[Sugar-devel] State of Sugar?

[C. Cossé]

Hello all,

I would like to mention that there are probably other people, besides
myself, who would love to develop their ideas for education software, if
only there were some way to get paid.  I used to make free education
software back when I had kids and could afford the time.  I personally
still have a list of un-implemented ideas for education software which I'd
love to work on, but the factor that makes it possible is missing, ie
money.  It wouldn't necessarily be too difficult to modify the Sugar (and
Sugarizer) eco-systems to promote compensation of developers.  For example:
someone likes a project and wants to encourage further development by
"putting $500 on it".  Or, since that might not happen very often, then
convert into a "subscription" system in which subscription fees are used to
compensate developers, perhaps allowing the subscriber choose which
projects to support.  If there are people who want to develop and other
people who want to support such work, then it could be successful.

Just sayin' :)

-Charlie Cosse


On Fri, Oct 30, 2020 at 3:47 AM Christoph Derndorfer-Medosch <
christoph.derndorfer at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> a quick thought experiment from another old-timer and long-term lurker
> here:
>
> James, I think one might also turn your assessment on its head:
>
> "The *low number of contributors* to Sugar Labs, Sugar, Sugarizer,
> and Music Blocks is *due to the focus that we have, and it's unclear*. The
> relatively *small amount of continued contributions* alone will *not have
> any real effect on that*.
>
> Sugar Labs contributors *will arrive and thrive* if there is a *clear
> Sugar Labs focus*."
>
> Just my 2 euro cents,
> Christoph
>
> On Fri, Oct 30, 2020 at 8:53 AM James Cameron <quozl at laptop.org> wrote:
>
>> I disagree that the focus has shifted or that it should be shifted
>> back to what it was.  The state of Sugar Labs, Sugar, Sugarizer, and
>> Music Blocks is due to the contributors we have, and they are too few.
>> No amount of refocusing will have any real effect on that.
>>
>> Sugar Labs will thrive if there are contributors.
>>
>> On Thu, Oct 29, 2020 at 11:40:58PM +0100, Bastien wrote:
>> > Thanks James.
>> >
>> > So Sugar is maintained by a handful of people but it is not actively
>> > developed anymore.  Sugar Labs puts some efforts in maintaining it but
>> > does not really know who is still using it.  Sugar Labs also hosts the
>> > Sugarizer project, which is well alive and reaching children at least
>> > in France.
>> >
>> > I hope this does sound approximatively correct.
>> >
>> > Sugar Labs was all about provoking a change in the way we experience
>> > education (learning and teaching) through the development of Sugar, as
>> > a flagship for such a change.  This flagship was designed around a few
>> > core principles and powerful ideas that are still alive and relevant
>> > today: namely focus, reflection and collaboration.
>> >
>> > I think we all agree these core principles will survive the software.
>> >
>> > What if Sugar Labs focus was not to promote Sugar (which is dying) but
>> > to help build a network of contributors around these core principles?
>> >
>> > What if we insist on the "Labs" more than on the "Sugar"?
>> >
>> > The Free Software Foundation is saying over and over that children
>> > should use free software.  But building free educational software is
>> > something very few people are interested in doing seriously, and the
>> > ones willing to do it by following the aforementioned core principles
>> > may not want to rely on Sugar or Sugarizer.
>> >
>> > How to help these people?
>> >
>> > You know my love for this project and my commitment to helping OLPC
>> > back in the times, Sugar Labs community and Sugarizer today.  But I
>> > don't feel the pulse of the Sugar community anymore, and I think that
>> > may be because the focus is back on the software, rather than on the
>> > core principles and the people themselves.
>> >
>> > Stated otherwise: if Alan K., Seymour P., Cynthia S. and Walter were
>> > back again in the same room to discuss the future of education, what
>> > would they propose?  Could Sugar Labs host these new ideas?
>> >
>> > --
>> >  Bastien
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > Sugar-devel mailing list
>> > Sugar-devel at lists.sugarlabs.org
>> > http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/sugar-devel
>>
>> --
>> James Cameron
>> http://quozl.netrek.org/
>> _______________________________________________
>> Sugar-devel mailing list
>> Sugar-devel at lists.sugarlabs.org
>> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/sugar-devel
>>
>
>
> --
> Christoph Derndorfer
>
> volunteer, OLPC (Austria) / co-founder, TechnikBasteln® [
> www.technikbasteln.net]
>
> e-mail: christoph at derndorfer.eu
>
> _______________________________________________
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> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/sugar-devel
>


-- 

ccosse.github.io
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