Sugar Labs - User contributions [en]

Sugar Labs/Getting Involved

2009-02-04T06:10:00Z

Ridderman: turn the images into links, using a wiki template

Template:Clickpic

2009-02-04T06:00:21Z

Ridderman: stripping this down futher

[{{{1}}} {{{2}}}]

Template:Clickpic

2009-02-04T05:50:09Z

Ridderman:

[{{SERVER}}{{{1}}} {{{2}}}]

Template:Clickpic

2009-02-04T05:36:26Z

Ridderman: trying a way to make links work for images

[{{SERVER}}{{localurl:{{{1}}}}} {{{2}}}]

Education Team

2008-12-16T02:48:41Z

Ridderman: fixed creating textbooks link

<noinclude>{{ GoogleTrans-en | es =show | bg =show | zh-CN =show | zh-TW =show | hr =show | cs =show | da =show | nl =show | fi =show | fr =show | de =show | el =show | hi =show | it =show | ja =show | ko =show | no =show | pl =show | pt =show | ro =show | ru =show | sv =show }}
{{TeamHeader|EducationTeam}}</noinclude>

{{Translations
| [[EducationTeam|english]] | [[EducationTeam/lang-es|español]] | [[EducationTeam/lang-ru|русский]]}}
== Mission ==
{{:EducationTeam/Mission}}

----

We are said to be responsible for setting the Educational goals for the Sugar Community, but this says both too much and too little. In the long run, the children have to set their educational goals, rather than those whom the accidents of history and politics have put in power. Here are some things we can do:

* Start the very large and wide-ranging discussion about appropriate education theory (based on scientific study of children and adults, such as schoolteachers);
* Start the discussion about appropriate education practice, based on scientific study of what works under various circumstances for what purposes;
* Start the discussion about appropriate uses of computers in education, including software design, textbook redesign, and other content, and about what computers are good for in general;
* Mediate between these desiderata and what is possible on the available and imminent hardware platforms, given the current and projected state of connectivity, rural electricity, the other issues and obstacles of poverty, and the current state of [[What is Sugar?|Sugar]];
* Share lots of examples of what works (and what doesn't)—along with a discussion of how and why.

==Theory==
:''Epistemology is the construction of personal standards for telling fact from fancy, truth from fiction, and certainty from doubt. Ontology is the construction of theories of what exists. Ethical constructions remind us of what we think we should do even if we don't want to, and why. Everybody has them, and normally no two of us agree on them. The epistemology of Prussian-style education is, the King and his ministers are always right, and even if they weren't you would have no business questioning them. Or, at the classroom level, “It's true because I said so, now shut up and sit down!” The same attitude is common, even usual, in ontology and ethics as well. Nations are real because I said so, You're going to war to because I said so.''—Edward Cherlin (revised [[User:Mokurai|Mokurai]] 06:32, 8 June 2008 (UTC))

Cherlin paints a grim picture here, but elsewhere he has the positive version: What would [[What should education be?|education for truly free peoples]] look like?

Fortunately, this is nowhere near the whole story, but we have a long way to go before children's right to pursue truth is seriously recognized. While the theoretical layer of didactic methods has advanced, unfortunately, in much of the world's formal education systems, there has been little progress.

The computer serves as a powerful tool for getting new pedagogical approaches into the system. But, while getting computers into the hands of more children is undoubtedly of benefit, the question remains, “how does one maximize the learning that occurs?” The question often is framed in terms of teacher-centric methods (Instructionism) versus child-centric or learning-centric methods. This dichotomy is a false one [Really?]; while we should not be prescriptive, we should be striving for a “learning-centric” approach, where teachers mentor students as they engage with powerful ideas, “teaching less and learning more.” While we want to give children access to knowledge—through media such as electronic books, the world-wide web, and multimedia—we also should try to skew the odds toward children and teachers appropriating this knowledge by putting it to use and engaging in critical dialog. That is not just going to happen by itself; we have to try to make it happen by giving them tools that put them in the roles of consumer, critic, and creator within the context of a learning community.

Learning is not a service—it's a process of active appropriation.

One of the forces being unleashed by the one-to-one computing initiatives—where children have access to computing “anytime” and “anywhere”—is the change in the way software developers and computer-makers think about the education industry. A combination of strong and capable leadership—by technologists and epistemologists—and cross-community collaboration is necessary to ensure that the ideals of freedom, sharing, open critique, and transparency will be part of the interface to learning that touches children in the world’s classrooms. While community collaboration may seem unrealistic from the vantage point of a model of economy as a machine, which individuals are single-purpose cogs wheels and gear, collaboration—and the resulting synthesis of ideas—is the most efficient means of invention and subsequent development. The “intelligence is in the leaves” and those who unleash that intelligence will prosper.

These ideas are embodied in the culture of free software, which is a powerful culture for learning. It is possible to instill in the education industry some of the culture, technology, and morals of the open source movement. Such a transfer of culture could greatly enhance the education industry and its ability to engage teachers and students: empowering them with both the freedom to act and the freedom to be critical. Criticism of ideas is a powerful force in learning and in fostering economic development; unleashing that is an important part of the mission. Conventional wisdom suggests that teachers don't want to learn (and change); to the contrary, teachers perhaps more than any other constituency know that the status quo is failing.

==Practice==

Previous attempts at major education reform have foundered on the impossibility of [[Interactive textbooks|rewriting all textbooks]] and retraining all teachers simultaneously, on the blank incomprehension of parents, and on political opposition to these new-fangled ideas. Sugar gets around these obstacles by not confronting them. In particular, Sugar can provide the collaborative experience we associate with the Internet, without changes to textbooks or curricula, and without major retraining of teachers. New textbooks will come in due course, and teacher training will eventually catch up. With computers and Internet, children can show parents what they are learning. This genie will not go back into the bottle. Political opponents of educational advances are already in retreat to private schools and home schooling to a degree. We cannot predict how the political fight will turn out, because of its complexities and because it is a battle of ideas and organization, whose working we do not understand at all well. In such a case, it is prudent to organize support before the need is urgent. A degree of support will arise almost automatically from those whose children start to get a real education for the first time. Organizing that support appropriately is a daunting challenge, but some will turn up with the desire and ability to do various parts of it.

==Computers==

OLPC is about Seymour Papert's Constructionist education theory, although the announcements don't say that consistently. Sugar Labs is more clearly committed to Constructionism. But what is Constructionism? Is it true? Is it effective? Have we arrived at the one complete and final truth about education, so that no more need be said? Well, the answer to that last question is, Don't be silly. Like any good theory, Constructionism is reasonably accurate on some points, and needs further research on the great expanse of the unknown that surrounds that little lighted patch. So we cannot give a glib definition, or a brief summary, and claim that you know what you need to know. If you are serious about Constructionism, then like anything else worthwhile, you have to study at length and in detail to get any good at it, and there will always be somebody who is better at some part of it.

Seymour Papert slyly points out that simply giving a definition would not be a Constructionist way to teach you. Instead he suggests ways in which you can experience what works and what doesn't in current Constructionist programs. We can be a little more explicit, but the need for experience remains central.

In Piaget's Constructivist theory of child development and learning, based on decades of research with children, understanding is something a child constructs internally out of experience and previous understanding (which in some cases will be misunderstanding), when the child's brain is sufficiently developed to support the ideas involved. One of his favorite examples is a mathematician who as a child had been astonished to discover that no matter how he arranged some pebbles he was playing with, when he counted them there were always ten. I don't know any adults who can remember not knowing that, so it is hard to discuss from personal experience. Children who don't know that yet would have no idea what you were talking about if you asked them, so that doesn't help either. But there are many things that come to children typically at a particular age, so that you can find younger children who don't know, and older children who do, and if you are particularly persistent and lucky you may be able to observe the developmental changeover from one day to the next, or even from one moment to another.

Much more common are Aha! moments, in which a child (or adult) who has been working on a problem without insight suddenly gets it. In Constructionist education on computers, this is deliberately fostered. Alan Kay gives examples of ten-year-olds, with appropriate guidance on where and how to look, and appropriate computer software to assist them, discover essential concepts of calculus, such as the laws of constant acceleration with their geometric realization and their application to physics. The symbol manipulation and formal proofs have to be delayed to a more appropriate developmental stage, of course.

Much more common still are opportunities to work together with the collaboration and mesh networking capabilities of the XO and Sugar to construct something, and to explore all that is known and unknown and share the results. This is what Ivan Krstić told us captured the teachers in Latin America, who were no longer bound to the inadequate textbooks and teaching materials provided by the government. And after the teachers got it, the parents soon got it.

==See also==
* [[EducationTeam/Lesson Plan resources|lesson-plan resources]]
* [[EducationTeam/Education_Bibliographies|an education bibliography]]
* [http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Marvin_Minsky_essays Marvin Minksy essays]
[[Category:EducationTeam]]
* [[Creating textbooks]]

Sugar on a Stick

2008-12-13T19:43:36Z

Ridderman:

==About Sugar on a Stick (SoaS) ==

[[Image:Soas.jpg|thumb]]

The goal of the Sugar on a Stick project is to give children access to *their* Sugar on any computer in their environment with just a USB key.

We are still in preAlpha on this project. It is not ready to use with children yet.

===Creating a USB Stick===

The basics of creating a Live, bootable USB are you download a '.iso' image. Then you use a USB creator program to copy it to a USB, create a space for users to store files on the USB (if required) and set it to be bootable.

In practice this means the first thing you need is a Live USB creator.

We are working with live USBs based on both Fedora and Ubuntu (these are different distributions of Linux), you can try either or both.

If you are helping us with testing, please be sure to use one of the Sugar .iso's from this page. Please keep notes on which you got and when. Please report bugs to dev.sugarlabs.org and finally, please join the Moodle Class where we are coordinating testing. http://schools.sugarlabs.org/course/view.php?id=17

This is still in testing, its not ready for production use yet.

====Fedora based Sugar on a Stick from Windows====

To create a Fedora based Sugar from a Windows machine: https://fedorahosted.org/releases/l/i/liveusb-creator/liveusb-creator-3.0.zip [http://sdz.fedorapeople.org/olpc/liveusb-creator-3.0.zip broken link??]

Download that file to a windows machine and install it. (I couldn't get it to run in wine... --[[User:Walter|Walter]] 17:40, 3 December 2008 (UTC))

Next download current version of Sugar that we are testing for Sugar on a Stick:

http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/soas-5.iso

#Plug in a 1GB or larger USB stick into your computer.
#Open "liveusb-creator.exe"
#Use "Browse" to select the iso file that you just downloaded.
#Set the Target Device to your USB device
#Move the slider to set some persistent storage (hint, set it high then it will tell you how much space there is and you can adjust it to the right point)
#Click "Create Live USB". It will take a few minutes.

How much persistent memory you set will depend on the size of the .iso and the size of your USB but make sure you have some so people can save files.

====Ubuntu based Sugar on a Stick====

* Detailed instructions are here: http://dev.laptop.org/~probono/sbuntu/ and in [[Sugar on a Stick Ubuntu]]

===Using Sugar on a Stick===

The trick is to set the BIOS to boot from USB. Unfortunately this is slightly different on each computer. Try Google on BIOS your computer model and explore the setup screen for your system.

If you have trouble try creating a "Boot Helper" CD using the .iso below. This will start the boot from the CD then read files from the USB.

http://www.sugarlabs.org/~marco/boot.iso

You can also use the 'PLoP Boot Manager' to create a boot floppy for machines without the ability to boot from CD or USB, see http://syslinux.zytor.com/wiki/index.php/No_native_BIOS_support

===Join the development effort===

We are coordinating work on this project on Sugar Labs Moodle system. Please create an account and join the Sugar on a Stick Class. http://schools.sugarlabs.org/course/view.php?id=17

====Report Sugar on a Stick Bugs====

Use the Sugar Trac system at http://dev.sugarlabs.org to report bugs. Use the "SoaS" component.

===Project Goals===

* Sugar on a Stick as 1 to 1 computing in an elementary school
* Sugar on a Stick to empower middle and high school students to help test Sugar as Service Learning
* Sugar on a Stick for conferences to let people try Sugar and collaborate with other conference participants

=== See Also ===
*[[DeploymentTeam/School_Key]]

Sugar on a Stick

2008-12-13T19:43:17Z

Ridderman: Undo revision 13098 by Ridderman (Talk)

==About Sugar on a Stick (SOAS) ==

[[Image:Soas.jpg|thumb]]

The goal of the Sugar on a Stick project is to give children access to *their* Sugar on any computer in their environment with just a USB key.

We are still in preAlpha on this project. It is not ready to use with children yet.

===Creating a USB Stick===

The basics of creating a Live, bootable USB are you download a '.iso' image. Then you use a USB creator program to copy it to a USB, create a space for users to store files on the USB (if required) and set it to be bootable.

In practice this means the first thing you need is a Live USB creator.

We are working with live USBs based on both Fedora and Ubuntu (these are different distributions of Linux), you can try either or both.

If you are helping us with testing, please be sure to use one of the Sugar .iso's from this page. Please keep notes on which you got and when. Please report bugs to dev.sugarlabs.org and finally, please join the Moodle Class where we are coordinating testing. http://schools.sugarlabs.org/course/view.php?id=17

This is still in testing, its not ready for production use yet.

====Fedora based Sugar on a Stick from Windows====

To create a Fedora based Sugar from a Windows machine: https://fedorahosted.org/releases/l/i/liveusb-creator/liveusb-creator-3.0.zip [http://sdz.fedorapeople.org/olpc/liveusb-creator-3.0.zip broken link??]

Download that file to a windows machine and install it. (I couldn't get it to run in wine... --[[User:Walter|Walter]] 17:40, 3 December 2008 (UTC))

Next download current version of Sugar that we are testing for Sugar on a Stick:

http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/soas-5.iso

#Plug in a 1GB or larger USB stick into your computer.
#Open "liveusb-creator.exe"
#Use "Browse" to select the iso file that you just downloaded.
#Set the Target Device to your USB device
#Move the slider to set some persistent storage (hint, set it high then it will tell you how much space there is and you can adjust it to the right point)
#Click "Create Live USB". It will take a few minutes.

How much persistent memory you set will depend on the size of the .iso and the size of your USB but make sure you have some so people can save files.

====Ubuntu based Sugar on a Stick====

* Detailed instructions are here: http://dev.laptop.org/~probono/sbuntu/ and in [[Sugar on a Stick Ubuntu]]

===Using Sugar on a Stick===

The trick is to set the BIOS to boot from USB. Unfortunately this is slightly different on each computer. Try Google on BIOS your computer model and explore the setup screen for your system.

If you have trouble try creating a "Boot Helper" CD using the .iso below. This will start the boot from the CD then read files from the USB.

http://www.sugarlabs.org/~marco/boot.iso

You can also use the 'PLoP Boot Manager' to create a boot floppy for machines without the ability to boot from CD or USB, see http://syslinux.zytor.com/wiki/index.php/No_native_BIOS_support

===Join the development effort===

We are coordinating work on this project on Sugar Labs Moodle system. Please create an account and join the Sugar on a Stick Class. http://schools.sugarlabs.org/course/view.php?id=17

====Report Sugar on a Stick Bugs====

Use the Sugar Trac system at http://dev.sugarlabs.org to report bugs. Use the "SoaS" component.

===Project Goals===

* Sugar on a Stick as 1 to 1 computing in an elementary school
* Sugar on a Stick to empower middle and high school students to help test Sugar as Service Learning
* Sugar on a Stick for conferences to let people try Sugar and collaborate with other conference participants

=== See Also ===
*[[DeploymentTeam/School_Key]]

Sugar on a Stick

2008-12-13T19:42:35Z

Ridderman:

==About Sugar on a Stick (SoaS) ==

[[Image:Soas.jpg|thumb]]

The goal of the Sugar on a Stick project is to give children access to *their* Sugar on any computer in their environment with just a USB key.

We are still in preAlpha on this project. It is not ready to use with children yet.

===Creating a USB Stick===

The basics of creating a Live, bootable USB are you download a '.iso' image. Then you use a USB creator program to copy it to a USB, create a space for users to store files on the USB (if required) and set it to be bootable.

In practice this means the first thing you need is a Live USB creator.

We are working with live USBs based on both Fedora and Ubuntu (these are different distributions of Linux), you can try either or both.

If you are helping us with testing, please be sure to use one of the Sugar .iso's from this page. Please keep notes on which you got and when. Please report bugs to dev.sugarlabs.org and finally, please join the Moodle Class where we are coordinating testing. http://schools.sugarlabs.org/course/view.php?id=17

This is still in testing, its not ready for production use yet.

====Fedora based Sugar on a Stick from Windows====

To create a Fedora based Sugar from a Windows machine: https://fedorahosted.org/releases/l/i/liveusb-creator/liveusb-creator-3.0.zip [http://sdz.fedorapeople.org/olpc/liveusb-creator-3.0.zip broken link??]

Download that file to a windows machine and install it. (I couldn't get it to run in wine... --[[User:Walter|Walter]] 17:40, 3 December 2008 (UTC))

Next download current version of Sugar that we are testing for Sugar on a Stick:

http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/soas-5.iso

#Plug in a 1GB or larger USB stick into your computer.
#Open "liveusb-creator.exe"
#Use "Browse" to find "liveusb.iso" that you just downloaded.
#Set the Target Device to your USB device
#Move the slider to set some persistent storage (hint, set it high then it will tell you how much space there is and you can adjust it to the right point)
#Click "Create Live USB". It will take a few minutes.

How much persistent memory you set will depend on the size of the .iso and the size of your USB but make sure you have some so people can save files.

====Ubuntu based Sugar on a Stick====

Detailed instructions are here: http://dev.laptop.org/~probono/sbuntu/

===Using Sugar on a Stick===

The trick is to set the BIOS to boot from USB. Unfortunately this is slightly different on each computer. Try Google on BIOS your computer model and explore the setup screen for your system.

If you have trouble try creating a "Boot Helper" CD using the .iso below. This will start the boot from the CD then read files from the USB.

http://www.sugarlabs.org/~marco/boot.iso

You can also use the 'PLoP Boot Manager' to create a boot floppy for machines without the ability to boot from CD or USB, see http://syslinux.zytor.com/wiki/index.php/No_native_BIOS_support

===Join the development effort===

We are coordinating work on this project on Sugar Labs Moodle system. Please create an account and join the Sugar on a Stick Class. http://schools.sugarlabs.org/course/view.php?id=17

====Report Sugar on a Stick Bugs====

Use the Sugar Trac system at http://dev.sugarlabs.org to report bugs. Use the "SoaS" component.

===Project Goals===

* Sugar on a Stick as 1 to 1 computing in an elementary school
* Sugar on a Stick to empower middle and high school students to help test Sugar as Service Learning
* Sugar on a Stick for conferences to let people try Sugar and collaborate with other conference participants

[[DeploymentTeam/School_Key]]

Sugar on a Stick

2008-12-13T19:40:11Z

Ridderman: /* Fedora based Sugar on a Stick from Windows */

Wiki Team/Getting Involved

2008-12-11T20:52:56Z

Ridderman: making the page more friendly to new users. removed first paragraph which was mostly redundant

Talk:Sugar Labs/Getting Involved

2008-12-07T16:55:18Z

Ridderman:

Is the content writer section referring to the wiki? cwhii
:Yes, I saw this section yesterday and I'm fairly certain that was the intent. You'll notice that the associated teams are the Doc, Wiki, and Marketing teams. [[User:Ridderman|Ridderman]] 16:55, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

Sugar on a Stick

2008-12-07T16:01:32Z

Ridderman:

==About Sugar on a Stick (SOAS) ==

[[Image:Soas.jpg|thumb]]

The goal of the Sugar on a Stick project is to give children access to *their* Sugar on any computer in their environment with just a USB key.

We are still in preAlpha on this project. It is not ready to use with children yet.

===Creating a USB Stick===

The basics of creating a Live, bootable USB are you download a '.iso' image. Then you use a USB creator program to copy it to a USB, create a space for users to store files on the USB (if required) and set it to be bootable.

In practice this means the first thing you need is a Live USB creator.

We are working with live USBs based on both Fedora and Ubuntu (these are different distributions of Linux), you can try either or both.

If you are helping us with testing, please be sure to use one of the Sugar .iso's from this page. Please keep notes on which you got and when. Please report bugs to dev.sugarlabs.org and finally, please join the Moodle Class where we are coordinating testing. http://schools.sugarlabs.org/course/view.php?id=17

This is still in testing, its not ready for production use yet.

====Fedora based Sugar on a Stick from Windows====

To create a Fedora based Sugar from a Windows machine: https://fedorahosted.org/releases/l/i/liveusb-creator/liveusb-creator-3.0.zip [http://sdz.fedorapeople.org/olpc/liveusb-creator-3.0.zip broken link??]

Download that file to a windows machine and install it. (I couldn't get it to run in wine... --[[User:Walter|Walter]] 17:40, 3 December 2008 (UTC))

Next download current version of Sugar that we are testing for Sugar on a Stick:

http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/soas-5.iso

#Plug in a 1GB or larger USB stick into your computer.
#Open "liveusb-creator.exe"
#Use "Browse" to find "liveusb.iso" that you just downloaded.
#Set the Target Device to your USB device
#Move the slider to set some persistent storage (hint, set it high then it will tell you how much space there is and you can adjust it to the right point)
#Click "Create Live USB". It will take a few minutes.

How much persistent memory you set will depend on the size of the .iso and the size of your USB but make sure you have some so people can save files.

====Ubuntu based Sugar on a Stick====

Detailed instructions are here: http://dev.laptop.org/~probono/sbuntu/

===Using Sugar on a Stick===

The trick is to set the BIOS to boot from USB. Unfortunately this is slightly different on each computer. Try Google on BIOS your computer model and explore the setup screen for your system.

If you have trouble try creating a "Boot Helper" CD using the .iso below. This will start the boot from the CD then read files from the USB.

http://www.sugarlabs.org/~marco/boot.iso

You can also use the 'PLoP Boot Manager' to create a boot floppy for machines without the ability to boot from CD or USB, see http://syslinux.zytor.com/wiki/index.php/No_native_BIOS_support

===Join the development effort===

We are coordinating work on this project on Sugar Labs Moodle system. Please create an account and join the Sugar on a Stick Class. http://schools.sugarlabs.org/course/view.php?id=17

====Report Sugar on a Stick Bugs====

Use the Sugar Trac system at http://dev.sugarlabs.org to report bugs. Use the "SoaS" component.

===Project Goals===

* Sugar on a Stick as 1 to 1 computing in an elementary school
* Sugar on a Stick to empower middle and high school students to help test Sugar as Service Learning
* Sugar on a Stick for conferences to let people try Sugar and collaborate with other conference participants

[[DeploymentTeam/School_Key]]

Sugar

2008-11-26T15:48:26Z

Ridderman: a redirect is better than nothing

#REDIRECT [[What is Sugar?]]

Ubuntu

2008-10-10T16:09:55Z

Ridderman: fixed typo in installation instructions

= Sugar on Ubuntu =

The Sugar (sucrose) packages for Ubuntu provide a Sugar environment that is easy to install and can be configured as an X session in gdm or run in a window with sugar-emulator.

It is a much simpler platform to set up for activity developers, than jhbuild.

Sugar on Ubuntu is packaged and maintained by the [https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SugarTeam Ubuntu Sugar team], who welcome new contributors to test, document, triage, and make packages.

== Sugar on Ubuntu 8.04 ==

=== Sugar 0.79.0 ===

'''Old, but included in hardy'''

Sugar was packaged in universe for hardy (Ubuntu 8.04) by Jani Monoses. The version packaged is 0.79.0, similar to the version in OLPC Release 8.1.0.

[http://janimo.blogspot.com/2008/02/sugar-finally-in-hardy-universe.html Installation instructions]

There are extra packages in a [https://launchpad.net/~sugar/+archive/ PPA], including activities that could not be included in the Ubuntu archive due to licence issues, as well as updated abiword packages.

=== Sucrose 0.82 ===

'''Up to date version'''

The ubuntu packages were updated to the latest [[ReleaseTeam/Releases/Sucrose/0.82|0.82]] point release in the [https://launchpad.net/~sugarteam/+archive Sugar Team PPA].

''Some activities are still being updated at the moment, but should be up to date in the next few days.'' --[[User:Morgs|Morgs]] 13:36, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

Installation instructions:
* sudo -s
* echo deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/sugarteam/ubuntu hardy main > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/sugar.list
* apt-get update
* apt-get install sugar sugar-emulator sugar-activities

== Sugar on the next Ubuntu release ==

Intrepid, the next Ubuntu release due out in October, has packages synced from [[Community/Distributions/Debian|debian]]. The ubuntu team will liaise with the debian team to get the appropriate versions synced, either [[ReleaseTeam/Roadmap|0.82]] or an 0.82.x point release if there are any at that stage.

We will continue to maintain further Sucrose releases via a PPA, after intrepid is released.

User:Ridderman

2008-09-17T04:04:21Z

Ridderman:

===Nate Ridderman===
Welcome to my user page

====Specific Interests in Sugar/OLPC====
*[http://wiki.laptop.org/go/PlayGo PlayGo]
*[http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Power_Management Power_Management]
*Performance:
**[[DevelopmentTeam/Performance]]
**[http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Performance XO Software Performance]
**[http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Sugar_Performance Sugar Performance]
*[[EducationTeam]]

====Tidbits about me====
*I'm working as a software consultant/engineer in Indianapolis, IN
*I have a BS in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Purdue University
*I'm a G1G1 participant

Help:Editing

2008-09-17T03:37:05Z

Ridderman: setting up redirect in order to fix link to editing help when you are editing a page

#REDIRECT [[Help:Formatting]]

User:Ridderman

2008-09-17T03:28:43Z

Ridderman:

===Nate Ridderman===
Welcome to my user page

====Specific Interests in Sugar/OLPC====
coming soon...

====Tidbits about me====
*I'm working as a software consultant/engineer in Indianapolis, IN
*I have a BS in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Purdue University
*I'm a G1G1 participant

Request New Features

2008-05-22T21:02:48Z

Ridderman: respond to Sugar Control Panel

== Please describe new feature requests here ==

=== Sugarize Firefox ===

It would be greatly appreciated if someone can develop a Sugarized version of Firefox! I don't think the collaboration tools are necessary (since the built in browser already does this), but people keep bringing it up as an issue why they don't like Sugar. Help, someone! That, or add tabs to the browse activity and a better Bookmarking mechanism.

* I use a "sugar coated" version of SeaMonkey; which is a full suite (browser, email, etc). Might Seamonkey be a better option due to its (as I understand) smaller footprint & greate number of options? -- [[User:AuntiMame]] 22 May 2008 16:05

* The Sugar Browser is actually based on the Firefox guts (xulrunner), but the UI has been developed for Sugar. You can find more details [http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Browse#Summary here.] There have been many requests, like yours, to improve it by supporting more features that "normal" browsers have. I agree that tabs and bookmarks would be welcome additions and useful for children. -- [[User:Ridderman|Ridderman]] 20:53, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

=== Sugar Control Panel ===

I would like to see a GUI control panel... I am discovering new features to customize through terminal, however, a lot of them could be easily accessible through a simple control panel GUI. I think this would help newer users a great deal.

<ol>
*Date, Time & Timezone
*Language
*User Accounts
*WiFi settings
*Jabber server(s) - ability to input multiple servers for different user groups (schools, cities, countries, etc.).
*Add/Remove Programs
*System Updates
*Desktop GUI settings
*What else?
</ol>

:This is a great idea, and it's actually already being developed. You can find more details [http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Sugar_Control_Panel#GUI_for_the_command_line_tool_.28work_in_progress.29 here] or in the sugar mailing lists. I'm not sure whether this will be available for the next Sucrose release, 0.82. -- [[User:Ridderman|Ridderman]] 21:02, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

=== Chat (Jabber) ===

Ability to add multiple Jabber servers (connect with functionality detailed above) and switch between them in the chat program.

:From Wiki:

:But what if you wish to connect to one of several jabber servers because you belong to several communities/SIGs? I can live with one-at-a-time, but it would be wonderful if I could pick from a list I've created. Or at least a list of jabber servers I've previously connected to. How about a syntax for "choice <n> from file <x>" and "show me choices in file <x>"? -- davewa

=== Browse ===

I cannot copy a link, I can't save a jpg, the Sugar OS changes the filename of a file which it does not recognise, the directory system is hidden, there is no predictive text when typing URL's or usernames, there's no tabbed browsing, there's no cookie, proxy or popup control.

(Developers: please continue to file feature requests in the [http://dev.laptop.org Trac system].)

[[Category:General public]]

Request New Features

2008-05-22T20:53:01Z

Ridderman: respond to Firefox comment

== Please describe new feature requests here ==

=== Sugarize Firefox ===

It would be greatly appreciated if someone can develop a Sugarized version of Firefox! I don't think the collaboration tools are necessary (since the built in browser already does this), but people keep bringing it up as an issue why they don't like Sugar. Help, someone! That, or add tabs to the browse activity and a better Bookmarking mechanism.

* I use a "sugar coated" version of SeaMonkey; which is a full suite (browser, email, etc). Might Seamonkey be a better option due to its (as I understand) smaller footprint & greate number of options? -- [[User:AuntiMame]] 22 May 2008 16:05

* The Sugar Browser is actually based on the Firefox guts (xulrunner), but the UI has been developed for Sugar. You can find more details [http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Browse#Summary here.] There have been many requests, like yours, to improve it by supporting more features that "normal" browsers have. I agree that tabs and bookmarks would be welcome additions and useful for children. -- [[User:Ridderman|Ridderman]] 20:53, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

=== Sugar Control Panel ===

I would like to see a GUI control panel... I am discovering new features to customize through terminal, however, a lot of them could be easily accessible through a simple control panel GUI. I think this would help newer users a great deal.

<ol>
*Date, Time & Timezone
*Language
*User Accounts
*WiFi settings
*Jabber server(s) - ability to input multiple servers for different user groups (schools, cities, countries, etc.).
*Add/Remove Programs
*System Updates
*Desktop GUI settings
*What else?
</ol>

=== Chat (Jabber) ===

Ability to add multiple Jabber servers (connect with functionality detailed above) and switch between them in the chat program.

:From Wiki:

:But what if you wish to connect to one of several jabber servers because you belong to several communities/SIGs? I can live with one-at-a-time, but it would be wonderful if I could pick from a list I've created. Or at least a list of jabber servers I've previously connected to. How about a syntax for "choice <n> from file <x>" and "show me choices in file <x>"? -- davewa

=== Browse ===

I cannot copy a link, I can't save a jpg, the Sugar OS changes the filename of a file which it does not recognise, the directory system is hidden, there is no predictive text when typing URL's or usernames, there's no tabbed browsing, there's no cookie, proxy or popup control.

(Developers: please continue to file feature requests in the [http://dev.laptop.org Trac system].)

[[Category:General public]]

Getting Started

2008-05-22T20:24:05Z

Ridderman:

== About Sugar ==

Sugar is a different desktop environment to what is normally used in Microsoft Windows, Apple's OS X or other Linux operating systems. It is conceived as a tool to allow kids to learn interactively. The first thing that a child sees, therefore, is not a hard disk or a trash can — it’s the other kids in the “neighborhood.” Programs and Applications are called Activities, many of which allow for collaboration between users who are connected to each other by Wifi or through a [http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/SugarLabs:Community_Portal#Jabber_Networks Jabber network]. Sugar developers are encouraged to write activities with collaborative elements that are automatically enabled.

Sugar is developed in Python and runs on Linux Kernel 2.6.22 and the [http://fedoraproject.org/ Fedora 7] base environment.

==Getting started==

You can explore the Sugar interface in the XO-1 [http://laptop.org/en/laptop/start/homeview.shtml Getting Started guide].

===Connecting to the Internet===

Connecting to the Internet is something that somewhat falls between the cracks of Sugar and the computer it's running on.

On the XO laptop, there are three ways to connect to the Internet:
*Wireless access point (WiFi hotspot);
*“School Server” mesh network; or
*“simple” mesh network, which lets you collaborate directly with other XOs running Sugar.

From a conventional laptop running Sugar, connecting through an access point works. (Mesh support is becoming available on more machines.) Depending upon which [[SugarLabs:Community_Portal#Jabber_Networks|Jabber server]] you are connected to, you'll see different collections of "neighbors" in the Neighborhood View.

Read the [[Connecting To The Internet|Connecting to the Internet page]] for detailed instructions.

[[Category:General public]]

Supported systems

2008-05-20T22:08:04Z

Ridderman:

==A matrix of Sugar "solutions"==

===STARCH===
{|border=1
|+ '''A complete disk image for Sugar'''
|-
!Name
!Sugar Version
!Tested
!Notes
|-
|[http://wiki.laptop.org/go/LiveBackup_XO-LiveCD LiveBackup XO-LiveCD]
|0.75.13-1
|Yes
|This is a Live CD of the OLPC system
|}

===SUCROSE===
{|border=1
|+ '''The interface, plus a set of demonstration activities'''
|-
!Sugar Version
!Tested
!Notes
|}

===GLUCOSE===
{|border=1
|+ '''The base Sugar environment'''
|-
!Operating System
!Version
!Sugar Version
!Tested
!Notes
|-
|Fedora
|9
|
|
|
|-
|Ubuntu
|8.04 (Hardy)
|0.79.0-0ubuntu3
|Yes
|See details on the [http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Sugar_on_Ubuntu_Linux#Option_3_-_Offical_Deb_Packages_for_Hardy_LTS OLPC Wiki]
|}

===SYSTEMS===
{|border=1
|+ '''Complete Sugar Solutions'''
|-
!Manufacturer
!Model
!Operating System
!Tested
!Notes
|-
| [http://www.laptop.org OLPC]
| XO-1
| Fedora-7
| Yes
| Standard distribution
|-
| [http://www.asus.com ASUSTeK]
| Eee PC
|
| In initial testing phase
|
|}

User:Ridderman

2008-05-20T21:57:32Z

Ridderman:

==Nate Ridderman==
I'm an Electrical/Computer Engineer by trade who is very interested in OLPC and Sugar. I'm currently residing in Chicago, IL but I'll be moving to Indianapolis, IN soon. I'm also a G1G1 participant.

Taxonomy

2008-05-19T02:47:39Z

Ridderman:

Benjamin M. Schwartz has proposed a taxonomy for the various Sugar components to remedy an ongoing naming problem.

"I think Sugar has a naming problem. There are a lot of different digital
objects being produced by this project, and referring to all of them as
Sugar is becoming increasingly confusing. For example, the discussion
about "Sugar on Windows" has been all but incomprehensible, because each
author means something entirely different by the term "Sugar". Similarly,
the recent proposals for "inclusion in Sugar" are extremely confusing,
since these components will not be required to run Sugar.

"To resolve this, I am going to attempt to list a number of important,
distinct digital objects that this work has produced. I will also
introduce cutesy codenames. I hope that the Sugar developers will adopt a
clear set of distinct names, and I do not care if they choose these names
or other names."

==Sweet: The abstract design of the interface==

''(the taste of sugar)''

Description: "Sweet" is the abstract design of the interface's appearance
and behavior, independent of any code actually implementing this style.
The mockups at http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Designs represent this
component's second major release, or perhaps 2.0-alpha.

==Glucose: The base Sugar environment==

''(the fundamental, simple sugar used by all life forms)''

Description: Glucose is the minimal system that must be added to a
standard Linux distribution in order to enable Activities to run. This
includes all the python code and graphics files that implement the shell,
as well as the Journal. Glucose's dependencies may include xorg-server,
xulrunner, squeakvm, rainbow, etc. Some of these dependencies may be
marked optional by distributions. Glucose does not include any Activities
except those like the Journal that are non-optional.

==Fructose: A set of demonstration activities==

''(the main sugar in fruit, which is how we're supposed to get our sugar)''

Description: The Sugar developers will need some example set of
activities with which to demonstrate Sugar. This set is Fructose. The
packages in Fructose should be selected to make the resulting environment
as impressive as possible for a potential client or user. Packages should
therefore be stable, polished, and exercise the widest possible range of
features. Fructose may also serve as an example for people constructing
their own Activity sets.

==Sucrose: The interface, plus a set of demonstration activities==

''("table sugar", the kind you buy in the store. It consists of glucose and fructose, combined)''

Description: Sucrose consists of both Glucose and Fructose. It therefore
represents a complete example Sugar environment, ready to be installed
through a package manager. The purpose of Sucrose is so that prospective
deployers can install the "sugar-sucrose" package, and immediately say
"Wow! Look at all the cool capabilities that this system has!".

==Ribose: The base Linux distribution being used by Sugar==

''(the sugar used by all lifeforms to control their hardware, in the form of RNA. It's important, but not sweet)''

Description: Ribose is the set of hardware-centric software components
that have been developed throughout this project. It includes the XO
kernels, OHM, any init-script customizations, etc. Ribose should be
construed as including all components necessary to boot the system, enough
to install Glucose if it has not yet been installed.

==Starch(es): A complete disk image for Sugar==

''(starch is composed of multiple sugars bonded together)''

Description: We often distribute complete disk images for Sugar, ready to
boot. These images are composed of multiple elements of the above stack.
~ For example, the current Joyride images are composed of Ribose (the
non-graphical work) and Glucose (the shell) but not Fructose (the activity
package). Each image series should be named separately, to minimize
confusion. For cutesy codenames, we could have a development build
("glycogen", a starch used to produce Glucose) and a stable build
("cellulose", an extremely stable starch).

== The SUGAR stack: block diagram view==

+---------------------------------------------------------------+
| SWEET: The abstract design of the interface |
| |
+---------------------------------------------------------------+

+---------------------------------------------------------------+
| STARCH: A complete disk image for Sugar |
| |
| +---------------------------------------------------------+ |
| | SUCROSE: The interface, plus a set | |
| | of demonstration activities | |
| | | |
| | +------------------------------+ +--------------------+ | |
| | | FRUCTOSE: A set of demo | | | | |
| | | activities | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | +------------------------------+ | | | |
| | +--------------------------------+ | | |
| | | GLUCOSE: The base Sugar environment | | |
| | | | | |
| | +-----------------------------------------------------+ | |
| +---------------------------------------------------------+ |
| |
| +--------------------------------------------------------+ |
| | OPERATING SYSTEM +-----------------+ | |
| | | RIBOSE | | |
| | | | | |
| | +-----------------+ | |
| +--------------------------------------------------------+ |
+---------------------------------------------------------------+

+---------------------------------------------------------------+
| HARDWARE |
| |
+---------------------------------------------------------------+

Note: See discussion for details about the OS/Ribose stacking

Current implementations of Sugar elements can be found at [[Supported_systems]]

==deepening the concept==
===Lead acetate: An implementation of Sweet on Windows===

''(often called '''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_of_lead sugar of lead]''', lead acetate tastes better than sugar but isn't good for children)''

Description: "Lead acetate" is the proposed implementation
of Sweet on Windows XP. Lead acetate may provide better performance
than Glucose, but it is obsolete and
[http://www.healthychildrenproject.org/pdf/PPLEAD.pdf toxic to young brains].
It causes learning disability, behavioral tendencies
toward violence, and even brain damage.

:I know this is tongue-in-cheek, but how about [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspartame_controversy aspartame] - once thought better than sugar, but possibly connected with brain tumors... --[[User:Morgs|Morgs]] 11:44, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

===Honey: activities developed by 'in the wild' vendors===

''a sweet fluid made by bees, mostly Fructose''

Description: Activities that are packaged by outside developers, sometimes ports of activities to Sugar from other OS. It might enhance Sugar and the Sweet experience, but "honey frequently contains dormant endospores of the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, which can be dangerous to infants" [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey Wikipedia].
~ For example, Skype, printer capability, IM software
: as a former beekeeper I can tell you that not all honey is organic, though we all wish it were so (antibiotics taint a lot of it, especially in developing countries) [[User:Yamaplos|Yamaplos]] 15:04, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

===One-liners===
''So you're saying Sugar is now suite? ''
Kevin Cole

''Caramel: a "feature freeze" on Sucrose''

''Diabetic OS: an OS that cannot handle Sugar yet''
Yama Ploskonka

''Molasses: a beta, unfinished release of Sugar''

Supported systems

2008-05-19T02:35:11Z

Ridderman:

==A matrix of Sugar "solutions"==

===STARCH===
{|border=1
|+ '''A complete disk image for Sugar'''
|-
!Name
!Sugar Version
!Tested
!Notes
|-
|[http://wiki.laptop.org/go/LiveBackup_XO-LiveCD LiveBackup XO-LiveCD]
|
|Yes
|This is a Live CD of the OLPC system
|}

===SUCROSE===
{|border=1
|+ '''The interface, plus a set of demonstration activities'''
|-
!Sugar Version
!Tested
!Notes
|}

===GLUCOSE===
{|border=1
|+ '''The base Sugar environment'''
|-
!Operating System
!Version
!Sugar Version
!Tested
!Notes
|-
|Fedora
|9
|
|
|
|-
|Ubuntu
|8.04 (Hardy)
|0.79.0-0ubuntu3
|Yes
|See details on the [http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Sugar_on_Ubuntu_Linux#Option_3_-_Offical_Deb_Packages_for_Hardy_LTS OLPC Wiki]
|}

===SYSTEMS===
{|border=1
|+ '''Complete Sugar Solutions'''
|-
!Manufacturer
!Model
!Operating System
!Tested
!Notes
|-
| [http://www.laptop.org OLPC]
| XO-1
| Fedora-7
| Yes
| Standard distribution
|-
| [http://www.asus.com ASUSTeK]
| Eee PC
|
| In initial testing phase
|
|}

Supported systems

2008-05-19T02:33:03Z

Ridderman: added LiveBackup XO-LiveCD to starches

==A matrix of Sugar "solutions"==

===STARCH===
{|border=1
|+ '''A complete disk image for Sugar'''
|-
!Sugar Version
!Tested
!Notes
|-
|[http://wiki.laptop.org/go/LiveBackup_XO-LiveCD LiveBackup XO-LiveCD]
|Yes
|This is a Live CD of the OLPC system
|}

===SUCROSE===
{|border=1
|+ '''The interface, plus a set of demonstration activities'''
|-
!Sugar Version
!Tested
!Notes
|}

===GLUCOSE===
{|border=1
|+ '''The base Sugar environment'''
|-
!Operating System
!Version
!Sugar Version
!Tested
!Notes
|-
|Fedora
|9
|
|
|
|-
|Ubuntu
|8.04 (Hardy)
|0.79.0-0ubuntu3
|Yes
|See details on the [http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Sugar_on_Ubuntu_Linux#Option_3_-_Offical_Deb_Packages_for_Hardy_LTS OLPC Wiki]
|}

===SYSTEMS===
{|border=1
|+ '''Complete Sugar Solutions'''
|-
!Manufacturer
!Model
!Operating System
!Tested
!Notes
|-
| [http://www.laptop.org OLPC]
| XO-1
| Fedora-7
| Yes
| Standard distribution
|-
| [http://www.asus.com ASUSTeK]
| Eee PC
|
| In initial testing phase
|
|}

Supported systems

2008-05-19T02:16:18Z

Ridderman:

==A matrix of Sugar "solutions"==

===STARCH===
{|border=1
|+ '''A complete disk image for Sugar'''
|-
!Sugar Version
!Tested
!Notes
|}

===SUCROSE===
{|border=1
|+ '''The interface, plus a set of demonstration activities'''
|-
!Sugar Version
!Tested
!Notes
|}

===GLUCOSE===
{|border=1
|+ '''The base Sugar environment'''
|-
!Operating System
!Version
!Sugar Version
!Tested
!Notes
|-
|Fedora
|9
|
|
|
|-
|Ubuntu
|8.04 (Hardy)
|0.79.0-0ubuntu3
|Yes
|See details on OLPC wiki [[http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Sugar_on_Ubuntu_Linux#Option_3_-_Offical_Deb_Packages_for_Hardy_LTS]]
|}

===SYSTEMS===
{|border=1
|+ '''Complete Sugar Solutions'''
|-
!Manufacturer
!Model
!Operating System
!Tested
!Notes
|-
| [http://www.laptop.org OLPC]
| XO-1
| Fedora-7
| Yes
| Standard distribution
|-
| [http://www.asus.com ASUSTeK]
| Eee PC
|
| In initial testing phase
|
|}

User:Ridderman

2008-05-19T02:10:17Z

Ridderman: New page: ==Nate Ridderman== I'm an Electrical/Computer Engineer by trade who is very interested in OLPC and Sugar. I'm currently residing in Chicago, IL but I'll be moving to Indianapolis, IN soon.

==Nate Ridderman==
I'm an Electrical/Computer Engineer by trade who is very interested in OLPC and Sugar. I'm currently residing in Chicago, IL but I'll be moving to Indianapolis, IN soon.

Talk:Sugar

2008-05-19T02:06:20Z

Ridderman:

Should [[What is Sugar?]] redirect to here instead of vice-versa? Does it make sense to have two separate pages? -- [[User:Ridderman|Ridderman]]

Talk:Sugar

2008-05-19T02:04:18Z

Ridderman: New page: Should What is Sugar? redirect to here instead of vice-versa? Does it make sense to have two separate pages?

Should [[What is Sugar?]] redirect to here instead of vice-versa? Does it make sense to have two separate pages?

0.82/Roadmap

2008-05-18T21:10:23Z

Ridderman: trac ticket query: datastore component was searched twice

== Sucrose Development ==

Sucrose 0.81.x is an unstable development series intended for testing and
development purposes. Sucrose uses odd minor version numbers to indicate
development status, so this unstable 0.81.x series will eventually become
the 0.82 stable release.

== Schedule ==

{| cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" border="1"
!Date
!Task
!Notes
|-
|May 8 2008
|Development start
|New features proposal
|-
|May 21
|Sucrose 0.81.1 Tarballs Due
|
|-
|May 22
|Sucrose 0.81.1 Development Release
|
|-
|June 5
|Sucrose 0.81.2 Tarballs Due
|
|-
|June 6
|Sucrose 0.81.2 Development Release
|
|-
|June 19
|Sucrose 0.81.3 Tarballs Due
|
|-
|June 20
|Sucrose 0.82 Beta 1 (0.81.3)
|Feature, ABI, String freeze
|-
|July 7
|Sucrose 0.81.4 Tarballs Due
|
|-
|July 8
|Sucrose 0.82 Beta 2 (0.81.4)
|
|-
|July 21
|Sucrose 0.81.5 Tarballs Due
|
|-
|July 22
|Sucrose 0.82 Release Candidate 1 (0.81.5)
|
|-
|July 31
|Sucrose 0.81.6 Tarballs Due
|
|-
|August 1
|Sucrose 0.82 Release Candidate 2 (0.81.6)
|Hard Code Freeze
|-
|August 7
|Sucrose 0.82 Tarballs Due
|
|-
|August 8
|Sucrose 0.82 Final Release!
|
|}

== Glucose Modules ==

* [[Modules#sugar|sugar]]
* [[Modules#sugar-base|sugar-base]]
* [[Modules#sugar-datastore|sugar-datastore]]
* [[Modules#sugar-presence-service|sugar-presence-service]]
* [[Modules#sugar-toolkit|sugar-toolkit]]
* [[Modules#sugar-artwork|sugar-artwork]]
* [[Modules#journal-activity|journal-activity]]

== Proposed Fructose Modules ==
* [[Modules#chat-activity|chat-activity]]
* [[Modules#web-activity|web-activity]]
* [[Modules#read-activity|read-activity]]
* [[Modules#log-activity|log-activity]]
* [[Modules#write-activity|write-activity]]
* [[Modules#calculate-activity|calculate-activity]]
* [[Modules#terminal-activity|terminal-activity]]
* [[Modules#tamtam-activity|tamtam-activity]]
* [[Modules#develop-activity|develop-activity]]
* [[Modules#pippy-activity|pippy-activity]]
* [[Modules#etoys-activity|etoys-activity]]

== Glucose Dependencies ==

* hippo-canvas
* telepathy-glib
* telepathy-gabble
* telepathy-salut
* telepathy-python

== Tickets ==

* [http://dev.laptop.org/query?status=assigned&status=new&status=reopened&component=sugar&component=datastore&component=presence-service&component=journal-activity&order=priority&milestone=Update.2&col=id&col=summary&col=status&col=owner&col=type&col=priority&col=keywords Glucose tickets] on laptop.org

== New features ==

[[Category:Developer]]

Sugar Labs/Announcing Sugar Labs

2008-05-15T00:31:33Z

Ridderman:

{{draft}}

'''SUGAR LABS''' (DRAFT 0.2)

'''New foundation focused on taking the Sugar user interface to the next level of usability and utility'''

Cambridge, Mass., May 14, 2008 – Sugar Labs is being established to further extend Sugar, the highly acclaimed “learn learning” software platform that was originally developed for the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) XO laptop. Sugar is the core of the XO laptop's human-computer interface; it provides a fun, easy to use, social experience that promotes sharing and learning. Sugar Labs will focus on providing a software ecosystem that enhances learning on the XO laptop and laptops built and distributed by other laptop companies, such as the ASUS Eee PC. Independence from OLPC means it will be easier to work with other vendors and consequently reach more children.

Sugar Labs will take a proven learning concept to the next level of refinement, stability and cohesiveness. It will be a unifying catalyst for free and open source learning systems across multiple distribution and hardware platforms and will provide a support structure for a community of developers concerned with learning and support for the learners themselves. The Sugar platform has already been bundled with the most recent release of the Ubuntu and Fedora GNU/Linux distributions.

Walter Bender, former president of software and content at OLPC, is helping to launch Sugar Labs, working closely with the developers and community members from around the world who have played the lead roles in the development of the Sugar UI. Prior to OLPC, Bender was executive director and a founding member of the Media Lab at MIT. He has participated in much of the pioneering research in the field of electronic publishing and personalized, interactive multimedia.

In order to provide a rich learning experience to as many of the world’s children as possible, it is critical to not just provide computers to children, but to ensure that the software that runs on the computers maximizes the potential for engaging in activities that promote learning: exploration, expression, and collaboration. By being independent of any specific hardware platform and by remaining dedicated to the principles of free and open source software, Sugar Labs ensures that others can develop diverse interfaces and applications for governments and schools to choose from. An independent Sugar Labs ensures that the community can continue the development of a highly innovative interface that is already engaging children in learning in more than two-dozen countries worldwide.

“This is a very exciting time in the development of software for children’s education,” said Walter Bender. “In the first generation of the Sugar UI, the open source community has demonstrated an exceptional ability to create a platform that enables children to explore the world, share their discoveries and express themselves. As a separate foundation, we will be able to advance Sugar’s development even further and make it available on multiple distribution and hardware platforms.”

Many of the core Sugar developers are participating in the launch, including Marco Pesenti Gritti of Red Hat, Bert Freudenberg of Viewpoints Research Institute, Simon Schampijer and Tomeu Vizoso.

Bert Freudenberg, lead developer of the Etoys activity, commented, “Expanding Sugar to more hardware platforms gives a great boost to all developers of educational software. Sugar is the first system specifically aimed at helping children to learn while supporting a rich variety of contributed applications. As third-party developers, my colleagues at Viewpoints Research Institute look forward to a great relationship with Sugar Labs.”

“Sugar has been brought to maturity by OLPC and a relatively small team of community supporters,” said Tomeu Vizoso. “The time has come for Sugar's potential as a global education project to be untapped; the creation of the Sugar Labs is the next step expanding upon a project where people from all around the world can contribute to improving education, with the assurance that their efforts will be of benefit to everyone.”

----

Media Contact:

press@sugarlabs.com

Sugar Labs/Announcing Sugar Labs

2008-05-15T00:17:18Z

Ridderman:

{{draft}}

'''SUGAR LABS''' (DRAFT 0.2)

'''New foundation focused on taking the Sugar user interface to the next level of usability and utility'''

Cambridge, Mass., May 14, 2008 – Sugar Labs is being established to further extend Sugar, the highly acclaimed “learn learning” software platform that was originally developed for the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) XO laptop. Sugar is the core of the XO laptop's human-computer interface; it provides a fun, easy to use, social experience that promotes sharing and learning. Sugar Labs will focus on providing a software ecosystem that enhances the learning on the XO laptop and laptops built and distributed by other laptop companies, such as the ASUS EEE. Independence from OLPC means it will be easier to work with other vendors and consequently reach more children.

Sugar Labs will take a proven learning concept to the next level of refinement, stability and unity. It will be a unifying catalyst for free and open source learning systems across multiple distribution and hardware platforms and will provide a support structure for a community of developers concerned with learning and support for the learners themselves. The Sugar platform has already been bundled with the most recent release of the Ubuntu and Fedora GNU/Linux distributions.

Walter Bender, former president of software and content at OLPC, is helping to launch Sugar Labs, working closely with the developers and community members from around the world who have played the lead roles in the development of the Sugar UI. Prior to OLPC, Bender was executive director and a founding member of the Media Lab at MIT. He has participated in much of the pioneering research in the field of electronic publishing and personalized, interactive multimedia.

In order to provide a rich learning experience to as many of the world’s children as possible, it is critical to not just provide computers to children, but to ensure that the software that runs on the computers maximizes the potential for engaging in activities that promote learning: exploration, expression, and collaboration. By being independent of any specific hardware platform and by remaining dedicated to the principles of free and open source software, Sugar Labs ensures that others can develop diverse interfaces and applications for governments and schools to choose from. An independent Sugar Labs ensures that the community can continue the development of a highly innovative interface that is already engaging children in learning in more than two-dozen countries worldwide.

“This is a very exciting time in the development of software for children’s education,” said Walter Bender. “In the first generation of the Sugar UI, the open source community has demonstrated an exceptional ability to create a platform that enables children to explore the world, share their discoveries and express themselves. As a separate foundation, we will be able to advance Sugar’s development even further and make it available on multiple distribution and hardware platforms.”

Many of the core Sugar developers are participating in the launch, including Marco Pesenti Gritti of Red Hat, Bert Freudenberg of Viewpoints Research Institute, Simon Schampijer and Tomeu Vizoso.

Bert Freudenberg, lead developer of the Etoys activity, commented, “Expanding Sugar to more hardware platforms gives a great boost to all developers of educational software. Sugar is the first system specifically aimed at helping children to learn while supporting a rich variety of contributed applications. As third-party developers, my colleagues at Viewpoints Research Institute look forward to a great relationship with Sugar Labs.”

“Sugar has been brought to maturity by OLPC and a relatively small team of community supporters,” said Tomeu Vizoso. “The time has come for Sugar's potential as a global education project to be untapped; the creation of the Sugar Labs is the next step expanding upon a project where people from all around the world can contribute to improving education, with the assurance that their efforts will be of benefit to everyone.”

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