[H-GEN] A promo project for HUMBUG and Linux.

[Clarissa Womack]

Hi everyone

I agree with both of you. I don't like old computers going to waste 
either. I have a new laptop for uni but also have a Dell Latitude C500 
and a 550Mhz G4 (Titanium Onyx ) Powerbook (bought for $100) running 
Ubuntu 10.04 LTS. I have several desktop environments installed: Gnome, 
XFCE and LXDE which I can choose from login.

On a similar but different note, has anyone else heard about the 
Raspberry Pi project? http://www.raspberrypi.org/.

Clarissa

On 24/06/2011 11:52 AM, Arjen Lentz wrote:
> [ Humbug *General* list - semi-serious discussions about Humbug and     ]
> [ Unix-related topics. Posts from non-subscribed addresses will vanish. ]
>
> Hi Carl, all
>
>> 1. The number of perfectly usable older PCs that are literally thrown
>> out every day.
>> 2. The ongoing interest and concern over Inet access for children.
> An excellent idea.
>
> Now, with regard to children... I have one so I have a bit of experience with this.
>   - I've set up suitable boxes from laptops and old Netbox desktop machines. No new hw needed.
>
> I've set up the desktop and the apps to be specifically suited for kids. No clutter where not 100% mouse-coordinated smurfs can get lost in menus they get lost in. As they become more proficient this becomes less of an issue, but it's something to consider for most.
>
> The key local apps are GCompris and TuxPaint. Both are in the Ubuntu repos, so that's easy.
> I use the Ubuntu with Classic desktop (currently 10.10 Maverick) as the Unity stuff was causing hassles - in general and particularly on an EeePC.
>
> Cached Internet access, while nice in theory, does not cover the myriad of super sites for kids that have lots of interaction at their core. While you may be able to cache some basic stuff like the ABC for Kids sites and even its Flash activities, many others are just not suitable for caching.
>
> And speaking as a parent, I'm frankly not particularly fussed over filtering and "safe browsing". There is no substitute for parental involvement and supervision.
> I teach my daughter about how to be competent on keyboard, mouse (actually she mostly teaches herself! with my broad supervision), and with email and browsing. That, plus other social and critical thinking skills, arms her with the tools she needs to safely navigate the net and the real world.
>
> I'd be more than happy to help convert more Netbox desktop cases into kiddie computers, in fact I was aiming to do so with some of their current batch, just haven't had a chance yet to pick any up.
>
> It's not particularly complicated to set this setup, but from experience it's very important to not go overboard on apps and features. Geek indulgence is our enemy here.
> This also means that a desktop for kids is not the same as a box for the rest of the family. It could be the same box with different logins, as the config modifications are simply Gnome settings and apps visible on the desktop.
>
>  From other competent Ubuntu people I'd be interested in trickery that allows us to set up such a box, but then on first boot it asks for the user's name which it then set up for login and password (for little smurfs, having their name as their password is perfect).
>
>
> Cheers,
> Arjen.