Kid friendly OS - 2011
May 26, 2011 6:29 PM Subscribe
Does anyone have any experience with either Sugar or Qimo OS? Looking to build a computer for my 4 y.o. son.
I found this question from back in 2009, and it'd be nice to get some updated information.
Qimo doesn't appear to be to active, but maybe that's because it's stable and finished?
Sugar looks more class room oriented, but maybe it would work at home.
Does anyone have any insight they can provide?
I found this question from back in 2009, and it'd be nice to get some updated information.
Qimo doesn't appear to be to active, but maybe that's because it's stable and finished?
Sugar looks more class room oriented, but maybe it would work at home.
Does anyone have any insight they can provide?
Best answer: No personal experience, so some of what I'm saying might be a bit off:
Qimo is a customized version of Xubuntu (a lightweight flavor of Ubuntu) with a custom theme, educational software and games. It seems current. The latest version came out in May of 2010 and is based on Ubuntu 10.4, the latest long-term support version of Ubuntu (supported through spring of 2013). Michael Hall seems to be using the Ubuntu LTS releases instead of trying to keep up with Canonical's six-month upgrade cycle, which seems totally reasonable.
Sugar Labs is recommending running Sugar in Trisquel (another Ubuntu spin-off). Some more information here, and from Trisquel. Sugar was designed for very specific hardware (the XO laptop), I haven't used it and don't know how well it works on a PC. What media_itoku said about networking is correct. The XO's were designed to set up WiFi mesh network between each other in areas without internet access. Without the network, the collaborative features obviously won't work. His suggestion to try Sugar on a Stick first is probably very good advice.
Installing Qimo, however, should be unproblematic.
Please note, I don't actually know anything, especially about Sugar, but I hope this helps.
posted by nangar at 4:43 AM on May 27, 2011
Qimo is a customized version of Xubuntu (a lightweight flavor of Ubuntu) with a custom theme, educational software and games. It seems current. The latest version came out in May of 2010 and is based on Ubuntu 10.4, the latest long-term support version of Ubuntu (supported through spring of 2013). Michael Hall seems to be using the Ubuntu LTS releases instead of trying to keep up with Canonical's six-month upgrade cycle, which seems totally reasonable.
Sugar Labs is recommending running Sugar in Trisquel (another Ubuntu spin-off). Some more information here, and from Trisquel. Sugar was designed for very specific hardware (the XO laptop), I haven't used it and don't know how well it works on a PC. What media_itoku said about networking is correct. The XO's were designed to set up WiFi mesh network between each other in areas without internet access. Without the network, the collaborative features obviously won't work. His suggestion to try Sugar on a Stick first is probably very good advice.
Installing Qimo, however, should be unproblematic.
Please note, I don't actually know anything, especially about Sugar, but I hope this helps.
posted by nangar at 4:43 AM on May 27, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
You might want to look into "Sugar on a Stick" - a portable version that runs off a USB stick. That way you could test it out on him without the commitment.
posted by media_itoku at 9:00 PM on May 26, 2011 [1 favorite]