User:Holt/XS Community Edition/Documentation/FAQ

FAQ

Q: What server hardware works?
A: For now XO-1.75 (ARM) or experimentally on larger/conventional i386 server of almost any kind, if it runs Fedora 17. Later XO-1.5, XO-4, x86-64 and other architectures should supported well before mid-2013. Prefab USB images for offline install should later be provided, for XO-1.5, XO-1.75 and XO-4. Contrariwise, XO-1 is NOT supported as memory/disk are insufficient.

Q: What "large disks" are recommended when installing on XOs?
A: XOs work with many SD cards up to 32GB. For much larger storage (coming soon) consider a 2.5-inch hard disk connected by USB, ensuring it uses less than 2.5W / 500 mA (USB spec). Larger 3.5-inch hard disks generally consume too much power. Discuss your specific desires/recommendations/results on mailing list! Of course, hard disks are far more prone to drop damage as compared to SD cards -- take precautions physically securing your hard disk whenever possible. As of Nov 19 2012, partitioning of external disks (SD, USB memory sticks, USB hard drives) is being fine-tuned; this should be working [soon!]

Q: How can I compile the XS-CE on my own XO-1.5 or XO-1.75?

Use this procedure to create the software RPM that implements the XS Community Edition on an XO:

yum -y groupinstall "Development Tools" 
yum -y install rpmdevtools git 
;(become a non-root user)
;This creates a ~/rpmbuild directory where packages are built as well as adding vital options to the ~/.rpmmacros file. 
rpmdev-setuptree 
git clone http://dev.sugardextrose.org/xs-config
cd xs-config
make rpm
cd build/RPMS/noarch
yum localinstall xs-config<current build number>
yum localinstall xs-config-xo<current build number>

Then follow the recipe here following the steps after the installation of rpms.

Make changes, commits, rebuild, re-install, as you choose.

Q: Tim Moody & Jerry Vonau (similar to Sameer Verma) ask what XO services are genuinely used or needed:

Activation Server?
Presence/Chat Server?
Activity Server?
Moodle Content?
Moodle User Management?
Backup?
DHCP/Name Server/Routing?
Content Filtering?
xs-rsync? (used by olpc-update)
Squid or other proxy?
Other?
What do XOs do when there is no server?

Q: Will XS-CE aggregate quality content from Wikipedia, Khan Academy, Teachers, libre/commercial publishers and exceptional kids, while reducing bandwidth costs AND empowering local community with meaningful anonymized stats?
A: The Library of Alexandria ain't seen nothing yet.