[Sugar-devel] The future of Sugar on XO-1s

[Tony Anderson]

Sean,

One development that seems to be ignored on these lists is Microsoft's 
announcement that it will support Bash on Windows 10. As I understand 
it, the goal is to be able to run Ubuntu programs on Windows 10 using a 
standard 'short-cut'. If so, it is possible that Sugar can run as a 
native Windows application within months.

Tony

On 04/12/2016 05:33 PM, Sean DALY wrote:
> Excellent analysis.
>
> I think Sugar could have an impact in the US if it was extremely easy 
> to install and configure (or "connect to and use"), and teachers would 
> get behind it.
>
> Sean
>
>
> On Tue, Apr 12, 2016 at 11:22 AM, Tony Anderson <tony_anderson at usa.net 
> <mailto:tony_anderson at usa.net>> wrote:
>
>     Of course, the question is what is our market? I think Sugar has
>     no chance to impact the American education market. Chris
>     Doerndorfer presented that point very effectively at the Malaysia
>     summit noting that major requests for proposals by UNESCO, USAID,
>     and others eliminated proposals of Sugar or XOs on technical
>     grounds (e.g. proposal from non-qualifying origanization,
>     insufficient capital to make escrow requirements and so on). Rabi
>     Karmacharya noted that OLE Nepal could not qualify to bid on
>     Nepal's request.
>
>     Many schools in the US are adopting a BYD policy. I suspect that
>     an XO with Sugar would not qualify as an acceptable device.
>     Obviously, such a policy is impossible for community schools in
>     the developing world.
>
>     I believe our opportunity is to convince private philanthropic
>     individuals and organizations to support specific deployments in
>     specific countries. To do this
>     we need a reliable source of hardware, a credible support
>     organization (e.g. Red Hat, Moodle, ...), a proven track record of
>     success in similar situations, as well as open software and
>     content. This needs to be combined into a solid story to present
>     to potential sponsors.
>
>     I don't think it matters whether we have large numbers of
>     computers running Sugar in the US or US private schools. We
>     should, of course, have an ability to demonstrate to sponsors what
>     we are offering.
>
>     So a G1G1 needs to be positioned as primarily benefiting the Give
>     side. Making half of the package deductible is helpful. Offering a
>     Give2 option at full deductbility may work. Describing in detail,
>     how the Give1 or 2 laptops would be used is essential (a point
>     ignored by OLPC).
>
>     In the second G1G1, OLPC was introduced to basic business
>     management. The manufacturer, not unreasonably. required payment
>     for the laptops on delivery (to Amazon). The made all of the
>     available funds illiquid and so OLPC was forced to riff many very
>     valuable developers.
>
>     Apparently no one at OLPC was familiar with inventory loans or
>     managing cash flow.
>
>     Crowd-sourcing makes clear that many Americans will put up cash
>     for what they consider a worthy cause. This might be a way to
>     mange a G1G1 or G2 program. Any such program must pay serious
>     attention to financing. For example, suppose the minimum build
>     order is $2M. While those 10000 laptops are in inventory, they tie
>     up the funds. When all of the laptops have been paid for and
>     deployed, a new order can be placed. Better would be to order
>     20,000 units at $4M. Then when 10,000 have been deployed and paid
>     for, a new order can be placed. However, this means at least $2M
>     will be tied up in inventory.
>
>     Tony
>
>
>
>     On 04/09/2016 10:12 PM, Sean DALY wrote:
>>
>>     On Sat, Apr 9, 2016 at 5:57 AM, Dave Crossland <dave at lab6.com
>>     <mailto:dave at lab6.com>> wrote:
>>
>>         Finding ten ritzy private primary schools in the US where the
>>         parents can drop $400 in a hat shouldn't be too hard for a
>>         savvy sales person
>>
>>
>>     I'd like to think that's so, but it may well be more likely that
>>     parents would be more impressed with a tablet-based solution, or
>>     with spending that money on home equipment.
>>
>>     Private schools definitely have more resources and more leeway in
>>     IT buying, but they also need to fit IT activity into a curriculum.
>>
>>     It's possible a charity/social responsibility oriented approach
>>     could work, but it's also possible that a school's IT buyer would
>>     find XOs a tough sell compared to, say the Dell Latitude 13
>>     education offer. And no need to pay the salesperson so well - we
>>     would need to hire (lots of) staff for the sales logistics at the
>>     same time.
>>
>>     Models exist where a nonprofit org or foundation controls a
>>     business (e.g. Mozilla), which might be necessary in this
>>     scenario. However OLPC (and by extension Sugar in its ecosystem)
>>     happens to have an awful image problem. What would be the value
>>     proposition of our offer over the commercial offers, for large
>>     scale buyers to take the risk? The charity/solidarity aspect?
>>     Wouldn't OLPC rather want to manage such a project?
>>
>>     I encourage big-picture thinking, perhaps more brainstorming is
>>     in order
>>
>>     Sean
>>
>
>
>
>
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