Another thought is Kid and Grown-Up. If we called our users Kids it would emphasis that we are always thinking about our age range when we work on Sugar. We are building a tool especially for kids and the grownups (teachers, parents etc.) who help them learn.
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. > > 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 > -- Caroline Meeks Solution Grove carol...@solutiongrove.com 617-500-3488 - Office 505-213-3268 - Fax
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