Features/SoaS Remixability

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Summary

The official SoaS image that is released can be used as a base to re-spin custom (unofficial and unsupported) SoaS remixes using the instructions on our official Customization Guide and a few additional FOSS tools outlined in the Guide.

This feature proposes:

  • The development of a page on the SL wiki for highlighting classroom-made remixes, their kickstart files, and details on their usage
  • The creation of 2-4 sample remixes for specific types of classrooms to pre-populate that wiki page
  • An experimental remix image-building service available for the first 2 months after the Mango Lassi release
  • Edits to the Customization Guide version for Mango Lassi that reflect these changes

Owner

  • Email: satellit <at> bendbroadband <dot> com

Current status

Detailed Description

Wiki page

The creation of a page that:

  • Describes remixes
  • Makes it clear that remixes are unsupported
  • Links to the Customization Guide as the canonical resource on how to make remixes
  • Lists existing community-made remixes so that people can see and try what others have created, with each remix listing having...
    • The .iso available for download
    • The .ks available for download
    • A blog or a link to some resource that describes how this remix is being used in a live teaching setting

The page might look something like this: 

+---------------------------------------------+
|           Unofficial SoaS Remixes           |
|                                             |
| +-----------------+    +---------+---+----+ |
| | SoaS Mango Lassi|    |remix #01|.ks|blog| |
| | summary         |    +---------+---+----+ |
| |                 |    |remix #02|.ks|blog| |
| | <link to main   |    +---------+---+----+ |
| | SoaS project    |    |remix foo|.ks|blog| |
| | page>           |    +---------+---+----+ |
| +-----------------+    |remix bar|.ks|blog| |
|                        +---------+---+----+ |
|  description of        | Your remix here! | |
|  remixes, including    |                  | |
|  clear text on how     | Here's how:      | |
|  they are UNSUPPORTED  | <link to Custom- | |
|                        | ization guide>   | |
|                        +------------------+ |
+---------------------------------------------+

Sample remixes

In order to pre-populate the #Wiki page, we would follow the Customization Guide's instruction (Draft Content) Talk:Features/Soas_V4/Remixability#Build_Your_Own_Remix to create and post remixes for 2-4 deployments before Mango Lassi's official release date. These would be specific, teacher-driven remixes that would be used in live deployments.

The "blog" link for each of these remixes would go to a description - written either by or in conjunction with the teacher - on why the remix was designed that way, and what their plans for classroom usage are. ("Ms. Smith created this remix for her middle-school Spanish-language classes with the following localization and activities so she could do the following things with Sugar in her syllabus...")

Image-building service

Provide and advertise an experimental remix image-building service available for the first 2 months after the Mango Lassi release. For this time period, the feature owner takes responsibility for accepting emails with .ks files attached, building the resulting images, and responding to those emails with a link to a built .iso of the remix generated by that .ks.

The mechanism of this back-and-forth is up to the feature owner to determine, so long as the mechanism (and the unsupported nature of the remixes generated by it) are clear. The current proposal is as follows:

Please send e-mail to:
To: soas@lists.sugarlabs.org
Subject: [Custom KS]-{Name of your kickstart file}
*Attach your Custom.ks file*
PLEASE INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION in e-mail:
Sugar Version                    :                  
(0.82; 0.86.x; 0.88.x; 0.89.x)
Country / Deployment             :                      
Build system fedora version      :                    
Number of USB's in Deployment    :  
PC/Netbooks used                 :             
Notes and Any Bug No's submitted :

Customization guide edits

The Customization Guide would be edited to reflect the above changes, and reviewed and tested by a few new remixes for ease-of-use.

Benefit to Sugar

Promotes our already-existing technical flexibility to customize Soas-v4 for Deployments and individuals.

  • add/delete desired applications to standard set on .iso
  • Targeted uses:
Multiple Language versions (Including EU Languages?)
e-book reader
Older students
Games
  • Shared kickstart files e-mailed to SOAS and posted to wiki allow others to learn how to make a .ks file and try various remixes.
  • Posted links to a Catalog of prebuilt remix.iso's, with a description of their use and contents, allows less skilled users to use them.

Scope

The technical ability to create remixes has worked for a long time.

all entries labled xxxx-remix were built using these instructions

Talk:Features/Soas_V4/Install_Test_Table#Test_results

The implementation of this feature depends on:

  • the editing of the Customization Guide
  • the creation a wiki page Prototype is here: Talk:Features/SoaS Remixability
  • the running of a Remix Image Building Service for 2 months after release

UI Design

N/A

How To Test

  • depreciated:

Sugar_Creation_Kit#Build_Your_Own_Remix_-.28not_included_on_SCK.DVD.29

Follow these instructions and burn resulting .iso to CD ant test it by Booting it.

User Experience

Wider choices for users of Soas-v4 due to ability to Customize.

Dependencies

None that I know of.

Contingency Plan

Not Needed

Documentation

older link: Sugar_Creation_Kit#Build_Your_Own_Remix_-.28not_included_on_SCK.DVD.29

Release Notes

None Needed

Comments and Discussion

  • 07/27/2010 Some nice comments from lists:

Caryl Bigenho:

Hi Tom, I love this idea! (I hope it would also include easier SoaS creation on the Mac.) When I lent some of my "Roadshow" library machines to the University of Montana education department to help them prep for a science project, I downloaded a lot of stuff not already there (eg Bridge, Star Chart, etc), then put only them and the essentials (eg Browse, Write, Record) in the favorites and hid all the rest. It would be really nice to be able to create sticks with special focus like this for targeted projects. Caryl

Christoph Derndorfer:

wow, this looks like a truly amazing project!

Can't wait to give it a spin at one point or another... :-)

Cheers, Christoph

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