Talk:Main Page: Difference between revisions

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== This Wiki Needs Some Organizing ==
this discusion page has absolutly nothing todo with the front page and the front page doesn't really exist its a couple of links... Is there anyway I could get privleges to the front page and the community pages to clean them up a bit? --[[User:Stranger|Stranger]] 21:46, 4 May 2006 (EDT)


== LiveCD in Latest releases out of date ==
:The sparse front page is an artifact of my experience with Mediawiki pre Version 1.6+: the Main Page was a favorite target for spammers. Now that we have a light-weight Captcha system in place ([[User:SJ|SJ]], thanks for recommending we upgrade) we could perhaps revisit the decision to have it locked down. In any case, it shouldn't, IMHO, ever be more than a top-level gist of the site. [[User:Walter|Walter]] 01:33, 5 May 2006 (EDT)
Hello. In the "Latest Releases" box, the link to the LiveCD must be updated. It still refer to Build 385, while a recent version is available (ftp://rohrmoser-engineerinit is probably the most useful link over there, and at first this was going to be a gripe about it going away entirely, but then I realized someone had just mis-categorized it (IMHO). You can lose the [[Special:Random|Random Page]] link for all I care (as SJ has [http://wiki.laptop.org/index.php?title=OLPC_talk:Vandalism&diff=127373&oldid=127372| observed] , it's more or less a ticket to an XO Korea page anyway. [[User:Cjl|Cjl]] 15:07, 24 April 2008 (EDT)
752728181436804317105184
: I'm torn about where to put it. It is both about the project -- a way to see its current activity -- and of course about the wiki. It was moved because it was 'below the fold' on most monitors. I'm open to other suggeestions. And I still find randompages useful; olpc korea is only ~15% of the site :) --[[User:Sj|Sj]]&nbsp;[[User talk:Sj|<font style="color:#f70; font-size:70%">talk</font>]] 13:37, 4 May 2008 (EDT)
736773768609172517449225
::There is enough real estate "below the fold" to have a second copy of the link under OLPC wiki. I'm not the only one asking. See [http://wiki.laptop.org/index.php?title=MediaWiki_talk:Sidebar&diff=prev&oldid=127561| FGrose comment] elsewhwere. [[User:Cjl|Cjl]] 18:30, 4 May 2008 (EDT)
<br><br>


== top 10 concerns ==
== Add Machine Translation ==
[[Top 10 Concerns]] about the design and implementation of OLPC.


I would like to add the GoogleTrans-en template to the Main page. In spite of the worthy efforts of many translators in many languages, the number of edits to this page are more than any handful of humans can keep up with. By adding this template it will allow users the option of accessing a translation of this pageGoogleTranslation in one of 22 languages, they will have access to "good enough" translation of more current content. Furthermore, the Google translation frame will allow them to navigate the rest of the wiki from this entry point with translation turned on, if they so choose. See for example my User:page [[User:Cjl]], select any language and then navigate off the page by any of the links while the Google translation frame is active. It is also simple to dismiss the translation frame and switch back to the original verison of the page.
== A Question ==
think the hundred dollar laptop is a great idea. I have only one question, if you are constantly recharging the batterie using solar or some other methed, wont that affect battery life after only a short amount of time. I know my laptop [http://tabltsbylis.com battery] lasted only about one year because I kept recharging it all the time and now it only holds about 20 minutes of charge.


'''The argument against relying solely on human translations.''' I reviewed the other lang-xx versions of this page (certainly one of the most translated and updated pages) and recorded the most recent version number from the translation template. Clearly many of these are cases of the version number not being kept up to date (a challenge in itself), but on the other hand, history shows many of these pages have not had substantial revisions for months and months. No matter how much you might prefer a human translation, you must admit that at present, the community of lang-xx translators cannot keep pace with the larger community of lang-en editors. We should not allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good. [[User:Cjl|Cjl]] 22:41, 19 May 2008 (EDT)
== The Time for the OLPCWiki in Spanish has come... ==
<pre>
Version lang
130711 en
33113 ar
76798 bg
33477 de
75214 es
37382 fr
54129 it
99961 ko
68032 no
81739 pt
33477 ro
102681 ru
60725 zh
60725 zh-TW
</pre>
: please remind me why this is better than the translation links in the skin... placement? --[[User:Sj|Sj]]&nbsp;[[User talk:Sj|<font style="color:#f70; font-size:70%">talk</font>]] 06:37, 5 September 2008 (UTC)


== Moved comment from 200.101.90.215 ==
Y aqui les dejo la primera... página...


Looks horrible on IE6 * Please fix *
Me permito someter a su consideración los siguientes artículos que describen un IMPORTANTE avance tecnológico, que ayudará a cerrar la brecha entre los países pobres y los desarrollados.
: noted! --[[User:Sj|Sj]]&nbsp;[[User talk:Sj|<font style="color:#f70; font-size:70%">talk</font>]]


== "How to update" links to old page! ==
La adopción de estas computadoras y su distribución en México, permitirá:


"How to update" link on Main page (in box) links to a page saying there is a newer version of this page available (?!) [[Special:Contributions/76.243.220.21|76.243.220.21]] 02:11, 15 October 2008 (UTC)
1.- Un salto cuántico en la calidad de la educación al permitir que cada niño, jóven y adulto posea su propia PC con acceso a Internet.


== New main page design ==
2.- Permitirá desarrollar una política de NO EXPORTAR TRABAJADORES, sino IMPORTAR TRABAJOS, al facilitar la realización de trabajos virtuales desempeñados sobre la red.


We need a total redesign of the page. Mel and Seth and others have been saying the same thing for a while... so let's actually design a new model and implement it. I'd like to see something like [http://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portada the catalan wp main page] : with small colorful in-page tabs, a highly summarized and limited set of information in short paragraphs and bullet points, each linking to details elsewhere on the wiki, and a set of alternative page views including a static html view, for usability.
3.- En Australia, donde las distancias entre los vecinos no se miden en metros, sino en HORAS DE VUELO, los médicos han desarrollado mecanismos para atender a sus pacientes a través de Internet, la aplicación de estas técnicas, podría poner a los médicos de México al alcance de toda la población rural y de pequeñas comunidades, sin necesidad de construir costosas clínicas y hospitales por todo el territorio nacional.


Each of the sections of the main page is another target for maintenance -- people interested in one area of news or another, in feeds or images or media, can keep that part of the main apge up to date without worrying about the currency of the rest of it; and without interlacing the overall page history with the section history. Now we only need to get the [[OLPC:Design gang|Design gang]] involved...[[Special:Contributions/24.61.14.99|24.61.14.99]] 06:15, 16 October 2008 (UTC)
4.- Permitirá a los jubilados y discapacitados trabajar desde sus casas, brindando consejos y ayuda a los ciudadanos para sus problemas de...
: But the new main page design is barren and still static. It needs love! I still like the [[wikitravel:Main Page|wikitravel]] and [http://wikieducator.org wikieducator] homepages best... along with the [[w:ca:Main Page|catalan Wikipedia]]. --[[User:Sj|Sj]]&nbsp;[[User talk:Sj|<font style="color:#f70; font-size:70%">talk</font>]] 21:15, 21 December 2008 (UTC)
--------a) Tareas y Estudio,
--------b) Domésticos y familiares,
--------c) Emprendedores y Pequeños empresarios,
--------d) Tramites y apoyos Gubernamentales,
--------e) Asesoría en Turismo. y haciendo traducciones, apuntes y otros trabajos.
Todo con cargo a las tarjetas de todito.com de los que requieren ayuda, de lo cual un 15% o 30% queda al organizador y el resto (85% a 70%) se entrega al asesor o tutor.


== Participation ==
5.- Desarrollar una industria propia de computadoras, mediante la contratación del la fabricación y ensamble de sus partes en México.


The menu on the left should include a link to the Participate page. It could perhaps replace several of the more specific topics there.--[[User:Mokurai|Mokurai]] 19:37, 23 November 2008 (UTC)
Gracias por su atención; agradeceré una respuesta franca, breve, clara y práctica a este mensaje, con su opinión y aportaciones, así como la justa oportunidad de participar en el desarrollo de los conceptos expuestos.


== UBUNTU ==
Atentamente,


How about, let us easily install ubuntu?
Ing. Dagoberto Gmo. Flores Lozano
Consultor en Ing. Industrial y de Sistemas, desempleado.
Ex-Investigador y Profesor Universitario,
Ex-becario de la Fundación Ford, en Berkeley,
Aguascalientes, AGS. MEXICO
dagoflores@prodigy.net.mx


: I just wrote a [[Ubuntu Lucid on OLPC XO|howto for Ubuntu Lucid (10.04)]]. It is a slightly involved, but fairly straightforward process. :] It would be nice if someone figured out what changes the stock Ubuntu kernel needs in order to work. --[[User:Maxxflow|Maxxflow]] 19:57, 11 April 2010 (UTC)


== Concise mission improvement ==
The computer is a really good idea.


: How about, improving concise mission? As a member of the indigenous Australian community I am very offended with the amount of racism that is going on here.
I wish, please do they sold in every high developed countrys - FOR 150.- Dollar! (To elemantary schools etc. its a perfect machine.) And then you can go down with the price for poor countrys about 50.-$, better!
:: People may be blind to their own racism. Feel free to edit in non-racist language. --[[User:FGrose|FGrose]] 01:30, 2 November 2011 (UTC)


== New discussions moved to the Cafe ==
See [[OLPC:Cafe]] for more. --[[User:Sj|Sj]]&nbsp;[[User talk:Sj|<font style="color:#f70; font-size:70%">talk</font>]]


== Helping with this wiki ==


I would like to help out maintaining this wiki, however a lot of pages are locked from editing for me. Is there some solution for this? e.g. can somebody give me admin status? It is mostly wikilinks fixing what I want to do, but this wiki suffers from bad linking quite a lot.--[[User:Kozuch|Kozuch]] 21:03, 4 January 2011 (UTC)
I'd just like to add that, as a British university student, I would personally pay up to maybe £250 ($300 - $350 USD?) to have one of these for myself, and would be happy to spend a good £50-100 extra on top of this as long as I knew that ALL the money I spent was going to help lower the costs of distributing these in schools around the world. Portable, durable, reliable, small, Linux (I'm assuming this version is user-friendly?), lots of USB ports, no higher spec than is neccessary, the sort of thing I could take everywhere I go without worry, and it has a crank handle (absolute genius!!!) - it's perfect!


Sounds great. You've made one edit already. Keep going. For things you can't edit, mention them to those who can. Once the trust develops, and the load increases, we will probably increase your access. --[[User:Quozl|Quozl]] 22:11, 4 January 2011 (UTC)
Seriously, assuming there's no compatibility issues with office software, it's the perfect student machine: Overcharge us (comparatively) rich folk to hell and back, sell only direct via a website, get college/university-based voluntary organisations (in Britain, go via student unions and computing services) to distribute your publicity for you for experience (i.e. free), and use proceeds to extend the project. I know I'd be perfectly happy to help out and to pay a (modest) premium as long as it was clearly accountable and untainted by profiteering or dodgy dealing - i.e. that 100% of the proceeds went straight back into the project. Have an unemployed/state-benefits price ($180?), a full-time student price ($350?) and a waged price ($500? e.g. for technophobic writers, journalists, academics etc?).


== Watchlist feeds ==
There's a hell of a lot of people who want nothing more than a simple, portable, reliable typing machine with USB and optional internet, and who'd be happy to pay extra for a good cause and a guarentee that they weren't being ripped off by something badly made. Unlike every other computer manufacturer in the world you satisfy all of these criteria. It'd be a very simple way to modestly boost fundraising and awareness. Plus it'd make people like me very happy!
: Nice :-)


Hi there,
== German version ==


what about upgrading MediaWiki in order to have watchlists accessible via RSS/ATOM feeds as for instance Wikipedia or OSM Wiki have? It would help me a lot in watching this site.--[[User:Kozuch|Kozuch]] 08:57, 10 January 2011 (UTC)
Ich vermisse die deutsche Version dieser Seite Jakob Mitzlaff
:Any news here?--[[User:Kozuch|Kozuch]] 12:50, 24 September 2011 (UTC)
:: There are these links in Sidebar Toolbox section for the Related changes page, [http://wiki.laptop.org/index.php?title=Special:RecentChangesLinked&feed=rss&target=Talk%3AMain_Page RSS] and [http://wiki.laptop.org/index.php?title=Special:RecentChangesLinked&feed=atom&target=Talk%3AMain_Page atom],
:: and similar ones on the Recent changes page for the wiki (reach it from the Sidebar, About OLPC). --[[User:FGrose|FGrose]] 16:58, 25 September 2011 (UTC)


== Humbly Opine ==
I have focused this project since mid-2005,at first I don't believe that it can become true,but as many world lead level scientists and corportation joined in this project,new achievement in every course, I do believe it can make this dream true.
Regarding the concern expressed by some colleagues that 3,000 laptops is less than a rain drop in an ocean, I would humbly opine that once we successfully deploy the initial 3,000 we can can then shoot for a million laptops, for then the sky will be the limit. Don't you reckon? -- Larry.


:Which colleagues? Where is the concern expressed? I can't see the context of your anonymous response. --[[User:Quozl|Quozl]] 01:03, 19 January 2011 (UTC)
I have some ideas to improve the project in China if the product will be finished,and there are maybe many problems facing the fact because China has large area,different culture,how to manage transportation,how to repair,how to train them ,etc,it's real facts.It must be considered before the donation,otherwise it will bring some trouble,I think it is important to establish a small office or to find a cooperative enterprise first.


::Ah, I see, you are commenting about the page [[Collaborative_GrantProposal]]. Please put comments about that page on the talk page of that page. See [[Talk:Collaborative_GrantProposal]] That page and others should also move to be under a project, to avoid confusion. --[[User:Quozl|Quozl]] 01:14, 19 January 2011 (UTC)
I heard that Mr.Negroponte will visit our country in couple weeks, it maybe take a blockbuster .I wish I have pleasure to meet him.I hope I can learn from core team ,I try to contribute something .


== Please not only "black kids with XO's on the front page also pics with "white kids". Making stand out more that the XO-XServer combination is the best laptop out there, also for rich kids ==
Interesting interview here (6th April 2006):
Imho one of the reasons OLPC takes such a long time to catch on in developed countries, is that there's too many pics of poor black, asian, lating american kids associated with it. This is misleading many people into thinking that this is a poor kids laptop/initiative and for sure the laptop is not something that's good enough for kids in "normal"/"rich" countries.
http://www.zdnetindia.com/news/business/stories/140370.html
Therefore I'd like to propose to switch the wording of the mission around. Now it reads:
"The One Laptop per Child non-profit develops a low-cost laptop—the "XO Laptop"—to revolutionize how we educate the world's children. Our mission is to provide educational opportunities for the world's most isolated and poorest children by giving each child a rugged, low-cost, low-power, connected laptop; and software tools and content designed for collaborative, joyful, self-empowered learning."
but watch this:
"The One Laptop per Child non-profit develops a low-cost laptop—the "XO Laptop"—to revolutionize how we educate the world's children. Our mission is to provide educational opportunities for the world's children by giving each child the best rugged, low-cost, low-power, connected laptop configuration - the XO and XServer combination; and software tools and content designed for collaborative, joyful, self-empowered learning. At OLPC, we will focus on the most isolated and poorest kids and we assume the regions that are well structured and rich enough, to auto-organize themselves in developing capacity, demo-projects and full-scale deployments."
Pls vote this latter to the top.--[[User:SvenAERTS|SvenAERTS]] 23:05, 29 April 2013 (UTC)


== OLPC Tablet ==
:Hi Jakob. I have just finished translating laptop.org into German. See the source file at [[OLPC Germany/translation]]. -- [[User:Mathias Schindler|Mathias Schindler]] 07:46, 7 April 2006 (EDT)


Discussion of hardware and software of the tablet is noticeably absent from this wiki. Questions parallel those pertaining to the laptop. How is the case built? Glued or welded together? Can the battery be replaced? Anyone succeeded in upgrading the Android system or installing another system. Anyone outside Vivitar developing software? Silence is imposed by Vivitar? Merely from the tablet being new?
==Recent Changes page==


Regards, ... Peter E, [[User:Peasthope|Peasthope]] 15:39, 26 September 2015 (UTC)
Could you consider changing the Recent Changes page please so that more than the last 50 changes are shown? Sometimes more than 50 changes are made in a day so it may be impossible for some of the people who like to follow changes to catch all of them. Could 50 be the default with the user able to select a greater number? Could a criterion of "latest 50 or all changes in the latest two days if greater than 50" be used; that would mean that usually 50 would be displayed, yet more if editing activity has increased.


:You are the first person to ask these questions here, which probably means that the interest is nil apart from you. The documentation for Android tablets can be found elsewhere on the internet. It would be unnecessary and would lead to errors if we were to duplicate the documentation for Android. We would also incur a huge load from people looking for Android documentation for products we don't sell. You can find our XO-4 Android documentation, specific to the XO-4, on the page [[Android]]. --[[User:Quozl|Quozl]] 09:34, 28 September 2015 (UTC)
William Overington 7 April 2006


:: OK thanks. Being first isn't necessarily bad. Given that there is some interest in maintaining the laptops, a similar interest is likely to develop for the tablets as more of them come into use and failures occur. If laptop.org can spare a place for discussion, good. Other possibilities exist. Regarding software, I wonder how the system starts. A Forth PROM? A PC BIOS accessible to the user? Proprietary firmware? I can buy one and explore but documentation wouldn't hurt. Regards, ... [[User:Peasthope|Peasthope]] 15:04, 29 September 2015 (UTC)
: Hi William. Please consider getting an account at this wiki. Try [http://wiki.laptop.org/index.php?title=Special:Recentchanges&limit=500&days=30 this link] for a longer list of recent changes. -- [[User:Mathias Schindler|Mathias Schindler]] 07:44, 7 April 2006 (EDT)


:::Thanks for the feedback. For the XO laptop, we led the hardware and firmware design process, so our documentation is rich and extensive. But for the tablet, we had no involvement in the hardware and firmware design process, so we don't have documentation to the same extent. We can and do create documentation where the costs of doing so can be offset against a bulk purchase. You'd need to be buying thousands before we could get involved to that extent. If you wish to create documentation, then research how Android is loaded onto tablets and phones in factory and in the field. There's no real need to buy one of our tablets to do this, any Android tablets of the same technology era would be sufficient. --[[User:Quozl|Quozl]] 01:46, 30 September 2015 (UTC)
== Other Spanish contributor. ==


::::"... our documentation is rich and extensive."
Well, im a spanish linux user with wants to help to OLPC project. I work on University of Sevilla on Spain and work on many open source projects.
::::Certainly I appreciate that. XOs have a strong claim to be the best laptops ever built. Thanks!
::::At least some contributions to wiki.lapttop.org have been made voluntarily by users with no formal connection to OLPC. Therefore if a page in wiki.laptop.org were allowed for the tablet, voluntary contributions are possible. A tablet FAQ page for example. It wouldn't have to burden OLPC staff excessively.
::::"... research how Android is loaded onto tablets and phones in factory and in the field."
::::I imagined very elementary questions such as these.
::::Is the screen legible in reflected light?
::::What is a typical usage time before battery recharge?
::::Can the battery be replaced?
::::Regards, ... Peter E., [[User:Peasthope|Peasthope]] 17:35, 2 October 2015 (UTC)
:::::So you're asking me to allow or bless a page you haven't created yet. A page with questions that I'm not empowered to answer, that you call elementary, and that you don't have the answers for. I don't see the sense in that. Who will benefit? Apparently only you, and only for your curiosity. Who will be harmed? It would seem to be a cost and risk to OLPC. So I cannot allow. Tablets are an off-the-shelf generic product, or their specifications are negotiated in a bulk order. They sell for as little as $18 close to point of manufacture in China. There's just not the margin to support a documentation ecosystem for them. --[[User:Quozl|Quozl]] 20:20, 2 October 2015 (UTC)


== Password for login at wiki.laptop.org ==
Have any specific forum, blog, mailing list or something similar for this?


Hi,<br>
You can find me here asmarin*nospam*us.es or on my discussion page--[[User:Asmarin|Asmarin]] 12:07, 7 April 2006 (EDT)
As of 2022-04-10, is password change allowed? If so, what are the requirements for a new password? Number of characters, upper/lower case, numerals & etc. Thx, ... [[User:Peasthope|Peasthope]] ([[User talk:Peasthope|talk]]) 13:18, 10 April 2022 (EDT)

:Hope so. At least eight characters. Further guidance will be given by the software, which is MediaWiki. --[[User:Quozl|Quozl]] ([[User talk:Quozl|talk]]) 16:24, 11 April 2022 (EDT)
== The format for expressing dates ==

I notice that the Community News (not a wiki page) has the date as follows.

OLPC News (04/08/06)

In England, that would often be taken to mean 4 August 2006, on the basis of moving from smallest unit (day), to larger unit (month) to largest unit (year) whereas the intention from America is clearly 8 April 2006.

Interpretation as an August 2006 date for the news document would clearly be obviously wrong at this time, yet in the future, for a historian reading through the news items, ambiguity could occur.

I wonder if I could suggest please that there be specified a consistent and unambiguous way of expressing all dates in the documents of the project.

For example, 2006-04-08 would convey the date unambiguously.

However, month names like April can help, though the English way of writing day month year, leading for this example to 8 April 2006, does look more typographically balanced than would the American equivalent of April 8 2006. However, that could produce problems for someone whose first language is not English, or indeed for someone whose first language is English if the document and thus the month name is not in English. So maybe using the yyyy-mm-dd format might be the best for an international multilingual project.

William Overington

10 April 2006

:: I Agree strongly See [http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/iso-time.html International standard date and time notation.] (Doing this for the tilda tags would be good too) [[User:82.133.105.218|82.133.105.218]] 08:34, 10 April 2006 (EDT)

::: Thank you for the link. I have been using GMT for times for years: it appears that that went in 1972! The Z seems a poor choice, easily confusable with a 2. Maybe a U or a lowercase z would be better. So, this message is produced at 2006-04-10 1302Z. William

The Perfect choice: 2006-04-30, as it has the additional property of be ready to be sorted..., A series of fields of dates can be sorted properly without the strange results of sorting dates in other formats... Just a mess... ¿no?... '''''Mexico / Ags./Dagoflores''''' (also from larger to smaller)

== [[OLPC Albania]] ==

Would it be possible to link [[OLPC Albania]] from [http://laptop.org/map.en_US.html]? I recently saw news that the Prime Minister of Albania had expressed interest in the project, so I wrote a small bit in Albanian. Thanks. [[User:Dori|Dori]] | [[User talk:Dori|Talk]] 09:03, 13 April 2006 (EDT)

Done. --[[User:Walter|Walter]]

== The use of the term "kid" ==

I have noticed the use of the terms kid and kids in the news page. I saw the term used somewhere else in the project documents recently and felt concerned. So, I am writing to express that concern.

quote

... in terms of both assembling a library of materials for the kids and putting together a collection of “kid-readable” (they currently support “human-readable”) summaries of their licenses.

end quote

Now, I recognize that maybe Americans use the term kids much more than do British people and that maybe this is just something of British culture, yet in England, referring to children as kids is regarded as slang and would not be used in formal documents and not at all by many people, namely those who feel that they are children, not kids, which are young goats.

Now it may possibly be that a decision will be made that using the term kids is fine, yet if that becomes the case then I feel that it should be a decision, not something which goes by default with the term kid and kids becoming prevalent in documents without anyone ever really thinking about it.

So, I would use the word "children" instead of the word "kids" and "child-readable" rather than "kid-readable".

This issue could well be an issue which is due to cultural differences as between different countries as well as between different people within a country.

These notes are just the view of one person in England.

It would be interesting to know views of other people from various countries, including those of other people in England.

William Overington

30 April 2006

== Provenance of wiki pages ==

I am wondering if something needs to be done about the provenance of pages in the wiki.

For example, I looked at Recent Changes earlier this morning and this led me to look at the new page OLPC Google Summer of Code, which had the message "Coming soon.".

That page now has messages from up to five people and includes a message about applying for an internship in Boston.

I feel that it would be better if wiki pages which with official validity invite applications for internships or which with official validity describe OLPC projects are writeable only by people who are part of the management team and that any such page has some logo of provenance that the information on the page may be relied upon as having the provenance of being correct information from the official project management.

Certainly, the ability for ordinary participants, such as myself, to start new pages and edit existing ones is a great facility and long may it continue. However, where information could result in people applying for positions or spending time studying and researching, it would, I feel, be best if there is some explicit provenance system so that people can know whether the particular wiki page has the provenance of containing official information or has the provenance of being a page which may contain information provided by any participant.

William Overington

2 May 2006

== Feedback on OLPC News (2006-05-06) ==

Item 3 is as follows.

3. Mark Foster hand-carried the first three pre-A-Test prototype OLPC
electronics boards to Cambridge this week. Together with Michail Bletsas,
Chris Blizzard and the Red Hat team, they brought up the mini-Fedora
distribution. This means that we now have a stripped-down distribution that
will boot and run off a USB key, somewhat similar to the actual
requirements of the real hardware.

=== Feedback.===

==== pre-A-Test prototype OLPC electronics boards ====

What does "pre-A-Test" mean please? I have heard of beta tests and I am not entirely sure what that means. Could you possibly explain the testing sequence please?

:pre-A-Test boards are essentially untested boards; A-Test boards are debugged manually; B-Test boards are tested automatically--the last step towards manufacturing. We are pulling a few pre-A-Test boards just to accelerate the software development process. The good news is that these boards are working with few if any modifications, a testiment to the skill of the Quanta Team and Mark Foster from OLPC. [[User:Walter|Walter]] 11:25, 7 May 2006 (EDT)

==== to Cambridge ====

Is that from Taiwan?

:yes [[User:Walter|Walter]] 11:29, 7 May 2006 (EDT)

==== Together with Michail Bletsas, Chris Blizzard and the Red Hat team, they brought up the mini-Fedora distribution. ====

What is the "mini-Fedora distribution" please? Is it a version of the linux operating system?

:The Red Hat team is making a "stripped-down" version of Red Hat's Fedora Core 5 Linux distribution. [[User:Walter|Walter]] 11:28, 7 May 2006 (EDT)

==== boot and run off a USB key ====

I have found from wikipedia that one meaning of USB is "Universal Serial Bus".

What does "key" mean here please? I am thinking that the whole sentence is about that in the event of a laptop having a software crash that the whole operating system can be rebuilt by attaching something (the "key") to a USB port of the laptop and then proceeding in some way. Is that correct please?

:From Wikipedia[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keydrive]: USB flash drives are also known as "pen drives", "chip sticks" (though very uncommonly), "thumb drives", "flash drives", "USB keys", and a wide variety of other names. [[User:Walter|Walter]] 11:17, 7 May 2006 (EDT)

Could you possibly elaborate on what happens please and how, once the laptops are deployed, a child would proceed in order to rebuild the operating system in the event of a total software crash. I am thinking that it would need to be fairly straightforward yet something which could only happen with deliberate action, not by accidently pushing a large reset button or anything like that.

:We have a goal of easy restore and upgrade and are working on the scenarios. The goal is to distribute upgrades to school servers and then use the peer-to-peer network further distribution. We will have some sort of "trust" scheme--to be determined--for authentification. [[User:Walter|Walter]] 11:17, 7 May 2006 (EDT)

::Thank you for providing the further information.

== Who are you guys? Is OLPC a community project? ==

I saw a pseudo-thread over on here, linked from 'myths':

http://wiki.laptop.org/index.php/Software_Ideas_-_System_Software#Operating_System_Selection
and
http://wiki.laptop.org/index.php/Education_Ideas_Esperanto

And it raised my eyebrow. Of COURSE this has to run a flavor of linux, perhaps a really lite flavor, relative to the latest kernel. Proposing otherwise (like using Syllable OS or PalmOS) "contributes" as much to the project as debating whether the native language should be Esperanto. Generous estimate of 2,000 "native speakers"? 100,000 skilled users? There was a lot of text devoted to debating Esperanto. I posit that various editors had to expend more than expedient effort to 'debate away' esperanto w.r.t OLPC.

: The http://www.laptop.org/ webspace contains the official project pages. The project management has decided to provide the wiki facility at http://wiki.laptop.org and allow anyone who so chooses from anywhere in the world that the webspace can be accessed to join in discussions and put forward comments and ideas. Some ideas put forward may well not be accepted. People can put forward ideas which might be regarded as highly controversial, yet it is useful for such ideas to be put forward as they have been put forward in a spirit of goodwill for the project to succeed. A different approach could have been to say that an idea will not even be considered unless it is put forward by someone who is an employee of one of the sponsoring organizations. That way some good ideas could have been missed through an unwillingness to assess ideas on their merits rather than on from where they are suggested. It is good that they took the approach that they did. Also, it is a two-way street so to speak. I feel that I have learned a great amount myself by participating in reading from and writing in the wiki. Indeed, I am thinking that that very process may well be an example of the process of constructionist learning which is advocated as part of the project ideas for learning for the children, though it would need someone who knows more about constructionist learning than do I to say whether I am correct in that thinking.

From there, my question: Is OLPC a community project by the editors of this wiki? If not, what is the purpose of this 'pedia? Does Negroponte read these pages?

: Well, it is not a 'pedia, in the sense of an encyclopedia, it is a wiki for discussion and idea generation. Two items, discussions of whether to use an operating system other than linux and of the role of Esperanto in the project, were mentioned. Yet there are many ideas which have been put forward by many people in the ideas pages. If only one of them is used by the project then the wiki and the policy of allowing access to everyone will have been of value. If lots of them are used by the project then the wiki and the policy of allowing access to everyone will have been of great value. Once the project has developed, how many aspects of the system and infrastructure that then exist will be as a result of ideas put forward in this wiki?

* Yes, if this were truly community-focused, there shoul be Brazilians, Nigerians, Chinese, Thais here now. Let's face it - ones the machine is ready, how it is used shall be the least of Project's concerns. It's hardware-power is at least 10 years old, so the people in involved countries can help themselves with the software.

== The orange machine ==

<table>
<tr>
<td>
A new picture has appeared on the Main Page.

There appear to be two upward-pointing arms.

It looks as if they may be moveable and would be folded down when the machine is being transported. Is that corect please?

:Yes, teh fold in to cover the USB ports and to be out of the way during transportation. [[User:Walter|Walter]] 10:44, 10 May 2006 (EDT)

Do the two upward-pointing arms contain aerials for the WiFi system?

:Yes, these are the aerials for the WiFi. Having them rise above the screen will make a big difference in the SNR of the system.

</td>
<td valign=top>
[[image:orange-machine-rotate-small.jpg]]
</td>
</tr>
</table>
I am wondering as to the health and safety aspects of having these items sticking up in the air when the laptops are being used in a room full of children. However, maybe the arms are just up in the air for showing some aspect of the design in the photograph and would not be up in the air like that when the laptop was being used. What is the situation please?

:What is the health issue that is raised by having aerials that raise? [[User:Walter|Walter]] 10:44, 10 May 2006 (EDT)

::I am expressing concern at the possibility that a child (not necessarily the child sat using the machine, perhaps a child walking by in a crowded classroom) might slip and then fall onto a machine and receive an injury from the sticking up item, perhaps a serious eye injury. From the picture, it just seems to me to look dangerous.

Has a health and safety assessment been made of the design, made in the context of using the machine in a room full of children?

:We are working hard to make the laptop as safe as possible. [[User:Walter|Walter]] 10:44, 10 May 2006 (EDT)

Latest revision as of 20:24, 11 April 2022

Please add main page comments by clicking on the '+' link next to the word 'edit' above.

LiveCD in Latest releases out of date

Hello. In the "Latest Releases" box, the link to the LiveCD must be updated. It still refer to Build 385, while a recent version is available (ftp://rohrmoser-engineerinit is probably the most useful link over there, and at first this was going to be a gripe about it going away entirely, but then I realized someone had just mis-categorized it (IMHO). You can lose the Random Page link for all I care (as SJ has observed , it's more or less a ticket to an XO Korea page anyway. Cjl 15:07, 24 April 2008 (EDT)

I'm torn about where to put it. It is both about the project -- a way to see its current activity -- and of course about the wiki. It was moved because it was 'below the fold' on most monitors. I'm open to other suggeestions. And I still find randompages useful; olpc korea is only ~15% of the site :) --Sj talk 13:37, 4 May 2008 (EDT)
There is enough real estate "below the fold" to have a second copy of the link under OLPC wiki. I'm not the only one asking. See FGrose comment elsewhwere. Cjl 18:30, 4 May 2008 (EDT)

Add Machine Translation

I would like to add the GoogleTrans-en template to the Main page. In spite of the worthy efforts of many translators in many languages, the number of edits to this page are more than any handful of humans can keep up with. By adding this template it will allow users the option of accessing a translation of this pageGoogleTranslation in one of 22 languages, they will have access to "good enough" translation of more current content. Furthermore, the Google translation frame will allow them to navigate the rest of the wiki from this entry point with translation turned on, if they so choose. See for example my User:page User:Cjl, select any language and then navigate off the page by any of the links while the Google translation frame is active. It is also simple to dismiss the translation frame and switch back to the original verison of the page.

The argument against relying solely on human translations. I reviewed the other lang-xx versions of this page (certainly one of the most translated and updated pages) and recorded the most recent version number from the translation template. Clearly many of these are cases of the version number not being kept up to date (a challenge in itself), but on the other hand, history shows many of these pages have not had substantial revisions for months and months. No matter how much you might prefer a human translation, you must admit that at present, the community of lang-xx translators cannot keep pace with the larger community of lang-en editors. We should not allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good. Cjl 22:41, 19 May 2008 (EDT)

Version lang
130711	en
 33113	ar
 76798	bg
 33477	de
 75214	es
 37382	fr
 54129	it
 99961	ko
 68032	no
 81739	pt
 33477	ro
102681	ru
 60725	zh
 60725	zh-TW
please remind me why this is better than the translation links in the skin... placement? --Sj talk 06:37, 5 September 2008 (UTC)

Moved comment from 200.101.90.215

Looks horrible on IE6 * Please fix *

noted! --Sj talk

"How to update" links to old page!

"How to update" link on Main page (in box) links to a page saying there is a newer version of this page available (?!) 76.243.220.21 02:11, 15 October 2008 (UTC)

New main page design

We need a total redesign of the page. Mel and Seth and others have been saying the same thing for a while... so let's actually design a new model and implement it. I'd like to see something like the catalan wp main page : with small colorful in-page tabs, a highly summarized and limited set of information in short paragraphs and bullet points, each linking to details elsewhere on the wiki, and a set of alternative page views including a static html view, for usability.

Each of the sections of the main page is another target for maintenance -- people interested in one area of news or another, in feeds or images or media, can keep that part of the main apge up to date without worrying about the currency of the rest of it; and without interlacing the overall page history with the section history. Now we only need to get the Design gang involved...24.61.14.99 06:15, 16 October 2008 (UTC)

But the new main page design is barren and still static. It needs love! I still like the wikitravel and wikieducator homepages best... along with the catalan Wikipedia. --Sj talk 21:15, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Participation

The menu on the left should include a link to the Participate page. It could perhaps replace several of the more specific topics there.--Mokurai 19:37, 23 November 2008 (UTC)

UBUNTU

How about, let us easily install ubuntu?

I just wrote a howto for Ubuntu Lucid (10.04). It is a slightly involved, but fairly straightforward process. :] It would be nice if someone figured out what changes the stock Ubuntu kernel needs in order to work. --Maxxflow 19:57, 11 April 2010 (UTC)

Concise mission improvement

How about, improving concise mission? As a member of the indigenous Australian community I am very offended with the amount of racism that is going on here.
People may be blind to their own racism. Feel free to edit in non-racist language. --FGrose 01:30, 2 November 2011 (UTC)

New discussions moved to the Cafe

See OLPC:Cafe for more. --Sj talk

Helping with this wiki

I would like to help out maintaining this wiki, however a lot of pages are locked from editing for me. Is there some solution for this? e.g. can somebody give me admin status? It is mostly wikilinks fixing what I want to do, but this wiki suffers from bad linking quite a lot.--Kozuch 21:03, 4 January 2011 (UTC)

Sounds great. You've made one edit already. Keep going. For things you can't edit, mention them to those who can. Once the trust develops, and the load increases, we will probably increase your access. --Quozl 22:11, 4 January 2011 (UTC)

Watchlist feeds

Hi there,

what about upgrading MediaWiki in order to have watchlists accessible via RSS/ATOM feeds as for instance Wikipedia or OSM Wiki have? It would help me a lot in watching this site.--Kozuch 08:57, 10 January 2011 (UTC)

Any news here?--Kozuch 12:50, 24 September 2011 (UTC)
There are these links in Sidebar Toolbox section for the Related changes page, RSS and atom,
and similar ones on the Recent changes page for the wiki (reach it from the Sidebar, About OLPC). --FGrose 16:58, 25 September 2011 (UTC)

Humbly Opine

Regarding the concern expressed by some colleagues that 3,000 laptops is less than a rain drop in an ocean, I would humbly opine that once we successfully deploy the initial 3,000 we can can then shoot for a million laptops, for then the sky will be the limit. Don't you reckon? -- Larry.

Which colleagues? Where is the concern expressed? I can't see the context of your anonymous response. --Quozl 01:03, 19 January 2011 (UTC)
Ah, I see, you are commenting about the page Collaborative_GrantProposal. Please put comments about that page on the talk page of that page. See Talk:Collaborative_GrantProposal That page and others should also move to be under a project, to avoid confusion. --Quozl 01:14, 19 January 2011 (UTC)

Please not only "black kids with XO's on the front page also pics with "white kids". Making stand out more that the XO-XServer combination is the best laptop out there, also for rich kids

Imho one of the reasons OLPC takes such a long time to catch on in developed countries, is that there's too many pics of poor black, asian, lating american kids associated with it. This is misleading many people into thinking that this is a poor kids laptop/initiative and for sure the laptop is not something that's good enough for kids in "normal"/"rich" countries. Therefore I'd like to propose to switch the wording of the mission around. Now it reads: "The One Laptop per Child non-profit develops a low-cost laptop—the "XO Laptop"—to revolutionize how we educate the world's children. Our mission is to provide educational opportunities for the world's most isolated and poorest children by giving each child a rugged, low-cost, low-power, connected laptop; and software tools and content designed for collaborative, joyful, self-empowered learning." but watch this: "The One Laptop per Child non-profit develops a low-cost laptop—the "XO Laptop"—to revolutionize how we educate the world's children. Our mission is to provide educational opportunities for the world's children by giving each child the best rugged, low-cost, low-power, connected laptop configuration - the XO and XServer combination; and software tools and content designed for collaborative, joyful, self-empowered learning. At OLPC, we will focus on the most isolated and poorest kids and we assume the regions that are well structured and rich enough, to auto-organize themselves in developing capacity, demo-projects and full-scale deployments." Pls vote this latter to the top.--SvenAERTS 23:05, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

OLPC Tablet

Discussion of hardware and software of the tablet is noticeably absent from this wiki. Questions parallel those pertaining to the laptop. How is the case built? Glued or welded together? Can the battery be replaced? Anyone succeeded in upgrading the Android system or installing another system. Anyone outside Vivitar developing software? Silence is imposed by Vivitar? Merely from the tablet being new?

Regards, ... Peter E, Peasthope 15:39, 26 September 2015 (UTC)

You are the first person to ask these questions here, which probably means that the interest is nil apart from you. The documentation for Android tablets can be found elsewhere on the internet. It would be unnecessary and would lead to errors if we were to duplicate the documentation for Android. We would also incur a huge load from people looking for Android documentation for products we don't sell. You can find our XO-4 Android documentation, specific to the XO-4, on the page Android. --Quozl 09:34, 28 September 2015 (UTC)
OK thanks. Being first isn't necessarily bad. Given that there is some interest in maintaining the laptops, a similar interest is likely to develop for the tablets as more of them come into use and failures occur. If laptop.org can spare a place for discussion, good. Other possibilities exist. Regarding software, I wonder how the system starts. A Forth PROM? A PC BIOS accessible to the user? Proprietary firmware? I can buy one and explore but documentation wouldn't hurt. Regards, ... Peasthope 15:04, 29 September 2015 (UTC)
Thanks for the feedback. For the XO laptop, we led the hardware and firmware design process, so our documentation is rich and extensive. But for the tablet, we had no involvement in the hardware and firmware design process, so we don't have documentation to the same extent. We can and do create documentation where the costs of doing so can be offset against a bulk purchase. You'd need to be buying thousands before we could get involved to that extent. If you wish to create documentation, then research how Android is loaded onto tablets and phones in factory and in the field. There's no real need to buy one of our tablets to do this, any Android tablets of the same technology era would be sufficient. --Quozl 01:46, 30 September 2015 (UTC)
"... our documentation is rich and extensive."
Certainly I appreciate that. XOs have a strong claim to be the best laptops ever built. Thanks!
At least some contributions to wiki.lapttop.org have been made voluntarily by users with no formal connection to OLPC. Therefore if a page in wiki.laptop.org were allowed for the tablet, voluntary contributions are possible. A tablet FAQ page for example. It wouldn't have to burden OLPC staff excessively.
"... research how Android is loaded onto tablets and phones in factory and in the field."
I imagined very elementary questions such as these.
Is the screen legible in reflected light?
What is a typical usage time before battery recharge?
Can the battery be replaced?
Regards, ... Peter E., Peasthope 17:35, 2 October 2015 (UTC)
So you're asking me to allow or bless a page you haven't created yet. A page with questions that I'm not empowered to answer, that you call elementary, and that you don't have the answers for. I don't see the sense in that. Who will benefit? Apparently only you, and only for your curiosity. Who will be harmed? It would seem to be a cost and risk to OLPC. So I cannot allow. Tablets are an off-the-shelf generic product, or their specifications are negotiated in a bulk order. They sell for as little as $18 close to point of manufacture in China. There's just not the margin to support a documentation ecosystem for them. --Quozl 20:20, 2 October 2015 (UTC)

Password for login at wiki.laptop.org

Hi,
As of 2022-04-10, is password change allowed? If so, what are the requirements for a new password? Number of characters, upper/lower case, numerals & etc. Thx, ... Peasthope (talk) 13:18, 10 April 2022 (EDT)

Hope so. At least eight characters. Further guidance will be given by the software, which is MediaWiki. --Quozl (talk) 16:24, 11 April 2022 (EDT)