[sugar] Integration with web apps (and Moodle specifically!)

[Ian Bicking]

Ivan Krsti? wrote:
>> Then it's not a web app framework, it's a python framework ;-)
> 
> It's a web application framework written in Python. I'm not sure how you
> would generalize that, unless you're referring to the glue that connects
> a local web app with Sugar.

If there was a common runtime environment for more than one language, 
then I suppose you could generalize the OLPC environment, and maybe even 
support more than one language within the tight constraints of the OLPC 
laptop.  But such an environment doesn't really exist.  It would be nice 
if it did, but it doesn't.

>> I gather there will there be interest in a general web app framework
>> as there is a lot of stuff that is written in other
>> languages/interpreters. Yes/no/maybe?
> 
> Our size constraints mean that we had to pick one interpreted language
> and won't provide others on the machine. Other languages and development
> environments will presumably be available to more advanced kids, but
> they can't be counted on by third-party application developers,
> unfortunately.

I would guess that in some cases on the school level, and certainly 
above the school level, PHP environments can be supported.  So content 
management and collaboration could happen in PHP at that level.  The 
*result* of that content management would probably be best delivered in 
a static (or close-to-static) form to the laptops.  This would 
facilitate offline viewing.  I think an open line of discussion would be 
how such delivery might work, and generally how the laptop might 
communicate with an upstream system despite an intermittent connection.

So for the most part the same opportunities exist for OLPC and Moodle as 
for other situations -- students won't generally install Moodle on their 
personal computers.  That Moodle may not be installable on a school 
level may add a constraint, especially depending on how well connected 
schools are likely to be.  Probably the biggest difficulty is that the 
connection is likely to be spotty at best, so synchronous interaction 
with a centralized web application won't work very well.

-- 
Ian Bicking | ianb at colorstudy.com | http://blog.ianbicking.org