[Server-devel] Fwd: [UKids] XSCE 6.0 Released

[Adam Holt]

*Thank you Tim & All -*

Those who want a visual shortcut to prefab 'short-cuts' installable images,
please bookmark the top-right of http://schoolsever.org, which we will try
to keep updated as new images are contributed by different members of this
amazingly dynamic community!  For those itching to get the latest hardware,
here's just a running snapshot of recent successes to benefit all, from
across the Internet-in-a-Box a.k.a. school server community as Spring 2016
begins!

   - Strongly consider XO-1.5 or XO-4, those who want a hassle-free
   rugged+integrated chassis for the developing world, but more about that
   later :-)
   - Larger educational institutions should strongly consider Intel NUC
   hardware.  Even if the 6th generation i3 NUC (an excellent piece of
   hardware, known as the 6i3 NUC, released near the end of 2015, is a steal
   at $249.00 @ http://frys.com/product/8732571) be warned that it hasn't
   fully stabilized, so you might want to delay your purchase a few
   weeks/months according to http://NUCblog.net
   - Raspberry Pi 3 images are currently equivalent to Raspberry Pi 2, but
   will be evolving fast as 64-bit Fedora and possibly CentOS-on-ARM arise in
   coming months.  Exciting Stuff...we're very hopeful for http://Pine64.com
   as well!

*Huge Thanks who can point out errors/omissions/suggestions for our FAQ
living document, or edit it directly, giving back to everyone:
http://schoolserver.org/faq <http://schoolserver.org/faq>*

From: Tim Moody <tim at timmoody.com>
Date: Sun, Mar 27, 2016 at 11:36 AM
Subject: [UKids] XSCE 6.0 Released
To: "Community Support Volunteers -- who help respond to help AT laptop.org"
<support-gang at lists.laptop.org>, server-devel <server-devel at lists.laptop.org>,
Unleash Kids! <unleashkids at googlegroups.com>, xsce-devel <
xsce-devel at googlegroups.com>

Years in the making!!  A cast of thousands!!



The School Server Community Edition (XSCE) version 6.0 is hereby officially
released.  Thanks to the many contributors, developers, and testers.



In addition to releasing the School Server software, we have provided
'short-cut' images for several platforms with more on the way.



Please read the following Release Notes and then proceed to
https://github.com/XSCE/xsce/wiki/XSCE-Installation.


Release Notes for XSCE 6.0What is it?

XSCE is the digital backbone for your education revolution. Put simply,
School Server is an open-education project inspired by One Laptop Per Child
to provide breakthrough digital learning tools to the world’s poorest
children.
A Rose by any other Name

Internally and in the source code we refer to this software as XSCE, the
Community Edition of the XS server originally from OLPC. Students and
teachers often know it as Internet in a Box, a collection of educational
materials and applications found on the internet, but available on the
server even without an internet connection. We also refer to it as a School
Server since it is aimed at schools and other places where people learn and
performs the function of a server.
What's new in XSCE Release 6.0?

This release extends the tools available to educators in three ways:

   - It makes available free and open source content that is available in
   many languages
   - It provides new avenues for students to create, and share their work
   - It contains number of advances to permit easy configuration, tailoring
   of content, and monitoring of student work.

Newly Available Open Source Educational Content

   - KA Lite brings the online features of *Khan Academy* to the
*offline* School
   Server based classroom. There are videos, exercises, tests, and student
   tracking in a number of languages, all selectable via a Graphical User
   Interface.https://learningequality.org/ka-lite/
   - Searchable *offline* access to *Wikipedia* and other content such as
   Wiktionaries and TED Talks in a variety of subjects and many languages,
   provided by the *Kiwix server* technology.
   http://www.kiwix.org/wiki/Main_Page
   - RACHEL (a curated selection of offline materials)
   http://worldpossible.org/rachel/
   - Bring your *own content* by inserting a *USB thumbdrive* with content
   into the server having it immediately viewable by students.

Encourage Students to Write, Foster the Creative Process

   - Elgg provides the tools for generating social networks
   http://learn.elgg.org/en/2.0/intro/features.html
   - ownCloud provides client based tools for storing and retrieving
   materials stored on the XSCE local cloud.
   - DokuWiki (EXPERIMENTAL) provides a means for students to publish their
   work. https://www.dokuwiki.org/features
   - Wordpress (EXPERIMENTAL -- enable in "local_vars") gives students
   experience editing/sharing using a tool that is becoming an industry
   standard.

New Tools for Administering the XSCE School Server

   - A new Graphical User Interface (Admin Console) to enable services,
   select and download content, get information
   - AWstats is a flexible tool for summarizing the web traffic on and
   through the server in graphical and detailed ways.http://www.awstats.org/

How do I get it?

There are three main methods of installing this software:

   - Use ansible and the git repository - this is the fall back when you
   need to customize or you have a platform for which we have not created an
   image.
   - Use an image you download - for some commonly used platforms we create
   image files that you can download, put on a usb stick or sd card and boot
   in your new hardware.
   - Create and use your own image - this will appeal to you if you want an
   image to use in multiple machines and are able to use the tools we provide
   to create it.

In each case you need hardware that has been assembled, but with nothing
installed on it.

Detailed instructions on each of these methods is at
https://github.com/XSCE/xsce/wiki/XSCE-Installation.



--
Unsung Heroes of OLPC, interviewed live @ http://unleashkids.org !
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