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

'''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 open source “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.

Cambridge, Mass., May 15, 2008 – Sugar Labs is being established to further extend Sugar, the highly acclaimed open source “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. Consistent with the OLPC mission to provide opportunities for learning, an independent Sugar means it will be easier to work with other hardware 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.

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.

“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.”

“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, Bert Freudenberg, Simon Schampijer, Bernardo Innocenti and Tomeu Vizoso.

Many of the core Sugar developers are participating in the launch, including Marco Pesenti Gritti, Bert Freudenberg, Simon Schampijer, Bernardo Innocenti, Aaron Kaplan, Christoph Derndorfer, and Tomeu Vizoso.

Bert Freudenberg, one of the developers 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.”

Bert Freudenberg, one of the developers 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.”