Goals/2018 Submissions/Pre-prepared (language and keyboard layout) Sugar VMs
Proposal
Sugar needs to become easier to install and use on non-GNU/Linux computers. A Virtual Machine (VM) approach could lower this barrier significantly, in particular if a VM could be preconfigured for a language and keyboard. Virtualbox could be an excellent solution, with active development and a well-suited license which permits redistribution for educational purposes.
Suggested Timeframe
Difficult to estimate. Ideally, VMs could be prebuilt for major languages and their corresponding keyboards, with instructions for teachers on how to adjust those settings. Setting up and maintaining the infrastructure for such a project would likely require significant human and server/bandwidth resources. Therefore, seeking a partnership with a sponsor (Oracle, in the case of Virtualbox) might be the best path.