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On 29/06/2022 10:48, John PNZ wrote:
I don’t disagree at all with the ability of a pi to run all those programs, Michael. I queried the utility of the device as a primary GUI Internet access method for an 8 year old. A pi running those programs has to be tied to a monitor, that’s the sole drawback I raised given the tasks outlined at the top of the thread. Perhaps roly’s son already has a tablet in which case my observations evaporate. The Pi 4B is a powerful bit of kit but it absolutely demands a heavyweight heat sink for the proposed use. SD storage won’t last long running a GUI online either – less than a year, in my experience. I have one booting off aluminium-cased M.2 storage on the USB port and that’s fast and long-term stable, and my son’s webserver is a matched copy so we both have a quick fallback if anything dies. A cheaper option (which I’m testing at the moment) is Radxa’s Zero: "Amlogic S905Y2 64bit quad core based Mini SBC 4GB RAM, WIFI5/BT5, 128GB eMMC, GPIO header, onboard antenna" listed on allnetchina at US$85.80. It has Pi-compatible GPIO, it’s worth considering as a cheaper alternative to the 4B+storage for this thread. Putting linux on the onboard 128GB eMMC storage is a fiddly process holding down a very tiny on-board button but you only do that once. An 8 year old would need help and patience and someone else to read the manual and play first. And a monitor, keyboard and mouse, of course. May I add how much I grinned seeing Paul Sutton’s "John has also made a good few suggestions". As a delicately-phrased alternative to "John has also made a few good suggestions" it speaks volumes, well done that man!
Good points. I think, given the nature of the pi being a hacking / making device, we need to be careful about also using it for schoolwork / other work too. If you accidentally mess something up on the pi while trying out various bash commands (this is how we learn) then that may not be a valid excuse for not handing in homework.
I hope we haven't overwhelmed Roly with ideas :) Paul -- -- Paul Sutton, Cert Cont Sci (Open) https://personaljournal.ca/paulsutton/ OpenPGP : 4350 91C4 C8FB 681B 23A6 7944 8EA9 1B51 E27E 3D99 -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG https://mailman.dcglug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: https://www.dcglug.org.uk/faq/