[IAEP] What do I want "Big Time" To Be?

[Sebastian Dziallas]

Caryl Bigenho wrote:
> Hi All,

Hi,

I've put some comments inline...

> When I asked if SoaS was ready for "Big Time", Martin replied, "What do
> you mean? I'd recommend it but I don't know enough about what you want."
>
> So here is what I mean and want...
>
> I would like to be able to go into a room (or exhbit hall) filled with
> overworked, underpaid educators and while showing them Sugar on the XO,
> tell them they can run some of the same (and some even better)
> Activities on the equipment they already have at their schools... and
> that they can do it for free (free is good).

Running Sugar on a Stick on the XO with the *latest* Sugar version from 
the NAND is something that's on the list for the Blueberry launch.

Martin Dengler has been doing a great job at getting this realized!

> I would like them to get really excited about being able to get
> something for their students that is not only sound educationally, but
> that they can afford because the download is free. Their only cost is
> their chosen storage media.
>
> I would like to be able to show them how it works on a MacBook (my
> machine) and on a PC (if someone would just tell me how to get one for
> very little $$$). I would like it to be stable software that runs on
> their choice of Live CD or USB stick.

The point about Macs in general is that it's hard to say what's going to 
work and what isn't. At least insofar as most of the Linux distribution 
haven't focused on it. Which is why I wouldn't guarantee that everything 
works. This is also a distribution question, since it's the underlying 
distribution that needs to provide the support.

Anyway, without knowing what is causing issues, what hardware is used, 
and so on, it's a bit hard to say what's wrong (there are just so many 
different models out there!). Providing hardware information works for 
example pretty well following there instructions:

    http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick/Hardware

On the stability: Development snapshots intended for testing won't 
necessarily be stable, as a matter of fact. Final releases should be, 
and that's what we're working on. Really.

> I would like to be able to give them links for downloading it and for
> getting other Activities. I would like to be able to give them links for
> very easy to follow instructions for downloading and using the software.
> And, I would like to be able to give them links to a place they can get
> help if they get stuck.

activities.sugarlabs.org and answers.launchpad.net/soas should do the trick.

> I know some of these things exist already but, unless I have missed
> something, most of them don't. My next presentation to educators will be
> at the CUELA/LAUSD Tech Fair on November 14.

It all depends on what you're looking at. Strawberry is now several 
months old. It works and is rather stable. But it doesn't contain all 
the features that are going to be in the next version, obviously.

Until Blueberry is out, there are the snapshots, but those might not be 
entirely working. So again, Blueberry is what will introduce a lot of 
this officially.

> How much of this is real already? How much is in the dim and distant
> future? Send links!
>
> Caryl =

--Sebastian