Sugar (desktop environment)
| Logo | |
| Screenshot of Sugar A screenshot of the Sugar desktop | |
| Developer(s) | The OLPC Team |
|---|---|
| Repository | |
| Operating system | Linux |
| Type | Desktop environment |
| License | GNU General Public License |
| Website | laptop.org/sugar |
Sugar is the graphical user interface being developed for the One Laptop per Child computer/education project. Sugar will be used on the OLPC XO laptop computer. Unlike more traditional desktop environments, it does not use a "desktop" metaphor and only focuses on one task at a time. It is written in the interpreted Python programming language, whereas most other environments are written in a compiled language such as C. Main contributors to the project include Christopher Blizzard and Marco Pesenti Gritti.
Sugar is also referred to as the OLPC Python Environment. It is composed of the Python language, GTK GUI and Gecko HTML engine. [1]
Design principles
Performance
The OLPC XO will have a 1 GB NAND flash drive and 256 MB of memory. Since there is no swap space and storage space on the laptop, only a limited number of activities can be run concurrently.
Simplicity
The laptop's hardware limitations have led to much more compact program design harking back to the early days of the computer. The project's stated goal is to "avoid bloated interfaces", and "limit the controls to those immediately relevant to the task at hand". [2]
Current status
Sugar is still in development. In May 2006, its creators described it as primarily a “tool for expression,” thus plans are in place to include multimedia and social networking features. [3]
As of early 2007, Sugar can be installed (with some difficulty) on a variety of operating systems, including several Linux distributions, Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. Instructions are available on the project's wiki.[4]
References
- ^ OLPC software task list:Python development, from laptop.org
- ^ Human Interface Key Design Principles, from laptop.org
- ^ Christopher Blizzard's weblog, May 2006
- ^ Category:Installing Sugar from laptop.org
External links
- Sugar page on the One Laptop per Child wiki.
- Pie Menus for OLPC Sugar User Interface by Don Hopkins
- OLPC human interface guidelines to which Sugar adheres
- Browser for the current Sugar code
- OLPC Sugar video 1 - synthLab demo hosted on YouTube
- OLPC Sugar video 2 - mini Tam Tam demo hosted on YouTube
- OLPC Sugar video 3 - social features demo hosted on YouTube
- OLPC Sugar video 4 - interface emulation demo hosted on YouTube
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