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OpenVeda Playbook: Sugar Labs

Your guide to contributing to an open-source learning platform for children.

The Mission: Sugar Labs is a non-profit project that develops the Sugar Learning Platform, a user interface and a collection of "Activities" designed to provide a collaborative and engaging learning environment for children. It's the core of the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) project.
Your Impact: Your code can directly impact the education of children in developing countries around the world. You'll be working on software that is designed to foster creativity, discovery, and collaboration.
Why it's great for your career: Contributing to Sugar Labs shows a passion for education and social impact. It's a great place to get hands-on experience with Python, which is the core language of the platform. The community is very friendly and dedicated to mentoring students.

Core Stack: Python. The Sugar desktop environment and most "Activities" are written in Python, using the GTK toolkit for the UI.
Web Components: JavaScript is used for web-based Activities and the Music Blocks project.
Key Tools: GitHub for code, IRC and Mailing Lists for communication.

Primary Channel (IRC): The main real-time chat for developers.
- Link: #sugar on the Libera.Chat IRC network. Use the Web Client.
Secondary Channel (Mailing Lists): For deeper discussions.
- Link: Sugar Labs Mailing Lists

Official Guide: They have a very clear and welcoming guide for new developers.
- Link: Getting Involved with Sugar Labs Development
OpenVeda Pro-Tip: The easiest way to get started is to run Sugar in a virtual machine (like Fedora) or to use sugar-build, their dedicated script for creating a development environment.

Standard GitHub PR process.
Key Point: Simplicity is valued. Since the software is for children, the UI should be clean, simple, and intuitive.

Historical Focus: Sugar Labs is a long-time GSoC participant. Projects often focus on creating new educational "Activities," porting the Sugar interface to new platforms (like tablets), and improving the core features of the shell.
What Mentors Look For: A passion for education and a learning spirit. They are excellent mentors and are looking for students who are eager to learn Python and make a difference. Creating a small "Hello World" Activity before GSoC is a fantastic way to impress them.

The Golden Link: They often tag issues for newcomers. Search the issues in the various repositories.
Pro-Tip: A great first contribution is to pick an existing "Activity" and fix a small bug or add a simple new feature.

Think Like a Child: When designing a feature, always think about the end-user: a child. Is it simple? Is it fun? Is it intuitive?
Be Active on IRC: The core mentors are on IRC. It's the best place to show your commitment and get real-time help.
Start an Activity: The absolute best way to show initiative is to start building your own simple Sugar Activity. It proves you understand the platform and are passionate about the mission.

Sugar Labs