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Home > Archive > alt.os.linux > October 2002 > OT: Linux and kids
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OT: Linux and kids
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| Nandro 2002-10-04, 11:25 am |
| Just out of curiosity I was wondering what the average users age here
is. I'm 34. I'm curious because I have an 18 year old cousin who is
reall into computers and online gaming and all that. I had a few extra
computers and told him he could use one. I was suprised to learn that
he wanted to put mandrake on it. He soon put it to good use. He found
that if he set them both up next to each other, he could play his online
game while using linux to capture packets and thus cheat and do better.
Beyond me why anyone would want to do this, he advised me that
characters from these games sell on ebay for hundreds and up! So anyhow,
I spoke to him yesterday and told him I was learning the in's and outs
of slrn, inquisitive he asked why and I told him all the obvious
reasons. He told me he would sooner go chop wood or jump off a small
bridge. Now my question about age comes in. Is this because I grew up
with an atari 800 with a floppy drive bigger than a notebook pc sitting
up days on end punching in basic, or is the new generation spoiled and
thinks any of that stuff is simply moving backwards. I mean he's a
bright kid. He can code and write good web pages and all that. Anyhow
just curious.
Rob
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| David Mills 2002-10-04, 1:25 pm |
| On Fri, 04 Oct 2002 17:24:55 +0100, Nandro wrote:
We'll I'm 21 and alothough I'm not learning slrn at the moment, I'm more
into kernal hacking and video capture than game playing (I will admit
that a quick Quake III from time to time is un-beatable for letting off
steam though). There again, the first 2 computers I came across to were a
BBC model B (32Kb of RAM + floppy or optional cassette player) and a ZX81
(1Kb of memory + optional cassette player), so mabey I'm still more of
the old school as it were.
David
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| Joel Rosenberg 2002-10-04, 1:25 pm |
| I don't know what's generally true, but both of my daughters -- 8 and
12 -- use the Mandrake/GNOME/OpenOffice/Netscape combination quite comfortably.
--
"...a most excellent barbarian ... Genghis Kahn!"
-- _Bill And Ted's Excellent Adventure_
------------------------------------------------------------
http://islamthereligionofpeace.blogspot.com
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| Andrew S. 2002-10-04, 7:25 pm |
| On Fri, 04 Oct 2002 10:24:55 -0600, Nandro wrote:
> Just out of curiosity I was wondering what the average users age here
> is. I'm 34. I'm curious because I have an 18 year old cousin who is
> reall into computers and online gaming and all that. I had a few extra
> computers and told him he could use one. I was suprised to learn that
> he wanted to put mandrake on it. He soon put it to good use. He found
> that if he set them both up next to each other, he could play his online
> game while using linux to capture packets and thus cheat and do better.
> Beyond me why anyone would want to do this, he advised me that
> characters from these games sell on ebay for hundreds and up! So anyhow,
> I spoke to him yesterday and told him I was learning the in's and outs
> of slrn, inquisitive he asked why and I told him all the obvious
> reasons. He told me he would sooner go chop wood or jump off a small
> bridge. Now my question about age comes in. Is this because I grew up
> with an atari 800 with a floppy drive bigger than a notebook pc sitting
> up days on end punching in basic, or is the new generation spoiled and
> thinks any of that stuff is simply moving backwards. I mean he's a
> bright kid. He can code and write good web pages and all that. Anyhow
> just curious.
>
>
> Rob
I'm 15 and i love linux. It's all i use. I also love programming in
assembler and watching oldschool demo's (not those cheap 120 mb new
directx ones, i prefer the ones where it took real skill and programming
to get just what you wanted, and to get it to fit in 4 or 64k, it's just
amazing), so mabye i'm not exactly normal. But, just give me a 486 with
linux and i could keep myself amuzed for years.
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| Joe Fredrickson 2002-10-04, 7:25 pm |
| To add an 18 year old's perspective...
I've never really gotten into games myself, but more into making
computers do things (like house automation sorta things) AND just
mucking around trying to tweak that little extra functionality.
[BUT]
I can't see any reason why anyone shouldn't use what is availible.
Im writing this in KNode (you probably could work that out yourself),
and the only real reason I am is because I can.
My first experience with Linux was with Debian running as a LAN gateway
(aka No X install, only console) and hence I learnt to use most of the
commandline programs such as slrn, but now that I have migrated my desktop
aswell and can run X I tend to run X, noteably I still open an xterm to do
most of my work.
Having said all that I would encourage newbies to first learn the basics
of console apps before using X but that isnt the way of the world, as
most newbies are to repressed by the windows style "point and click"....
As I said at the start, I mainly use my computer for programming tasks
which is more easily done from console (or xterm) so my main usage may
still be console apps, but I find it more logical to use KNode or Mozilla
as opposed to slrn and lynx, if I can.
I can so I do.
--
cheerio
Registered Linux User 282072
<www.volutin.net -- everything irrelevant>
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| James Nicholas Davey 2002-10-05, 12:25 am |
| Nandro wrote:
> Just out of curiosity I was wondering what the average users age here
> is. I'm 34. I'm curious because I have an 18 year old cousin who is
> reall into computers and online gaming and all that. I had a few extra
> computers and told him he could use one. I was suprised to learn that
> he wanted to put mandrake on it. He soon put it to good use. He found
> that if he set them both up next to each other, he could play his online
> game while using linux to capture packets and thus cheat and do better.
> Beyond me why anyone would want to do this, he advised me that
> characters from these games sell on ebay for hundreds and up! So anyhow,
> I spoke to him yesterday and told him I was learning the in's and outs
> of slrn, inquisitive he asked why and I told him all the obvious
> reasons. He told me he would sooner go chop wood or jump off a small
> bridge. Now my question about age comes in. Is this because I grew up
> with an atari 800 with a floppy drive bigger than a notebook pc sitting
> up days on end punching in basic, or is the new generation spoiled and
> thinks any of that stuff is simply moving backwards. I mean he's a
> bright kid. He can code and write good web pages and all that. Anyhow
> just curious.
>
>
> Rob
This is my second forray into linux. I use to just to mess around in, listen
to music, and do some JavaScript. I am currently getting Quake III arena to
work and downloading Unreal 2003, so I will attempt to play games on it.
The thing I love about linux is that it's a has a helpful and supportive
community, and is an alternative to Windows. I work in a store that has a
software department, and you can just imagine the reaction of customers
when they see the price of new microsoft products. The mentality of linux
and it's programs will have many more users seeking alternatives from
windows. Change, change is good.
Nick Davey, 16
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| Nandro wrote:
> Just out of curiosity I was wondering what the average users age here
> is. I'm 34. I'm curious because I have an 18 year old cousin who is
> reall into computers and online gaming and all that.
I'm 36. I've been into computers since about 1978.
My, then, 10 year old was frustrated because his computer locked up, yet
again and could he have my RedHat disk to install. He did and has been
having a ball since.
DanH
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| Nandro, Nandro@144.123.33.65.cfl.rr.com wrote:
> Just out of curiosity I was wondering what the average users age
> here is. I'm 34. [stuff about 18yo cuz ...]
I'm 42. My son, 9, uses our UnixWare 7.1.0 server with X on a regular
basis and has even set up FvWM for his use instead of KDE. He knows
how to use 'ps' with 'sort' to list his processes from a console CLI
and 'kill -15 ###' to stop a hung desktop and restart. I only had to
show him once. He now likes to read 'man' pages. :-) My daughter, 12,
loves to program in PERL and BASIC which can only be tested from the
CLI although she can use an X editor to write the code (I keep
pushing 'vi' ;-).
I haven't let either of them on the Linux box yet because I am on
this one most of the time. I think a healthy dose of CLI is important
to any young-uns starting with a *n?x OS. Plus almost anything
learned at the CLI on one *n?x OS will translate to another *n?x OS
with little or no tweaking.
Gene <gene@eracc.hypermart.net>
SCO Group Authorized Partner - OpenServer, UnixWare & SCO Linux
--
Linux era1.eracc.UUCP 2.4.13 i686
11:53am up 9 days, 18:49, 4 users, load average: 0.15, 0.23, 0.18
ERA Computer Consulting http://eracc.hypermart.net/
eCS, OS/2, Linux, OpenServer, UnixWare, SCO Linux resellers
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| Robert 2002-10-05, 4:25 pm |
| On Sat, 05 Oct 2002 12:07:56 +0000, ERA wrote:
> Nandro, Nandro@144.123.33.65.cfl.rr.com wrote:
>
>> Just out of curiosity I was wondering what the average users age here
>> is. I'm 34. [stuff about 18yo cuz ...]
>
> I'm 42. My son, 9, uses our UnixWare 7.1.0 server with X on a regular
> basis and has even set up FvWM for his use instead of KDE. He knows how to
> use 'ps' with 'sort' to list his processes from a console CLI and 'kill
> -15 ###' to stop a hung desktop and restart. I only had to show him once.
> He now likes to read 'man' pages. :-) My daughter, 12, loves to program in
> PERL and BASIC which can only be tested from the CLI although she can use
> an X editor to write the code (I keep pushing 'vi' ;-).
> <snip>
Thats great, I think kids need to be introduced to linux/unix earlier, in
school all they learn is windows. Although they say Mac's are big in the
education environment I have yet to see any in college or in school.
Rob
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| Andrew S. 2002-10-06, 12:24 am |
| > Thats great, I think kids need to be introduced to linux/unix earlier,
> in school all they learn is windows. Although they say Mac's are big in
> the education environment I have yet to see any in college or in school.
>
> Rob
I don't know much about the US, but up in Alberta (Thats in Canada), alot
of schools use macs. I used a mac all throughout grades 1-9, simply
because thats all the schools had, and its all we used. I'm in a high
school now where the primary computers are pc's (running, of course,
windows), but there are alot of macs still. (most of the classrooms have
macs in them)
Andrew S.
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| Brian Reichle 2002-10-06, 1:24 am |
| Andrew S. wrote:
>>Thats great, I think kids need to be introduced to linux/unix earlier,
>>in school all they learn is windows. Although they say Mac's are big in
>>the education environment I have yet to see any in college or in school.
>>
>>Rob
>>
>
> I don't know much about the US, but up in Alberta (Thats in Canada), alot
> of schools use macs. I used a mac all throughout grades 1-9, simply
> because thats all the schools had, and its all we used. I'm in a high
> school now where the primary computers are pc's (running, of course,
> windows), but there are alot of macs still. (most of the classrooms have
> macs in them)
>
> Andrew S.
>
For as long as i can remember (im 21) the Northern Territory schools (as
ruled by South Australia) have uses mac's with the od windows box here
and there. Now i hear that the NT education department is planing to
trial a new system with linux box's.
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| Robert, robert@daysite.net wrote:
> On Sat, 05 Oct 2002 12:07:56 +0000, ERA wrote:
>
>> Nandro, Nandro@144.123.33.65.cfl.rr.com wrote:
>>
>>> Just out of curiosity I was wondering what the average users age
>>> here is. I'm 34. [stuff about 18yo cuz ...]
>>
>> I'm 42. My son, 9, uses our UnixWare 7.1.0 server with X on a
>> regular basis and has even set up FvWM for his use instead of KDE.
>> He knows how to use 'ps' with 'sort' to list his processes from a
>> console CLI and 'kill -15 ###' to stop a hung desktop and restart.
>> I only had to show him once. He now likes to read 'man' pages. :-)
>> My daughter, 12, loves to program in PERL and BASIC which can only
>> be tested from the CLI although she can use an X editor to write
>> the code (I keep pushing 'vi' ;-). <snip>
>
> Thats great, I think kids need to be introduced to linux/unix
> earlier, in school all they learn is windows. Although they say
> Mac's are big in the education environment I have yet to see any in
> college or in school.
My wife and I decided to home school before we ever had children. The
public school system is ok if one doesn't mind one's children being
taught by someone who may or may not share one's values. Plus in the
public school system my kids would not be exposed to *n?x OSs, at
least not where we live now. In our home school our children are
exposed to conservative christian values, IBM OS/2, Linux and SCO
UnixWare as well as the basics of a good education. We teach none of
that liberal Windoze agenda. My wife and I have been indoctrinating
them with Micro$oft = evil since they were old enough to talk. ;-)
Gene <gene@eracc.hypermart.net>
SCO Group Authorized Partner - OpenServer, UnixWare & SCO Linux
--
Linux era1.eracc.UUCP 2.4.13 i686
11:37am up 10 days, 18:33, 4 users, load average: 0.29, 0.14, 0.10
ERA Computer Consulting http://eracc.hypermart.net/
eCS, OS/2, Linux, OpenServer, UnixWare, SCO Linux resellers
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