[olpc-community-support] A few basic questions

[Michael Burns]

On Dec 16, 2007 7:11 PM, Anonymous <community-support at lists.laptop.org>
wrote:

> Hi - I'm glad I found this site!
>

So am I. Cheers!

>
> I was out of town until late last night, and found my XO on my porch - so
> I'm just getting started. I'm feeling a little in need of an "idiot's"
> guide,


http://wiki.laptop.org/go/User_guide
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Official_OLPC_FAQ


> especially considering I'm a software developer (although not in linux)
> and children reportedly pick up how to use the laptop rather easily


Rule of thumb on interacting with the XO: Try. Children love to play and
touch and discover. Their natural curiousity pulls them to find answers on
their own by interacting with the system. It is a great way to find the
depth and intrigue in this project, by digging a layer deeper than you might
otherwise have.


> - but, in general, I'm excited over the possiblities - and am trying to
> figure out how I can help.


Two suggestions: :)
Share your experience here, on the forums (and on the wiki, which you can
edit and expand for other users: http://wiki.laptop.org/ - it has an article
on any OLPC-related topic).

Developers can always use good, detailed bug reports, too. In playing with
the system, if you run across a use case that doesn't work, or a feature
that is broken, reporting it at http://dev.laptop.org/ and working with them
to fix it will make a better experience for everyone.


> 1) What exactly is a 'mesh' network?


http://www.laptop.org/laptop/hardware/index.shtml

It is a type of network model (how machines talk directly and indirectly to
eachother). Example: A normal network can be thought of as hub-and-spoke. A
switch or network hub has computers (spokes) connected to it. To talk to one
computer, it has to go to the hub and then back out the appropriate spoke.

In a mesh network, each OLPC laptop is a hub, connected to any number of
nearby (within radio signal) other nearby laptops. Those laptops are also
connected to other laptops. All wirelessly. With special routing software,
we can have any two laptops talk to eachother, by 'hopping' between
intermediate laptops.

This is a feature that makes very rural deployments (say, Nigeria)
practical, because we don't need (much) dedicated network hardware: the
laptops are doing the heavy lifting, not old hub/switches/routers.


> On the neighborhood view I can see all the wireless connections in the
> neighborhood (including mine that I haven't managed to connect with yet, but
> I'm trying), plus several 'mesh' networks. What are these?


WEP-secured networks are not currently supported.

Mesh networks are created by XO laptops for various conditions. If you
connect an XO to a wireless AP, it will "share" that network connection with
a mesh network it creates. Other laptops could join that mesh, and connect
to the internet through the first XO.

Once I figure things out (which, again, I am feeling a little 'dumb' about)
> - I'd be interested in helping with documentation - I've been told that I
> write well, and explain technical concepts in a non-technical manner.


Wonderful! We could use it. If you get a chance, try out the XoIRC activity
( bottom of http://wiki.laptop.org/go/IRC ) and join the channel
#olpc-content. Those are the folks writing and organizing much of the
documentation and library content for OLPC. I'm sure they'd love to hear
from you. :)
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