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Re: [olpc-gr] FW: [Community-news] on Sugar

FYI, απάντηση στον N. Negroponte από developer του OLPC:

Από:  	 sugar-bounces [ at ] lists [ dot ] laptop [ dot ] org εκ μέρους C. Scott Ananian 	 
Αποστολή:  	 Τετ 23/4/2008 8:29 μμ
Προς:  	 Nicholas Negroponte
Κοιν.:  	 sugar [ at ] laptop [ dot ] org; devel [ at ] laptop [ dot ] org
Θέμα:  	 Re: [sugar] [Community-news] on Sugar

On Wed, Apr 23, 2008 at 12:06 PM, Nicholas Negroponte <nn [ at ] media [ dot ] mit [ dot ] edu> wrote:
>  For this reason, Sugar needs a wider basis, to run on more Linux platforms
> and to run under Windows. We have been engaged in discussions with Microsoft
> for several months, to explore a dual boot version of the XO. Some of you
> have seen what Microsoft developed on their own for the XO. It works well
> and now needs Sugar on top of it (so to speak).

You have been saying variations of this for a while now, but:
 * OLPC has not hired any Windows developers
 * OLPC has not adjusted its timeline to allow for time necessary for
such a port.

What are we to make of this?  Are you serious about Sugar on Windows
or not?  If you are, then you need to immediately hire *at least* 10
windows developers to actually perform the port, and inform the
deployment countries that we are placing a hold on new development for
at least 6 months while the port is prepared.  And the result, of
course, will be a new version of Sugar which is guaranteed to run *no
better* than the one on Linux.  From an IT management perspective,
this is madness.

If you are not serious about Sugar on Windows within the next year,
please continue to avoid 'now' and use 'might' and 'someday' when you
talk about it, and we'll continue to try to make Sugar-on-Linux
achieve its potential.  I approve of keeping OLPC's options open, in
case your current development team (myself included) cannot deliver on
Sugar's potential, but setting vague (and demoralizing) goals for
future development -- without actually devoting the resources to
achieve those goals -- is madness.  You have only succeeded in
alienating the developers you need to make Sugar-on-Linux work,
without actually achieving any progress on Sugar-on-Windows.
 --scott

--
 ( http://cscott.net/ )

-----Αρχικό μήνυμα-----
Από: olpc-bounces [ at ] grnet [ dot ] gr εκ μέρους Nectarios Koziris
Αποστολή: Τετ 23/4/2008 11:02 μμ
Προς: olpc [ at ] grnet [ dot ] gr
Θέμα: [olpc-gr] FW: [Community-news] on Sugar
 

	From: community-news-bounces [ at ] lists [ dot ] laptop [ dot ] org
[mailto:community-news-bounces [ at ] lists [ dot ] laptop [ dot ] org] On Behalf Of Nicholas
Negroponte
	Sent: Τετάρτη, 23 Απριλίου 2008 7:07 μμ
	To: devel [ at ] laptop [ dot ] org; sugar [ at ] laptop [ dot ] org; community-news [ at ] laptop [ dot ] org
	Subject: [Community-news] on Sugar
	
	
	
	People keep asking me:
	
	Yes, OLPCs commitment to Sugar has changed. It is now larger, not
smaller. Contrary to inferences drawn by Walters departure, the press and
venerable sources such as OLPC News, we are scaling Sugar up, not down. Let
me explain.
	 
	Sugar is a very good idea, less than perfectly executed. I attribute
our weakness to unrealistic development goals and practices. Our mission has
never changed. It has been to bring connected laptops for learning to
children in the poorest and most remote locations of the world. Our mission
has never been to advocate the perfect learning model or pure Open Source. I
believe the best educational tool is constructionism and the best software
development method is Open Source. In some cases those are best achieved
like the Trojan Horse, versus direct confrontation or isolating ourselves
with perfection. Remember the expression: perfection is the enemy of good.
We need to reach the most children possible and leverage them as the agents
of change. It makes no sense for us to search for the perfect learning
model.
	 
	For this reason, Sugar needs a wider basis, to run on more Linux
platforms and to run under Windows. We have been engaged in discussions with
Microsoft for several months, to explore a dual boot version of the XO. Some
of you have seen what Microsoft developed on their own for the XO. It works
well and now needs Sugar on top of it (so to speak).
	 
	As a non-profit, humanitarian organization, OLPC has a unique
position, from which it can change the world for children and learning.
Laptop makers rushing into the low-end marketplace is a perfect example of
success of one kind. Another will be what kids do outside school and with
other kids around the world. A third is what we do. 
	 
	We are not a business, but need to be more business-like: meet
schedules, manage expectations and fulfill promises. To do that, we need to
hire more developers, work more together and spend less time arguing.
Because of public attention, anything we say will be quoted out of context.
We can only speak with our actions and those are only one: a reliable and
ubiquitous Sugar. That includes being more collaborative engineers ourselves
and engaging the community better. Our limitations are not financial, but
identifying the required human resources and resolve to do so. 
	 
	What is in front of us is an opportunity for big change. Sugar is at
the core of it. To pretend otherwise would be a joke. That said, Sugar needs
to be disentangled. I keep using the omelet analogy, claiming it needs to be
a fried egg, with distinct yoke and white, rather than having the UI,
collaborative tools, power management and radios merge into one amorphous
blob. Otherwise, it is impossible to debug and will be limited to the small,
albeit growing, world of the XO hardware platform.
	 
	As we reach out to engage a wider community, some purism has to
morph into pragmatism. To suggest that this forsakes Open Source or
redirects our mission is absurd. Kids will be the agents of change and our
job is to reach the most of them. That is not just selling laptops, but
making Sugar as robust and widely available as possible.
	
	Nicholas
	
	


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