Changes

1. There were some remarks made about Sugar by Nicholas Negroponte in ZDNET earlier this week that have caused a stir in the community. It is remarkable (to me) that there is still such confusion between operating systems (GNU/Linux) and user interfaces (Sugar) even in the minds of industry insiders. Rather than revisiting the SlashDot debate or the discussion on [http://lists.laptop.org/pipermail/devel/2009-July/025121.html devel@lists.laptop.org], I refer you to an article that María del Pilar Sáenz R. has written on [http://www.archive.org/download/SugarUsandoSoftwareLibreParaAprender/sugar.pdf Sugar and the use of Free Software].

1. There were some remarks made about Sugar by Nicholas Negroponte in ZDNET earlier this week that have caused a stir in the community. It is remarkable (to me) that there is still such confusion between operating systems (GNU/Linux) and user interfaces (Sugar) even in the minds of industry insiders. Rather than revisiting the SlashDot debate or the discussion on [http://lists.laptop.org/pipermail/devel/2009-July/025121.html devel@lists.laptop.org], I refer you to an article that María del Pilar Sáenz R. has written on [http://www.archive.org/download/SugarUsandoSoftwareLibreParaAprender/sugar.pdf Sugar and the use of Free Software].

I also recall one of my early experiences working with Nicholas in the 1970s. At the time, there was no widespread use of personal computers; at MIT, we mostly worked on the MULTICS  (Multiplexed Information and Computing Service) time-sharing operating system. Various labs had expensive computers, often leased or purchased as part of a government research grant; they took great care to monitor computer usage--every cycle was accounted for so that the appropriate research account could be billed. There was one lab on campus which did not monitor computer usage, the Architecture Machine Group. As I understood it, Nicholas did not think that charging for computer time was sympathetic with its creative use. As a consequence, ''anyone'' at MIT who had an idea that they wanted to explore would hang out at ArcMac. Access and freedom to explore and express led to a vibrant, inventive learning community.

I also recall one of my early experiences working with Nicholas in the 1970s. At the time, there was no widespread use of personal computers; at MIT, we mostly worked on the MULTICS  (Multiplexed Information and Computing Service) time-sharing operating system. Various labs had expensive computers, often leased or purchased as part of a government research grant; they took great care to monitor computer usage--every cycle was accounted for so that the appropriate research account could be billed. There was one lab on campus which did not monitor computer usage, the Architecture Machine Group. As I understood it, Nicholas did not think that charging for computer time was sympathetic with its creative use. As a consequence, ''anyone'' at MIT who had an idea that they wanted to explore would hang out at ArcMac. Then as now, access and freedom to explore and express lead to a vibrant, inventive learning community.

2. In the wow category, from Alan Kay: "[http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_405695.html Two girls, ages 8 and 4 win programming contest in Singapore]. Using that oddly unused in IAEP resource [Etoys] that just happens to be part of the Sugar distro."

2. In the wow category, from Alan Kay: "[http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_405695.html Two girls, ages 8 and 4 win programming contest in Singapore]. Using that oddly unused in IAEP resource [Etoys] that just happens to be part of the Sugar distro."