[IAEP] Is "Most Sugar Users Use XO Laptops" True?

[Dave Crossland]

Hi!

On 23 April 2016 at 22:18, Adam Holt <holt at laptop.org> wrote:

> Conversely it's possible much/most Sugar use is now happening outside of
> classes (and outside of classrooms too!)
>
Sure, its possible. Do you think its probable?

> in homes/libraries/cybercafes/etc at last?
>
Homes suggests "Child Ownership," and like schools, racking up many hours
of usage; while libraries and cybercafes suggest to me racking up a few
hours of gaming.

> At this late stage in OLPC's history, and not just in Uruguay? Is Uruguay
> actively using Sugar in 2016 and if so how?  Who can tell
> urban/rural/young/old perspectives across Uruguay/Rwanda/etc in 2016?
>
Well, does Sugar Labs have a table listing each user community
("deployment") and a person in each community who Sugar Labs can talk with?

If not, let's make such a table :)

It isn't clear to me where these 3 million XOs went... I heard that OLPC
didn't and won't make an easy to access list of all deployments available
because they are scared about other companies taking away their customers.
There seems to be enough published information to piece something like that
together, though.

>
Certainly I keep running into more and more XO laptops that have moved far
> beyond their originally-stated scholastic purposes...is it time for
> "Child/Tween/Millenial Ownership" action at long at last?!
>
> http <http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC:Five_principles>://
> <http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC:Five_principles>wiki.laptop.org
> <http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC:Five_principles>/go/OLPC:Five_principles
> <http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC:Five_principles>
>
Please could you clarify what you mean by "action" there?

I understand those 5 principles were written some 10-12 years ago. I am not
sure how much they are related to Sugar in 2016, or to the actual actions
of OLPC itself over that period; it seems they quickly became OLCP's
preferences.

Child Ownership: It seems that most XO laptops were bought by schools and
did not become 'owned' by the children using them, with some exceptions.
Since Sugar Labs doesn't sell laptops, this is no longer relevant; and
while I think SL should sell pre-installed laptops, I can't see how this
could be a principle going forwards in recognition of
schools/libraries/cybercafes/etc.

Low Ages: It seems that XOs did become used by children aged 6 to 12. The
keyboards are too small for anyone older ;) And Sugar's UX does seem to
work for kids in this age range.

Saturation: That wiki page offers levels of "a country, a region, a
municipality or a village." Even with this caveat, I have no idea to what
extend this is common in active deployments today; seems we need the table
I describe above :) Since laptops/desktops are no longer the only form of
computer that kids use, and indeed, probably now the minority form, then
Sugar seems unlikely to have saturation even in a community where every kid
has an XO.

Connection: We have just been talking about how communities without
effective internet access may be helpful to focus on, reversing this
principle; although I think www.outernet.is provides a powerful solution to
this which wasn't available until recently.

Free and Open Source: It seems that the XO-4 contains more proprietary
software than the XO-1; and since Sugar isn't actually GPL, it seems Sugar
Labs only has a preference for this.

> Where are the true community anthropologists like Morgan Ames (and
> Margaret Mead) when we need them?!
>
Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves :D Making the table above is some
effort. Starting simply, who reading this email is actually in touch with
say a group of 10 or more kids with XOs?

Cheers
Dave
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