[IAEP] Sugar on Android (was Questions for SCaLE 11X)

[Sean DALY]

The Sugar Labs Oversight Board confirmed Android compatibility as a
strategic goal at the January 14 meeting [1].

It goes without saying that this is far easier said than done.

There are several technical approaches possible, and coming to a decision
how to proceed is itself a challenge.

Sean.

1. http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Oversight_Board/Meeting_Minutes-2013-01-14



On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 1:30 PM, Ron Feigenblatt <docdtv at gmail.com> wrote:

> > On 21 February 2013 09:35, Ron Feigenblatt <docdtv at gmail.com> wrote:
> >> The big news is that OLPC reports potential buyers have expressed
> >> interest in Android, so it has a plan to move the XO-4 that way...
> >> could Sugar sit on top of Android rather than Linux Fedora by then?
>
> On 2/21/13, Daniel Narvaez <dwnarvaez at gmail.com> wrote:
> > I think that's never going to happen unless we come up with a plan.
> >... I just hope people will realize
> > that it's urgent to do something about this...
>
> Let me hazard mockery by citing a very obvious incentive to getting
> Sugar to run on Android. If Sugar could be an Android .apk, it could
> not merely run on some future Android-based OLPC, but on over a
> million new devices EVERY DAY, closing in on a total of a billion -
> and be trivial to install in the bargain. Isn't that worth lots more
> attention than a million Raspberry Pi's, which aren't even full
> appliances, but merely boards mainly of interest to DIY embedded
> system guys?
>
> Moving to Android would also address OLPC's new Android-tablet line.
> (Perhaps one might even partner with profit-seeking hardware keyboard
> aftermarket vendors, by encouraging them to conceptually bundle
> Sugar.)
>
> The game console market has been off-limits to Sugar due to large
> developer license fees. But what if an Android-based project like the
> Ouya (cf. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouya ), with zero fees, can
> prove successful?
>
> On the other hand, with limited developer staffing, maybe Sugar Labs
> should just dig in its heels and concentrate on supporting the nearly
> 3 million units to which the educational systems of at least two
> nations have made deep and expensive commitments. Few things have
> given the information technology industry a worse name than the rate
> at which it often tries to force users to migrate away from legacy
> systems, rather than perfect their flaws.
>
> The REALLY BIG CHANGE is not from one electronic learning system to a
> newer one, but from one based on printed matter, blank paper and
> pencils, to one based on electronics - thereby enabling audio,
> animation, photography, interactivity, zero-inventory-zero-unit-cost
> courseware, and total portability.
> _______________________________________________
> IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!)
> IAEP at lists.sugarlabs.org
> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
>
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