IIAB
Welcome to the School Server - Community Edition (XSCE) project. This community-led project (http://schoolserver.org) is breathing life and rigor into the sometimes unmaintained OLPC XS, to serve many different global school scenarios.
Manual install: follow #Documentation below
Images for installing from scratch on an XO: *TBA*
RPMs for installing on and existing OLPC-OS 13.1.x are available here: *TBA*
Please report bugs and feature request to: https://sugardextrose.org/projects/xs-config within: https://sugardextrose.org/projects/xs
Developers may be interested in viewing and downloading the code from the git repository: ???
Design documents: Design Document, Proposed 0.1 Spec, Road-map, and Release Priorities
Background/News: http://schoolserver.wordpress.com/blog
Questions and comments can be directed to the Mailing list at: http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/server-devel
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Early testing has begun! Use cases, teacher suggestions, network topologies, roadmap & FAQ coming soon.
- Contributors: Jerry Vonau (SW architecture), George Hunt (configuration, GUI, low-power HW), Tim Moody (documentation, testing), Anna Schoolfield (testing, content), Rodrigo Hartmann (security, GUI, maintainability, intl languages), Alex Kleider (bookserver?), David Rodríguez Álvarez & many more!
- Packaging: http://zenit.senecac.on.ca/wiki/index.php/School_Server_Packaging
- Early Demo & Goals near Toronto (Sept 22, 2012)
- Background: OLPC School Server
- Contact: holt @ laptop.org, Sridhar Dhanapalan (video)
- Skype (voice) Meetings: Thurs 8PM NYC Time (email if you want to join)
FAQ
Q: What server hardware works?
A: For now XO-1.5 (i386), XO-1.75 (ARM) or larger/conventional i386 or ARM servers or almost any kind, if it runs Fedora 17. Later XO-4, x86-64 and other architectures will be supported when/if hardware is found to spin basic RPMs. More detail @ Install Recipe.
Q: What "large disks" are recommended when installing on XO-1.5 or XO-1.75?
A: XO-1.5 and XO-1.75 work with many SD cards up to 32GB. For much larger storage, 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: 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: 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 install rpmdevtools git (become a non-root user) rpmdev-setuptree --This creates a ~/rpmbuild directory where packages are built as well as adding vital options to the ~/.rpmmacros file. git clone -b ghunt 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 receipe at DRAFT Install Recipe starting at #9 (omit the yum installs which you just did with the "yum localinstall"s
Make changes, commits, rebuild, reinstall, as you choose.
Use Cases
In addition the scenarios listed in Sridhar's Design Doc, and Release Priorities for Early 2013 here are 7 interesting use cases proposed by Tony Anderson:
1. Configure the XS server to handle internet access via a GSM (mobile) network. In much of the developing world, cell phone networks outreach wifi.
2. How to configure the XS server to control XO access to the internet (e.g for the next hour only the 4th grade class) to make effective use of the available bandwidth.
3. In an expensive GSM environment, how to configure the school server to access the internet for updates periodically, e.g. fetch and send email, access rss feeds of news in the local language, get updates from a central server).
4. Configure the server to support an attached printer and to make this printer accessible (under control for paper and ink usage). The current print model in Linux requires each client (XO) to have the print driver installed. The main cost of a printer is the expendables (paper and ink), so schools will have to limit student ability to print.
5. Configure the server to provide email (pop3 and smtp). Make this work in a 'dial-up' internet environment (i.e. internet access is not continuous but intermittent).
6. Currently I am using Django to provide access to a digital library stored on the school server. Pathagar has a similar approach. OLE Nepal is using Fedora Commons and Fez.
7. The school server can be configured with Mediawiki to enable access to Wiki4Schools. There is an alternative based on Kiwix and Wiki4Schools using the Zim format. This has the advantage of providing a search interface. Note: I normally get to Wikipedia via a Google search. The school server does not support such an engine. Incidentally, the school server wiki slice is much larger than that offered by the Wiki Sugar activities and does not tie up space in the XO local store.
Documentation
[[User:Holt/XS_Community_Edition/Documentation | Document stub]
DRAFT Install Recipe for XO-1.5 (i386), XO-1.75 (ARM) and larger servers.
Other Fedora 17+ platforms later. Prefab USB images for offline install should also later be provided, for XO-1.5 and XO-1.75. XO-1 is NOT supported as memory/disk are insufficient.
Other reference docs for now: http://schoolserver.wordpress.com (see "Blog" and "XS Installation" pulldown menu especially)
Sep 2012 Agenda
Toronto area hack sprint Sept 16-23, incl public demo Saturday Sept 22.
Oct 2012 Agenda
Working w/ Alex Kleider's model classroom @ http://olpcSF.org/summit & http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugarcamp_SF_2012
Nov 2012 Agenda
Centred around Toronto area hack sprint Nov 10-18:
Expand testing+UX with Anna Schoolfield, Tim Moody & Seneca College students' packaging with York Univ/Seneca College Professor Chris Tyler.
Meet with Anish Mangal and Nathan Riddle near Detroit etc to discuss wider community integration.
Dec 2012 Agenda
Jamaica implementation sprint (DELAYED, hopefully spring 2013)
Jan 2013 Agenda
Proposed Core Spec and Priority Tuning
Feb 2013 Agenda
Toronto/Waterloo area Sprint Feb 6/7 to 10/11, please RSVP today! (holt @ laptop.org)
