Difference between revisions of "Supported systems/Technical considerations"
| Line 2: | Line 2: | ||
There are a number of technical considerations for providing Sugar support. | There are a number of technical considerations for providing Sugar support. | ||
| − | == | + | ==Integration== |
Sugar is designed to be started as desktop option | Sugar is designed to be started as desktop option | ||
| Line 9: | Line 9: | ||
desktop" function if it is a requirement to ship multiple environments. | desktop" function if it is a requirement to ship multiple environments. | ||
| − | == | + | ==Applications== |
In order to provide a consistent environment, | In order to provide a consistent environment, | ||
| Line 21: | Line 21: | ||
a thin shell around Firefox's engine. | a thin shell around Firefox's engine. | ||
| − | == | + | ==Packaging== |
At this time, we have alpha-quality packages | At this time, we have alpha-quality packages | ||
| Line 29: | Line 29: | ||
done in collaboration; appropriate contacts within those communities would be necessary. | done in collaboration; appropriate contacts within those communities would be necessary. | ||
| − | == | + | ==Software stacks== |
Sugar is based on quite a different set | Sugar is based on quite a different set | ||
| Line 39: | Line 39: | ||
the footprint of Sugar should be reasonably small. | the footprint of Sugar should be reasonably small. | ||
| − | == | + | ==Vendor customization== |
Sugar is moving to become an upstream | Sugar is moving to become an upstream | ||
| Line 47: | Line 47: | ||
criteria. | criteria. | ||
| − | == | + | ==Engineering support== |
We are aware that Sugar still requires | We are aware that Sugar still requires | ||
| Line 57: | Line 57: | ||
faster. | faster. | ||
| − | == | + | ==Community involvement== |
We are in contact with several government | We are in contact with several government | ||
| Line 65: | Line 65: | ||
in this process. | in this process. | ||
| − | == | + | ==Content== |
We are also looking for localized open content. Industry partners | We are also looking for localized open content. Industry partners | ||
might be able to help here. | might be able to help here. | ||
| − | == | + | ==Design proposals== |
We'd appreciate feedback and marketing input | We'd appreciate feedback and marketing input | ||
Revision as of 18:13, 27 May 2008
There are a number of technical considerations for providing Sugar support.
Integration
Sugar is designed to be started as desktop option alongside Gnome and KDE rather than a plain "start menu" application. This means that we should consider a "switch desktop" function if it is a requirement to ship multiple environments.
Applications
In order to provide a consistent environment, Sugar activities need to implement a number of custom APIs to access documents and perform collaborative work over the network. There is some degree of interoperability with ordinary GNU/Linux applications (which needs improvement), but "sugarizing" software is really the only way to provide a nice user experience for little children. This doesn't imply duplicating all code: our Browse activity is really a thin shell around Firefox's engine.
Packaging
At this time, we have alpha-quality packages for Fedora, Debian and Ubuntu. Seamless integration would require additional packaging work, especially for the networking features. Packaging Sugar for other distributions would be done in collaboration; appropriate contacts within those communities would be necessary.
Software stacks
Sugar is based on quite a different set of components than the native PC desktop. Most code is written in Python and uses Cairo and GTK as its UI library. However, we also have a few activities written in C++, Small Talk and even C#, using disparate software stacks. If you are already supporting GTK based applications, the footprint of Sugar should be reasonably small.
Vendor customization
Sugar is moving to become an upstream project with respect to hardware and software distributors. We are glad to accept vendor-specific contributions back in our codebase, subject to peer review and a general usefulness criteria.
Engineering support
We are aware that Sugar still requires much more engineering work to polish the user interface, stabilize the codebase, and complete missing features. Since when we started the Sugarlabs project, we have already attracted a few fresh volunteers. But we'd appreciate hardware vendors (and others) assigning resources to work with us and make things happen faster.
Community involvement
We are in contact with several government organizations and grassroots groups which adopt laptops for primary education. They might want to run pilots using a variety of hardware in their respective countries. We are happy to assist in this process.
Content
We are also looking for localized open content. Industry partners might be able to help here.
Design proposals
We'd appreciate feedback and marketing input from hardware manufacturers (and others) to enhance our environment.