Difference between revisions of "Sugar Labs/Current Events"

Revision as of 14:45, 15 December 2009

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, blogged at walterbender.org, and archived here.) 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. Last Friday a team from Babson College presented a project report on their strategy for Sugar deployments in US schools. Natalia Grigoras, Wei Lin, and Anna Ivashko participated in a semester-long study of Sugar as part of a Management Consulting Field Experience course. Their mentor was George Lee.

The team undertook the tasks modeling the target audience, uncovering barriers, studying impact, and developing a strategy and recommendation for effectively implementing Sugar in US school systems. I had been working with them throughout the fall; Bernie, Dogi, Luke, Adam, and I attended their final presentation, which will soon be posted in the wiki.

Their methodology included secondary research into existing systems, funding models, etc. and primary research in the form of interviews with teachers, superintendent, technology specialist, etc.

Their findings include an analysis of Sugar’s strengths (breadth, flexibility, collaborative experience, focus on children) and shortcomings (need for extensive up-front training, lack of centralize support, reliability, and resistance to change). Their recommendation include:

more web-based support for educators and end-users;
standardized guidelines and training programs for teachers during their first exposure to Sugar; and
targeted marketing approach to superintendents and technology coordinators.

2. Tomeu Vizoso has been in Uruguay both attending the Ceibel 09 conference and meeting with teachers and the LATU engineering team. While we await his “trip report” (hint) an immediate consequence of his visit is more of a presence of .uy on the #sugar channel in IRC.

3. Tony Forster has created a great series of blog posts on creative uses of Turtle Art. He has couched these presentations within the context of a discussion of interactive multimedia and critical literacy in media.

4. The minutes of last week’s Sugar oversight-board meeting are available in the wiki. We tackled a number of issues, including several motions in regard to the outstanding questions that had been in front of the Sugar-on-a-stick decision panel. The discussion will continue this Friday, 18 December, at 15UTC (10EST) in #sugar-meeting on irc.freenode.net.

Tech Talk

5. Simon Schampijer’s work on systematizing th new feature process for Sugar development has led to a number of great discussions on IRC. Search for the tag [Feature] in the devel list.

Sugar Labs

6. Gary Martin has prepared a map of last week’s discussion on the Sugar IAEP mailing list (Please see SOM).

Community News archive

An archive of this digest is available.

Planet

The Sugar Labs Planet is found here.

Sugar in the news

10 Dec 2009	Ars Technica – Sugar software environment gets sweeter with version 2
09 Dec 2009	Wired – New Sugar on a Stick Brings Much Needed Improvements
08 Dec 2009	engadget – Sugar on a Stick OS goes to 2.0, gets Blueberry coating and creamy Fedora 12 center (video)
07 Dec 2009	Teleread.org – Sugar on a Stick: What it means for e-books and education
27 Nov 2009	CNET Japan – 「コードを見せて、もっと良くなるよ」と言える子どもが生まれる--Sugar Labsが描く未来
16 Nov 2009	zanichelli – software libero a scuola
12 Nov 2009	opensuse.org – openSUSE 11.2 Released
07 Nov 2009	My Broadband News – Mandriva 2010 packs a punch [and Sugar]
06 Nov 2009	GhanaWeb – Open education and an IT-enabled economic growth in Ghana: Musings of a dutiful citizen
09 Oct 2009	interdisciplines – OLPC and Sugar: mobility through the community
08 Oct 2009	IBM developerWorks – 10 important Linux developments everyone should know about
01 Oct 2009	OLPC France – Interview Walter Bender au SugarCamp
25 Sep 2009	The Inquirer – One Laptop per Child marches on
18 Sep 2009	Groklaw – The Role of Free Software in Education
18 Sep 2009	Reuters – Sugar Labs and Free Software Foundation Celebrate Software Freedom Day
17 Sep 2009	ICTDev.org – Dream Again with One Laptop per Child
26 Aug 2009	Latinux – Azúcar en una memoria USB
03 Aug 2009	Wired: Geek Dad – Inventing a New Paradigm: SugarLabs and the Sugar UI
30 Jul 2009	Zanichelli – Sugar on a Stick: imparare insieme
23 Jul 2009	Everything USB – RecycleUSB.com - Donate your Flash Drives for a Good Cause
22 Jul 2009	OLPC France – Sugar : mauvaise presse et mise au point
13 Jul 2009	Spiegel Online – Das zuckersüße Leichtbau-Linux
07 Jul 2009	ComputerWorldUK – Gran Canaria Desktop Summit: a Study in Contrasts
06 Jul 2009	Windows Forest – USBメモリなどから“OLPC”用のOSを利用できる「Sugar on a Stick」が無償公開
02 Jul 2009	Howard County Library – Sugar on a Stick
27 Jun 2009	Deutschlandfunk – Süßes für die Kleinen: Sugar ist Linux speziell für Kinder (in Deutsch)
26 Jun 2009	EduTech – Sugar on a stick, and other delectables (praise for the lowly USB drive)
26 Jun 2009	Ars Technica – Sugar on a Stick brings sweet taste of Linux to classrooms
24 Jun 2009	BBC – OLPC software to power aging PCs
24 Jun 2009	Technology Review – $100 Laptop Becomes a $5 PC
15 Jun 2009	TechSavvyKids – Episode 10 FOSSVT: Sugar on a Stick (audio)
10 Jun 2009	LWN.net – Sugar moves from the shadow of OLPC
27 May 2009	LWN.net – Activities and the move to context-oriented desktops (subscriber link)
27 May 2009	Business Wire – Dailymotion Launches Support for Open Video Formats and Video HTML Tag
01 May 2009	Guysoft – Nokia N810 Running OLPC Sugar
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

@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 === Sugar Digest ===
-. Of course the big news this week is the launch of [[Sugar_on_a_Stick/Blueberry|Sugar on a Stick V2 (Blueberry)]]. Sebastian Dziallas has done a great job of synthesizing the joint efforts of the Sugar (0.86) and Fedora (F12) communities. The new release is a huge improvement over Strawberry (our beta from last spring.) Sean Daly and the marketing team have done an outstanding job of getting the word out. There has been far-reaching coverage of the release in the press—all quite favorable. Congratulations to the Sugar Community for a great effort and wonderful results.
+. Last Friday a team from Babson College presented a project report on their strategy for Sugar deployments in US schools. Natalia Grigoras, Wei Lin, and Anna Ivashko participated in a semester-long study of Sugar as part of a Management Consulting Field Experience course. Their mentor was George Lee.
-. I gave the keynote at the Netbook World Summit in Paris on Tuesday, where I used the occasion to formally announce the Blueberry release. This is the second year of the Summit; it is a relatively small event—about 200 attendees—but very well representative of the netbook industry, which is dominated by the European market. While I mostly discussed Sugar, it behooved me to talk a bit about the netbook industry as a whole. I picked up on a theme from my talk last year: "culture war". Last year, I described the advantage that the netbook had over the smart phone because it was free from the restrictions placed on it by service providers (a polite term for phone companies). I predicted an explosion of innovation in the netbook market and a homogenization of the smart-phone market. Boy was I ever wrong. Netbooks, for the most part, all look the same and all offer the same functionality (Litl being a notable exception). Meanwhile, Apple and Google have turned the smart-phone industry on its head. How many "apps" are in the Apple store this week? The key in my mind was that the netbook industry has aligned itself more closely with "software as a service" proponents such as Microsoft while control of the smart phone has been wrestled away from the service providers—the consumer is (at least to some extent) the driver of change (See the discussion of the caveats associated with the "there's an app for that" culture in an earlier posting). So my challenge to the netbook community was to invest in empowerment of the consumer to be a creator. The form factor of the netbook not only makes it better suited for netbooks than a smart-phone, but also better suited for almost any creative or expressive task. We learn through doing and the netbook can be a platform for doing.
+The team undertook the tasks modeling the target audience, uncovering barriers, studying impact, and developing a strategy and recommendation for effectively implementing Sugar in US school systems. I had been working with them throughout the fall; Bernie, Dogi, Luke, Adam, and I attended their final presentation, which will soon be posted in the wiki.
-. In a related topic, there has been a [http://lists.laptop.org/pipermail/devel/2009-December/026828.html discussion on the devel list] about packaging. I've argued that perhaps we are not friendly enough to new (children) developers and that we should offer more on-ramps if we really want to spread the culture of doing and sharing.
+Their methodology included secondary research into existing systems, funding models, etc. and primary research in the form of interviews with teachers, superintendent, technology specialist, etc.
-. Another interesting discussion—prompted by the inclusion of some ebooks in the Blueberry release—has been on the topic copyright. What licenses would be appropriate for material included in a Sugar release. Is the commercial vs non-commercial (NC) distinction important? Or is the most important distinction between share-alike (SA) and non derivatives (ND)? We had a good discussion on the topic at last week's oversight board meeting (See the [[Oversight_Board/Meeting_Minutes-2009-12-04|minutes]]) and will (hopefully) wrap up the discussion at this week's meeting. Please join us at 15 UTC (10 EST) on Friday, 11 December, in #sugar-meeting on irc.freenode.net.
+Their findings include an analysis of Sugar’s strengths (breadth, flexibility, collaborative experience, focus on children) and shortcomings (need for extensive up-front training, lack of centralize support, reliability, and resistance to change). Their recommendation include:
+* more web-based support for educators and end-users;
+* standardized guidelines and training programs for teachers during their first exposure to Sugar; and
+* targeted marketing approach to superintendents and technology coordinators.
-=== In the community ===
+. Tomeu Vizoso has been in Uruguay both attending the Ceibel 09 conference and meeting with teachers and the LATU engineering team. While we await his “trip report” (hint) an immediate consequence of his visit is more of a presence of .uy on the #sugar channel in IRC.
-. It is not too late to participate in this week's Squeakland Book Sprint to create a Reference Manual for Etoys. You can find more information at [http://wiki.squeakland.org/display/sq/Book+Sprint http://wiki.squeakland.org/display/sq/Book+Sprint].
+. Tony Forster has created a great [http://tonyforster.blogspot.com series of blog posts] on creative uses of Turtle Art. He has couched these presentations within the context of a discussion of interactive multimedia and critical literacy in media.
-. Steven Parrish has [http://smparrish.livejournal.com/11639.html blogged] about Sugar at FUDCon, the Fedora User and Developer Conference held this past weekend in Toronto. These opportunities for face-to-face meeting are important.
+. The minutes of last week’s Sugar oversight-board meeting are available in the wiki. We tackled a number of issues, including several motions in regard to the outstanding questions that had been in front of the Sugar-on-a-stick decision panel. The discussion will continue this Friday, 18 December, at 15UTC (10EST) in #sugar-meeting on irc.freenode.net.
-:I met Sebastian Dziallas of "Sugar on a Stick" fame. Bernie Innocenti and Peter Robinson who are both volunteers for Sugar Labs. We spent some time talking Sugar and plans to evolve Sebastian's SOAS and my "Fedora for the XO-1" projects from Fedora Remixes to actual Spins and the work that will be involved in doing so. Sebastian and I also gave a joint talk during BarCamp on both of the aforementioned projects.
-. Tomeu Vizoso has been representing Sugar Labs at Ceibal 09 in Uruguay. At this annual gathering of OLPC participants, Tomeu has had an opportunity to interact with both engineers and teachers. Expect details in his blog. Meanwhile, for those of you who speak Spanish, you may want to read Gonzalo Odiard's [http://lists.laptop.org/pipermail/olpc-sur/2009-December/005202.html post] to the Sur list. As Gabriel Eirea notes in a reply to Gonzalo, "[that] Tomeu be invited to this event and stay working a few days represents a significant [positive] change" in the Ceibal attitude towards the community.
-=== Help Wanted ===
-. Speaking of blogs, we are looking for someone who would want to take over management of Sugar Planet and to help it further flourish; we could use a new CSS and HTML templates, improved editorial controls, new writers, etc.
 === Tech Talk ===
-. As mentioned above, Steven Parrish has been making steady progress on F11 for the OLPC XO-1.0 laptop. This effort is key to being able to run the more recent (0.84 or 0.86) versions of Sugar in Peru and Uruguay. Any help you can offer Steven (including testing) would be greatly appreciated.
+. Simon Schampijer’s work on systematizing th new feature process for Sugar development has led to a number of great discussions on IRC. Search for the tag [Feature] in the devel list.
 === Sugar Labs ===
-. Gary Martin has generated a SOM from the past week of discussion on the IAEP mailing list (Please see [[:File:2009-Nov-28-Dec-4-som.jpg|SOM]]).
+. Gary Martin has prepared a map of last week’s discussion on the Sugar IAEP mailing list (Please see [[:File:2009-Dec-5-11-som.jpg|SOM]]).
 === Community News archive ===