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Linux can give kids an edge (NewsForge)
Here's a NewsForge article about teaching
kids Linux skills. "A standard Linux CD set gives a young person
just about every imaginable computing tool. While your youngsters may not
need to be a super techno whiz when it comes to computers, giving them a
view of the multi-user networked world at a young age puts them that much
farther ahead of kids that were brought up on, shall we say, less capable
platforms."
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Linux can give kids an edge (NewsForge) Posted Sep 17, 2004 22:41 UTC (Fri) by hppnq (subscriber, #14462) [Link] Confession time. ;-)I grew up on a ZX Spectrum, which had a whopping 48K memory. I mainly spent hours tuning the taperecorder so I could load incredible games, but I learned the basics of programming -- nothing like some kid in Finland was producing at around that time, I'm afraid.
Linux can give kids an edge (NewsForge) Posted Sep 18, 2004 4:05 UTC (Sat) by huffd (guest, #10382) [Link] I still have one of the few ZX-81's that landed in the states with 2k. The soft touch keyboard has now calcified but it was great. Mazogs was the best maze game ever. Found out how to dump the code and was able to bring up the overview map used for debugging and jump back into the game.Sinclair basic, yea those were the days..sniff..
Linux can give kids an edge (NewsForge) Posted Sep 17, 2004 23:37 UTC (Fri) by leonscape (guest, #12261) [Link] I remember trying to program the Vic20 with its paltry amount of RAM withBasic ( 3K ). I learned lots on that machine, that I carried through to the 64, then the Amiga, even learning assembler for it, and now PC's. I still smile everytime I peek at a char in a C++ stream.
Linux can give kids an edge (NewsForge) Posted Sep 18, 2004 3:57 UTC (Sat) by QuisUtDeus (guest, #14854) [Link] I learned my early BASIC on a Commodore 64 and even learned my first machine language on it (6510), and that was without an assembler (not sure I knew they existed then).
My dad had gotten the reference manual for it, and it had about 10 pages listing the op-codes and describing the addressing modes. I wrote BASIC programs that would READ the numbers from DATA statements and POKE them into RAM. After that I would use SYS to jump to the start point. It was pretty fun, but the 256 byte stack and 3 8-bit registers were a bit limiting even for a high-schooler. My biggest mach.lang. program was a Rubik's Revenge simulator so I could play with it after my real one broke. It used the drawing characters to paint the basic shape, and when certain keys were pressed it would just swap the color info around in RAM, changing the colors that showed.
I spent a lot of time decoding the BASIC ROM machine language (again without an assembler). That was interesting.
Then I had a 5-week class on Unix, C, and Lisp during high-school, even before much PC experience. It made me a "unix-bigot" even before college. Memories...
Linux can give kids an edge (NewsForge) Posted Sep 18, 2004 17:03 UTC (Sat) by blayne (guest, #19468) [Link] Sinclairs? Commodores? Amigas? You guys are tech-weanies. My first computer was the Cosmac Elf. 256 BYTES of RAM. Yes, a quarter of a KB. Hex pad input, two digit hex LED display, one LED output device. Programmed in machine language. I'd have killed for an assembler. Now THOSE were the days.
I also had to run two miles to school in seven minutes every morning, in the dark, in snow that was hub deep on a ferris wheel, and it was uphill. When I ran home every evening to do 14 hours of chores, it was uphill too.
But you can't tell that to kids these days, with their fancy powerful computers.
Linux can give kids an edge (NewsForge) Posted Sep 19, 2004 1:58 UTC (Sun) by njbees (guest, #24811) [Link] I have two RCA VIPs the brother (sister?) to the Cosmac Elf. :-) I wish I could find replacement 1802 uP for them. They were neat little computers to play with at the time.
Also still have a working 16K(!) Sinclair ZX-81 repackaged with a usable "full-size" keyboard.
Ah, the days of "real" computers. Toggle switches and LEDs. None of these
Linux can give kids an edge (NewsForge) Posted Sep 20, 2004 4:05 UTC (Mon) by frazier (subscriber, #3060) [Link] I had both the ZX-80 and the Timex Sinclair 1000.These new-fangled x86 computers that don't flicker are a way better deal! Even with my tiny hands at the time (I was a child), that stock keyboard was nasty.
Linux can give kids an edge (NewsForge) Posted Sep 20, 2004 16:01 UTC (Mon) by XERC (guest, #14626) [Link] I wish I could find replacement 1802 uP for them.Have You ever considered an FPGA as a replacement? The new Spartan 3 starter kit has 200k-Gates chip with the board, VHDL Compiler and a Simulator license, etc. all for approximately 100$.
Linux can give kids an edge (NewsForge) Posted Sep 19, 2004 3:27 UTC (Sun) by leonscape (guest, #12261) [Link] I suddenly feel like I'm in a Monty Pythom sketch... :)
Linux can give kids an edge (NewsForge) Posted Sep 20, 2004 15:55 UTC (Mon) by XERC (guest, #14626) [Link] ...I also had to run two miles to school in seven minutes ...Can You really run with a speed of approximately 20 miles per hour? That's about 36km/h, which seems to be apt for a pretty fit cyclist, but not to an average runner.
Linux can give kids an edge (NewsForge) Posted Sep 21, 2004 18:03 UTC (Tue) by hathawsh (subscriber, #11289) [Link] A four minute mile is a very remarkable achievement. :-)
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/section/0,,13849,00.html
Mindless cheerleeding Posted Sep 20, 2004 12:12 UTC (Mon) by kfox (guest, #4767) [Link] Assume 8 year old kids should use the Internet.Ignore all research for and against technology in education. Pretend this wasn't an article by a boastful dad about his precocious daughter.
Go Linux!
Mindless cheerleeding Posted Sep 20, 2004 19:42 UTC (Mon) by Richard_J_Neill (subscriber, #23093) [Link] > Assume 8 year old kids should use the Internet.
Well, yes, they should! Maybe not all the time, but it's far too valuable when used *well* for it to be denied. For example, isn't it wonderful that a child can say "But *why*, Daddy?", and actually be able to get a good answer!
> Ignore all research for and against technology in education.
This is a good point: it is certainly true that computers are not the best tool for most lessons. (In fact, in many ways, I don't think computers belong in the classroom, most of the time.) However, I don't think that this is the focus of the article.
> Pretend this wasn't an article by a boastful dad about his precocious daughter.
Well, he does have something to be proud of, so I can't see why he shouldn't write about it. Besides which, it is a good example. (And if he didn't give a real life instance, everyone would be saying "yes, great in theory...now give an example")
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