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OLPC Fork Sugar On a Stick Goes 1.0

Marten writes "It was more than a year ago that Walter Bender left OLPC and started SugarLabs.org. Now, the first version of the new project has been released. Sugar on a Stick is a USB drive that runs on Mac and PC-style hardware. 'The open-source education software developed for the "$100 laptop" can now be loaded onto a $5 USB stick to give aging PCs and Macs a new interface and custom educational software.' Bender said, 'What we are doing is taking a bunch of old machines that barely run Windows 2000, and turning them into something interesting and useful for essentially zero cost. It becomes a whole new computer running off the USB key; we can breathe new life into millions of decrepit old machines.'"

11 of 146 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Does he really think schools are going to do it by cool_story_bro · · Score: 5, Insightful

    by the time they're done with school, it won't matter what OS they used, they will have all changed so drastically. We had an Apple II in my classroom as a child, which OS would you say it prepared me for?

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  2. Re:Does he really think schools are going to do it by weeb0 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I don't think the goal of that project is to teach an OS. Instead it is very good to learn the computer science and to have access to very good tools and software. In my mind, I think that using only one OS is very bad. Try multiple OS and use the one that fit best your needs. For me, linux is my choice.

  3. Suger is like drugs? by daid303 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Going by the pictures I would keep this away from children:
    http://www.sugarlabs.org/index.php?template=page&page=learners

    1. Re:Suger is like drugs? by montyzooooma · · Score: 4, Funny

      Going by the pictures I would keep this away from children: http://www.sugarlabs.org/index.php?template=page&page=learners

      Arrrgh. I need to dim the lights, put on some Pink Floyd and look at that comic strip again.

  4. Re:Does he really think schools are going to do it by Lumpy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Fact1: Kids are not learning any OS. They are learning to navigate a UI and exposing them to multiples enhances critical thinking instead of rote memorization.

    Fact2: The OS means nothing, there are near ZERO highschools teaching an OS, and negative 10 grade schools teaching an OS. From your logic, people should be crying in the streets because the iphone is not like windows.

    And yes, if the programming classes in highschools did fortran or cobol instead of the abortion that is basic. From my daughters experience her Computer science class at her highschool was a complete and utter joke.

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  5. Re:DamnSmallLinux by mspohr · · Score: 4, Informative
    DamnSmallLinux is great for Linux you can boot from a stick but Sugar is educational software and DSL does not have any of the Sugar programs or server components.

    OLPC is an educational project, not a computer project.

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  6. Use the boot helper CD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    There is a boot helper CD available, see http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick/Strawberry under the section "Boot it!"

  7. Re:Old computers boot from USB? by L4t3r4lu5 · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's an .iso image written to a USB stick with Fedora LiveUSB Creator. Linky link

    You can just burn the iso to a DVD, if you prefer, but it is a 1GB image so CD is out of the question.

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  8. Re:Problem is.... by amram9999 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Most of those Older Pc's cant boot from a USB stick. It's only been the past 3 years that booting from a usb drive has become the norm, before that it was an oddity.

    There is a boot helper CD for older computers like this. The beauty is that the OS on the computer is untouched, since Sugar runs from memory not the hard drive. Additionally, all progress is saved to the USB drive, so the stick is portable from computer to computer.

  9. USB better, stores the kid's data by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    There is a CD spin too, but the USB solution means the kid can do stuff in school, then come home, boot up the old computer and show her parents what she did right off the stick.

    1. Re:USB better, stores the kid's data by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Why aren't more schools doing something like that? Issue/sell USB flash sticks with the OS on it to kids, that way they can essentially carry their entire computer with them to home and school. Give the kids OS-less computers at school to boot with their sticks, and you can stop spending so much money on OS support for every single terminal.