2009/5/26 Sean DALY <sdaly...@gmail.com>: > Sugar, to me, represents the courage of starting from scratch to build > the best learning environment for kids there is. With the associated > risks - of being different, being in unfamiliar territory, doing > things in untraditional ways. > > I can't bring myself to call my kids "users" of Sugar. Yet, a name for > their role when they are doing/making Sugar is appropriate... they > have a place, they have a colored symbol of themselves... a shared > experience with others who are there to do something very similar. > > We find it normal to class people by what they do: "Chess players > practice openings." "Knitters often prefer purl stitching." > "Bicyclists often wear bright colors to be more visible." In each of > these cases, the role of the person is in some way defined by the > necessary objects - Chess players with a chessboard and pieces (and > usually another chess player), knitters with needles and yarn, > bicyclists with their bikes. It's obvious that these labels are > reductive, but what is gained is that they are precise - they are > descriptive in a way "users" can't be, it's too generic. > > The idea behind "users" is to be all-inclusive, since computers are > general-purpose data processing machines. I would submit that Sugar is > a special case because its "users" are children... and I appreciate > Jonas when he says that we grownups don't need our roles to fit into > traditional descriptors either. That's outside-the-box thinking in my > view. > > To Eben - on the contrary, I think it's important to publicly > complement our Activities (capital A since collaborative applications > specific to Sugar) with Learners (capital L since users with a role > specific to Sugar). I don't think this nomenclature will confuse > anyone, but instead clarify Sugar's positioning and differentiation. > Teachers will understand it right away I think. >
Sounds reasonable. david > Sean > > > > > > > > On Tue, May 26, 2009 at 9:04 PM, Jonas Smedegaard <d...@jones.dk> wrote: >> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- >> Hash: RIPEMD160 >> >> On Tue, May 26, 2009 at 02:02:40PM -0400, Samuel Klein wrote: >>>Docs that don't use familiar language can be a turnoff. 'User' is a >>>familiar nuisance. 'Supporter' might also be apporpriate, since some >>>people who follow and care about sugar do not use it day to day and >>>are passing on the opinions of others, or their observation of others. >> >> I really like the term "Learners". It indicates awareness - active >> participation. The term "Users" to me is more related to "Consumers" >> (not the word itself, but its use in my part of the world). >> >> I agree that there are others involved in Sugar than Developers and >> Learners. But as I see it, the examples raised - Supporters - are not >> Users either :-P >> >> I do not consider myself a Sugar Developer, and not a Sugar Learner. I >> consider myself a Sugar Packager and (as representative of Debian) a >> Sugar Distributor. >> >> >> Oh, and while we are at it: I suggest calling it "Authors" instead of >> "Developers". Developers tend to emphasize the techies which is quite >> unfair especially to a project like Sugar: Authors include both code >> Programmers, graphics/interface Designers and content >> Writers/Composers/Illustrators. >> >> >> Authors → Packagers → Distributors → Deployers → Administrators → >> Learners >> >> (arrgh - too long to fit a single line :-( ) >> >> ...and alongside all of those are Supporters, which includes >> Fundraisers, Managers and Inspirators. >> >> >> Regards, >> >> - Jonas >> >> - -- >> * Jonas Smedegaard - idealist og Internet-arkitekt >> * Tlf.: +45 40843136 Website: http://dr.jones.dk/ >> >> [x] quote me freely [ ] ask before reusing [ ] keep private >> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- >> Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (GNU/Linux) >> >> iEYEAREDAAYFAkocPTUACgkQn7DbMsAkQLi7KQCbBmbcmluM+mhpsuvgJ08Y1sZj >> qeYAn0XIRmdYBgphUFuwQC9aKBg1RnlI >> =+yH1 >> -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- >> _______________________________________________ >> IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!) >> IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org >> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep > _______________________________________________ > IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!) > IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org > http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep > _______________________________________________ IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!) IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep