[Bugs] #2141 UNSP: Memory and CPU status indicator for the frame.

[Sugar Labs Bugs]

#2141: Memory and CPU status indicator for the frame.
------------------------------------------+---------------------------------
    Reporter:  m_anish                    |          Owner:  tomeu                      
        Type:  enhancement                |         Status:  new                        
    Priority:  Unspecified by Maintainer  |      Milestone:  Unspecified by Release Team
   Component:  sugar                      |        Version:  Unspecified                
    Severity:  Unspecified                |       Keywords:  r! dextrose                
Distribution:  Unspecified                |   Status_field:  Unconfirmed                
------------------------------------------+---------------------------------

Comment(by bernie):

 Replying to [comment:18 garycmartin]:
 > As a general design related comment, I see the CPU status indicators
 value for a certain type of user/tester/qa on XO hardware, but worry about
 having it added to the Sugar UI permanently for all our target users. I do
 not see such features added to other OS/platforms except optionaly for
 when performing administration and testing tasks. The device icon is
 'cute' but does increase the UI complexity/clutter and very much reminds
 me of the start of menu extras (OSX) and task bar extras (Windows) feature
 creep wars, setting a trend for bolting on extras, rather than trying to
 fix the underlying issue (in this case kernel OOM behaviour, an unclear
 activity multitasking UI).

 I think you're mistaking this feature for eye candy or a geek toy.

 It is quite the opposite: we don't need a smiley face to tell us how much
 resources are left in the system because we're always aware of it. After
 years of Linux usage, I can "sense" swappiness when interacting with the
 system even without the aid of an HD led.

 However, for young children and teachers it's a different story: when they
 complain about the system not working well, I almost always find 3-4 open
 activities in the frame. Then I close the ones they don't need and
 politely explain that there's an invisible quantity called "memory" that
 becomes full if you open many "large" activities and another invisible
 quantity called "cpu time" that gets consumed by some activities such as
 Measure and eToys.

 They smile, without actually understanding my explanation. I know that
 tomorrow they will keep opening activities without regard to the system
 resources that they cannot see or quantify.

 This is why we commissioned the resource monitor to Anish. Teachers and
 children like it very much. They understand this advanced concept without
 explanation and they learn to manage their computer rationally in the face
 of very limited resources.

 Btw: http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/File:Dextrose_resource_monitoring.png

 [PS: I hate discussing these things in the bug tracker, where there's no
 proper threading and only few people can participate. Please, let's move
 to the mailing list.]

-- 
Ticket URL: <http://bugs.sugarlabs.org/ticket/2141#comment:19>
Sugar Labs <http://sugarlabs.org/>
Sugar Labs bug tracking system