. Link to prior work or other resources as relevant.
#* I've been part of the Sugar Labs community for probably two years now. However, my story starts earlier, when I was in high school and looking for an open source operating system. Somehow, I found my way into the Fedora Project and met people like Greg DeKoenigsberg. Suddenly I was not only leading the Fedora Education SIG, but also working on OLPC's operating system for the second G1G1 program. Later on, I worked on the Fedora Sugar Spin, which ultimately merged with the early Sugar on a Stick efforts, making the latter what it is now. I've been experienced several release cycles of open source software engineering thus far and am especially looking forward to work on coding over the summer.

=== You and the community ===

# If your project is successfully completed, what will its impact be on the Sugar Labs community? Give 3 answers, each 1-3 paragraphs in length. The first one should be yours. The other two should be answers from members of the Sugar Labs community, at least one of whom should be a Sugar Labs GSoC mentor. Provide email contact information for non-GSoC mentors.
## Sugar on a Stick is a project that "enables children to reclaim computers". It's a project that reaches even further than other approaches seen before, as it significantly lowers the entry barrier for people to get their hands on their own personalized Sugar Learning Experience. By making this experience even better -- which is what this project aims for -- the general improvements arrive at one of Sugar's main ways of distribution. However, Sugar on a Stick is not just a distribution, it's a way of deploying Sugar. Successful pilots are taking off right now in Berlin and Boston and these kids there won't be the only ones to get their hands on the resulting improvements. Instead, the improvements will be included in the next iteration of Sugar on a Stick, enabling them to interact directly with our developers, resulting in a better product. [[User:Sdz| Sebastian Dziallas]]
## Sugar on a Stick is a cornerstone of the Sugar Labs strategy for reaching out to parents, teachers, and children. It provides a simple way for someone to give Sugar a test drive and it provides a cost-effective way to initiate and expand Sugar-based deployments (every child can use Sugar even though not every child can yet be given a computer of their own). This GSoC project is addresses some critical aspects of the Sugar-on-a-Stick project: user feedback and documentation. Specifically, the integration of Smolt will greatly enhance our ability to monitor the conditions under which Sugar on a Stick is being used, capturing a detailed record that will be invaluable to the development and support teams as they strive to make the project both more far reaching and robust. While it is not glamorous, it is critical to our being able to sustain and support Sugar on the variety of hardware found in the field. [[User:Walter| Walter Bender]]
## Sugar on a Stick is a bridge between the Fedora and Sugar communities as well as other upstream communities. Increasing the ability for the users to work with both projects through hardware profiles and issue reporting is going to be a significant benefit for both projects. Integration of upstream projects within the Sugar environment whether it be in the Control Panel or as Activities are also going ensure good compatibilty within the projects. The reuse of code allows provisioning of advanced features within Sugar quickly and allows the Sugar community to easily contribute upstream to the Fedora community in testing and bug reporting while reuse of code and functions within the upstream community. Integration of Smolt, ABRT and PackageKit will provide advanced functionality in Sugar while allowing the Sugar community to easily contribute to upstream communities for the benefit to both. [[User:Pbrobinson| Peter Robinson]]
# Sugar Labs will be working to set up a small (5-30 unit) Sugar pilot near each student project that is accepted to GSoC so that you can immediately see how your work affects children in a deployment. We will make arrangements to either supply or find all the equipment needed. Do you have any ideas on where you would like your deployment to be, who you would like to be involved, and how we can help you and the community in your area begin it?
#* I've been leading and coordinating technical support for a small XO deployment in a school here. While this might be an option, there are also other Sugar on a Stick related deployments currently going on in Berlin (Simon) and Boston (Mel) -- cooperating with these might be a good way of getting actual results from the field.
# What will you do if you get stuck on your project and your mentor isn't around?
#* Generally, I'd either try to get in touch with people I know from previous work who are aware of the issues I'd be facing or simply attempt to ask for more help in the appropriate channels, such as #sugar for directly development related topics and #fedora-olpc or #fedora-devel for questions related to the distribution itself. In case the latter one wouldn't be successful, I'd send emails off to the mailing lists, asking for help with a specific issue.
# How do you propose you will be keeping the community informed of your progress and any problems or questions you might have over the course of the project?
#* My blog is currently aggregated on both the Fedora Project's and Sugar Labs' planets, which is also where I'm going to post continuously about the state of my project and its progress. For more concrete questions, I'll be using the mailing list and IRC channels to interact directly with other developers.

=== Miscellaneous ===

# We want to make sure that you can set up a development environment before the summer starts: [http://sdz.fedorapeople.org/sugar-emulator.png click here]
# What is your t-shirt size? '''L'''
# Describe a great learning experience you had as a child.
#* The experience I'm going to describe didn't exactly in my childhood, but rather when I was growing up, actually not too long ago. It was when a good friend of mine gave me a Dr. Seuss book: ''"Oh, the Places you'll go"''! It's one of the most wonderful books I ever read -- and so is its message. It encourages you to keep going, no matter what happens, no matter how hard or lonely the world may seem. Because in the end, you'll succeed - ''"Yes! You will, indeed! (98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)"''. So you'll move mountains. And that's what I learned.
# Is there anything else we should have asked you or anything else that we should know that might make us like you or your project more?
#* I apparently like Mirabelles and Cloudberries.