OLPC UK/Lending Library and Repair Centre

Objectives

The combined Lending Library / Repair Centre serves 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.

How do I get a Laptop?

• Just ask. If there's one free we'll lend it to you (within reason). Email olpc-uk@lists.laptop.org and say "I would like to borrow a laptop for X months to do Y thing".

Now that I've got a Laptop, what do I do?

• See the SugarLabs Getting Involved page.

• Some activity development FAQs: http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Development_Team/Almanac

• Ideas - Get excited about something to implement; some existing project ideas.

• Community
  • Use irssi or another IRC client to get on to irc.freenode.net channels #sugar and #olpc to chat with other developers.
  • Sign up to the olpc-uk list ( http://lists.laptop.org )
  • Sign up to the sugar-devel list ( http://lists.sugarlabs.org )
  • Both OLPC and SugarLabs will give you shell accounts and git hosting space ( http://git.sugarlabs.org and http://dev.laptop.org/git ). Check IRC (below) for contacts or google/wiki for how to do that.

• Get accounts on:
  • wiki.laptop.org
  • wiki.sugarlabs.org
  • dev.laptop.org
  • dev.sugarlabs.org

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)
• Receive, inventory, and triage hardware (LLLL)

Month 2

• 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
• Receive, inventory, and triage hardware (RC)
• begin hardware repairs

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.

Can I help?

Yes please! Jump in here, and then join the olpc-uk mailing list.

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

Prior proposals archive

The earlier proposals have been moved an archive page

Inventory

Library

TODO

Repair Centre

TODO

Status updates

Status 20090505