Status of the OLPC

[Chad Z. Hower aka Kudzu]

> Please log it in trac, see http://dev.laptop.org/ ... or describe it to
> me in detail and I'll log it for you.  I'll need the build number, the
> image you're running, and the emulation environment.

I logged it. Its Bochs, but I think it would happen anywhere. As soon as you 
add -soundhw option it runs ok.

> A fix might be for the failing program to gracefully degrade and not use
> sound.  I guess it is Sugar, but I've not tested yet.  Sound is not

Yes that was my point. Not only does it got into a infinite half/reboot 
loop, but the error is displayed for <1 second, I only caught it wtih a 
screen capture utility on the host.

> modular in the build I have here, and so I don't know a way to convince
> the kernel not to instantiate the sound interface on real hardware.

Run it in bochs with default setting (no sound). But potentially sound could 
fail - or any number of other things.. shouldnt render the system unusable.

> The developers program.  Works great.  I'm in Australia, and hardware
> got to me fine.

I saw that - but I'm hesitan to use up a physical machine that might better 
benefit others. It would be cool to have one, but the work I'm doing for now 
can be easily done in emulation - if the emulation builds worked better. I 
also wouldnt mind paying for my hardware - but they currently only ship to 
North America.

> If we stop giving away hardware, yes.  ;-)
> And if problems are reported and bubble to the top.

How can I help improve at least the emulation builds? Id like to have ready 
to go VMWare and Bochs projects, etc.

> Please do.  Test the builds as they appear, detect problems, search for
> them in trac, add new ticket if not found.

Its more than testing - Id like to offer full projects instead of just 
images.

> What seems to have happened is we get someone energetic about emulation
> build problem reporting, they become useful to the project, we send them
> hardware, they stop mentioning emulation ... now I wonder why?  ;-)

Emulation is vital though for those who want to play - its a stepping stone.

> Emulation is potentially very useful for a deployment team doing
> in-country work.

It has a lot of uses....

But to the point. Here is what I'm working on - would appreciate input. 
Python is cool, I dont have any beefs with it. And I think its a great 
choice given the requirements etc.

But (and we are pretty close BTW.....) I'm working on the ability to take 
.NET applications and compile them for OLPC. The idea would be to further 
expand developer possibilties. Its all done in a lightweight manner as well, 
its not JITTed and doesnt require a huge footprint. Some simple outputs 
we've tested are just a few kb (ok right now they are just console.. but the 
point is that the minimal overhead is not big).

Comments?