User:Inkyfingers/Sweets getting started
This page is my response to a suggestion appearing here that I might look at Sweets documentation with the eye toward drafting an introductory posting and page for new non-technical users.
At this stage this page may be somewhere between an outline and a draft. Parts in italics are not intended to be part of the finished page, and are addressed to anyone who might feel able to contribute or offer feedback.
I realise the danger of introducing Sweets and Sweets Distribution together in this presentation. My approach is to try to offer a practical introduction to traditional Sweets, with more conceptual introduction to Sweets Distribution as a follow on.
It would be part of the final presentation to slightly re-work a page like either Testing/Reports/Sweets on Debian Wheezy or Testing/Reports/Sweets on GNOME Debian Wheezy into more of an installation walkthrough, adding a few more "useful commands" with explanations.
I would want to be sure of using terminology that is uniform with ongoing development. I have used the term "traditional" Sweets, to empasise the difference, for now. I would rather omit it from the final page. How are we distinguishing between them?
Traditional Sweets | Sweets Distribution
early method | current method
user home | root is the owner
Both are ongoing developments
... evolving ... anticipated next step.
I use the term environment - is this satisfactory? or too far from technically accurate?
Please regard the text as note form at this stage. Inkyfingers 20:23, 16 July 2012 (EDT)
This article tries to provide a, Sugar learners, introduction to Sweets and Sweets Distribution.
Potential
Sweets has the potential to allow Sugar to run on to any GNOME machine at the touch of a button.
The packagekit home page expands on this.
Sugar delivered in this way gives users and developers a Sugar environment on one desktop, and simultaneously their familiar GNOME environment on another. Sugar can be switched on and off with ease.
Additionally the Sugar environment can be isolated under the profile of another username.
Useful pages
These pages could be very roughly classified as overview, conceptual, technical, or Let's try it
Introductory page, Sweets is a Package Management System
Infrastructure This page describes the infrastructure map that the Platform Team provides.
Architecture This guide covers basic Sweets concepts.
Sweets Packaging,This guide describes how to prepare software projects for sweets.
This guide describes how to run Sugar using Sugar via sweets Sugar via Sweets
This guide describes how to use Sugar Labs' Packaging Management System Sweets Usage.
Sweets glossary Some useful terms.
Harmonic Distribution is a systems approach to provide all software tools.
This page, and all its sub-pages, covers implementation of Sugar Network.
These are overview and usage pages regarding the Sweets Distribution.
These are technical pages regarding the Sweets Distribution.
Sweets
At the hub
From the point of view of delivering Sugar via Sweets, Sweets is a Package Management System.
The environment
Possible idea for introductory description. Think of Sweets being delivered via a channel. The environment must first be set up on the users machine. The channel is not a live feed, but an internet connection is essential to populate the environment with the Sugar software. Now when the sweet is launched the defined version of Sugar displays on the screen.
The environment can be populated with more than one version of Sugar, so that an alternative Sweets command launches a different Sugar version.
A further new version of Sugar could be launched "live", but would still exist on the users machine to be used another time.
Oportunity to expand a little: The environment on users machine, the cache, the ability to update, the ability to specify the version of Sugar to be launched.
User
From the point of view of the user we talk about "launching a sweet".
What do we mean by this?
Having set up the environment on the user machine, a command looking like this: sweets sdk/sugar:run is entered in a terminal. This command launches the sweet, causing Sugar to open on the dektop.
Alternatively a desktop shortcut, or keybinding, is organised so that anyone can launch the command very easily.
User, detail
Where the user might require accurately separated Sweets, one sweet could be registered by a different nominal user.
Preparation for Sweets
Before doing a job like this make sure your system is up to date.
Sweets expects to be built in an environment with a full toolbox.
See Talk:Platform_Team/Guide/Sugar_via_Sweets#Requirement_GNOME.3F
Am I running GNOME?
echo $DESKTOP_SESSION
ps -ef | grep gnome
Have Sweets on Your Desktop
Instructions are here: Platform_Team/Guide/Sugar_via_Sweets#Installation
I have some ideas to possibly merge and split Platform Team/Guide/Sugar via Sweets and Platform Team/Guide/Sweets Usage to remove duplication, and to show a clearer line between setting up the environment and launching sweets.
What are these different Sweets?
In this guide we demonstrate launching the Sweet "dextrose/sugar". You will find more insight into the nature of Dextrose here.
An alternative Sweet available is "sdk/sugar". SDK refers to Sugar Doers' Kit or Software Developers Kit. suitable link?
To launch recent stable Sugar in emulator mode, type in Terminal activity or in any other terminal:
sweets dextrose/sugar:emulator
To explain:
sweets - the command to run sweets
- dextrose/sugar - the sweet you want
- :emulator - a command for an emulator.
we can also add an option to the emulator, for example,
sweets dextrose/sugar:emulator -f
will ask the emulator to open, full screen.
To make it possible to have additional dependencies involved, e.g., to run Browse activity, use -S command-line argument:
sweets -S dextrose/sugar:emulator
In other words,
we add an option, -S ( = -- force-suggested ) to force, using suggested dependencies.
Your first Sweet is launched
again refers to corrrect point on Platform Team/Guide/Sugar via Sweets or Platform Team/Guide/Sweets Usage page.
Sweets Distribution
Sweets Distribution uses technically quite different software to do a rather similar job - delivering a Sweet.
In particular Sweets Distribution works to fulfil the objectives of Sugar Network.
It will probably seem quite intuitive to follow the instructions at Sweets Distribution once you have made a Sweets installation for yourself as described above.