Specifications
One-sentence specification list
0. Key
wiki pages and their style guidelines are all community-driven.
{notes in curlies} indicate important items whose definitions may change.
- bulleted items indicates "in progress".
I. Content, linking, publishing
Link once, find everywhere : It should be possible to link out to further information without knowing how far away the information is on the network. URLs have to do with location; even URIs have overtones of being a specific resource and not a specific concept. If I want to link out to more information about monkeys, I should be able to denote that without specifying the exact resource I want to use -- the reader will have only a limited set of resources available.
As an example: I might include the link info:monkeys and wish to specify that I want the "info" namespace to look first for a local dictionary service; then for content bundles named "info", "dictionary", "wiki", "wikipedia"; then for a "monkeys" page on a local school server, a regional server, or a set of websites (each with their own mapping of a keyword to a URL). These mappings could be provided in a global database, a most-used subset of which is on every XO; with optional overrides and changes in priority contained within a content bundle. Finally, there should be options for what to do when multiple namespaces exist -- the link to 'monkeys' might indicate on hover how many options there are beyond the obvious; a global preference might cause following a multiple-result hyperlinks to display a list of search results rather than immediately taking you to the top ranked result.
Contribution process : Guidelines and explicit forms for contributing files, bundles, or collections to be automatically-bundled to the [[global library]] and to one's local network; the former through interfaces on the Internet, the latter through the local library interface.
- one global process; national addenda*
New language requests : Guidelines for making a new language request -- wiki, pootle, core library, mailing list, keyboard, IRC channel.
II. Libraries and Activities
Library interface : A dynamic and searchable view of the collections and activities on one's XO, including data from one's Journal and from accessible online collections; including a way to add new collections to what is locally accessible, and a way to explicitly see and update one's local cache.
Educational categories : A set of top-level categories for early education, from the source at core library topics, according to guidelines for category priority, with a section for new category suggestions.
- one globally. localized*.
XO core content : A set of bundles about the XO and other, filtered up via the featured content page, selected by the {OLPC team}.
- one per language*.
XO bundle archive : A set of activity and library bundles stored on-disk, not quite as good or central as the core library but shipped on every laptop. Includes other featured content, bundles chosen for their compliance with the featured content guidelines
- one globally. localized*.
Exemplary content bundles : Bundles covering a specific topic in broad, simple strokes, with links to originals and further information online, and clear attribution of authors and curators.
- one for select topics (biology, picturbooks, &c). localized*.
XO core activities : A set of core activities that ships on every build (no distinction between 'olpc-maintained', 'etoys-maintained', &c), selected from the list at core activities by the {OLPC team}.
XO bundled activities : A set of activities included in the XO bundle archive, from the list of featured activities, selected for their compliance with featured activity guidelines.
XS school content : A set of free/NC bundles and large datasets for a school library, including all featured bundles; drawn from the [[featured collections]] list and guided by the relevant guidelines, in three versions:
- (1) for a 1GB USB stick ( one per language )
- (2) for a DVD ( one globally, many langs )
- (3) for 150GB of disk ( one globally, " ", with regional non-free variants)
Global library : guidelines for contributing content and code to, organizing, and browsing the global library of collections of material produced by the XO network.
- one globally, localized.
Library network : Guidelines for defining and linking to [[local repositories]] of libraries and collections designed for use with the XO; including non-free additions to the XSL (3), existing digital libraries, and any other materials.
III. Community
Local group creation: A process for identifying and announcing an [[OLPC user group]], including definition on a project page, identifying members, applying for an email account and sending mail to the grassroots list.
- includes guidelines for interacting with local government, media, event organizers, NGOs, LUGs, and the like.
Official community hubs: Guidelines for becoming an officially-recognized OLPC community hub, with public details about projects and members, eligible for local receipt and distribution of community XOs. This ties into local aggregation of laptop distribution.
Laptop distribution: Guidelines for submitting a project, use case, or other request for short or long-term use of community XOs to develop, test, promote, research, educate or inspire on or with the laptops; guided by a list of XO request guidelines that encourages community debate, prioritization, and sharing of new projects. A process for regular selection of projects and groups to receive laptops.
More to come, SJ