[OLPC library] goal setting and scope for BookSprint

[John Watlington]

On Aug 20, 2008, at 10:38 PM, Anne Gentle wrote:

> Hi all,
> Adam Hyde and I wanted to describe our scope, goals and set
> expectations for next week's BookSprint.
>
> We're writing for kids, parents, and teachers, keeping in mind that
> kids will teach other kids. (Side note: I'm reading Three Cups of Tea:
> One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time and it
> has helped me envision the kids and schools we're writing for.)
>
> We discussed whether the school server is within the scope of this set
> of manuals (which are remixable). As Walter put it, a classroom
> framework for the guide which would include modules (I think he means
> manuals) on the desktop, connectivity, activities, content and
> libraries, and maintenance (e.g., backups, etc.). I'd like to keep the
> school server in mind as we go during the week but we haven't
> specifically set one up for our use, yet.
>
> So, with these expectations in mind, here's what we hope to accomplish
> in 5 days.
>
> 1. Extend and deepen details on the current set of information,
> updating for version 8.2.0. We have 8 XOs installed with joyride-2301.
> (BTW, I love the Control Panel and ability to download Activities and
> just generally love the OS updates.)
> See http://sugarlabs.org/go/DocumentationTeam#User_Manuals for the
> outlines for the XO and Sugar info sets.
>
> Returning to the school server - the current doc set does discuss the
> school server but only in passing. We can place more detail in the
> maintenance and backup chapters when we update them. I'd like input
> here.

The School Server needs a complete documentation package:
  - Installation Guide
  - Administrator's Guide
  - Troubleshooting

We already have two separate User's Guides for the laptop, but nothing
for the school server...  (We could say the same about the software!)

> 2. Add:
> Troubleshooting (esp. for connectivity)

A lot of effort already went into a hardware troubleshooting manual,
and it is already translated into Spanish and being field tested.
See http://wiki.laptop.org/go/XO_Troubleshooting_Guide
Please don't duplicate, move, or fork this effort.

On the other hand, there is absolutely no software troubleshooting
(outside of http://wiki.laptop.org/Startup_Diagnosis), as any repair
center will just reload the OS & activities upon encountering
a software problem.   This is a gaping hole in documentation....

The connectivity troubleshooting still needs writing, but you have to
include the school server to write that story.

> Repair (dis-assembly with photos)

Repair is not disassembly.
We already have disassembly instructions, at:
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Disassembly

Repair instructions are included as part of the Troubleshooting guide
(which references the Disassembly Guide).

> More detailed support-type information (from the RTFM list by  
> Adam's team)
> Glossary (Is there a way to use a Pootle file for starting the English
> glossary so that the multiple languages would be easier to follow
> along? David Farning, is that something you could research for us?)

> 3. Document Activities in more detail from an end-users perspective
> with the kids/parent/teachers audience in mind.
> Apparently reading about Activities is very important to kids in
> Uruguay according to the analytics on the wiki.laptop.org site.
>
> Here is my first attempt at a prioritized list of Activities for next
> week. Note that all these listed Activities already have a chapter
> started in FLOSS Manuals. The task of "Documenting Activities" would
> go further towards manuals for each Activity as opposed to just one
> chapter.
> Primary:
> Journal
> Browse (with much as much emphasis on Content and ebooks as Internet?)
> Record
> Write
> Terminal
> Chat
> Draw
>
> Secondary (maybe make these a priority for a second Sprint):
> Memorize
> Calculate
> TamTam Jam/Edit/SynthLab/Mini
> Turtle Art
> Pippy
> Measure (waveforms)
> Acoustic Tape Measure
>
> Already has a lot written but we may want to bring some content into
> FLOSS, I'm just not sure where to prioritize it:
> Etoys
>
> What activities might we be missing? The MaMa Media Creative Center is
> discussed as an example of what you'd want to download and install to
> add to your "original" set of Activities.
>
> Honestly, I think we are going to have an amazing week. We can discuss
> this scope more on this list and plan to have more discussion at 3:00
> Sunday afternoon at the hotel.
>
> Spanish translation is a high priority and Yama Ploskonka is learning
> more about FLOSS Manuals and hopes to have enough bilingual
> translators on hand to translate chapters as we mark them ready.

I was disappointed that the translation system being used for  
activities and
Sugar wasn't also available for helping on wiki translation...   Are  
you adding
a third system, or using an existing one ?

> Thanks for reading and I welcome your feedback.
>
> Anne
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