XS Server Software
Contents
Overview
This page is the top level description of the core software for the XS implementation of the School server core software. The school server also contains application software, content bundles, and a School library.
Particular details of the core XS server software are described in greater detail in other pages:
- Our Software Repositories
- Building the software
- Obtaining and Installing the server software
- A description of School Server services
- Testing the School Server Software
Target Platforms
Hardware requirements for the school server are listed here.
Software Development and Distribution
The server software is based on the Fedora 7 distribution of Linux, in order to provide support for a wide range of hardware platforms and peripherals. OLPC provides the server software as a Live CD image (a CD that not only contains the software for installation, it may be directly booted to run the software) representing the School server.
This Live CD may be installed onto a disk, which is then simply duplicated for mass production. Final customization of the server software occurs upon the first boot of the system, and an initial configuration (either web based or through a USB key) when deployed to a site. This process is described more fully in the server Live CD page.
Once deployed, the core software will be updated using the RedHat RPM mechanism, periodically pulling the latest software from country level repositories. These may be as simple as a mirror of the OLPC repositories at first.
Each country has the option of taking the core server software and customizing releases for their needs, but it is recommended that most customization occur at the level of application bundles.
Development Environment
The proposed methodology is to develop on a current build of the server software, submitting the changes to the source repository when ready to test. After inclusion into a testing build and successful testing, the changes will be moved into the stable repository.
