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Re: [LUG] Linux for kids

 

Tom Arrow wrote:
> 
> ...most of the error messages got pumped into google...

I think that is a generic computing thing.

We are still doing that with the error messages from our bespoke cluster
of MS Windows servers at work on a regular basis, despite the years it
has been in service. You'd think the URLs in the log messages (these
never work, don't bother), or the error number (why give error numbers
at all these days -- shortage of disk space or I/O in the exception
reporting software?) would be readily explained on the vendors website
by now (actually there is a tool for turning them into text, but 9 times
in 10 that is all it does, great a lookup table tool hex to English(?)).

Judging by how Google handles them, I'm not alone in doing this for
Windows either. There are even people exploiting this to drive traffic
to their IT help websites (sure sign you didn't type a specific enough
search term).

Indeed Windows is scarier as regards error messages, all those
hexadecimal numbers are scary to me still (I worry I won't ever find
what they mean each time), I demand cuddly Penguins, and messages that
don't just say "an exception occurred", oh wait I've got that already ;)
Just don't look too closely at the boot loaders "LI" or "error 18" are
not helpful (please note boot loader people).

On the contrary point not all under 15's are like Tom, but whatever
systems you expose youngsters to they will have to learn them, GNOME
would seem at least as simple as any other I've come across recently.

I use to have a phrase along the line of "fear of heights was intuitive,
and everything else was learnt" in my signature file, but a psychologist
friend explained that "fear of heights" is a learnt reaction. As can be
demonstrated by placing young babies on (safety glass) above big drops
and measuring their heart rate and other reactions. Most babies learn to
fear heights before they can crawl (so don't feel guilty if you've
dropped your baby, it is a normal learning experience for them).

The nipple probably is mostly an intuitive user interface, no not the
one on laptop keyboards, but knowing that doesn't really help with
computer interface design unless you want a computer that tells you when
your baby is hungry.

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