Re: Debian alternative for keywack or babytype?
On Fri, Dec 08, 2000 at 05:56:53PM -0600, raider wrote:
> On the package page for Debian-Jr @
> http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-jr/packaged it says
>
> <snip>
> A classic, loved by the whole family. (J, only 2, loves the sounds and
> bright colors while others play :)
> <snip>
> What about a program for J?
>
> My question is "Is there a KEYWACK for apple/mac
> (http://www.kidsdomain.com/down/mac/keywhack.html), or BabyType
> for windows (http://www.raize.com/BabyType/)alternative for debian?"
Sure, the closest thing to that is 'lletters' which is already on our
"packaged" list. I do remark that it is "Great for the youngest (2yo)"
and in fact, this is J's favourite program. You can either click on
the letters and numbers to have a random sound & graphic played &
displayed or you can use the keys to do the same thing.
One of the stated benefits of these two non-free pieces of software is to
"protect" the computer. Well, what I do to protect my system is simply to
log out when it is not in use, or use xscreensaver in "lock" mode if I
want to keep my X session logged in. Furthermore, I use multiple virtual
terminals to have multiple X sessions open per system. Finally, each
child in the household has an account, including J. Mostly, J just wants
to use lletters, but there are desktop toys she likes too. So rather than
"locking in" the child into a particular program, I have her set up with
wmaker so she can start up whatever she wants. Usually she wants some
help from Mom, Dad, or a sibling, and we all love to help get her started.
But there's no reason she can't just happily click away at her desktop
while unattended. I have no fear that she will "wreck it" with Linux.
Not only do I keep good backups, but the harm that can be done on a
child's account on Linux is quite limited when properly configured.
Without root privileges, the only couple of things to watch out for are:
1. the child inadvertently wiping out vital config files on their account
2. the child inadvertently soaking up all system resources, DoSing the
system and forcing a hard reboot
The former can be avoided by keeping backup copies handy and/or setting
file permissions/ownership on the files you don't want them to touch (but
this can be limiting if the child *should* be able to change settings).
The latter is best handled with ulimit to place upper limits on the
resources children can consume. I run my systems daringly, with no
ulimits imposed. If keeping your uptime is a priority, you might want to
consider using them, however :) It's a good practice whenever you have a
system that isn't just used by one individual.
So that just leaves us with "we need things that small children can click
on and be amused with". Currently, I have been collecting all sorts of
things in the "Games - Toys" section that are just that sort of thing. If
anyone finds any others, I'd be happy to add them.
I'll be customizing Jessie's account to make it easier to launch these and
will let everyone know how that turned out. Right now, all of my kids use
wmaker. Unfortunately, wmaker requires a double-click to launch things
from the icons on the wharf. For Jessie, I would like single clicks (But
not from the wharf. That would be too confusing switching from one
account to another.) So I'll be looking at some simple button-barish sort
of thing she can use easily. Maybe tkdesk or something along those lines.
Ben
--
nSLUG http://www.nslug.ns.ca synrg@sanctuary.nslug.ns.ca
Debian http://www.debian.org synrg@debian.org
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