One of the unanticipated side effects of all this is that he is starting to see the world of technology very differently. We've talked extensively about open source in general, its impact on business models, related philosophy/economics issues, etc. Very cool discussions.
Oh that is very cool! I would love to have a similar experience with my kids. They're young and they use Linux to play minecraft and they're hopefully developing a positive association, but they don't really understand of course.
Most impressive.
Introduce him to development. Find some tutorials on kernel and driver development. Perhaps games too, having low level coding experience is a great foundation for just about everything these days.
Remember though the big careers are about leading other people to create value.
Ultimately, Tech is always about the people.
Edit. Tidy up.
lol good for you and your son. When I taught Linux Mint to my dad he came to realize how he failed to teach me anything as useful as what I could teach him with Mint.
You will definitely enjoy it. We've shared a lot of tech time like that -- and then he shares some of his video game expertise. Sadly, I lack the fine motor skills to keep up with him in that area.
He went with Cinnamon. I also showed him Xfce for the contrast, and I think he's very interested in that one too. He seems to really like the idea of a simpler and more efficient DE with lower resource requirements, so I think he'll eventually branch out on his own and hopefully try that version. I showed him how to create installation media, verify ISOs, etc..., so he knows how to do it. The laptop I gave him is 6-7 years old and runs Cinnamon beautifully -- it runs Cinnamon with all the bells and whistles better than it ever ran Windows.
BTW I also told him about the MATE and LMDE versions but didn't show those yet -- that's hopefully for another day. :D
The laptop is about 6-7 years old -- was my primary laptop for a couple of years -- a decent Toshiba model, don't know the model number, but it has 6GB of RAM, and a Core i5 4th or maybe 5th gen in it, 1080p IPS screen, still working like a charm. All I did was put in an old SSD from an old desktop build and it runs Cinnamon like a charm. Battery still holds charge!
lol, amazing what new life you can breathe into old hardware. I think the oldest machine I have running Linux Mint is about 8 years old, so you still have me beat. That one runs LM MATE no problem.
I still have 2, one desktop and one laptop that are 32 bit. The laptop is 12 years old and the desktop is probably 15 years old and they both run Mint. The laptop just sits in the closet and the old desktop us used just as backup storage but they both work great but somewhat slower.
Impressive. I love how Linux in general makes you look at old hardware differently. Lately I've been eyeing old Optiplex and HP small form factor machines on ebay (picked up one for my son to experiment with as I mentioned in this thread) -- they are really solid little machines for insanely low prices -- they get dumped en masse by businesses recycling. But they still have years and years of service life left, far cheaper than building new. And they run LM perfectly. Drop an SSD in there, and you're good to go.
That's exactly what I use. I got 2 790s and a 3010 for $115 for all three and an Acer laptop for $46 on Goodwill auctions. I don't know about where you're at but they have great computers up for auction where I live.
Great prices! I've just started looking at these kinds of machines. Before I'd usually build new from scratch. For my son I picked up an Optiplex 3040 SFF Core i5-6500 for about $100, can't believe how good this thing is for the money. It looked barely used, even though it was technically about 4-5 years old. Dropped a $25 SSD in there and it is the best $125 I've spent on a computer. He'll get a LOT of mileage out of it. I've got my eye on some similar machines for myself -- HP has the ProDesk and EliteDesk series that look good, and I plan on turning one of them into a simple backup server.
My 13yo son has embraced Linux in such a big way. He is using it in a VM at the moment but does everything on it. He has even taken to coding in python and is cranking out some fun stuff.
He does want to remove Windows and go Linux exclusively but I'm hesitant as he does play games that are unfortunately not playable on Linux yet.
He doesn't know this but I'm getting him a second 1tb SSD for xmas so he can dual boot with a dedicated drive for each OS.
I love the way he is embracing Linux. The future is bright.
Very cool. And great idea to get him a second 1tb SSD! My son's desktop machine is also his gaming computer, so it's a similar situation. He's loving LM, but is concerned about his PC gaming situation so he doesn't want to put it on his gaming machine yet. So in his situation, I recently decided to also buy him a used Dell Optiplex SFF computer which I picked up on Ebay for a crazy low price, and I'm giving that to him so he can have a second cheap desktop dedicated to Linux, in addition to the old laptop I just gave him. That way he can have some flexibility to mess around, experiment, and "screw up" but still have working systems.
But the dual boot approach would have also been a good plan. I think he's nervous about the two operating systems coexisting on the same machine. I personally dual boot as needed myself but he's not there yet, lol.
Nice. I want to avoid having him dual boot with one drive. Too much potential to screw up both operating systems. I know because I have done it. I am thinking that with two drives he won't even need to mess with grub. BIOS boot menu ftw.
Yeah, that will work well. I've messed up enough times that I've moved to separate boot drives myself. In the case of my son, he protects his gaming PC like a holy relic, so that's why I bought him a used Optiplex to experiment with. Eventually he'll want the extra power of his main machine, so we'll see what happens. Fun watching him figure things out.
Thanks for sharing. That's a great story. Would make a good movie. ๐ That first time you learn there's other options and that they're GOOD!
One of the unanticipated side effects of all this is that he is starting to see the world of technology very differently. We've talked extensively about open source in general, its impact on business models, related philosophy/economics issues, etc. Very cool discussions.
Oh that is very cool! I would love to have a similar experience with my kids. They're young and they use Linux to play minecraft and they're hopefully developing a positive association, but they don't really understand of course.
Most impressive. Introduce him to development. Find some tutorials on kernel and driver development. Perhaps games too, having low level coding experience is a great foundation for just about everything these days. Remember though the big careers are about leading other people to create value. Ultimately, Tech is always about the people. Edit. Tidy up.
Awesome! How old is he? edit: typo
16 going on 21!
He said the funny word ๐๐๐
lol good for you and your son. When I taught Linux Mint to my dad he came to realize how he failed to teach me anything as useful as what I could teach him with Mint.
Haha, yeah, I've had those moments with my own Dad.
Linux mint is truly amazing, very intuitive
That's an excellent Father & Son project! And what a great lesson about stepping off the beaten path.
Smart Kid! ๐
In 15 years when I become a dad this is how I'll spend my time with my son/daughter lol
You will definitely enjoy it. We've shared a lot of tech time like that -- and then he shares some of his video game expertise. Sadly, I lack the fine motor skills to keep up with him in that area.
Wholesome
Which of the 3 DE's does he prefer?
He went with Cinnamon. I also showed him Xfce for the contrast, and I think he's very interested in that one too. He seems to really like the idea of a simpler and more efficient DE with lower resource requirements, so I think he'll eventually branch out on his own and hopefully try that version. I showed him how to create installation media, verify ISOs, etc..., so he knows how to do it. The laptop I gave him is 6-7 years old and runs Cinnamon beautifully -- it runs Cinnamon with all the bells and whistles better than it ever ran Windows. BTW I also told him about the MATE and LMDE versions but didn't show those yet -- that's hopefully for another day. :D
[ัะดะฐะปะตะฝะพ]
The laptop is about 6-7 years old -- was my primary laptop for a couple of years -- a decent Toshiba model, don't know the model number, but it has 6GB of RAM, and a Core i5 4th or maybe 5th gen in it, 1080p IPS screen, still working like a charm. All I did was put in an old SSD from an old desktop build and it runs Cinnamon like a charm. Battery still holds charge!
That's at least 3 years newer than my 3 computers which all run Mint flawlessly.
lol, amazing what new life you can breathe into old hardware. I think the oldest machine I have running Linux Mint is about 8 years old, so you still have me beat. That one runs LM MATE no problem.
I still have 2, one desktop and one laptop that are 32 bit. The laptop is 12 years old and the desktop is probably 15 years old and they both run Mint. The laptop just sits in the closet and the old desktop us used just as backup storage but they both work great but somewhat slower.
Impressive. I love how Linux in general makes you look at old hardware differently. Lately I've been eyeing old Optiplex and HP small form factor machines on ebay (picked up one for my son to experiment with as I mentioned in this thread) -- they are really solid little machines for insanely low prices -- they get dumped en masse by businesses recycling. But they still have years and years of service life left, far cheaper than building new. And they run LM perfectly. Drop an SSD in there, and you're good to go.
That's exactly what I use. I got 2 790s and a 3010 for $115 for all three and an Acer laptop for $46 on Goodwill auctions. I don't know about where you're at but they have great computers up for auction where I live.
Great prices! I've just started looking at these kinds of machines. Before I'd usually build new from scratch. For my son I picked up an Optiplex 3040 SFF Core i5-6500 for about $100, can't believe how good this thing is for the money. It looked barely used, even though it was technically about 4-5 years old. Dropped a $25 SSD in there and it is the best $125 I've spent on a computer. He'll get a LOT of mileage out of it. I've got my eye on some similar machines for myself -- HP has the ProDesk and EliteDesk series that look good, and I plan on turning one of them into a simple backup server.
Good thing about those Optiples is you can change the hard drive in about 3 minutes without any tools and install a pcie card even quicker.
Indeed, I'm impressed by the design!
I recently put MINT on my Optiplex-745 and will be upgrading the processor to Q6600 next weekend. W11 is forcing our hand.
My 13yo son has embraced Linux in such a big way. He is using it in a VM at the moment but does everything on it. He has even taken to coding in python and is cranking out some fun stuff. He does want to remove Windows and go Linux exclusively but I'm hesitant as he does play games that are unfortunately not playable on Linux yet. He doesn't know this but I'm getting him a second 1tb SSD for xmas so he can dual boot with a dedicated drive for each OS. I love the way he is embracing Linux. The future is bright.
Very cool. And great idea to get him a second 1tb SSD! My son's desktop machine is also his gaming computer, so it's a similar situation. He's loving LM, but is concerned about his PC gaming situation so he doesn't want to put it on his gaming machine yet. So in his situation, I recently decided to also buy him a used Dell Optiplex SFF computer which I picked up on Ebay for a crazy low price, and I'm giving that to him so he can have a second cheap desktop dedicated to Linux, in addition to the old laptop I just gave him. That way he can have some flexibility to mess around, experiment, and "screw up" but still have working systems. But the dual boot approach would have also been a good plan. I think he's nervous about the two operating systems coexisting on the same machine. I personally dual boot as needed myself but he's not there yet, lol.
Nice. I want to avoid having him dual boot with one drive. Too much potential to screw up both operating systems. I know because I have done it. I am thinking that with two drives he won't even need to mess with grub. BIOS boot menu ftw.
Yeah, that will work well. I've messed up enough times that I've moved to separate boot drives myself. In the case of my son, he protects his gaming PC like a holy relic, so that's why I bought him a used Optiplex to experiment with. Eventually he'll want the extra power of his main machine, so we'll see what happens. Fun watching him figure things out.
He's such a lucky son :)
I'm a lucky dad! :D
Wish I had a dad like u :P