Re: What I need for my kids
Milan,
Nice to hear from you. This is exactly the kind of input I'd like to hear more of from users.
On Fri, 10 Nov 2006 11:26:11 +0100
Milan Zamazal <pdm@debian.org> wrote:
> Well, to revive the list a bit. :-)
>
> I was looking for an environment usable by children at the age 1-3
> years. The primary requirements were: 1. To be very robust (a typical
> computer "use" at this age is random hitting keys and moving and
> clicking a mouse, possibly observing what happens); 2. to provide means
> for viewing photos; 3. and being partially manageable by so small
> children.
I agree age 1-3 is a harder age range. That's why I have been working more on 4-12 (my own youngest is now 5, and the others are 8, 12, 15 and 16). But what you're describing is really a whole different desktop environment, and not one that is only of interest to kids. Our focus has been mostly on apps so far, making sure the apps are there for kids in Debian and are kept in good shape. This is a simpler, less time-consuming problem than providing a complete integrated desktop environment.
> Unfortunately debian-jr appeared to be of no use for me. I could mostly
> find only metapackages to install certain sets of applications. What I
> actually needed and expected was an environment described above.
I see. Well, given how little there is available in terms of apps for ages 1-3, I'm not really surprised you found Debian Jr. disappointing. Still, we are interested in making Debian better for *all* kids "from ages 0 to 99" so addressing your needs is definitely within our mandate.
> Finally I've found Freevo (http://freevo.sf.net) that fulfills my
> requirements quite well and has been serving well enough so far. There
> are still some problems with it: 1. It is not in Debian and at the time
> I checked there was no ITP for it; 2. it depends on software not being
> present in Debian; 3. and finally it contains significant amount of
> bugs.
>
> Does anybody know why Freevo is not in Debian? Is it just that nobody
> was interested in packaging or are there any special problems?
Intriguing. I would guess that reasons 1 through 3 are sufficient reasons for not including it in Debian, and possibly also simply lack of interest. But since it is not a child-oriented application, you should perhaps make a broader search for someone to package it than just this list.
> [Disclaimer: Unfortunately I have almost no opportunity to contribute
> now and that won't improve for at least the following year. :-(( ]
Well, why don't you simply use the source package of freevo and let us know how it is working out as you go? After a more extended period of evaluation, you may be able to do sufficient case-building for including it in Debian to attract attention and help to get it in.
At first glance, freevo bears some striking similarities to mythtv which also isn't in Debian, but which I have used successfully with my own kids as a simple interface to launch apps and view media. For example, see my recent blog article[1] describing how I set up mythgame to launch any linux game instead of emulator roms.
But even my 5-year-old is quite capable now of managing her own GNOME panels and enjoys "breaking" them and rearranging them to suit her tastes. So she spends far more time playing with & using her GNOME desktop than launching things via mythtv. I have always not worried much about making the desktop "kid-proof" put more effort into just giving kids free reign over their accounts and making sure that I can fix things that they break (backups!) because kids learn by breaking things.
But that's just me. That's a difference of philosophy, I guess. I'd love to have the time and resources to help support users who are taking a different approach with their kids, like you.
[1]
http://syn.theti.ca/articles/2006/11/05/mythgame-player-to-run-native-linux-games
Regards,
Ben
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