[Sugar-devel] Announcing Sugar on a Stick v.3 (Mirabelle)

[Simon Schampijer]

On 05/26/2010 04:01 AM, Sebastian Dziallas wrote:
> Mirabelles have arrived! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/enil/3892066169/)
>
> I am proud to announce the availability of Sugar on a Stick v.3,
> code-named Mirabelle.

Congratulations to everyone that made this happen!

 From managing the releases for Sugar, I know that releasing something 
(actually not only *something* in this case) demands a few efforts, you 
made it :)

[...]
> Customize your own remix of Sugar on a Stick. You'll notice that v.3
> Mirabelle has a smaller Activity selection than its predecessors,
> Blueberry and Strawberry. We realized we'll never be able to create an
> Activity selection suitable for all deployments - instead, we've
> chosen to include and support a core set of basic, teacher-tested
> Activities in the default image, and invite deployments to use this as
> a base on which to build a customized Activity selection for their
> classrooms. Instructions on how to do this are available at
> http://download.sugarlabs.org/soas/docs/customization-guide/.

This is wonderful, can't wait to give it a go. And there is even 
documentation about it, wow!

> Sugar on a Stick is now a Fedora Spin. After two prior releases of
> being based on the Fedora distribution, Sugar on a Stick has
> recognized by the Fedora Project as an official Spin. This ties us
> more closely to Fedora's release cycle and gives us resources from
> their engineering and marketing teams, which extends the reach of
> Sugar on a Stick and makes the project itself more sustainable. In
> exchange, users of Fedora have access to an easily deployable
> implementation of the Sugar Platform; it's a great example of a
> mutually beneficial upstream - downstream relationship.
>
> The biggest difference in v.3 of Sugar on a Stick has been in its
> release processes and engineering sustainability; it's now much easier
> for new contributors to get involved. We continue to move towards our
> long-term vision of bringing stability and deployability to Sugar's
> personalized learning environment, and invite all interested parties
> to join us.

I think this was a good decision! ++1 for going into that direction. And 
thanks to Fedora for providing the tools and people making this happen.

> If you'd like to contribute to the next version, due for release in
> early November, join us at our Contributors Portal at
> http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick. All types of
> contributions are welcome, from the technical to the pedagogical, and
> we're happy to teach what we know and learn what you have to share.

I met an enthusiastic Fedora team in Greece that wanted to contribute to 
Sugar/Soas that I delegated to Soas. Will keep on doing that in the 
Future ;)

Thanks,
    Simon