[IAEP] Sugar Labs - Good starting position.

[Sameer Verma]

Greg Dekoenigsberg wrote:
> On Mon, 4 Aug 2008, David Farning wrote:
>
>   
>> I would like to apologize for my absence over the last weeks.  I have 
>> been trying to determine if Sugar is a viable project and if Sugar Labs 
>> is a viable organization.
>>
>> For the weeks prior to my break, I have been working on community 
>> outreach.  Community outreach has meant contacting grassroots 
>> organizations with an interest in technology and education.  After 
>> establishing contact, I start a discussion about about how establishing 
>> a relationship between Sugar Labs and their organization can be 
>> beneficial to both of us.
>>
>> On the plus side:
>>
>> 1.  We have a working piece of software.  We are lucky enough that OLPC 
>> funded us long enough to create a functional system.  The vast majority 
>> of projects fail in the pre-alpha stage.
>>
>> 2.  We have a core group of experienced developers.  Over the past 
>> several years OLPC has attracted a number of professional developers and 
>> helpful community members to participate in the project.
>>
>> 3.  There is a large public demand of our product.  OLPC has proven that 
>> on a large scale through their deployments.  At a more local, there are 
>> thousands or individuals who are interested in improving their local 
>> school system.
>>
>> 4.  Sugar Labs has a functional infrastructure on which we can build.
>>
>> On the negative side:
>>
>> 1.  Lack of commitment.  The main reason organizations have stated for 
>> not becoming involved in Sugar Labs is our lack of commitment.  There is 
>> a significant fear that OLPC will withdraw their support.
>>     
>
> That's not the sense I get here at 1CC.  Can you tell me where this fear 
> comes from?
>
>   

Its a perception thing and perception is a powerful concept.  Just ask
anyone from marketing!

I got the same sense from people at OSCON a week ago. I saw a total of
two XOs at the meeting - mine and one at the OSU OSL table. I was a bit
surprised to see no XOs at all! Upon asking people and chatting on the
expo floor, I got a sense from many people that "OLPC had abandoned
FOSS", and so they weren't interested any more!

I think its important to change that perception because people who are
not on the lists don't see the traffic but do remember the media trash
that flew around back when the "Windows thing" happened.

How do we improve perception? Visibility and outreach come to mind. In a
sense, we have to keep the momentum going past the hype cycle. This
project needs to start permeating across from the "technology" pool to
the "real world" pool where common folk can grasp and understand its
value proposition.

Sameer

-- 
Dr. Sameer Verma, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Information Systems
San Francisco State University
San Francisco CA 94132 USA
http://verma.sfsu.edu/
http://opensource.sfsu.edu/


>> 2.  Lack of vision.  The second reason organizations hesitate to become
>> involved with Sugar Labs is our lack of vision.  There is a perception
>> that Sugar development has stalled.
>>     
>
> I agree that it's vital to get people who love Sugar together to 
> articulate a strong vision.  My take on that vision: making Sugar the 
> archetypal interface for "sharing by default".
>
>   
>> Moving forward:
>>
>> 1.  Diversify our base of stakeholders.  Currently, we have only two 
>> public stakeholders: OLPC and Redhat.  This number should be greater.
>>     
>
> Success is what brings more shareholders.
>
>   
>> 2.  Balance support and development resources.  The single biggest issue 
>> that we face is how to balance our resources between supporting existing 
>> deployments and pushing development forward.
>>
>> My conclusions:
>>
>> 1. OLPC, Sugar, and Sugar Labs are worth pushing forward.  While not the
>> greatest thing since sliced bread,  OLPC and Sugar represent
>> technologies which can enhance learning for current and future
>> generations.
>>
>> It's a Learning Projects.
>>     
>
> :)
>
> --g
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