No subject
Sun May 31 08:28:51 EDT 2009
inform millions of teachers that there is an alternative?" - we are<br=
>
obliged to seem to "endorse" one distro over another. But that=
9;s a<br>
function of our combat to find a place for Sugar, not playing<br>
favorites... "The right tool for the job". On a grassy hillside, =
we<br>
send in the cavalry; on a swift river, we launch the boats. Worrying<br>
about preferring the cavalry to the marines misses the point of our<br>
objective... nobody would send the boats up the hill.<br>
<br>
So. Fedora is playing a key role in the OLPC-OS and on today's Sugar<br=
>
on a Stick for the forseeable future; however, it's weak with OEMs and<=
br>
in education. Not to worry, Ubuntu is gaining traction with OEMs (cf.<br>
M. Shuttleworth goal: "Ubuntu as the default alternative to Windows&qu=
ot;).<br>
meanwhile, OpenSuSE has the most complete education-oriented offer and<br>
LTSP work. Other distros offer different advantages; the list goes on.<br>
The Try Sugar page should be a colorful garden of choices available;<br>
which shouldn't stop us from prominently recommending (as opposed to<br=
>
"endorsing", which implies exclusivity) a low-risk way to experie=
nce<br>
Sugar to bewildered first-time visitors.<br>
<br>
Today, Sugar on a Stick is the pillar of our marketing and<br>
brand-building because it disassociates Sugar from the XO or indeed<br>
any hardware; it makes Sugar instantly understandable to anyone that<br>
it is software. As a Sugar Labs brand, it needs to be protected. To be<br>
supported, it needs to be a stable software stack. None of which<br>
precludes anyone from doing any liveUSB they wish with Sugar on it; it<br>
just shouldn't be called Sugar on a Stick.<br>
<br>
I've said before that our marketing mix would inevitably need<br>
adjustments as OEM deals happen. Such deals will mean Sugar reliably<br>
preinstalled and supported on thousands of machines, a fabulous<br>
development for children. This would not be bad news for Sugar on a<br>
Stick, which I believe will remain the best way to try (and possibly<br>
the best way to deploy) Sugar for years to come; as the OLPC XOs will<br>
remain Sugar's native home and overwhelming installed base for years<br=
>
to come (supporting which I feel as a personal responsibility).<br>
Rather, all these ways will together contribute to the perception that<br>
Sugar will work on something old, something new, something borrowed,<br>
something blue.<br>
<br>
(On a related topic, we are not even debating the role of desktops,<br>
which only goes to show how poorly their role is perceived in the<br>
stack, particularly in comparison to distros. I happen to think that<br>
the dual-desktop Sugar/Gnome approach of the XO-1.5 is brilliant and<br>
I'd like to see it on every Gnome desktop for example.)<br>
<br>
So yes, we should be neutral about distros in general, while choosing<br>
the best distros for solving the challenges we face... at the risk of<br>
appearing to "endorse" one over another, or two over five, or fou=
r<br>
over nine, or whatever.<br>
<br>
thanks<br>
<br>
Sean<br>
<br>
P.S. The potential naming conventions section is a marketing<br>
discussion, and although it's an attempt to seek solutions, it<br>
unfortunately completely disregards how the existing brand is being<br>
built.<br>
<div><div></div><div class=3D"h5"><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
On Tue, Oct 27, 2009 at 11:14 PM, Sean DALY <<a href=3D"http://sdaly.be"=
target=3D"_blank">sdaly.be</a>@<a href=3D"http://gmail.com" target=3D"_bla=
nk">gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br>
> I need to express my position on the two questions I haven't yet.<=
br>
><br>
> I will do so tomorrow, it's late I'm a bit tired to express my=
self<br>
> clearly tonight.<br>
><br>
> thanks<br>
><br>
> Sean<br>
><br>
><br>
> On Tue, Oct 27, 2009 at 6:05 PM, Samuel Klein <<a href=3D"http://me=
ta.sj" target=3D"_blank">meta.sj</a>@<a href=3D"http://gmail.com" target=3D=
"_blank">gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br>
>> We are close to consensus consensus on the first two points.=A0=A0=
Help with<br>
>> wording a final report would be appreciated.=A0 I wish I could ext=
rapolate<br>
>> Bill B's position from some of his earlier comments, but I can=
not :)<br>
>><br>
>> We don't have consensus on the specific wording of the 3rd que=
stion, but do<br>
>> on the underlying principle of 'not being confusing' -- th=
ere are two<br>
>> suggestions that a more specific name than "Sugar on a Stick&=
quot; be used, as<br>
>> that name is a normal English phrase and could naturally refer to =
a whole<br>
>> class of distributions.<br>
>><br>
>> Since there's already a mailing list and some history behind &=
quot;Sugar on a<br>
>> Stick", are there any others on this list that would like to =
see a more<br>
>> specific name?=A0 Does anyone expect this list to refer to all dis=
tributions<br>
>> of Sugar on removable devices, or is there broad agreement that th=
is is for<br>
>> a specific team, concept, and product?<br>
>><br>
>> Finally, are there any other questions that have been raised that =
people<br>
>> feel we should address?<br>
>><br>
>> SJ<br>
>><br>
>> On Thu, Oct 22, 2009 at 11:51 PM, Benjamin M. Schwartz<br>
>> <<a href=3D"mailto:bmschwar at fas.harvard.edu">bmschwar at fas.harva=
rd.edu</a>> wrote:<br>
>>><br>
>>> Samuel Klein wrote:<br>
>>> > Ben, Bill, DSD and Faisal -- can you please weigh in and =
share your<br>
>>> > thoughts?<br>
>>><br>
>>> Happy to.<br>
>>><br>
>>> "Should Sugar Labs be a GNU/Linux distributor, rather tha=
n just an<br>
>>> upstream producing Sugar releases?"<br>
>>><br>
>>> Yes. =A0Sugar Labs should do whatever is needed to make Sugar =
easily<br>
>>> available to our audience. =A0When this goal is best achieved =
by<br>
>>> distributing complete operating systems including Sugar, we sh=
ould have no<br>
>>> qualms about doing so. =A0However, Sugar Labs should also cont=
inue to<br>
>>> emphasize the availability of Sugar through the mechanisms of =
existing<br>
>>> distro package managers, in order to reach users who already r=
un GNU.<br>
>>><br>
>>> "Should SL be neutral about distributions containing Suga=
r, and refuse to<br>
>>> endorse one over another?"<br>
>>><br>
>>> Yes. =A0Sugar Labs does not now have a mechanism for making bl=
anket<br>
>>> endorsements, and it should not instate one. =A0Conversely, Su=
gar Labs<br>
>>> should help users to choose their best option for deploying Su=
gar,<br>
>>> depending on their individual needs, and this will typically m=
ean<br>
>>> recommending a particular distribution best suited for each us=
er.<br>
>>><br>
>>> "Should 'Sugar on a Stick' be a phrase that SL as=
ks its community to avoid<br>
>>> using unless they refer to the SoaS-Fedora distribution?"=
<br>
>>><br>
>>> No. =A0We should give this distribution a unique, identifiable=
name that<br>
>>> cannot be confused with a generic description of an entire cla=
ss of<br>
>>> distributions.<br>
>>><br>
>><br>
>><br>
>> _______________________________________________<br>
>> SoaS mailing list<br>
>> <a href=3D"mailto:SoaS at lists.sugarlabs.org">SoaS at lists.sugarlabs.o=
rg</a><br>
>> <a href=3D"http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/soas" target=3D"_bl=
ank">http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/soas</a><br>
>><br>
>><br>
><br>
</div></div></blockquote></div><br>
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