|
|
| Line 7: |
Line 7: |
| | ===Sugar Digest === | | ===Sugar Digest === |
| | | | |
| − | 1. I'm back from an exhilarating weekend in Paris, where we celebrated the one-year anniversary of the founding of Sugar Labs: Saturday was the OLPC France meeting at La Cantine and Sunday was Sugar Camp at La Ruche—both venues a short walk from my cousin's flat near République. | + | 1. Between yesterday's announcement of a major new deployment in Australia (Sugar running on the OLPC XO-1) to a flurry of smaller-scale, grassroots Sugar on a Stick deployments to the pick-up of Sugar by most of the upstream Linux distributions to the growing volume of discussion about pedagogy on the mailing lists and in the chat rooms, it is readily apparent that Sugar and the Sugar community are growing in both size and stability. Thank you. |
| | | | |
| − | The OLPC France meeting, attended by about 50 people, gave us a chance to network with some old friends and colleagues and build some new connections that will further enhance the Sugar community. For example, Tomeu Vizoso, Bernie Innocenti, and I had a chance to spend time with Bruno Coudoin; we discussed various ways we can improve upon the GCompris integration into Sugar. It was also great to finally meet in person Sugar contributors such as Gary Martin, Sache Silbe, David Van Assche, and Marten Vijn. It was also great that Marco Presenti Gritti was able to attend. The day was broken up into a number of parallel workshops, with a overall focus on deployment needs. Many of us never left the coffee bar, where there was continuous conversation. Kudos to Bastien Guerry and Lionel Laske for organizing a great day at a great venue and bringing together such interesting people.
| + | 2. [[Sugar_Labs/Current_Events/lang-es Hablamos español.]] The Sugar Digest is being translated into Spanish. |
| | | | |
| − | About one half of the Saturday attendees came to Sugar Camp on Sunday. Sean Daly organized the day; he provided his flat for an urban camping experience for the attendees and found a great venue overlooking the canal on Quai de Jemmapes. We didn't have preset agenda topics, rather we spend the first hour using SCAMPER to expand our thinking about potential discussion topics (See [[Sugar_Labs/Current_Events/Archive/2009-05-11]]). From the four topics I had listed as a seed to the discussion, we generated almost 50 ideas. We then used a variant of PPCo to define four topics for the day, which we labeled: Sugar Roadmap, Packaging Sugar, Marketing Roadmap, and the School Experience. Within each group, we iterated upon the process to generate working groups that would be tasked with coming up with tasks and deliverables. (I'll be posting the meeting notes as soon as the group secretaries send them my way.)
| + | ===Help Wanted=== |
| − | | |
| − | There have been several postings regarding Sugar Camp from the perspectives of the various attendees, e.g., [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/iaep/2009-May/005730.html David Farning's] and [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/marketing/2009-May/001009.html Sean's] posts. There was very positive feedback regarding the creativity process—we stretched ourselves and enriched the discussion as a result. And of course, it was great to spend time together. The downside was that we were not at all successful in engaging the on-line community in the process—in part due to technical difficulties (a flaky network) and in part by not have a good sense of how to do it. This is something we should work on in advance of the next gathering, which will likely be at LinuxTag in Berlin. Another downside was that we really could have used another day or two to go into more depth on some topics, particularly technical themes. A codefest as a follow-up to the weekend would have been ideal.
| |
| − | | |
| − | (There are photos from both days [http://www.flickr.com/search/?d=taken-20090515-&q=sugarcamp&m=text here] and [http://www.flickr.com/photos/50394334@N00/ here] and [http://www.codewiz.org/wiki/pictures/conf/Sugar_Camp_Paris_2009 here].)
| |
| − | | |
| − | 2. Tomeu, Marco, Bastian, and I formed one of the afternoon working groups. Our goal was to come up with some concrete suggestions regarding telling the Sugar story. We decided to start off with something pretty basic: the generation of more screencasts of Sugar from a wide variety of viewpoints, e.g., developers, teachers, students, etc. Both Chris Ball and the MediaMods team had written [http://dev.laptop.org/~cjb/screencast/Screencast-1.xo screencast activities] that would merit some TLC. Meanwhile, Bastian helped me get xvidcap running on my machine (an HP laptop running Ubuntu Jaunty) so that I could make videos from sugar_jhbuild:
| |
| | | | |
| − | sudo apt-get install xvidcap
| + | 3. But there is more to do. We especially need your Sugar stories to communicate both our successes and areas where we need to do better. Please add your blog to our [http://planet.sugarlabs.org/ planet] and your videos to our [http://www.dailymotion.com/sugarlabs Dailymotion channel]. |
| | | | |
| − | You can run xvidcap from within Sugar itself from the Terminal activity or, perhaps easier in the context of sugar_jhbuild, run it in parallel with Sugar.
| + | [[Sugar_Labs/Getting_Involved|Other ways to get involved]] are described in the wiki. |
| | | | |
| − | I made [http://www.dailymotion.com/sugarlabs/video/15676869 a test video] of the xo-color activity and posted the results to dailymotion.com with tags such as "Sugar" and "activity". I plan on creating a wide range of videos, showing everything from running activities to installing them to debugging them. Let's try to flood Dailymotion with great Sugar stories. (BTW, Dailymotion will automatically convert videos to OGG so that they will run within Sugar without the need for proprietary codecs.) Sebastien Adgnot has already set up [http://olpc.dailymotion.com an OLPC channel] and will make a Sugar channel available as well.
| + | 4. David Van Assche suggested that "it would be nice if we had an activitiy matrix that showed the stages of projects." Gary Martin pointed out that the Activity Team has "been making contact with past authors, slowly, slowly we're moving along even if it means adopting extra activities ourselves." It would be great to accelerate this process as there is growing demand for Sugar activities. Please contact the Activity Team if you are interested in adopting an orphaned activity. |
| | | | |
| − | ===Help Wanted===
| + | 5. Marten Vihn has begun setting up some [[Mirrors|mirrors for Sugar Labs]]. |
| | | | |
| − | 3. We need your Sugar stories.
| + | 6. We are looking for help in the continued development of Sugarbot (See [http://code.google.com/p/sugarbot/wiki/HowDoesSugarbotWork]). Contact Bernie Innocenti if you are interested in getting involved. |
| | | | |
| | ===In the community=== | | ===In the community=== |
| | | | |
| − | 4. The next [http://ceibaljam.org Ceibal Jam] in Uruguay will be in two weeks (30 May and 6 June at the University of Montevideo). Programmers are invited, but also designers, educators, artists, and anyone who wants work in the design, content, programming and testing of new activities or the improvement of existing activities. Who is coming from Sugar Labs?
| + | 7. Inspired by the Paris Sugar Camp, Marten would like to make place for OLPC/Sugar at [http://opencommunitycamp.org OpenCommunityCamp]. The Camp will be held from 26 July through 2 August in the Netherlands (near Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam). |
| | + | |
| | + | ===Tech Talk=== |
| | | | |
| − | ===Tech Talk===
| + | 8. Sebastian Dziallas has created a new [http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/snapshots/2/Soas2-200905241902.iso Sugar-on-a-Stick snapshot] for you. It incorporates the latest packages from the upcoming F11 release as well as some additional activities. |
| | | | |
| − | 5. Chris Ball announced on behalf of OLPC that they have decided to base the software release for the new XO-1.5 laptop on Fedora 11. They plan to use a full Fedora desktop build, booting into Sugar but giving users the option to switch into a standard GNOME install instead. (The new machines will have 1GB of RAM and 4GB of flash, so we have enough room for both environments at once.)
| + | 9. Simon Schampijer is planning to iterate over the [[Development_Team/Release/Roadmap/0.86#Proposal_Goals|Sugar 0.86 Roadmap]] at this week's developers meeting (Thursday at 16:00 UTC). |
| | | | |
| − | 6. Chris also announced that Build 8.2.1-802 will be the final 8.2.1 Release for the OLPC XO-1 hardware (See [http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Release_notes/8.2.1 Release notes] and [http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Release_notes/8.2.1#Upgrade_instructions Instructions for upgrading to the 8.2.1 Release]).
| + | 10. Sayamindu Dasgupta has been "revisiting" the topic of replacing Matchbox with Metacity, a more standard window manager. He has created [http://people.sugarlabs.org/sayamindu/isos/Soas2-200905212052_sayamindu_metacity.iso an ISO image] in which Sugar uses an unmodified Metacity. The image also has the Gimp, xterm and gcalctool so that you can test how Metacity treats those applications normally, while Sugar activities still use the entire screen. |
| | | | |
| − | 7. James Simmons has offered some good advice regarding [http://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/iaep/2009-May/005663.html "Creating Your First Sugar Activity."]
| + | 11. Michael Stone reports "a small victory": he worked out [[Development_Team/Chroot|instructions]] that enabled him to run the Ubuntu Jaunty Sugar packages in a debootstrap chroot on my home machine. Michael's recommendation for a weekend project for someone: |
| | + | * make the instructions work on more platforms |
| | + | * figure out how to cache the downloads, e.g. with approx |
| | + | * bake his logic into a downloadable script or makefile |
| | | | |
| | ===Sugar Labs === | | ===Sugar Labs === |
| | | | |
| − | 8. Gary Martin has generated a SOM from the past week of discussion on the IAEP mailing list (Please see [[:Image:2009-May-som-9-15.jpg]]).
| + | 12. Gary Martin has generated a SOM from the past week of discussion on the IAEP mailing list (Please see [[Image:2009-May-16-22-som.jpg]]). |
| | + | |
| | | | |
| | === Community News archive === | | === Community News archive === |
What's new
This page is updated each week (usually on Monday morning) with notes from the Sugar Labs community. (The digest is also sent to the community-news at sugarlabs.org list and blogged at walterbender.org.) If you would like to contribute, please send email to walter at sugarlabs.org by the weekend. (Also visit planet.sugarlabs.org.)
Sugar Digest
1. Between yesterday's announcement of a major new deployment in Australia (Sugar running on the OLPC XO-1) to a flurry of smaller-scale, grassroots Sugar on a Stick deployments to the pick-up of Sugar by most of the upstream Linux distributions to the growing volume of discussion about pedagogy on the mailing lists and in the chat rooms, it is readily apparent that Sugar and the Sugar community are growing in both size and stability. Thank you.
2. Sugar_Labs/Current_Events/lang-es Hablamos español. The Sugar Digest is being translated into Spanish.
Help Wanted
3. But there is more to do. We especially need your Sugar stories to communicate both our successes and areas where we need to do better. Please add your blog to our planet and your videos to our Dailymotion channel.
Other ways to get involved are described in the wiki.
4. David Van Assche suggested that "it would be nice if we had an activitiy matrix that showed the stages of projects." Gary Martin pointed out that the Activity Team has "been making contact with past authors, slowly, slowly we're moving along even if it means adopting extra activities ourselves." It would be great to accelerate this process as there is growing demand for Sugar activities. Please contact the Activity Team if you are interested in adopting an orphaned activity.
5. Marten Vihn has begun setting up some mirrors for Sugar Labs.
6. We are looking for help in the continued development of Sugarbot (See [1]). Contact Bernie Innocenti if you are interested in getting involved.
7. Inspired by the Paris Sugar Camp, Marten would like to make place for OLPC/Sugar at OpenCommunityCamp. The Camp will be held from 26 July through 2 August in the Netherlands (near Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam).
Tech Talk
8. Sebastian Dziallas has created a new Sugar-on-a-Stick snapshot for you. It incorporates the latest packages from the upcoming F11 release as well as some additional activities.
9. Simon Schampijer is planning to iterate over the Sugar 0.86 Roadmap at this week's developers meeting (Thursday at 16:00 UTC).
10. Sayamindu Dasgupta has been "revisiting" the topic of replacing Matchbox with Metacity, a more standard window manager. He has created an ISO image in which Sugar uses an unmodified Metacity. The image also has the Gimp, xterm and gcalctool so that you can test how Metacity treats those applications normally, while Sugar activities still use the entire screen.
11. Michael Stone reports "a small victory": he worked out instructions that enabled him to run the Ubuntu Jaunty Sugar packages in a debootstrap chroot on my home machine. Michael's recommendation for a weekend project for someone:
- make the instructions work on more platforms
- figure out how to cache the downloads, e.g. with approx
- bake his logic into a downloadable script or makefile
Sugar Labs
12. Gary Martin has generated a SOM from the past week of discussion on the IAEP mailing list (Please see 
).
An archive of this digest is available.
Planet
The Sugar Labs Planet is found here.
Sugar in the news
| 29 Apr 2009 |
El Mercurio – Así se vivió la fiesta del software libre
|
| 27 Apr 2009 |
ostatic – Sugar on a Stick: Good for Kids' Minds (and School Budgets)
|
| 25 Apr 2009 |
Free Software Magazine – The Bittersweet Facts about OLPC and Sugar
|
| 24 Apr 2009 |
Ars Technica – First taste: Sugar on a Stick learning platform
|
| 22 Apr 2009 |
Betanews – Beta of Live USB Sugar OS opens
|
| 27 Mar 2009 |
Mass High Tech – Google promotes summer open-source internships
|
| 18 Mar 2009 |
Metropolis – A Good Argument
|
| 16 Mar 2009 |
Laptop Magazine – Sugar Labs’ New Version of Sugar Learning Platform Is Netbook and PC Ready
|
| 16 Mar 2009 |
Market Watch – Sugar Labs Nonprofit Announces New Version of Sugar Learning Platform for Children, Runs on Netbooks and PCs
|
| 14 Feb 2009 |
OLPC Learning Club – DC – Learning Learning on a Stick
|
| 05 Feb 2009 |
xconomy – Sugar Beyond the XO Laptop: Walter Bender on OLPC, Sucrose 0.84, and “Sugar on a Stick”
|
| 26 Jan 2009 |
Linus Magazine – Sugar Defies OLPC Cutbacks
|
| 19 Jan 2009 |
Feeding the Penguins – The status of Sugar, post-OLPC
|
| 16 Jan 2009 |
OLPC News – Sugar on Acer Aspire One & Thin Client via LTSP
|
| 12 Jan 2009 |
Bill Kerr – thoughts about olpc cutbacks
|
| 07 Jan 2009 |
Ars Technica – OLPC downsizes half of its staff, cuts Sugar development
|
| 06 Jan 2009 |
OLPC News – An Inside Look at how Microsoft got XP on the XO
|
| 30 Dec 2008 |
OLPC News – Sugar Labs Status at Six Months
|
| 22 Dec 2008 |
The GNOME Project – Sugar Labs, the nonprofit behind the OLPC software, is joining the GNOME Foundation
|
| 16 Dec 2008 |
Feeding the Penguins – Sugar git repository change
|
| 14 Dec 2008 |
NPR – Laptop Deal Links Rural Peru To Opportunity, Risk (Part 2)
|
| 13 Dec 2008 |
NPR – Laptops May Change The Way Rural Peru Learns (Part 1)
|
| 09 Dec 2008 |
SFC – Sugar Labs joins Conservancy
|
| 31 Oct 2008 |
Linux Devices – An OLPC dilemma: Linux or Windows?
|
| 10 Oct 2008 |
Feeding the Penguin – Sugar on Ubuntu
|
| 21 Sep 2008 |
Groklaw – Interview with Walter Bender of Sugar Labs
|
| 17 Sep 2008 |
Bill Kerr – Sugar Labs
|
| 16 Sep 2008 |
Open Source – Sugar everywhere
|
| 28 Aug 2008 |
OLPC News – An answer to Walter Bender's question 22
|
| 20 Aug 2008 |
OLPC News – Sugarize it: Intel Classmate 2
|
| 08 Aug 2008 |
Investor's Business Daily – 'Learning' Vs. Laptop Was Issue
|
| 06 Aug 2008 |
OLPC News – Twenty-three Questions on Technology and Education
|
| 18 Jul 2008 |
Bill Kerr – evaluating Sugar in the developed world
|
| 28 Jun 2008 |
OLPC News – A Cutting Edge Sugar User Interface Demo
|
| 18 Jun 2008 |
PC World – OLPC Spin-off Developing UI for Intel's Classmate PC
|
| 17 Jun 2008 |
Datamation – If Business Succeeds with GNU/Linux, Why Not OLPC?
|
| 11 Jun 2008 |
LinuxInsider – The Sweetness of Collaborative Learning
|
| 06 Jun 2008 |
Bill Kerr – untangling Free, Sugar, and Constructionism
|
| 06 Jun 2008 |
Open Education – Walter Bender Discusses Sugar Labs Foundation
|
| 06 Jun 2008 |
BusinessWeek – OLPC: The Educational Philosophy Controversy
|
| 05 Jun 2008 |
Code Culture – The Distraction Machine
|
| 05 Jun 2008 |
BusinessWeek – OLPC: The Open-Source Controversy
|
| 27 May 2008 |
The New York Times – Why Walter Bender Left One Laptop Per Child
|
| 26 May 2008 |
Ars Technica – OLPC software maker splits from X0 hardware, goes solo
|
| 22 May 2008 |
BetaNews – Linux start-up Sugar Labs in informal talks with four laptop makers
|
| 16 May 2008 |
OSTATIC – OLPC's Open Source Sugar Platform Aims for New Hardware
|
| 16 May 2008 |
PCWorld – Bender Forms Group to Promote OLPC's Sugar UI
|
| 16 May 2008 |
MHT – Bender jumps from OLPC, founds Sugar Labs
|
| 16 May 2008 |
News.com – Sugar Labs will make OLPC interface available for Eee PC, others
|
| 16 May 2008 |
Feeding the Peguins – The future of Sugar
|
| 16 May 2008 |
Sugar list – A few thoughts on SugarLabs
|
| 16 May 2008 |
xconomy – Bender Creates Sugar Labs—New Foundation to Adapt OLPC’s Laptop Interface for Other Machines
|
| 16 May 2008 |
BBC – '$100 laptop' platform moves on
|
| 15 May 2008 |
OLPC wiki – Dual-boot XO Claim: OLPC will not work to port Sugar to Windows.
|
| 16 May 2008 |
Softpedia – Bender Launches Sugar Labs for Better Development of OLPC's Sugar UI
|
Press releases
See our Press Page
).