Grassroots problems

Originally generated at Grassroots bootcamp as a list of problems to try to fix that weekend. It has been suggested that these problems go into a community component on dev.laptop.org. Discuss on the Talk:Grassroots problems page.

Being worked on

• Participate is unknown and out of date. Ccarrick, Nlee
  • People who want to be involved don't know they can help, or how to start helping
  • It's hard to find out what's going on in your location
  • It's hard to find out what's going on in your area of interest
  • OLPC doesn't have a way to handle the offers of help it receives.
  • There is no ad-hoc task recruitment structure on the wiki.
• The process of contributing content - a content workflow - does not exist. SethWoodworth
• It's unclear how to start a grassroots group. Andreatl, Sj
  • The process of starting an university chapter is bottlenecked and not well-defined (i.e. Mel does not want to be a component in the process.) Alex , Ric
• The process of running a Jam is unclear. Bjordan, Mchua
• OLPC does not have a main contact outreach person (or process). Thulani, Rabi
  • Drafting possible community outreach roles

Resolved

• No parfaits at 1cc. Partially resolved by ILXO - we will have parfaits in the Chicago office.
• No masseuse. Resolved until June 12 by Mchua, who will give backrubs upon request.

Not yet taken

• OLPC contributors from Rwanda, Nepal, etc. are financially unable to come to the US and meet collaborators in person.
• The next G1G1 is starting this fall, and there is no support infrastructure for it
• The way information flows between 1cc and the olpc community is not clear or well-known.
• Steep learning curve to climb to use the tools (for example, the wiki, git, irc) we use to communicate and work with each other prevents newcomers from joining with ease
• We don't explicitly value/recognize community organizing work.
• Pilots and grassroots groups "in the field" don't have a good way to get answers to the questions others ask them about the overall OLPC project and the XO's technology
• an overfocus on global solutions - too many "1 size fits all" attempts. Conversely, the opposite problem of splintering into local solutions with no commonality.
• There is no infrastructure or directions for community-assisted testing; people don't have a clear way to get started and report results.
• There is no way to tell G1G1 donors about repair centers - how do we notify them?
• There is no newbie connectivity guide. We get swamped with questions about how to get online with a G1G1 XO.
• Activity development is still too hard.
• No OLPC camping trip (originally planned for April)
• Developers need help, but there is no clear route for community members to contribute to test/development of security/antitheft solutions.
• Developers need help, but there is no clear route for community members to contribute to test/development of collaboration and mesh.
  • olsr.org
  • open80211s.org
• The Activity page is hard to navigate and find things within. Metadata is needed.
  • version #
  • homepage
  • maintainer
  • bug tracker
  • version compatibility
• It's unclear how to publicize and research local power resources
  • setup
  • maintenance
• It's unclear which software problems/bugs are most important to the user base.

Unsorted

• It takes 1.5 hours (far too long) to charge an XO with a solar panel

This isn't really a community bug. Where can it go? Mchua 23:00, 9 June 2008 (EDT)

• Geting e-books from the internet onto XOs (in areas without connectivity) is a challenge

This isn't really a community bug. Where can it go? Mchua 23:00, 9 June 2008 (EDT)

• No A/C on weekends at 1cc.

Not that we can do much about that... Mchua 23:00, 9 June 2008 (EDT)

Inelegant as the dickens: All attendees bring hand towels or the equivalents. Before the session starts, wet them, wring out, and place over one's shoulders (buddy system!). Have enough fans to keep a breeze throughout. If the ventilating system is running, that will take away the humidity. Basic physics: Evaporation cools.Nicabod 18:38, 11 June 2008 (EDT)

Yeah, this one was a joke. :) I've done the wet towel thing extensively in the Philippines, and in Chicago sans AC, though, so it's a good idea. Mchua 16:06, 12 June 2008 (EDT)