[Sugar-devel] [IAEP] activites known not to either work at all or not on certin platforms

[Carol Farlow Lerche]

Frustration -- yup.

However, let's try to come up with a way forward that solves the problem in
the sort-of near term, and the frustration in the very near term.

I too have been trying to run sugar on ubuntu and having frustration.  So,
what I think would minimize the frustration is a known place to look for the
current state of what works, what doesn't work and why, and a way to work
around the problem till it has a permanent fix.  It's obvious from the
sugar-ubuntu list that quite a few people are finding and fixing bugs, but
the fixes are in various stages of hitting the repositories.

E.g. and correct if this is inaccurate, it looks to me like the first
problem you hit with write and jigsawpuzzle is that abiword hasn't been
repackaged to provide a "libabiword", and the people who can actually do
that (the abiword project) haven't bought into or gotten around to this
yet.  So can someone provide a different package, even an rpm that could be
installed with alien?  and could the location of where to get this be noted
in the "state of the sugar ubuntu nation"?  Same with other known problems
that have been figured out but not percolated into a distributed fix.

Rinse and repeat for SOAS and any other distros floating around.  This would
at least make clear what is known to be wrong, and steps underway to fix.

As for the second point, namely providing activities requested by teachers,
I agree it is important, and I think Wade has an almost-ready typing tutor
(google these lists for a prior thread on this).

On Tue, Feb 10, 2009 at 6:14 PM, David Van Assche <dvanassche at gmail.com>wrote:

> ok? I guess this will be contreversial but it must be said and acted
> upon (much more importantly)
>
> Im gonna try and make this easy:
>
> SoaS - the latest fedora core based
> I tried to impress my 9 year old gescwister... (related one)
> Speak - it will not even launch.... why is it then on a disitributed stick?
>
> ubuntu -
> no read
> no write
> no jiggzawpuzzle
> etoys
> scratch
> epathi
> measure
> anything tam tam based
> until very recently even browse
> pdf reader of any kind
> measure
> distance
> slider
> video chat
> abc flower (thing doesnt even exist)
>
> ok, that is about 50% of the failed testtube babies...
>
>
> what is the solution:
>
> we test the damn tings before release.... we do what greg
> dekoenigsberg quite elegantly suggested. a 3 tier solution:
>
> 1. make an educator mailinglist.... we get every educator we know on
> the list. We start off the discussion with what is really needed...
> the simple stuff... the stuff u guru coders can whip up in days:
> Examples:
>
> 1. typing tutor... all it should do is allow kids to follow whatever
> the teacher is directing. speed of typing is recorded? accuracy; graph
> based report; printable to parents... stars given to best pupils...
>
> guys these are real world scenarios... not invented by devs.. asked
> for by teachers qnd not surprisingly thinking why it does not yet
> exist.
>
> 2 same for maths... times tables/division/addition/substraction....
> groupings of kids, reports, printibale to both parents ant teachers...
>
>
> 2. (gdk) guys this is what teachers want... I reallly hate to say
> this; but the stuff right now on sugar apart from speak, which when
> working every teacher loves, is an absolute waste of educators time...
> yes the activities can be properly used... but basics first! mailing
> list to get the, involved; we mention the activities that we (welll
> actually they) have come up with, we discuss very briefly;
>
> 3: (gdk)then make a moodle/wiki page where educators and devs get
> together to create the tools that we actually need (the ones that will
> really chqnge the world)
>
> I hope no one takes this is as a critcism of the effort put into
> creating activities till now; but people... lets frocus... lets sugar
> mean something for teachers
>
> David (nubae) Van Assche
> _______________________________________________
> IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!)
> IAEP at lists.sugarlabs.org
> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
>



-- 
"It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary
depends upon his not understanding it." -- Upton Sinclair
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