[Server-devel] Schoolserver development in Uruguay

[Tony Anderson]

Hi,

I must confess that I am not current on this list. However, I'll toss in 
two cents.

First, I would like to see a build process that starts with a generic 
(Fedora) LAMP system. There should then be a build script that creates a 
schoolserver on this system. The current process (as used in Nepal) 
starts with the 0.6 image which locks it to Fedora 9. A deployment could 
then build their own script to add (or remove) services.

Second, The idea of the DataManager activity is to replace the current 
backup scheme by one controlled by the students. DataManager shows a 
Journal-like listing of all the journal items on the server and on his 
or her XO. If the item is on both, it is shown in Blue. If it is only on 
the server, it is shown in Cyan. The student can delete a Blue item 
(leaving it only on the server) or can click on a Cyan item causing it 
to be downloaded to the XO. A 'fuel guage' shows how much of the Nand is 
free as a guide on whether to delete some local items. All newly created 
items are copied to the schoolserver - provided they have an associated 
data file; otherwise they are deleted. This policy is based on my 
reading of the code that journal items which do not have a file are not 
'resumed' (in 0.82). The 0.82 scheme gives the student no way to avoid 
filling his Nand or controlling what gets saved or discarded (e.g if 
he/she deletes a Journal item on the XO, it will be deleted on the 
backup as well). One additional advantage is that the DataManager 
supports a 'commons' folder on the schoolserver which acts as a Journal 
store but whose items are available to all XOs. Currently, the commons 
folder contains a copy of the Sugar activities. This way students have 
access to all of them and can decide which they want to have local. If 
one is removed, it can be downloaded again. If the local store is lost 
(e.g. by the student changing XOs resulting from a hardware failure), 
all of the journal items are still accessible via the DataManager (given 
suitable update of the schoolserver to reflect the new serial-number).

Tony