OLPC UK/Lending Library and Repair Centre

Objectives

There is no OLPC UK Local Laptop Lending Library or repair centre yet, but herein are plans to start one under the OLPC UK umbrella.

The combined Lending Library / Repair Centre will serve to:

• support the OLPC mission and community via lending out laptops to UK volunteers / contributors; and

• facilitate with space, materiel, and expertise XO repairs by volunteers; and

• encourage, enable, and support Contributor Program applicants from the UK.

We see the Lending Library and Repair Centre concepts as symbiotic and synergistic: the same set of hardware and volunteers can both encourage the OLPC mission and supply a volunteer-run Repair Centre. For more specifics, read on.

Specifics

The previous section lists the objectives the underlie the project. These will be translated into specifics on-the-ground that are consistent with OLPC and OLPC UK's mission. That's plenty vague (necessarily), so here is an initial plan that we intend to fine-tune based on feedback and experience:

Month 1

• Refine this plan on the olpc-uk mailing list
• publicise project
• continue to solicit volunteers
• survey OLPC / SugarLabs activities to find potential LLLL beneficiaries (LLLL)
• survey XO-1 in-country base as best possible (Repair Centre)

Month 2

• Receive, inventory, and triage hardware
• begin hardware repairs
• reach out to community of LLLLs and RCs to a) share/exchange "market research"; b) proposal acceptance criteria (LLLL); and c) repair tips (RC)
• prepare LLLL / RC administrative support (web site(s), statistics, etc.)
• continue to publicise project
• continue to solicit volunteers
• gather LLLL applications

Month 3

• continue hardware repairs
• gather LLLL mentors
• on the basis of mentors and applications, approve first LLLL application(s)
• continue publicity / volunteer solicitation efforts

Month 4

steady state

• receive / repair / send out hardware (RC)
• monitor / mentor / share LLLL projects
• solicit / receive / approve LLLL applications
• continue publicity / volunteer solicitation efforts

Examples

Some examples of how the LLLL / Repair Centre could help:

LLLL

• UK professor interested in prototyping a contributors program application

A professor (or Linux User Group or...) might be considering a contributors program application but hesitant to commit the time / effort. The LLLL could bootstrap this effort with a loan of two (2) XOs for 1-3 months and two part-time mentors, in order to guide the professor and students towards a first prototype activity and a full Contributors Program application.

• OLPC UK member organises teachers mini ContentCamp

XOs might be lent to ContentCamp organisers to supplement a majority of sugar-jhbuild / Sugar-on-a-Stick instances to give teachers a hands-on sense of the deployment scenario, and enable testing the content on "real" XOs. As mentioned in the OLPC UK LLLL FAQ, with OLPC and SugarLabs encouraging software development that makes use of the unique OLPC hardware, what's lacking often is a sense of what exists and what incremental developments are best (witness some of the GSoC proposals that start off very rough even after a motivated student has gotten so far as to reach out and get involved)

• OLPC UK publicity efforts

OLPC UK can enable "XO demos" at conferences / LUGs without having to rely on the same volunteers giving up their laptops.

• OLPC UK member wants an XO to look cool

This is not a good enough reason to lend out an XO.

Repair Centre

• Community member's XO develops a fault

Repair Centre could assist in triage and repair. RC would use its own volunteers (see People section), liase with RCs, mailing lists, IRC participants, OLPC UK members to execute this.

• Remote Repair Centre requires hardware

Repair Centre would consider a swap / help in sourcing the hardware.

FAQ

Who is "we"?

See People section

Who's going to stock them?

People and other volunteers - anyone else with sufficient space is welcome to put their hand up. Martin has space he can use in Central London (City), but the proposal is not offered contingent on exactly (or specifically) one site. Sites around the UK run consistently with the vision above are encouraged.

Who's going to do the repairs?

People and other volunteers. For example, Martin has all the kit recommended at home and in Central London, and has already demonstrated an ability to [apart his XO] (further pictures of computers in various states of a) disarray and b) subsequently working happily provided upon request.

Who's going to deal with the "customers"?

People and other volunteers. The Lending Library and the Repair Centre are not envisaged as for-profit or guaranteed/bonded concerns. The target audience and number of laptops involved seems a fit with this level of organisation.

How much will it cost for each repair type?

Each repair type will be done at shipping and material cost (if any, and agreed beforehand). Donations are welcome but this will be effectively free.

How does this relate to the contributor program?

The contributor program is a great engine to have going. This proposal - Lending Library and Repair Centre - is specifically intended to encourage and enable a contributor program application by lowering the barriers to entry of that proposal. With OLPC and SugarLabs encouraging software development that makes use of the unique OLPC hardware, what's lacking often is a sense of what exists and what incremental developments are best (witness some of the GSoC proposals that start off very rough even after a motivated student has gotten so far as to reach out and get involved). The Lending Library specifically addresses that barrier, and the Repair Centre naturally supports such a Lending Library in addition to the already in-country XOs.

Is this a "hack" around the contributor program to get laptops?

No. That is explicitly not a goal -- keep in mind lenders don't keep the laptops they are lent. We hope that Lending Library beneficiaries will go on to submit contributor program proposals to get laptops of their own (that is a goal), but that is a separate part of the virtuous cycle we hope will begin in the UK. The program has been characterised as "an amplifier [emphasis mine] on the developer program, by lowering the barrier to entry, lowering the cost to OLPC, and multiplexing the hardware" (quoting bemasc on #sugar).

Do you know what you're doing?

We haven't done this before. But we want to do it right, and will leverage all our OLPC, SugarLabs, OLPC grassroots community peer organisations, hardware- and software-development contacts to try to make it a success.

You forgot about Big Problem A or Nasty Surprise B

Probably - see the previous question's answer. Please tell us at olpc-uk@lists.laptop.org about it so we can avoid the pitfalls.

What's the next step?

Get buy in from a) more OLPC UK people; abd b) OLPC Boston to provide the hardware.

People

A number of people have put their hands up. For purposes of this page, "we" is these people and all other future volunteers:

• All: Martin Dengler
• Happy to help on promoting and publicising the OLPC library: Dom Baker
• Happy to help with the library; repairing laptops and administrating the library: David Craddock

I want to help

Great - please add your name above. Here is a list of suggested areas that we can definitely use help in:

• being an available contact person for the combined LLLL/RC

...and one or more of:

1. help lending out laptops
2. help mentoring laptop lendees
3. help administering the library
4. help repairing laptops
5. help administering repair processes
6. help publicising the LLLL/RC
7. provide inventory space

Original Proposal for hardware submitted to OLPC Boston

The proposal:

We're applying for some used hardware:

• What you want, exactly how many of each

1. 10 D stock (would accept less)
2. 20 M stock (would accept less)
3. 35 chargers (would accept less)

• how you intend to use them.

We intend to use them to:

1. D stock: repair them and 1) set up a Lending Library of laptops for

OLPC-UK members / community; 2) generate enough interest and proven contributions to justify a Contributors Program application by OLPC-UK members / community.

1. M stock: use to back up the D stock for a UK repair centre / Lending Library

1. Chargers: Power the Lending Library stock and supplement the repair centre.

Laptop Library addendum to the proposal

As mentioned above, we see the Laptop Library and Repair Centre programs as complementary and want to do them both. The Laptop Library program has its own set of requirements / questions different from Adam's original email, so this section is to address those:

Requirements

.

what is your active library URL?

This page is it. The URL is http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_UK/Repair_Centre .

policy mechanics of loans/returns

Similar to other library proposals:

• we expect requests to be made in person at an OLPC UK meeting / event or via the olpc-uk@lists.laptop.org mailing lists

• requests will be recorded on olpc-uk mailing list regardless of how they were originally received. When this volume becomes to high for a mailing list, a shared document will be set up (google docs, git repo) to allow librarians to record loans/receipts

• standard requests will be for three months each, but duration may vary a bit on a case-by-case basis.

• we expect requests to be for two laptops at a time to maximise benefit/productivity

how will you give back to the OLPC/Sugar community

Our OLPC UK mailing list includes prominent members of the OLPC and SugarLabs community with a track record of delivering software and community benefits. We will build on that background by:

• encouraging and mentoring laptop recipients to give them the best opportunity to become long-term members of the community

• keeping very close touch with the wider community at devel@l.o, {ieap,sugar-devel}@sl.o, fedora-olpc, and all the OLPC groups we have personal relationships with (e.g., OLPC Austria comes to mind)

Long-term plans

We plan to keep going on this as long as the laptops hold up (and of course longer). Many members of OLPC UK have been around since G1G1 2007 and remain active today.

Trend analysis

We will report library statistics via a glance-able [Chart] display and the raw data in CSV hosted on an easily-accessible git-repo.

Suggestions and further questions

demonstrate detail-oriented librarian skills

Martin is a programmer, so there's some detail-oriented skills in his background. I hope the above details will provide additional comfort.

articulating how laptops will continually recirculate & new projects seeded & fertilized

At [2009] Martin met with many people who were very excited about the XO, Sugar, and their potential. Martin carries his XO to work every day and continually gets questions about it - it's easy to generate buzz and gather interested people. What's lacking is often a way to become familiar with the capabilities of the platform (XO and Sugar) in real-time and a community around it. We're addressing the community with the acceleration of OLPC UK and the hardware + software platform with this application.

outreach & buzz-creating acumen

OLPC UK members have created buzz on the web, mainstream media (UK TV's "Gadget Show"), and just by walking around with XOs all the time.

Other libraries and mentoring

We'd certainly benefit from learning from other libraries like OLPC Australia and XO Austin. We would definitely be available to mentor others.

Growing the group

The OLPC UK group is getting going and already has had some very promising outreach to schools and funding sources. Getting people involved in using the hardware and developing software is certainly not going to be a problem - getting the laptops back from loan might be (HHOS). We will address continuity and scalability issues by ensuring that the OLPC UK mailing list is always in the loop in discussions and ensuring that at least three people have access to the XO inventory in order to loan it out.

Initial feedback on original proposal

18:37 < mtd> CanoeBerry: I'd ask for feedback on my email, but as I've only
             sent it recently it's unfair.  Will you consider giving such
             feedback if you have time, later?
18:37 < CanoeBerry> bz_g: yes I have Lionel's proposal for a sizable amount of
                    used hardware, thanks!  OLPC France is doing really great
                    work.
18:37 < CanoeBerry> mtd: definitely today
18:37 < mtd> CanoeBerry: thanks
18:39 < CanoeBerry> mtd: can you explain a bit more about your UK plans, and
                    how you will grow your group?  Only if you have a sec.  30
                    used/broken laptops is a large amount (France similar) but
                    I will definitely consider it if you make your case!
18:39 < CanoeBerry> Alabama is asking for even more :)
18:40 < mtd> CanoeBerry: OLPC UK is targeting a pilot of 30 laptops in a
             school in London in September.  This is aggressive but we have
             funding and initial buy-in from the headmistress...
18:40 < mtd> CanoeBerry: This proposal is *not* for hardware for that pilot...
18:41 < Caryl> We would all love to start pilots somewhere with D&M stock.
               There aren't enough to go around.  Not the best use.
18:41 < mtd> CanoeBerry: ...but in order to build community for that project I
             thought a lending library would be something people could get
             into on a volunteer basis, and hopefully that would lead to more
             involvement both in OLPC-UK and in the pilot programs.
18:41 < mtd> Caryl: This proposal is *not* for hardware for that pilot...
18:41 < mtd> Caryl: I want to make that clear.
18:42 < CanoeBerry> mtd: are you coordinating with dsd?
18:42 < mtd> CanoeBerry: I chatted with him yestrday, but before I saw the
             used hardware email.
18:42 < mtd> CanoeBerry: I'd be happy to work through him if that'd be esasier.
18:42 < mtd> CanoeBerry: he is involved in the OLPC-UK organizational
             discussion on olp-uk@lists.latop.org
18:43 < mtd> CanoeBerry: also I'd like to stress I am new to this, so
             appreciate guidance on numbers of amachines, etc.
18:43 < CanoeBerry> Ask dsd to take a look, and cc me.
18:43 < mtd> CanoeBerry: thanks, will do.
18:43 < CanoeBerry> I will support proposals like yours when they have
                    multiple backers.
18:44 < CanoeBerry> Caryl: There is a lot of M Stock to go around. But a
                    pile-of-broken-parts does not a Pilot make ;)
18:45 < mtd> CanoeBerry: no, definitely - please let me stress this is *not*
             for the poilot.
18:45 < mtd> CanoeBerry: ...but in order to build community for that project I
             thought a lending library would be something people could get
             into on a volunteer basis, and hopefully that would lead to more
             involvement both in OLPC-UK and in the pilot programs.
18:45 < CanoeBerry> Repair Centers are the focus here, and general support of
                    others, first and foremost :)
18:45 < mtd> CanoeBerry: it's about building the community
18:45 < mtd> CanoeBerry: sure, understood.
18:47 < CanoeBerry> mtd: i think you already know this, but just a reminder
                    all chargers here are US chargers (and being used, may not
                    all work!)
18:48 < mtd> CanoeBerry: yes, thanks.  We can get adapters easily, and my US
             G1G1 one works here fine :).
18:49 < CanoeBerry> mtd: OK.  While we cannot sell US chargers in Europe, I
                    think surplus parts on a very limited basic like this are
                    OK.