[IAEP] Sugar - Local Lab - Partners

[David Farning]

I have gotten confused by all of the threads going on about Local
Labs:( So, as far as I am concerned, if the conversation doesn't
happen on IAEP or a scheduled meeting, it didn't happen.  Yes, I meant
to un-subscribe from slobs.  Yes, I am aware that if notion that
knowledge is power holds true, I have given up all of my power.

One of the ideas that we have been working on to encourage the use of
Sugar is Local Labs[1].  My premise in thinking about Local Labs is
that Sugar Labs is a rather abstract global organization (maling
lists, wikis and git repositories) while teaching is a very concert
and local. (from 9:50 to 10:25 you will be in room 127 for social
studies)

Local Labs are a mechanism to bridge that gap.  First, I would like to
distinguish between Local Labs and Partners.  A Local Labs is
basically a clone of Sugar Labs for a geographical region.  A Partner
is an entity that wants to leverage the Sugar brand to enhance their
business.

Their are several different models for open source partnerships.  The
two most common are subscription and percentage.  In a subscription
model, the partner commits a fixed amount to Sugar Labs in exchange
for considerations such as use of the brand, the ability to fast track
bug reports, and goodwill.  In the subscription model a partner
commits a percentage of their revenue in exchange for the same types
of considerations.

The relationship between Sugar Labs and Local Labs,  is more like the
relationship between spider plants[2] and their plantlets.  To
reproduce, a spider plant sends out stolons from which plantlets grow.
 Once the plantlet has developed, the stolen can be severed.  Yet,
both the original plant and the new plant are similar, because of
their shared genetic matter.

For Sugar Labs and local labs, the common genetic material is our
mission, vision, and values.  The mission is our goal, the vision is
our inspiration, and our values are our guide.

The stolen is the brave sole who, after internalizing Sugar Labs
mission, vision, and values, decides to form a Lab in their region.
For awhile, Sugar Labs will provide support in the form of
infrastructure and advice.  After a while, the support can be cut.
Yet, the local lab will survive.

After a few years, some local labs will have withered and died. Some
will have thrived. Some may still be connected via the stolen.

While Sugar Labs and Local Labs are made of the same genetic material,
there will be differences.  Differences in personality, culture, and
emphasis.  Local labs leader's and member's personality will be
different. The local culture will affect the culture of the each Lab.
Some labs may focus solely on deployments; others on translations, and
development; other on content.

david

1.  http://sugarlabs.org/go/Local_labs
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider_plant