• Muffi@programming.dev
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      3 days ago

      Trying my best in the Makerspace for kids I help run. They actually love it!

      I get discarded ThinkPads from local companies, and the only way to make them useful is to slap some Linux on there, and then basic stuff like Blender, PrusaSlicer and Godot. It’s been a huge success, especially when we do a Capture-the-Flag tournament, where they have to hide and seek memes using SSH. The feeling of being “a real hacker” seems to be very motivational for the youngsters.

      • KillingTimeItself@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        3 days ago

        yeah pretty much this, linux just cooks. You gotta let it in the kitchen first.

        Also, you might want to consider openscad if you have some adventurous students, it’s quite intuitive if you understand programming syntaxing, and relatively clean and minimal. I’ve long been put off from learning something like freecad because the UI is just an utter mess and has no clear utility to it, but something like openscad is MUCH more accessible to me, even though it may be more restrictive in the long run, having the ability to use it is probably beneficial.

        Like i’ve said before, and like i’ll continue to say until people like you and me make a significant dent in this problem, you need to teach kids how to use the things you want them to use, if you don’t teach them linux, they won’t know linux, if you do teach them linux, they will know linux, it’s literally as simple as that, and why anybody is surprised by this baffles me, it should’ve been obvious frankly.

        The feeling of being “a real hacker” seems to be very motivational for the youngsters.

        kids love to learn, they are literally built for it, they have a high level of neuroplasticity, you just need to give them the tools, the resources, and the ability to do so, and they will do it.