[plug] Linux in _home_ education

[Leon Brooks]

Garry wrote:

> Every good education should probably include getting hooked on nicotine, 
> hurried exploratory sex and some boxing practice.

I dunno... I've never seen ``good education'' defined as one which tends 
to help you to die young and painfully, if not at the hands of some 
outraged parent then of slow poisoning or some malignant disease... mind 
you, your suggestions do parallel public schooling as I've experienced 
it, quite closely.

> But getting some elementary programming in before it is "too hard", even if 
> only in scripts or even html.

I'll have to cover children who will never be interested in computing as 
such, as well, but suggestions like this are still useful because 
they'll occasionally bring some obvious point to mind that I would 
otherwise have missed completely, to my unending dismay.

> Not learning the "M$ way", becoming familiar with non windows machines would 
> be an excellent start too. If Linux is to grow, it is easier to teach 
> youngsters the best way before, rather than trying to undo the damage later 
> on.

This is why Microsoft works so hard to penetrate universities. One of 
the big boons in home education is children learning to do things 
without constant prompting, and without endless regimentation and 
clock-watching. Most Linux distros come with a large variety of 
development tools, and even the applications almost always come with a 
``plug-in'' facility of some kind. But perhaps the most important lesson 
is that there are many ways to program around a cat?

-- 
Your Horoscope:
You are easily influenced by what you read, and have the ability to
relate vague and nebulous sentences to your own mundane existence.