Applications to adopt
This page should be some kind of list of applications that we should adopt or adapt. It really should have two sections and then lists within those sections sorted by application type.
Adopt
Ebook Readers
Evince is the obvious one to start with since it is already part of the project.
Python shell
Provides a simple way for children to experiment with programming. See Programming for Kids.
Formal word processor
AbiWord is being adapted for the OLPC.
Adapt
E-mail clients
Tinymail is a project that aims to create a E-mail client development infrastructure for creating E-mail clients for small devices. At this moment it can show large IMAP and POP folders using less than 5 megabytes of memory. Tinymail is licensed as LGPL. https://svn.cronos.be/svn/tinymail/trunk
Inkscape
This is an SVG drawing program but it is far more feature rich than it needs to be for OLPC. To start with, import and export formats could be removed leaving only SVG and PNG. But more than that, it needs to be simplified for beginners even if that means reducing its functionality.
In fact, by applying the principles of UNIX as a collection of straightforward utilities that do one job well, Inkscape could be broken up into several separate programs. One for sketching, one for adding color, one for texturing, one for animating. In particular, since the device will often be used in monochrome mode, separating coloring from drawing makes a lot of sense.
Encryption Tools
Use also LUKS - Linux Unified Key Setup
- http://luks.endorphin.org/ (main page)
- http://blog.fubar.dk/?p=64 (blog)
- http://people.freedesktop.org/~david/crypto/ (flash demo)