OLPC where to go development advice.

[Walter Bender]

On Fri, Jan 30, 2009 at 7:42 PM, Paul Breed <Paul at rasdoc.com> wrote:
> I subscribed to the dev list for some development advice for the OLPC.

This is probably the best list. There is also irc.freenode.net #olpc-devel

> My reason for using the OLPC is not to help in the developing world,
> it because I'm working on a long term project in the Mojave Desert and
> unit is robust and the display can be read in the noon day mojave sun.
>
> The project is a Rocket. My 22yr old son and I are  working on it together.
>
> See:
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dacpVhUnEXw&feature=channel_page
>
>
> I'm a very skilled embedded C/C++ programmer. (Full bare metal
> custom, not linux/uclinux see www.netburner.com)
>
> I also used to make my living doing professional custom UI's in mfc
> /windows 98/xp/nt etc...
>
> I love working on the command line, but am weak in the linux
> configuration area.
>
> My son does webserver python stuff buy has ZERO gui experience, I
> have lots of GUI experience but exactly 2 days of python experience.
>
>
> I basically want the OLPC to be a front panel for the headless
> embedded computers that
> run the rocket.
>
> My telemetry system and the main computer on the rocket are all
> communicating with UDP
> packets. Where needed the acknowledgement occurs at the application
> layer, not the network layer ala tcp.
> I do this for better control of the real time latency where it matters.
>
> The operational communications is all advisory and tuning, we have
> separate hardware radio abort systems.
> The setup and configuration operations are not real time, but we
> still use the UDP
> system so we don't have two different comm prototcols.
>
> So I need to setup to send/receive UDP packets based on some buttons,
> combo boxes and spin controls.
> Draw a few simple graphs/2d plots etc....
> I've already written the apps I need in windows/mfc and total time
> invested on the PC side is about 2 weeks.
> So I want to recreate them here.
> I've been playing with the pygtk both on a windows PC and the OLPC
> and it seems like I can write
> what I need to.
>
> My questions are going to be a mix of both pyGTK /Python and linux on
> OLPC questions.
> So I'm looking for the right venue to ask.
>
> I have several specific questions right now:
>
> I can't use the WiFi as 2.4Ghz is already used and I don't want interference.
> I've ordered a Ethernet USB dongle that is supposed to be OLPC compatible.
>
> If I just plug that in will the OLPC  recognize it and use it?

If it is one of the ones listed in the wiki, it should probably just work.

> How do I configure that network port with a static IP configuration?

You can configure a static ip address using ifconfig from the command
line. You'll need to be root.

> How do I tell pygtk on the PC to open with a window the same size
> (pixel wise) as it will be on the OLPC?

I don't know what window manager you are using on the PC (or what
operating system), but the emulators will try to run at 1200x900 if
they can.

>
> Can I plug in something that looks like an external USB keyboard and
> have it recognized?

yes.

> How hard is it to modify the pygtk keyboard focus navigation stuff so
> I could use the OLPC in tablet mode
> rather than laptop mode?

Should just work. There are some examples of using the buttons on the
screen in the Sugar Almanac in the OLPC wiki.
>
> Is there any simple way to reclaim the OLPC key that changes display
> orientation so I could have
> one more ui button in tablet mode?
>

I don't recall off the top of my head where it is defined, but it is
simply a matter of changing a table entry.

> I need three different apps, Configruation, PRelaunch
> checklist/countdown and Fligth status.
>
> I need to be able to quickly switch between all three
> One Big app with notebook/tab style pages?
> Or three apps, if so how do I switch quickly on the OLPC?

Alt-Tab

>
> Do I want to leave the stock OLPC software in place or would I find a
> more traditional linux installation more friendly.
> (Or at least less wierd)
>
> Where could I go and get a linux image that will just run on the OLPC.

There is a stock Fedora image available. http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/OLPC

> If I went to a traditional Linux distro could I do GTK UI's in C/C++
> on this machine?

Yes.
>
>
>
>
> Thanks for any help on what is really an off topic post....
>
>
> Paul
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Devel mailing list
> Devel at lists.laptop.org
> http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/devel
>



-- 
Walter Bender
Sugar Labs
http://www.sugarlabs.org